Summer Research Projects

Source: https://business.uq.edu.au/summer-research-projects Parent: https://employability.uq.edu.au/summer-winter-research/find-project

Team up with some of the University's leading academics and researchers to participate in research-related activities for a selected project. You'll have the opportunity to progress and apply your degree-specific knowledge, whilst developing valuable research and professional capabilities.

Applications for the 2026 Summer Research Projects open on 22 September 2025 in Student Hub. For further information visit the UQ Student Enrichment and Employability website.

Upcoming projects

Social innovators have a strategic blindspot: It’s competition

Project duration, hours of engagement & delivery mode

6 weeks, 36hrs per week, and can be on-site or remote.This project will be offered through a hybrid arrangement, with a mix of face-to-face and virtual meetings.

Description

The last two decades has seen the quest for social impact shift from a niche cause championed by a handful of entrepreneurial organisations across the public and private sectors, to a mainstream goal shared by organisations of all shapes and sizes. In this project, we look to draw on existing literature on economic and social value creation, alongside illustrative case studies, to theorize competitive realities that are currently overlooked by social innovators and the blindspots that these create.

This project will outline the strategic implications of ignoring these blindspots, both for the organization and the communities they serve. We will develop strategies that can help reorient the attention of social innovators to competition and help create sustained positive impact in society. In doing so, we aim to contribute practitioner-centered knowledge to the management of social innovation.

The selected summer research student will aid the project team in reviewing existing literature and developing illustrative case studies.

Expected outcomes and deliverables

Students will gain experience in handling archival qualitative data and inductive research methods, as well as conducting targeted literature reviews to support the development of practitioner-focused publications. Depending on student interest, there may be an opportunity to collect primary data with local/regional social innovators.

Students will be asked to develop written materials, develop a case database for the project team, and present their findings to the research team and Strategy & Entrepreneurship Discipline at the end of the project.

Suitable for

This project is open to students with a background in social innovation, entrepreneurship, business or related fields.

Preference will be given to students enrolled in Honours or postgraduate study in the Business School who have completed a qualitative research methods course.

Primary supervisor

Dr Jonah Zankl, Lecturer in Entrepreneurship

Further information

Applicants may contact the supervisor at j.zankl@business.uq.edu.au for further information before applying.

Exploring Human-AI Interaction: Creativity, Disclosure, and Decision-Making

Project duration, hours of engagement & delivery mode

6 weeks, 20 hours per week (12 January – 20 February 2026). This project will be offered through a hybrid arrangement, with a mix of face-to-face and virtual meetings (on-campus at UQ Business School, St Lucia and Zoom).

Description

This project investigates how human perceptions of artificial intelligence influence creativity, decision-making, and disclosure practices. It encompasses multiple ongoing studies, including how framing AI as a tool versus a collaborator affects creative output, and how disclosure of AI involvement in application processes impacts fairness and trust. Students will contribute to experimental design, data collection, and analysis across one or more sub-projects depending on the research stage at the time of engagement.

Expected outcomes and deliverables

• Gain experience in designing and conducting behavioural experiments.
• Learn to evaluate creativity and decision-making metrics.
• Contribute to data analysis and interpretation.
• Potential to co-author new projects for publication.

Suitable for

Students with interests in psychology, management, human-AI interaction, or behavioural science. Familiarity with experimental methods and data analysis tools (e.g., R, Python) is beneficial but not required.

Primary supervisor

Dr. Luna Luan

Further information

For more information, contact y.luan@uq.edu.au.

Ethics and Outreach Foundations for Neurodiversity and GenAI Research

Project duration, hours of engagement & delivery mode

6 weeks, 36 hourrs per week (12 January – 20 February 2026). Primarily remote with optional on-campus meetings at UQ Business School (St Lucia).

Description

This project is part of a broader study on how Generative AI (GenAI) can be designed to support creativity and participation among neurodiverse users. Research with neurodivergent participants requires careful attention to ethics, including how consent is obtained, how data is managed, and how accessibility is ensured.

The research student will contribute to two early-stage tasks:

1. Assisting with the preparation and submission of a human research ethics application, focusing on the specific considerations of working with neurodiverse communities.
2. Reaching out to companies, NGOs, and community organisations in Australia and the UK to identify potential partners who can support recruitment for interviews and focus groups.

This role offers a chance to learn how large research projects are built on strong ethical and community foundations.

Expected outcomes and deliverables

Students can expect to gain:

• Practical experience in drafting a human research ethics application, including addressing accessibility and inclusivity in neurodiversity research.
• Skills in engaging with external partners and documenting outreach processes.
• Insights into the design of qualitative and mixed-methods projects in sensitive research contexts.
• Experience communicating with both academic and non-academic stakeholders.

Deliverables will include:

• A draft ethics application for review and submission.
• A stakeholder contact log and outreach report.

Suitable for

This project is open to students with a background in business who are at the graduate level or in the 3rd/4th year of their undergraduate studies. Applicants must demonstrate both an interest in and an aptitude for research.

Primary supervisor

Dr. Maylis Saigot, Lecturer in Business Information Systems

Further information

For more information get in touch with Dr. Maylis Saigot before applying at m.saigot@uq.edu.au.

How Digital Technologies Enabled Domino’s Pizza’s Meteoric Growth

Project duration, hours of engagement & delivery mode

The candidate will be engaged for 6 weeks (12 January – 20 February 2026) and is expected to work up to 36 hourrs per week.

The project can be conducted remotely. However, while not mandatory, occasional face-to-face meetings are encouraged.

Description

Digital technologies have upended many traditional industries from accommodation to music to transportation. The focus of existing research on digital technologies’ transformative potential in traditional industries has been predominantly on either industry disruption brought about by “purely” digital market offerings such as online platforms or on the digitization of existing physical market offerings such as cars. Little attention has been paid to how digital technologies may transform industries where market offerings cannot be digitized.

To shed light on this question, we investigate the case of Domino’s Pizza, now the market leader in the Quick Service Restaurant industry. Domino’s Pizza provides a particularly revelatory case for this investigation as it rose from laggard to market leader by strategically adopting digital technologies while its core market offering—pizza—remained largely the same. To longitudinally investigate how Domino’s Pizza strategically leveraged digital technologies to grow and become the market leader, we draw on rich secondary data sources such as news reports, company announcements, annual reports, social media data, etc. We have already collected and analysed data covering more than 10 years of Domino’s meteoric rise, and the goal of this project is to extend the observation period.

Expected outcomes and deliverables

In this project, candidates are expected to collect and analyse data from secondary data sources to extend the observation period of an existing study. As such, candidates will be able to gain first-hand insights into an ongoing case study and hands-on experience with qualitative research methods and theory building.

At the end of the project, students will be asked to submit the collected data and to present their findings and process.

Suitable for

This project is open to applications from students with a background in business. Experience with qualitative research methods is desirable but not a must. Likewise, an affinity or expertise in digital strategy, transformation and/or innovation is desirable but not a must.

Primary supervisor

Associate Professor Frederik von Briel

Further information

For more information contact Frederik via f.vonbriel@uq.edu.au if you have questions.

What types of firms are more resilient during this turbulent period?

Project duration, hours of engagement & delivery mode

Hours of engagement will range from 20 to 36 hours per week (with an expected average of around 30 hours per week) for 6 weeks from 12 January to 20 February 2026.

Successful applicants can choose to deliver the project on-site, remotely or through a hybrid arrangement.

Description

In recent years, the world has experienced heightened economic, social, and (geo)political turbulence, driven by events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the U.S.–China trade war, and escalating climate risks. Against this backdrop, corporate resilience has emerged as a critical concern for businesses and their stakeholders (e.g., employees, customers, and suppliers). This project aims to provide a systematic review of the rapidly expanding body of research on corporate resilience, with the goal of identifying what types of firms are more resilient and through what mechanisms. The participant is also encouraged to apply critical thinking and propose promising directions for future research.

Expected outcomes and deliverables

The participant will gain important skills in conducting a systematic literature review, thinking analytically and critically, and generating new ideas for future research. The deliverable is a comprehensive and in-depth literature review.

Suitable for

This project is suitable for BCom (Honours)/BAFE/MCom (research pathway) students who have a finance major and have completed a Corporate Finance course before the start of the project.

Primary supervisor

Dr Lin Mi

Further information

If you have any questions prior to submitting an application, contact Dr Lin Mi at l.mi@business.uq.edu.au.

Global Perspectives on Neurodiversity: A Comparative Literature Review

Project duration, hours of engagement & delivery mode

Program Duration: 12 January - 20 February 2026 (6 weeks)\ Engagement Hours: 20 hours per week (flexible scheduling)\ Delivery Mode: Hybrid - online and on-site at the St Lucia campus

Description

This project explores how neurodiversity is understood, valued, and addressed across different cultural, educational, and clinical contexts globally.

While neurodiversity advocacy has gained prominence in Western nations, particularly within educational and disability studies, interpretations of neurodivergence can differ widely based on cultural beliefs, healthcare infrastructure, language, and policy environments.

The aim of this project is to conduct a comprehensive literature review that synthesises existing academic and grey literature on global perspectives of neurodiversity, with particular attention to:

• How neurodevelopmental differences (e.g. autism, ADHD, dyslexia) are conceptualised in different countries/regions;
• Variations in policy and inclusive education practices across cultures; and
• Emergent frameworks from the Global South and Indigenous knowledge systems.

This review will contribute to a broader research agenda examining inclusive education and disability justice globally.

Expected outcomes and deliverables

By participating in this project, the student will:

• Develop advanced literature review and synthesis skills, including critical appraisal of cross-disciplinary sources;
• Gain insights into international frameworks and cultural models of neurodiversity;
• Engage with ethical considerations in cross-cultural disability research; • Improve academic writing and citation skills; and
• Build familiarity with research tools such as EndNote (training provided).

Deliverables include:

• Annotated bibliography or literature matrix;
• A written literature review (approx. 3,000–4,000 words); and
• Potential co-authorship on a future publication or conference paper (dependent on scope and quality of review).

Suitable for

This project is suitable for:

• Students in Education, Humanities, Social Science, Psychology, or Health Sciences;
• Those with an interest in neurodiversity, disability studies, inclusive education, or global health;
• 2nd-4th year undergraduate, Honours, or Master level students;
• Strong reading, writing, and critical thinking skills are essential; and
• Prior coursework or experience in qualitative research or literature reviews is desirable but not required.

Primary supervisor

Associate Professor Miriam Moeller, UQ Business School

Further information

For questions about the project or to discuss your suitability before applying, contact m.moeller@uq.edu.au.

A Systematic Review of Applications and Challenges of Artificial Intelligence in Business Higher Education

Project duration, hours of engagement & delivery mode

For the Summer program, students will be engaged for 6 weeks only (12 Jan – 20 Feb 2026). The project tasks can be completed remotely; however, one or two initial meetings in Week 1 will be held in the supervisor’s office.

Week 1 (12 January — 16 January): Scholar engagement for 7 hours per day (35 hours)

Key Tasks (5-6 hours of supervisor engagement in week 1)

• Welcome and provide an overview of project and set goals and expectations for the Summer Research Program.
• Explain systematic reviews and their objectives.
• Explain the systematic review process.
• Provide a brief overview of the use of AI in business education.
• Share the final sample of articles related to AI in business higher education, along with the extraction sheet.
• The scholar will begin reading, extracting, and recording relevant information from the final set of relevant articles.

Week 2 – Week 5 (19 January — 13 February): Scholar engagement for 7 hours per day (35 hours per week)

Key Tasks

• The scholar will read relevant articles and extract and record the required information from the final set of relevant articles.
• At least two 1-hour meetings will be held each week to share progress and provide feedback.

Week 6 (16 February — 20 February): Scholar engagement for 7 hours per day (35 hours)

Key Tasks

• The scholar will write a 3-page literature review on the application of AI in business higher education.
• A single 1-hour meeting will be held to share progress and provide feedback.
• The scholar will submit the extraction sheet along with the 3-page literature review.
• Formal closure of the program with thanks.

Description

Artificial intelligence (AI) holds significant potential for business education. Given its ability to transform the way future business leaders are trained (Kirk, 2024), many business schools worldwide have begun integrating AI into teaching and learning. For instance, the MIT Sloan School of Management incorporates Generative AI (GenAI) into its curriculum (Matthews, 2024), and the University of Colorado Boulder’s Leeds School of Business adopted GenAI shortly after the introduction of ChatGPT (Contreras, 2025). These wide-ranging applications of AI in business education have attracted substantial research attention

Existing research examines the applications of AI in business education from both staff and student perspectives. Student-focused studies have explored issues such as business students’ adoption of GenAI (Abdalla et al., 2024), the ethical use of AI tools (Mumtaz et al., 2025), and the impact of AI on communication skills (Gerlich, 2024) and critical thinking (Essien et al., 2024). Staff-focused research, on the other hand, has investigated why business faculty adopt AI (Rogers et al., 2025) and how they interpret its impact on pedagogical practices (Kearney & Neenan, 2025). Thus, there is a substantial body of literature examining the role of AI in business education from multiple perspectives.

Despite this, a synthesised view of the literature is lacking. Such a synthesis is important because it can reveal the current applications, motivations, and challenges of AI in business education. Moreover, it can clarify existing AI-based practices and identify avenues for future for both theory and practice.

Although some systematic reviews address AI in education, they generally focus on education as a whole (Chen et al., 2020) or higher education in general (Zawacki-Richter et al., 2019), or they consider a specific field, such as entrepreneurship education (Chen et al., 2024). Moreover, some systematic reviews on higher education primarily emphasise characteristics of the literature (e.g., methods, journals, years, countries) (Zawacki-Richter et al., 2019), focus only on teaching-side applications of AI (Crompton & Burke, 2023), or consider a particular region, such as Latin America (Salas-Pilco & Yang, 2022).

To address the aforementioned gaps, this research systematically reviews existing studies on AI in business education. Specifically, the project aims to achieve the following objectives in the context of business (or marketing) higher education:

• Critically review and synthesise the nature of, and ways in which, business faculty use AI in teaching and curriculum development.
• Critically evaluate and synthesise the various outcomes of AI use by business faculty identified in prior literature.
• Identify key areas and motivations reported in prior research behind business students’ use of AI.
• Examine the various student-side outcomes of AI use revealed in prior literature.
• Identify key challenges (e.g., ethical issues, lack of skills, lack of awareness) faced by both staff and students in using AI.
• Identify key trends in AI use and highlight avenues for future research.

To achieve these objectives, we have divided our project into the following phases:

Phase 1: Develop and execute the search strategy in selected databases.\ Phase 2: Screen all articles based on titles and abstracts (Stage 1 screening) and full texts (Stage 1 screening) for relevance.\ Phase 3: Extract required information from the final relevant articles.\ Phase 4: Draft the systematic review paper.

We have already completed Phase 1 and are currently screening articles retrieved from databases (Phase 2) based on the executed search strategy. The winter research scholar will primarily assist in Phase 3, which involves extracting the required information from the final sample of articles on AI in business higher education. The review will then be completed using the information extracted from these relevant articles.

Expected outcomes and deliverables

At the conclusion of the Summer Research Program, scholar will develop:

1. A deeper knowledge of the applications, trends and challenges of AI in business higher education.
2. Skills in conducting systematic literature
3. Critical literature review and analysis skills

The summer scholar is expected to submit an Excel extraction sheet containing required information extracted from the final sample of relevant articles. In addition, the scholar will be expected to produce a 3-page review of AI in business higher education.

Suitable for

This project is open to applications from students who are enrolled at UQ Business School in:

• An undergraduate program and have completed at least two years, or a postgraduate program and have completed at least one year.
• While not essential, prior knowledge of systematic review methodology, research processes, and data extraction will be considered an advantage.
• A high GPA (i.e., 6.0 or above).
• Strong critical reading skills.

Primary supervisor

Dr Muhammad Rashid Saeed, Lecturer in Marketing

Further information

For more information contact Muhammad Rashid Saeed at m.saeed@business.uq.edu.au.

References

Abdalla, A. A., Bhat, M. A., Tiwari, C. K., Khan, S. T., & Wedajo, A. D. (2024). Exploring ChatGPT adoption among business and management students through the lens of diffusion of Innovation Theory. Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence, 7, 100257.

Chen, L., Chen, P., & Lin, Z. (2020). Artificial intelligence in education: A review. IEEE Access, 8, 75264-75278.

Chen, L., Ifenthaler, D., Yau, J. Y.-K., & Sun, W. (2024). Artificial intelligence in entrepreneurship education: a scoping review. Education+ Training, 66(6), 589-608.

Contreras, J. (2025, March 3). Transforming business education with AI. AACSB Insights. Retrieved from https://www.aacsb.edu/insights/articles/2025/03/transforming-business-education-with-ai

Crompton, H., & Burke, D. (2023). Artificial intelligence in higher education: the state of the field. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 20(1), 22.

Essien, A., Bukoye, O. T., O’Dea, X., & Kremantzis, M. (2024). The influence of AI text generators on critical thinking skills in UK business schools. Studies in Higher Education, 49(5), 865-882.

Gerlich, M. (2024). The use of artificial intelligence in modern business education: The impact on students' cognitive and communication skills in the United Kingdom. IEEE Engineering Management Review.

Kearney, A., & Neenan, E. E. (2025). Enthusiastically ‘muddling through’: Business School lecturer interpretations of the impact of Generative AI on their pedagogic practices. Irish Journal of Academic Practice, 13(1), 1.

Kirk, W. (2024, February 27). Preparing future leaders: The impact of AI on business education. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbooksauthors/2024/02/27/preparing-future-leaders-the-impact-of-ai-on-business-education/

Matthews, O. (2024). AI in business education: MIT Sloan School of Management spotlight series. Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC). Retried from https://www.gmac.com/market-intelligence-and-research/research-library/curriculum-insight/mit-sloan-ai-in-business-education

Mumtaz, S., Carmichael, J., Weiss, M., & Nimon-Peters, A. (2025). Ethical use of artificial intelligence based tools in higher education: are future business leaders ready? Education and Information Technologies, 30(6), 7293-7319.

Rogers, P. P., Allen, C., & Busby, A. (2025). Marketing educators and artificial intelligence: A perspective on productivity and innovation. Journal of Marketing Education, 47(2), 156-169.

Salas-Pilco, S. Z., & Yang, Y. (2022). Artificial intelligence applications in Latin American higher education: a systematic review. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 19(1), 21.

Zawacki-Richter, O., Marín, V. I., Bond, M., & Gouverneur, F. (2019). Systematic review of research on artificial intelligence applications in higher education–where are the educators? International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 16(1), 1-27.