"I have always been fascinated by cities, and have worked as an urban planner and economist in Sydney and Melbourne. A lot of planning focuses on making bits of the city that are already nice a little bit nicer. My passion is how we can improve the ‘difficult’ areas of the city – public housing estates on the urban fringe, areas with poor public transport, few jobs, or a decaying housing stock.

"There is a growing emphasis on redeveloping public housing estates in Australia and my thesis establishes a framework for monitoring the impact of these policy interventions. The research is being supported by Housing NSW, so it responds to a ‘real world’ problem – that appealed to me. I want to continue to develop an academic career in urban policy research and teaching."

"Working with the prosecution for about eight years now I’ve been vaguely aware of inconsistencies in sentencing practice, but studying the area in a formal sense has really brought it into focus.

"I’m analysing more than 1,100 Crown appeals – where the prosecution has argued for tougher sentencing – from their introduction in 1925 to the modern day. Often these appeals are for serious crimes such as murder, manslaughter or sexual assault, which sometimes attract media and political attention.

"It’s an area that has not received much academic attention. The legal theories involved need critical review to ensure they will be relevant for the future, otherwise parliament will continue to legislate in a prescriptive way and reduce the level of discretion open to the courts, which could well lead to injustices. Equally, there needs to be a principled body of law or the parliament may have good cause to tighten sentencing discretion further."

Steven is a solicitor with the NSW Director of Public Prosecutions. His investigation of Crown appeals against sentence started as a Masters by Research before he upgraded to a PhD. He is studying part-time.

"I’m interested in how past and current systems of governance maintain or erode the sustainability of wetlands. I use a theoretical approach which focuses on humans as a part of nature, not apart from nature.

Wetlands are precious, vitally important ecosystems, under significant pressure from human impact. I hope that my work will help to improve the ecological integrity of wetland systems, and at the same time help rural flood-plain communities become resilient especially to cope with climate change and drought."

Celine is the inaugural recipient of the $60,000 Peter Cullen postgraduate scholarship for her PhD study, which examines water resource development and human activity in two rivers of the Murray–Darling Basin. She is using high-resolution satellite imagery and historic aerial photography to track the past 50 years of environmental changes.

"My PhD is looking at the ability of bacterial pathogens and amoebae to grow in recycled and drinking water.

"As water scarcity becomes an increasingly global problem more research is required to assist policy makers decide on the best solutions. Concerns about any health risks associated with recycled water make it a very topical research area to pursue.

"I want to help secure safe drinking water for present and future generations. After I finish my doctorate I hope to work in regional and remote areas in Australia and then apply my skills to developing countries in the Asia–Pacific."

Jacqueline’s work is part of a collaboration between the UNSW Water Research Centre, Sydney Water and researchers at the United States Environmental Protection Agency, where she will soon be based, courtesy of an American Australian Association Fellowship.

"My studio-based research is about the relationship between the body, the land and its representation. Specifically, my interest is in transcribing the experience of moving through the environment into various mediums including incised white paper, etched mirror and line drawings.

"I have fortunately been commissioned a few times to create large-scale artworks based on the work resulting from my research. I have always been deeply impressed by the beauty and quality of the Australian landscape, so I guess my biggest inspiration is the land itself."

Rochelle’s solo exhibition, Land Incorporated, held at COFA’s Ivan Dougherty Gallery earlier this year, was part of her PhD examination. She also took part in an international workshop run by the Imaging the Land International Research Institute at Fowlers Gap. Rochelle is currently an artist in residence in Kuala Lumpur working towards an exhibition next March.

“Coming from Indonesia, I saw so many unsolved social issues faced by ordinary people. I asked myself, maybe there is something we can do to address this issue?

In 2005 I read a book by C.K. Prahalad, a professor at the University of Michigan Business School. He wrote ‘if we stop thinking of the poor as victims or as a burden and start recognising them as resilient and creative entrepreneurs and value-conscious consumers, a whole new world of opportunity will open up’. This book inspires me to study more on what a company can do to alleviate poverty.”

Denni’s research is looking at the drivers, measures and consequences of corporate social responsibility programs on recipients. He’s hopeful his results will lead to more effective strategies to address social issues, with benefits to both business and the community. He works as an associate lecturer in the School of Marketing and earlier this year received a Society for Business Ethics Founders’ Award.

"We all know the web is great for accessing information and providing new ways of distributing media. I’m interested in the potential of contemporary technologies to show us those things, people and relationships we didn’t know we were looking for. For this reason my research has explored the way the body is moved to think, and how thought is expressed.

"I hope that my work challenges the pervasive models of thought and of technology. The implications might stretch as far as challenging the premise search engines operate on, the way we approach the design of learning management systems, or the way we discover new music."

Among Mat’s extensive media experiences are roles as a film sound designer and musician. His PhD is investigating the role media and technologies play in structuring the relationship between the body and the world. He also works as a lecturer in the School of English, Media and Performing Arts.

"There is a lot of interest in developing cancer drugs that have fewer side effects than those currently prescribed. I am using different carrier molecules to further reduce side effects and target the drug to cancer cells specifically.

"My investigation is at a very early stage. It’s rewarding to think that even though my work may not change the world, something that I have done may help someone else to make such a discovery. I really love research – no day is ever the same. I hope to continue in medical research and plan to move into post-doctoral positions overseas once my PhD is complete."

Michelle’s research focuses on the development of a ruthenium-based drug that has shown promise as a cancer treatment. She is based in the School of Physical, Environmental and Mathematical Sciences at ADFA, where she’s also teaching.

"HIV is such a big problem in Uganda. People close to me have died; access to treatment is poor. Ten percent of the world’s population lives in sub-Saharan Africa yet the region is home to two-thirds of all those infected with HIV. When resources are limited research is even more important in providing information about effective treatments. Hopefully, I can make a contribution to improving the lives of HIV-infected people in the region and help fight the epidemic."

It was the world-renowned experts at the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research that brought this Ugandan doctor to Australia. For her PhD, Helen is working on a national study investigating why some infected individuals respond poorly to treatment compared to others.