SMP Summer Research Projects

Hours of engagement & delivery mode: 32 hours per week on St Lucia campus.

Description: Understanding and controlling defects in materials is key to developing next-generation technologies, from single-photon emitters for quantum technologies to high-efficiency optoelectronic devices. This project explores the use of new-generation universal machine learning interatomic potentials, also known as foundational models, for accurate, large-scale simulations of defect properties in semiconductors and insulators at the atomic scale. These models combine the accuracy of quantum mechanical methods with the efficiency of classical simulations, enabling the prediction of ground-state structures, formation energies, and vibrational spectra of point defects in technologically relevant materials.

Expected learning outcomes and deliverables: The student will gain experience with cutting-edge computational tools in materials science, including machine-learned potentials, high-performance computing, and defect analysis workflows. Outcomes and deliverables include computational workflows and a short report or presentation.

Suitable for: This project is open to students with a background in physics, computer science, or materials engineering. Familiarity with Python is required, and some knowledge of condensed matter physics is a plus. A keen interest in computational materials research is essential.

Primary Supervisor: Dr Carla Verdi

Further info: Please contact Dr Carla Verdi at c.verdi@uq.edu.au for further information.

Hours of engagement & delivery mode: 30-36 hours per week on St Lucia campus.

Description: Biology is full of tiny molecular switches. Haemoglobin, for instance, changes the spin state of its iron centre to capture and release oxygen, keeping us alive with every breath. Spin-crossover (SCO) materials mimic this trick: they can reversibly switch between low-spin and high-spinstates when triggered by temperature, light, or pressure. Each switch produces a striking change in refractive index and absorption, like a molecular toggle that nature already uses.

Photonic cavities act as ultrasensitive light traps, where even the slightest disturbance in their environment leaves a measurable fi ngerprint on the trapped light. Coupling these cavities with SCO materials transforms them into molecularly driven optical switches, inspired by the way biology uses spin states for function. Such hybrid systems could open the door to powerful biosensing platforms - capable of detecting subtle variationsin temperature, pH, or even biomolecule interactions - with a level of precision far beyond conventional optical sensors.

Beyond sensing, SCO–photonics also provides a model platform for fundamental science, where cooperative spin transitions can be used toexplore phase changes, non-equilibrium dynamics, and light–matter interactions at the nanoscale. Moreover, the hysteretic and multistable behaviour of SCO materials lends itself to neuromorphic photonics, where their memory-like responses and gradual transitions could emulate optical neurons or synapses, paving the way toward brain-inspired computing in light.

Expected learning outcomes and deliverables: 

Conceptual Understanding

• Understand the physics of spin-crossover (SCO) materials and their analogy to biological molecular switches such as haemoglobin.
• Explain how photonic cavities confine light and why they are highly sensitive to environmental changes.
• Recognise the potential of SCO–photonics hybrids in biosensing, fundamental science (phase transitions, light–matter coupling), and neuromorphic photonics (hysteresis, memory effects).

Technical Skills

• Use COMSOL Multiphysics (or a similar photonics solver) to simulate optical cavities and thereafter evaluate resonance shifts caused by SCO thin films.
• Model environmental influences (e.g. temperature, refractive index change, biomolecule binding) and link them to SCO-driven optical responses.
• Interpret and present simulation results through graphs, spectra, and parametric studies.

Suitable for: This project is open to students in physics, photonics, materials science, or nanotechnology, particularly those interested in simulation-driven research. Prior exposure to computational modelling (e.g., COMSOL or other solvers) is helpful but not essential. Most importantly, students should bring a strong curiosity to learn about how concepts from biology can inspire new directions in photonics and sensing.

Primary Supervisor: Dr Nishta Arora

Co-Supervisor: Professor Warwick Bowen

Further info: Please contact Dr Nishta Arora at nishta.arora@uq.edu.au for further information.

Hours of engagement & delivery mode: 20-36 hours per week on St Lucia campus.

Description: Sonoluminescence (SL) is an intriguing phenomenon where the collapse of a single bubble emits a picoseconds long pulse of blue light. First observed in the 1930s, there are multiple theories as to why it occurs, all with one common factor: none of them explain all the observed phenomena. As just one example, the blue light appears to be a tail of a blackbody spectrum: if that is the case, then the bubble temperature atcollapse is 19,000K, three times hotter than the surface of the sun, and should emit X-rays.

We have built an experiment that reproducibly produces sonoluminscent bubbles: in this project you will improve the apparatus, and develop experimental methods to make observations of the bubble. These may include single-pohotn measurements to look for X-rays, and quantum correlation measurements to test proposed theories such as the light is Unruh radiation. Those who love open-ended experiments and theory, anda bloody good mystery, are strongly encouraged to apply!

Expected learning outcomes and deliverables: You will gain experience in designing and building an open-ended experiment, with the aim of using sophisticated quantum optics equipment, as well as being exposed to classical and quantum field theories you probably have not yet encountered. You will get to work with an enthusiastic and friendly team of researchers, see
quantum.technology/people/index.html. Welcome aboard!

Suitable for: Third or fourth year experiments with good experimental skills, and having taken at least second-year fields and quantum.

Primary Supervisor: Professor Andrew White

Co-Supervisor: Dr Markus Rambach

Further info: Dr Rambach and Professor White will be absent for the four week period from 15 December to 12th January due to School Holidays. Please contact Professor Andrew White at andrew.white@uq.edu.au for further information.

Hours of engagement & delivery mode: 20-36 hours per week on St Lucia campus.

Description: One of the key insights of Landau was to derive a phenomenological formula for the critical velocity in a superfluid. In a Bose-Einstein condensate this is connected to the speed of sound. In a one-dimensional superfluid in a ring, an obstacle moving with a speed of less than the critical velocity can pass through the system without viscosity, i.e. it doesn’t create any excitations. If this is accelerated above the critical velocity it will then create topological objects known as dark solitons.

This project will study a superfluid ring in which there is an obstacle moving at a speed less than the critical velocity. We will simulate the launching of pulses of sound at the obstacle, and characterise how they scatter from the obstacle as a function of amplitude and obstacle velocity. There will be a transition point at which dark solitons will be formed in inelastic scattering events. The goal of the project is to explain thiswith reference to Landau’s theory of superfluidity.

This project can be extended to 2D systems where there will be vortex pair formation.

A brief introduction to the field can be found here: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5468603.

Expected learning outcomes and deliverables: Students will learn how to solve the linear and nonlinear Schrodinger equation computationally with sources and sinks. The results will influence the UQ experimental program on Bose-Einstein condensates.

A successful project will lead to publishing a paper describing the model and its results.

Suitable for: Self-motivated students interested in physics and/or mathematics who are interested in gaining experience in research in theoretical and computational quantum physics.

Primary Supervisor: Professor Matthew Davis

Further info: Please contact Professor Matthew Davis at mdavis@uq.edu.au for further information.

Hours of engagement & delivery mode: 25 hours per week on St Lucia campus.

Description: Developing a graphical user interface (GUI) for combining a number of laser beams, for the design of 3D structured light fields. Such structured light fields have applications in optical trapping and micro-manipulation, micro-fabrication, and sensing. The goal is to develop a system for the visualisation of a combination of beams used as building blocks to form the desired structured field. Existing software to calculate the individual beams is available for Matlab, and therefore Matlab is a leading candidate for the software for this project.

You will:

• Develop a suitable GUI
• Computationally model the use of 3D structured light for optical trapping

Expected learning outcomes and deliverables: You will gain experience in the computational modelling of laser beams, and an understanding of optical principles such as coherence and polarisation. The key deliverable is a usable GUI, intended to be released for public use, with the student's work acknowledged by lead authorship.

Suitable for: Suitable for students with a good background in programming and an interest in optical physics.

Primary Supervisor: Dr Timo Nieminen

Further info: Please contact Dr Timo Nieminen at timo@physics.uq.edu.au for further information.

Hours of engagement & delivery mode: 30 hours per week on St Lucia campus.

Description: The binary fraction of stars is crucial in understanding a large range of astronomical phenomena such as Type Ia supernovae, millisecond pulsars and gravitational wave driven mergers of black holes. Star clusters are one of the best environments to measure the stellar binary fraction, since they offer large populations of stars of similar ages and distances and are also nearby enough to be resolved into single stars. In this project youwill analyze radial velocity data of about 120 giant stars in the globular star cluster Reticulum, which is an outlying star cluster of the Large Magellanic Cloud, in order to identify stars with variable radial velocities. You will then fit the radial velocity curves of these stars to determine thebinary parameters in terms of period, semi-major axis and mass of the companion star. Finally you will determine to overall binary fraction of the cluster and compare it with literature values on the binary fraction of nearby open cluster to see if there is any evidence for a variation of the binary fraction with cosmic age or metallicity.

Expected learning outcomes and deliverables: Learn how to analyse data from a telescope and learn how to visualize the results.

Suitable for: 3rd or 4th year physics students, preferably with some background knowledge in astrophysics.

Primary Supervisor: Associate Professor Holger Baumgardt

Further info: Please contact Associate Professor Holger Baumgardt at h.baumgardt@uq.edu.au for further information.

Hours of engagement & delivery mode: 30-36 hours per week on St Lucia campus.

Description: Two-dimensional (2D) materials have transformed modern science. The discovery of graphene - which won the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics - showed that atomically thin crystals can be strong, transparent, and highly versatile. Since then, other 2D materials such as MoS₂, WS₂, and hBN have opened exciting opportunities in photonics, from enhancing light absorption to generating single photons for quantum technologies.

A key challenge is placing these materials with precision on photonic devices. This process, called deterministic transfer, allows 2D flakes to beintegrated with cavities such as microrings and nano beams, where light is tightly confined. These hybrid devices can be used for thermal sensing, tunable resonators, and biosensing. In the future, integrating 2D materials with photonic cavities could provide a powerful platform for biosensing.Because every atom in a 2D material lies at the surface, they are extremely sensitive to their environment. When combined with photonic cavities,this sensitivity can be amplified to detect and study how proteins and biomolecules interact with light at the nanoscale.

This project is designed for students who enjoy building experimental setups, tinkering in the lab, and learning through hands-on experience. You will design and assemble a 2D transfer system (with all necessary components already available in the lab), gain practical experience intransferring 2D flakes, and integrate them onto photonic cavities - taking the first steps toward creating hybrid devices for biosensing and thermal tuning.

Expected learning outcomes and deliverables: 

Conceptual Understanding:

• Understand the significance of 2D materials in nanophotonics and biosensing.
• Explain why deterministic transfer is essential for hybrid optical devices.
• Recognise applications in thermal sensing, resonator tuning, and biomolecular interactions.

Technical Skills (Hands-on):

• Design and build an optical transfer setup (microscope + micromanipulator + heating stage).
• Exfoliate, identify, and transfer 2D flakes with precision.
• Integrate 2D materials onto photonic cavities.
• Characterise 2D integrated photonic devices.

Suitable for: This project is ideal for students with a passion for hands-on experimentation and problem-solving across optics, materials science, and nanotechnology. While prior laboratory experience in microscopy, nanofabrication, or optical setups is advantageous, it is not essential. Most importantly, students should bring a strong curiosity to learn and a genuine enthusiasm for exploring new ideas in the lab.

Primary Supervisor: Dr Nishta Arora

Co-Supervisor: Professor Warwick Bowen

Further info: Please contact Dr Nishta Arora at nishta.arora@uq.edu.au for further information.

Hours of engagement & delivery mode: 30 hours per week on St Lucia campus

Description: Design and implement a new type of scatterer for DeepTrack2 (github.com/DeepTrackAI/DeepTrack2), which will enhance its capabilities for synthetic image generation in microscopy and related applications. DeepTrack2 is a modular Python library that enables the creation of complex synthetic datasets for training deep neural networks in imaging tasks. Scatterers are key elements in DeepTrack2, representing objects such asspheres, ellipses, or custom geometries in the image-generating pipeline.

In this project, the student will:

• Analyze existing scatterer implementations in DeepTrack2.
• Design a new scatterer, for example, a compound object (e.g., gear-like structures or multi-core vesicles), or one with non-trivial optical properties (e.g., refractive index gradients).
• Implement the scatterer class with full support for DeepTrack2’s composability, randomness, and PyTorch compatibility.
• Write tests and a short example notebook.
• Submit the implementation as a pull request to the DeepTrack2 GitHub repository.

Expected learning outcomes and deliverables: You will gain experience in computational physics and computational optics. If successful, the new scatterer will be included in the official DeepTrack2 package on GitHub and PyPI, expanding the tools available to researchers using synthetic microscopy data for training AI models.

Suitable for: Suitable for students with a strong background in programming, with experience in Python programming. Students should have some knowledge of optics and electromagnetic waves. 

Primary Supervisor: Dr Timo Nieminen

Further info: Please contact Dr Timo Nieminen at timo@physics.uq.edu.au for further information.

Hours of engagement & delivery mode: 20-30 hours per week on St Lucia campus.

Description: Quantum technology has advanced over the years; however, a significant roadblock is the lack of low cost, scalable and high efficiency solid state photon counting detectors operating at room temperature. Photon counting detectors are the photosensors in which individual photons arecounted using an ultra-sensitive photoactive element (e.g., single photon detectors). Various platforms to realize photon detectors operating invisible and NIR detector have been actively studied including materials such as cadmium telluride, Ge, III–V. However, they are expensive, bulky and in few cases requires cryogenic temperature to cool the photoactive area. Furthermore, large area scaling and pixelation of existing photosensor technology is extremely challenging task and requires stringent manufacturing control of crystal defects to maintain high “performance” over increasingly large active areas. Large area photon detector provides unprecedented control over both qualitative as well as quantitative information and broaden the scope various applications ranging from quantum optics, radiation spectroscopy, flow cytometry, 3D visions, communication, environmental sensing, robotics, and LiDAR (i.e., light detection and ranging).

The project aims to establish a world-class Photon Detector Characterisation facility and to develop next generation of visible and photon detectors by employing a totally new class of materials consisting of organic-inorganic hybrid semiconductor. In this project you will learn in-depth understanding of photon detectors and newclass of semiconductor materials made with carbon and perovskite material. This project can be either purely experimental or theoretical. See more details of organic and perovskite ptoelectronics: amio.net.au

Expected learning outcomes and deliverables: 

• Development of device technology for quantum detectors
• In-depth understanding of photophysics of semiconductor materials
• Prototype demonstration of a photon detector based on novel semiconductors.

Suitable for: 3rd or 4th year students only, interested in semiconductor and optics, optoelectronics.

Primary Supervisor: Associate Professor Ebinazar Namdas

Co-Supervisor: Associate Professor Shih-Chun Lo

Further info: Please contact Associate Professor Ebinazar Namdas at e.namdas@uq.edu.au for further information.

Hours of engagement & delivery mode: 36 hours per week on St Lucia campus.

Description: An emulsion is a mixture of two or more liquids that are normally immiscible (unmixable or unblendable) owing to liquid-liquid phase separation. Emulsions are part of a more general class of two-phase systems of matter called colloids. An example of emulsion is oil-water emulsion. Emulsions play a very important role in many industries such as food production, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and even photographic and nuclear industries, impacting everything from food texture to drug delivery. The questions that are difficult to answer have to do with improved texture and stability, enhanced flavour and aroma, reduced fat content, smooth texture etc. However, the knowledge of their basic behaviour is poorly understood.

This project is concerned with studies of how oil droplets in an oil-water emulsion deform when trapped and manipulated by multiple optical traps.The project will involve production of emulsion droplets with a low surface tension and deforming them using optical tweezers. Furthermore, measuring the force required to deform a droplet would aid in the understanding of emulsions and their stabilizing process.

The project will enable gaining skills in laboratory work concerning optics and understanding of laser micromanipulation process. The understanding of the behaviour of these types of droplets could be used for developments of new products in pharmaceutical industry and in food industry.

Expected learning outcomes and deliverables: The student will gain skills in laboratory work concerning optics, photonics and understanding of laser micromanipulation process and techniques used in this field. The results of the work could lead to publication giving the student opportunity to generate a publication. The summer student will be a member of a research group, where they will be able to present their work to the other members of the Optical Micromanipulation Group and also discuss and familiarise themselves with other projects within this group.

Suitable for: 3rd and 4th year students.

Primary Supervisor: Professor Halina Rubinsztein-Dunlop

Co-Supervisor: Dr Alexander Stilgoe

Further info: Please contact Professor Halina Rubinsztein-Dunlop at halina@physics.uq.edu.au for further information.

Hours of engagement & delivery mode: 25 hours per week on St Lucia campus.

Description: General principles of motion, such as driving and resistive forces, and energy requirements, can be used study the scaling of the motion of objects with size, fluid properties, etc. Such models can apply across many orders of magnitude of size, etc., from bacteria to macroscopic animals. Similar models, including financial costs, can used for maritime shipping to determine optimal speeds.

You will:

• Review existing models, including those developed bacterial for motion, and other organisms
• Comparing scaling laws for motion accounting for energy and financial costs for bacteria and other small organisms with those for maritime shipping

Expected learning outcomes and deliverables: You will gain experience in multi-disciplinary mathematical modelling and computation, and the application of general principles of scaling.
You will suggest models and scaling laws related to energy in bacterial motion, and analysis of their relationship to other systems such as the transport of cargo by ships.

Suitable for: Suitable for students with some experience with mathematical modelling, numerical methods, and basic physics.

Primary Supervisor: Dr Timo Nieminen

Further info: Please contact Dr Timo Nieminen at timo@physics.uq.edu.au for further information.

Hours of engagement & delivery mode: 36 hours per week on St Lucia campus.

Description: This project aims to experimentally realize and control collisions between ferro dark solitons (FDS) in spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensates through the engineering of tailored optical potentials. FDS represent a novel class of topological defects in spinor quantum gases, exhibiting exoticmagnetic properties and nonlinear dynamics that are fundamentally different from conventional scalar dark solitons.

The experimental approach centers on creating precisely controlled optical landscapes using advanced laser manipulation techniques, including spatial light modulators and holographic beam shaping. These engineered potentials will serve as customizable collision arenas, allowing systematic investigation of FDS interactions under various geometric and energetic conditions. The optical potentials will enable control overcollision velocities, impact parameters, and background spin textures, providing unprecedented access to the rich collision dynamics. FDS collisions offer unique insights into spintronic phenomena at the quantum level, as these magnetic solitons can transfer, store, and manipulatespin information through their interactions. The project will explore collision-induced spin transport, magnetic domain formation, and the emergence of complex spin patterns. Understanding these processes is crucial for developing quantum spintronic devices and advancing our knowledge of magnetic ordering in quantum matter.

Expected learning outcomes and deliverables: The experimental platform will combine high-resolution imaging of spin textures with real-time monitoring of collision dynamics, establishing a foundation for future applications in quantum information processing and magnetic storage technologies.

Suitable for: 3rd and 4th year physics students.

Primary Supervisor: Zachary Kerr

Further info: Please contact Zachary Kerr at z.kerr@uq.edu.au for further information.

Hours of engagement & delivery mode: 20 hours per week on St Lucia campus.

Description: Extremes events often have massive socio-economic impacts on our population. From the recurrence of extreme weather to financial crises, appropriate modelling of extreme events can allow us to predict extremes and mitigate their impacts. Since extremes occur in the tails of probability distributions (e.g. minimums and maximums), there is a natural relationship between estimating the recurrence of rare events andpredicting extremes in a complex system. By their nature, rare events do not occur often which makes approximating their probability of occurrence empirically challenging (or impossible in some cases). This project will address recurrence of rare events (extremes) from a dynamical perspective by introducing concepts emerging from chaotic systems that can aid in our understanding of how we can more accurately model rare events. Whilst the focus will be on learning about modern extreme value theory, the selected student will be given tasks to translate this knowledge into numerical practice by modelling extremes in real-world data using their preferred coding platform. They will have the freedom to choose any real-world time series data for application of these methods or will be provided one upon request.

Expected learning outcomes and deliverables: Students will learn the most modern ways of estimating risk using the extreme value theory framework.

Suitable for: To perform well in the project, a student should have a background in basic statistics and experience programming in any language.

Primary Supervisor: Dr Meagan Carney

Further info: Please contact Dr Meagan Carney at m.carney@uq.edu.au for further information.

Hours of engagement & delivery mode: 36 hours per week on St Lucia campus.

Description: This project introduces students to precision laser frequency stabilization using modulation transfer spectroscopy (MTS) on rubidium atoms. Stable laser frequencies are essential in atomic physics, particularly for applications such as laser cooling, quantum sensing, and precision metrology. Standard absorption spectroscopy provides broad resonance features, but MTS enables Doppler-free, high-contrast signals suitable for robust laser locking.

The aim of this project is to implement and study MTS on the Rb D2 line at 780 nm. Students will learn the physical principles of nonlinear spectroscopy, the role of phase modulation, and how modulation sidebands can be transferred to an atomic resonance. The project will includesetting up the optics, applying phase modulation using an electro-optic modulator, and detecting the demodulated error signal. Students will then analyse the signal shape, stability, and locking performance. The project offers hands-on experience in optics, spectroscopy, and feedback control.

Expected learning outcomes and deliverables: 

By performing this project you will gain:

• An understanding of nonlinear laser–atom interactions and Doppler-free spectroscopy.
• Practical experience in setting up and aligning optics.
• Hands-on use of an electro-optic modulator (EOM), photodiodes, and lock-in detection.
• Skills in oscilloscope use and in analysing error signals for laser frequency locking and evaluating stability.

What students will complete:

• Assemble and align the MTS optical set-up.
• Generate and detect MTS signals on rubidium vapor.
• Compare MTS signals with saturated absorption spectroscopy.
• Demonstrate laser frequency locking using the MTS signal.
• Produce a short written or oral report summarizing results and their significance.

Suitable for: 3rd or 4th year student physics/engineering.

Primary Supervisor: Dr Guillaume Gauthier

Further info: It is not expected for you to independently set up modulation transfer spectroscopy from scratch with no help. You will receive close, daily supervision throughout the project, with guidance on both the experimental techniques and the underlying physics. Please contact Dr Guillaume Gauthier at g.gauthier@uq.edu.au for further information.

Hours of engagement & delivery mode: 36 hours per week on St Lucia campus.

Description: The project addresses an open fundamental question in physics of how quantum mechanics applies to systems of mesoscopic and macroscopicsizes. The project will provide theoretical guidance to Australia’s research effort to experimentally demonstrate - for the first time - quantum entanglement between large, spatially separated ensembles of ultracold atoms. Apart from being of quintessential importance to validating someof the foundational principles of quantum mechanics in new realms, controlled generation of large-scale entangled systems is important for harnessing such systems for the development of future quantum devices, as well as for enabling new insights into the unification of quantumtheory with gravity. In this project, we will specifically investigate atom-atom correlations resulting from ultracold Fermi-Bose gas collisions, which are being experimentally studied at the ANU in Prof. Andrew Truscott group.

Expected learning outcomes and deliverables: Students will learn advanced theoretical and computational techniques of quantum many-body physics, including second quantisation, hydrodynamics, and utilising supercomputing cluster facilities. They will have an opportunity to generate results that may lead to publications from their research. Students may also be asked to produce a report or oral presentation at the end of their project.

Suitable for: This project is open to applications from students with background in 2nd and 3rd year physics and maths.

Primary Supervisor: Professor Karen Kheruntsyan

Further info: Please contact Professor Karen Kheruntsyan at karen.kheruntsyan@uq.edu.au for further information.

Hours of engagement & delivery mode: 36 hours per week on St Lucia campus.

Description: Microscopic environments are often governed by non-equilibrium dynamics, particularly in biological contexts, and are attracting growing interest due to their complex behaviours and relevance to real-world phenomena. Ballistic rotational optical tweezers offers a unique tool to investigatethese systems in the rotational regime and should provide a robust methodology for probing dynamics beyond thermodynamic equilibrium. This project involves implementing rotational optical tweezers to characterise dynamic changes in non-equilibrium microenvironments by using ultrafast angular position measurements through sensitive polarisation measurements. It will combine experimentation and data analysis skills.

Expected learning outcomes and deliverables: Students will gain experience working with optics and develop transferable research skills in the lab and in data analysis. Students are expected to summarise their research progress in a short report at the end of the project and present it to the research group.

Suitable for: Students studying physics who want to gain laboratory experience and are interested in optics, photonics, and light-matter interactions.

Primary Supervisor: Mark Watson

Co-Supervisor: Professor Halina Rubinsztein-Dunlop

Further info: Please contact Mark Watson at mark.watson@uq.edu.au for further information.

Hours of engagement & delivery mode: 20-36 hours per week on St Lucia campus.

Description: Quantum thermodynamics is a field of research that examines how thermodynamics applies at the nanoscale. Quantum thermal machines are an emerging branch of quantum technology that utilise quantum effects to convert heat into useful work. From the perspective of information theory, this is equivalent to transforming disordered information from a reservoir into ordered information, and hence is intimately linked to quantum information theory and quantum computing.

Quantum thermal machines could offer quantum advantages in work extraction, such as going beyond the Carnot limit and extracting work from a single heat bath. Furthermore, a major obstacle to quantum computing is that they thermalize with the environment, introducing errors into the computation. A greater understanding of quantum thermal machines offers a possibility to circumvent, or even utilise, interactions with an environment in quantum computers.

A review article on quantum thermodynamics can be found here: arxiv.org/abs/1508.06099

Expected learning outcomes and deliverables: The goal of this project is to derive an analytic model, and implement a simple numerical model, of a heat engine that exchanges particles and heat with reservoirs. It will examine the regimes of operation as a function of the two reservoir properties.

Following the successful completion of the first part of the project, the next step will be to implement the concepts in the analytical model to ainteracting quantum degenerate gas at nanokelvin temperatures using the Gross-Pitaevskii equation.

Suitable for: Self-motivated students interested in physics and/or mathematics who are interested in gaining experience in research in theoretical andcomputational quantum physics.

Primary Supervisor: Professor Matthew Davis

Co-Supervisor: Dr Lewis Williamson

Further info: Please contact Professor Matthew Davis at mdavis@uq.edu.au for further information.

Hours of engagement & delivery mode: 20-36 hours per week on St Lucia campus.

Description: Superfluidity arises when an atomic gas is cooled using laser cooling and evaporative cooling to nanokelvin temperatures. Below a critical velocitythey flow without viscosity. The UQ Bose-Einstein condensation laboratory works with these superfluids, and are interested how their nonequilibrium dynamics lead to persistent currents that never decay.

The aim of this project is to make a connection between classical mechanics and quantum mechanics - looking for the signatures of classical trajectories in the quantum wave functions. This is potentially interesting for superfluids, as to some extent they behave as classical fluids. This would require adding the effects of particle interactions - an additional nonlinear term in the Schrodinger equation.

A brief introduction to the field can be found here: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5468603

Expected learning outcomes and deliverables: In this project students will learn how to solve the linear and nonlinear Schrodinger equation computationally with sources and sinks. The results will potentially influence the UQ experimental program on Bose-Einstein condensates. A successful project will lead to publishing a paper describing the model and its results.

Suitable for: Self-motivated students interested in physics and/or mathematics who are interested in gaining experience in research in theoretical and computational quantum physics.

Primary Supervisor: Professor Matthew Davis

Co-Supervisor: Dr Andrew Groszek

Further info: Please contact Professor Matthew Davis at mdavis@uq.edu.au for further information.

Hours of engagement & delivery mode: 20-30 hours per week on St Lucia campus.

Description: Lasers have many applications in all the branches of science and technology -- they can weld, cut or drill, transmit phone calls through opticalfibers, act as sensors, produce computer printouts and much more. Following the discoveries of luminescence and electroluminescence from organic semiconducting materials, the development of lasers using organic semiconductors became a major research activity around the world. Furthermore, use of organic semiconductors opens the prospect of compact, tunable, low-cost, disposable lasers suitable for a wide range of applications. Almost all organic semiconductor lasers (OSL) reported have needed another laser (mainly bulky and expensive) to optically pump them to reach a threshold. This is a cumbersome and expensive configuration which has limited their usefulness. An alternative solution is to fabricate an optically pumped OSL that is optically pumped by compact inorganic diode laser. The main challenge is to reduce optical thresholdfor lasing. The aim of this project is to minimize the lasing threshold for OSL. In this project we will also exploit the feasibility of electrical pumplasing to potentially create the world’s first organic injection lasing. See more details of OLEDs /optoelectronics: amio.net.au/.

(This is an open-ended project. Strong background of optics, lasers or semiconductor physics is required)

Expected learning outcomes and deliverables: 

• Development of device semiconductor laser technology
• In-depth understanding of photophysics of semiconductor lasers

Suitable for: Physics, or 3rd and 4th year students only.

Primary Supervisor: Associate Professor Ebinazar Namdas

Co-Supervisor: Associate Professor Shih-Chun Lo

Further info: Please contact Associate Professor Ebinazar Namdas at e.namdas@uq.edu.au for further information.

Hours of engagement & delivery mode: 36 hours per week on St Lucia campus.

Description: The project aims to develop theoretical tools to model and understand out-of-equilibrium behaviour of quantum fluids. Such fluids are formed in interacting many-particle systems at ultra-low temperatures, and understanding how these complex systems evolve dynamically when driven out of equilibrium remains a grand-challenge of modern quantum physics. The project intends to study the intriguing dynamical properties of quantum fluids formed by ultra-cold atomic gases, in particular, by atomic Bose and Fermi gases in one-dimensional (1D) waveguides. In such 1D wave guides, and more generally in systems of reduced dimensionality, the effects of quantum and thermal fluctuations are enhanced, comparedto three-dimensional systems. As such, theoretical modelling of these systems confronts the challenges of quantum many-body physics heads on. Systems of reduced dimensionality are expected to play an increasingly important role in future quantum technologies, with its ever evolving trend in miniaturisation of electronic devices and precision measurement instruments.

The expected outcomes of the project are the knowledge and theoretical tools required to underpin advances in quantum engineering applications, such as the design of quantum heat engines, the controlof heat conduction in quantum nanowires and carbon nanotubes, and the fabrication of new energy-efficient materials. Specific sub-projects include:

• Development of new hydrodynamic theories of 1D quantum fluids at Euler and Navier-Stokes scales
• Whitlam modulation theory for propagation of 1D quantum shock waves
• Collective modes of 1D quantum fluids from the theory of Generalised Hydrodynamics (GHD)
• Quantum transport in 1D quantum fluids
• Quantum heat engines with ultra-cold atomic gases

Expected learning outcomes and deliverables: Students will learn advanced theoretical and computational techniques of quantum many-body physics, including second quantisation, hydrodynamics, and utilising supercomputing cluster facilities. They will have an opportunity to generate results that may lead to publications from their research. Students may also be asked to produce a report or oral presentation at the end of their project.

Suitable for: This project is open to applications from students with background in 2nd and 3rd year physics and maths.

Primary Supervisor: Professor Karen Kheruntsyan

Co-Supervisor: Dr Raymon Watson

Further info: Please contact Professor Karen Kheruntsyan at karen.kheruntsyan@uq.edu.au for further information.

Hours of engagement & delivery mode: 36 hours per week on St Lucia campus.

Description: This project will focus on the development and characterization of precision magnetic sensors designed for biomedical measurement modalities, including magnetoencephalography (MEG), magnetomyography (MMG), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Ultra-sensitive optomechanicalmagnetic sensors offer the potential to revolutionize non-invasive neural and muscular monitoring by enabling room-temperature, unshielded measurements, in contrast to the cryogenic or heavily shielded systems required by current technologies.

The project will investigate the performance of magnetometers based on optomechanical and piezomagnetic elements, focusing on key parameters such as sensitivity and frequency response to biomagnetic fields. Interns will work closely with a team of researchers to measure sensor responses to weak magnetic signals representative of neural and muscular activity, identify dominant environmental noise sources relevant to biomagnetic measurements (e.g., electromagnetic interference, instrumentation noise), and explore improved device designs, shielding, and signal-processing strategies to enhance sensor performance.

Practical tasks will include assembling and testing sensor prototypes, performing basic signal acquisition and analysis, and evaluating key performance metrics such as magnetic field sensitivity, noise floors, and temporal-frequency signal components. The internship will provide hands-on experience with techniques directly relevant to translating sensor technologies from the lab to biomedical applications.

Expected learning outcomes and deliverables: 

• Gain practical experience in designing and testing optomechanical magnetometers.
• Quantify sensor performance relative to biomagnetic field strengths typical of MEG and MRI signals.
• Characterize relevant signal features and noise sources and explore methods to improve sensor performance.
• Develop a preliminary roadmap for integrating these sensors into biomedical measurement systems.

Suitable for: Master's or bachelor's students in their 3rd or 4th year, ideally with a background in physics, biomedical engineering, or electrical engineering.

Primary Supervisor: Dr Benjamin Carey

Further info: Please contact Dr Benjamin Carey at benjamin.carey@uq.edu.au for further information.

Hours of engagement & delivery mode: 30 hours per week on St Lucia campus.

Description: This project offers the chance to explore an intriguing aspect of quantum physics known as quantum scarring – where certain quantum states remain unusually resistant to thermalisation, even in chaotic systems. These states concentrate along unstable classical trajectories and challenge conventional expectations about how quantum systems reach equilibrium.

You’ll focus on quantum scarring in Bose-Einstein condensates, which are many-body quantum states formed at ultralow temperatures. Ultracold atom systems provide a well-controlled setting for studying complex quantum behaviour, including thermalisation, entropy, and chaos. By adjusting the number of particles, it’s possible to explore both quantum and semiclassical regimes.

In this theoretical project, you will simulate the nonlinear Schrödinger equation in stadium-shaped potentials to investigate how particle interactions influence scarred states. The results may offer new insights into the dynamics of many-body quantum systems.

This project is suitable for students interested in quantum theory, computational physics, and dynamical systems. It provides a solid opportunity to develop research skills in a growing area of theoretical physics.

Expected learning outcomes and deliverables: New insights into how systems of many interacting particle approach equilibrium – the foundations of statistical mechanics. Evaluation of prototype schemes for experimental implementation in ultracold atoms.

Suitable for: This project is suitable for students interested in quantum theory, computational physics, and dynamical systems.

Primary Supervisor: Dr Joel Corney

Further info: Please contact Dr Joel Corney at j.corney@uq.edu.au for further information.

Hours of engagement & delivery mode: 36 hours per week on St Lucia campus.

Description: Nanodiamonds containing nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centres have emerged as promising platforms for quantum sensing and quantum computing. NV centres are atomic-scale defects in diamond due to displacement of carbon from the diamond by nitrogen and an adjacent vacancy. The NV isoptically active and can emit fluorescent light that can be modulated by changes in the surrounding environment, such as to the temperature, pH, and magnetic field. This makes them highly suitable for biosensing applications in complex environments using optical detection of magnetic resonance and spin-relaxation. We will optically trap, move, and sense nanodiamonds using optical tweezers to perform cutting edge biophysical investigations of cellular environments thus gain new insights into the world at the nanoscale. This project is built upon a rich range of physics and physical processes to better understand how NV-based nanosensors interact with cells and cell compatible environments. It can be tailored to student interests in many areas ranging from optical tweezers, quantum sensing, statistical physics, and biophysics.

Expected learning outcomes and deliverables: This project will provide an opportunity for students to learn about and use a quantum technology to investigate nano- and micro-environments under a microscope.

• Quantum optics and spectroscopy.
• Experimental design and instrumentation.
• Image processing and fluorescence data analysis.
• Scientific presentation skills.

At the end of the project, a presentation of the work conducted will be performed at a group meeting. Research materials and data must be archived at the end of the project.

Suitable for: Third year physics students.

Primary Supervisor: Dr Alexander Stilgoe

Co-Supervisor: Professor Halina Rubinsztein-Dunlop

Further info: Please contact Dr Alexander Stilgoe at stilgoe@physics.uq.edu.au for further information.

Hours of engagement & delivery mode: 36 hours per week on St Lucia campus.

Description: The Second Quantum Revolution is currently underway, and represents the merging of thermodynamic concepts of heat and work, born during the Industrial Revolution, with quantum concepts of information processing and entanglement. But how do the classical ideas on the nature of heat and work translate to quantum devices? Do the laws of classical thermodynamics also dictate the behavior of processes at a quantum level, or whether new laws are needed? The project intends to shed light on these fundamental questions by developing state-of-the-art computational models of quantum-scale machines and heat engines using the platform of ultracold atomic gases. Such gases represent archehtypical examples of interacting many-body systems, however, characterising their equilibrium and nonequilibrium properties is a challenging problem. The knowledge arising from the project is expected to underpin experimental breakthroughs in this emerging field and aid the development of new quantum technologies.

Expected learning outcomes and deliverables: Students will learn advanced theoretical and computational techniques of quantum many-body physics, including second quantisation, hydrodynamics, and utilising supercomputing cluster facilities. They will have an opportunity to generate results that may lead to publications from their research. Students may also be asked to produce a report or oral presentation at the end of their project.

Suitable for: This project is open to applications from students with background in 2nd and 3rd year physics and maths.

Primary Supervisor: Professor Karen Kheruntsyan

Co-Supervisor: Dr Raymon Watson

Further info: Please contact Professor Karen Kheruntsyan at karen.kheruntsyan@uq.edu.au for further information.

Hours of engagement & delivery mode: 36 hours per week on St Lucia campus.

Description: This project proposes developing an advanced ultra-cold atom magnetometry platform to enhance the coherence lifetime of qubits based on the clock transition of Rb-87 Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) atoms. By implementing precise magnetic field sensing protocols, we aim to activelycompensate for environmental magnetic field fluctuations that represent the primary decoherence mechanism for atomic qubits, potentially achieving coherence times exceeding the current state-of-the-art. Atomic qubits utilizing clock transitions in alkali atoms offer exceptional coherence properties due to their first-order magnetic field insensitivity. The |F=1, mF=0⟩ ↔ |F=2, mF=0⟩ clock transition in Rb-87. Ultra-cold BEC atoms offer unique advantages: reduced thermal motion eliminates Doppler broadening, collective effects can enhance sensing precision through many-body entanglement, and the macroscopic quantum coherence enables novel sensing protocols impossible with thermal ensembles.

Expected learning outcomes and deliverables: Students will develop a feed-forward magnetic sensor which operates parallel to qubit system, the sensor will utilise using machine learning algorithms for predictive field drift compensation. The student will then implement this technology and show the enhanced qubit coherence time.

Suitable for: 3rd or 4th year physics students.

Primary Supervisor: Zachary Kerr

Further info: Please contact Zachary Kerr at z.kerr@uq.edu.au for further information.

Hours of engagement & delivery mode: 30 hours per week on St Lucia campus.

Description: Constraint Programming outperforms Integer Programming on some scheduling problems, due to the effectiveness of No Overlap constraints and interval variables. This project will do a deep dive into how they work and how they are implemented in Google's OR-Tools - an open source state ofthe art Constraint Programming engine.

Expected learning outcomes and deliverables: Students will learn how No Overlap constraints work. The output will be a detailed description of the framework used. It is possible that the output will also include an implementation of No Overlap constraints using Gurobi, perhaps using a form of Benders Decomposition.

Suitable for: This project would suit someone who has completed MATH3205/7202 and is comfortable with C++ code.

Primary Supervisor: Dr Michael Forbes

Further info: Please contact Dr Michael Forbes at m.forbes@uq.edu.au for further information.

Hours of engagement & delivery mode: 30 hours per week on St Lucia campus.

Description: An important skill in Operations Research is in taking a problem from a client and formulating it as a mathematical model that can then beoptimised. This skill traditionally requires experience in a wide range of different types of models, providing an intuition for general principles and specific tricks to capture a client’s needs. However, recent advances in Generative AI have shown promise in this modelling task and thetranslation into Python code. This project will apply several Generative AI tools to a range of case studies used in UQ courses to better understand the opportunities and limitations of the approach.

Expected learning outcomes and deliverables: The student will strengthen their skill in modelling and implementing a range of problems, with a focus on applications of Operations Research in industry. The deliverables will include revised case studies that highlight the use of Generative AI.

Suitable for: Mathematics or Computer Science students who have an interest in Operations Research. Having completed MATH3202 and MATH3205 would be an advantage.

Primary Supervisor: Associate Professor Michael Bulmer

Co-Supervisor: Dr Michael Forbes

Further info: Please contact Associate Professor Michael Bulmer at m.bulmer@uq.edu.au for further information.