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PhD application process

CERG is Australia's leading research group in the area of cognitive engineering. We invite applications from suitable candidates wishing to complete PhD research in cognitive engineering, human factors, or engineering psychology, with a focus on real-time, mission-critical sociotechnical systems. Australian and international candidates are welcome.

We have funded research projects in several areas. Further details can be accessed below.

Research areas for PhD studies  |  Equipment and resources  |  Academic preparation sought  |  How to make an application  |  Useful websites and application forms  |  About The University of Queensland and the Key Centre

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Research areas for PhD studies

Research areas for PhD studies in cognitive engineering at The University of Queensland include but are not limited to the following. PhD students associated with CERG may wish to have shared supervision with UQ faculty members in other faculties, centres, or schools.  Specific details of projects are available on our thesis projects webpage. CERG academic staff are happy to discuss variants and further ideas with potential students.

• >Information representation for complex real-time domains, such as power plants (esp hydro), command-and-control environments, and critical care medicine (eg anesthesia and intensive care). Our focus is on theoretical and applied issues relating to the use of visualisation and/or sonification (auditory display) to support human-system coordination in such environments.
• Teamwork in complex operations environments. We juxtapose modeling and simulation with empirical studies of teamwork, both in the field and with laboratory microworlds. If you have a strength in discrete-event simulation, intelligent agent-based modelling of teamwork, and/or distributed cognition, there are many potential PhD projects in this area.
• Formal modeling of human-system interaction, using techniques such as cognitive work analysis, cognitive task analysis, or any of a variety of AI techniques for modeling complex systems. Use of such models through the systems development process (requirements, instrumentation, team design, system design, test and evaluation, etc.). Focus especially on large-scale acquisitions/procurements.
• Psychology of human visual and auditory attention as it relates to the use of multi-modal displays in complex dynamic worlds. Design of displays to create best fit of attentional phenomena to information needs.

(For any defence-funded projects within the general areas above, Australian citizenship would be required).

International travel and intellectual exchange is strongly supported within the group. PhD students associated with CERG join an international community of cognitive engineering and human factors professionals, where they flourish.  For example:

•  Anne Miller attended the HFES/IEA2000 International Congress in the US where she won HFES's Alphonse Chapanis Award for the best student paper at the conference. 
• Marcus Watson attended HICS2000 and HFES2000 as a PhD student and has made connections that have led to important postdoctoral invitations for international travel. During his PhD he visited various universities and researchers in the US.
• Janet Anderson attended ICAD2002 in Japan under an Annandale Bequest and also HFES2002 in the US. During her PhD she has also visited universities in the US and Canada. She won the best paper award at the ESA/CHISIG HF2002 conference in Melbourne.

The Key Centre for Human Factors, where CERG is housed, runs an annual Winter School, at which students have strong participation. See details of Winter School 2002. Winter School 2003 will focus on medical human factors.

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Equipment and resources

CERG was granted significant Strategic Research Initiative funding from University of Queensland in late 2001. We are in the final stages of equipping of a state-of-the-art usability laboratory--the University of Queensland Usability Laboratory (UQUL). The UQUL is a flexible space (one control room, two test rooms) in which a wide variety of cognitive engineering studies can be performed. 

We work primarily in a Windows environment, but we also use top-end Macintosh systems for key audiovisual-intensive needs and for observational data analysis. In addition, we have ambulatory eye-tracking equipment for use both in the laboratory and in the field. Moreover, we are accumulating powerful hardware and software tools in support of our sonification research. 

The Key Centre for Human Factors has a further suite of five individual participant testing rooms and further technical support.

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Academic preparation sought

Candidates with the following skills are most likely to succeed at PhD studies in cognitive engineering:.

• Basic undergraduate training in human factors, engineering psychology, cognitive engineering, HCI, or allied areas of inquiry.
• (Commonwealth countries) An honors degree at 2A- or 1st-class level in psychology, computer science, or engineering. (Elsewhere) High GPA in these areas.
• Good familiarity and experience with computer programming, especially with a current programming language (eg C++, Java, VB, etc.)
• Basic knowledge of descriptive and inferential statistics.

Cognitive engineering research often requires immersion in a particular domain. Therefore, knowledge from prior educational or professional experience in any of the following general areas can help your research. However it is not essential.

• Engineering (systems, software, power, computer, industrial, or mechanical)
• Health sciences (physiology, medicine, nursing, etc)
• Operational areas (command and control, emergency response, process control room operations, stock trading environments, network management, etc).
• Air traffic control (a strong interest in the Key Centre for Human Factors and Applied Cognitive Psychology, where CERG is housed). 

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How to make an application

Admissions procedures differ for international and domestic (Australian and NZ citizens and permanent residents of Australia). Applications for PhD places and applications for scholarships to support PhD studies must be made separately. Most of the information and forms you will need can be found via links from the following website: http://www.uq.edu.au/research/index.html?page=4209

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS 
(Your deadline is 31 August 2004)

If you are applying from overseas, please be aware that the academic year in Australia runs from March to November.

1. Establish supervision. Always talk/email with potential supervisors before making an application. PhD research proposals should be worked up in a dialog with a potential supervisor. As noted above, supervisors are available within the CERG group (see People for CERG personnel and interests: only those with PhD status can be primary supervisors although others can help in supervision). PhD students associated with CERG may wish to have shared supervision with UQ faculty members in other faculties, centres, or schools.  

2. Make contact with school in which you wish to be enrolled. Contact Postgraduate Admin officer in the school of your choice. Applications for PhD places in cognitive engineering can be made through either of two schools principally involved in the cognitive engineering initiative (other schools may be appropriate also). Details are in the table below.

3. Apply for admission as an international PhD or MPhil student by 31 August 2004. See the information about all possible scholarships on http://www.uq.edu.au/research/index.html?page=4209. International students must apply for the International Postgraduate Research Scholarship (IPRS) by 31 August 2004. Fill out the form at the following URL and submit it by 31 August 2004: http://www.uq.edu.au/study/forms/international/InternatGradResearchAppForm.pdf

4. Apply for admission and enrolment. You should do this only after you have received an unconditional offer of a place at UQ for PhD studies. Once you are accepted, you apply for enrolment using the same form as Australian and NZ students, which can be accessed from the following location: http://www.uq.edu.au/research/index.html?page=4209

AUSTRALIAN AND NZ STUDENTS 
(Your deadline is 31 October 2004 for scholarships and 31 August 2004 for application to School of Psychology, if that is your preferred school)

1. Establish supervision. Always talk/email with potential supervisors before making an application. PhD research proposals should be worked up in a dialog with a potential supervisor. As noted above, supervisors are available within the CERG group (see People for CERG personnel and interests: only those with PhD status can be primary supervisors although others can help in supervision). PhD students associated with CERG may wish to have shared supervision with UQ faculty members in other faculties, centres, or schools.  

2. Apply for admittance to PhD studies to School. Applications for PhD places in cognitive engineering can be made to either of two schools principally involved in the cognitive engineering initiative (other schools may be appropriate also). Details of the schools are in the table below. To apply for admittance, use the application form at the following location http://www.uq.edu.au/research/index.html?page=4209

3. Apply for scholarship support. You need to apply separately for scholarship support. See the information about all possible scholarships on http://www.uq.edu.au/research/index.html?page=4209. Deadline for application for APA and UQ PostGraduate Research Scholarships (APA and UQ PRS) is 31 October 2004

SCHOOLS IN WHICH COGNITIVE ENGINEERING IS CONDUCTED

School	Admission deadline	Postgraduate Academic coordinator	Postgraduate Admin officer
School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering (ITEE)	Applications are reviewed continuously<	PG Academic Coordinator  Professor Maria Orlowska  maria@itee.uq.edu.au ph +61 7 3365 2989	PG Admin Officer  Ms Kathleen Williamson bigk@itee.uq.edu.au ph +61 7 3365 2906
School of Psychology	School application deadline is 31 August 2004	PG Academic Coordinator  Dr Julie Duck  julied@psy.uq.edu.au ph +61 7 3365 6203	PG Admin Officer  Ms Dianne Muller dianne@psy.uq.edu.au ph +61 7 3365 6220

Professor Penelope Sanderson is the leader of the Cognitive Engineering Research Group. She can be contacted directly with inquiries about PhD topics within CERG at psanderson@humanfactors.uq.edu.au. Specific details of projects are available on our thesis projects webpage. CERG academic staff are happy to discuss variants and further ideas with potential students.

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Useful websites and application forms

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About The University of Queensland and the Key Centre

The University of Queensland is one of Australia's top research universities (in the so-called Group of Eight) as well as a member of the international Universitas 21 consortium. The Queensland state government is a strong backer of university research, with its Smart State initiative and various large-scale biotechnology initiatives. 

The University of Queensland is in the city of Brisbane, in a picturesque location on the Brisbane River. Located in southern Queensland, Brisbane enjoys a warm, sunny climate. The city is the gateway to such attractions such as the Great Barrier Reef and the Gold Coast.

The ARC Key Centre for Human Factors was founded in 1999 through a grant from the Australian Research Council. The Key Centre is a national consortium of university-based human factors laboratories or "nodes". University of Queensland is the headquarters of the centre and includes two nodes: (a) the Centre for Human Factors and Applied Cognitive Psychology and (b) the Perception and Motor Systems Laboratory within UQ's Department of Human Movement Studies. 

Key Centre nodes elsewhere in Australia are at University of New South Wales, University of Sydney, University of South Australia, University of Adelaide, and Monash University.

The University of Queensland therefore provides a unique vantage point for the student wishing not only to pursue PhD research in cognitive engineering, but also to be exposed to a wide variety of human factors issues. Opportunities exist for PhD students to become involved in human factors contract and consulting work. 

In Semester 2 2002 the Key Centre  initiated a suite of postgraduate courses in human factors to be taken by online distance education. Subjects are offered by experts located at Key Centre nodes.