The Dean’s Award for Outstanding PhD Theses recognises PhD graduates who have been commended by their thesis examiners.
To be eligible for this award, candidates must produce a thesis that requires only minimal corrections, received outstanding and/or excellent levels of achievement for all examination criteria, and in the opinion of both examiners is in the top 10% of PhD theses examined.
Inaugural Awards
Faculty of Art and Design
Name |
Thesis Title |
David Eastwood |
Studio Afterlife: The Function of the Posthumous Studio in Contemporary Art |
Regina Saunders |
'Vaguely Familiar': haunted identities, contested histories, Indigenous futures |
Kynan Tan |
Rendering computational conditions: experiencing the relationality of data and algorithm through multisensory digital artworks |
Rewa Wright |
Mixed Reality Re-assembled: software assemblages at the edge of control |
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Name |
Thesis Title |
Sophie Adams |
The biopolitics of adaptation to a changing climate: Constructions of the adaptive capacity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians |
John Apter |
Rethinking the Australian Dilemma: Economics and Foreign Policy, 1942-1957 |
Abraham Bradfield |
Decolonising Consciousness: Art, identity and engaging Indigenous artists in far western New South Wales |
Anthony Chmiel |
Theory, data, and application of psychological principles for music preference |
Amy Ireland |
Xenopoetics: Time, Matter, Transmission |
Xi Luan |
Mobilising Pierre Bourdieu's Theory to Understand the Role of Supplementary Education: A Chinese Story |
Kate Montague |
Tragedy After 1945: Affect and Labor in the American Novel |
Thanh Ha Ngo |
Developing A Model for Vietnamese Private Higher Education: Lessons from China and Korea |
Melissa Rogers |
Revisiting Alfred Hill (1869-1960): examining issues of reception and compositional approach |
Mahsa Salamati |
Transnational Film Circulation in the Iranian Context: From Conjunctural Crisis to Discursive Heterotopia |
Zahra Zsuzsanna Luhna Stardust |
Alternative Pornographies, Regulatory Fantasies and Resistance Politics |
Sophie Yates |
A Critical Frame Analysis of Victoria's Royal Commission into Family Violence |
John Zubrzycki |
Transnational exchanges in magical knowledge and methodologies between India and the West, 1813-1940 |
Faculty of Built Environment
Name |
Thesis Title |
Carlos Bartesaghi Koc |
Assessing the thermal performance of green infrastructure on urban microclimate |
UNSW Business School
Name |
Thesis Title |
Garland Jichao Huang |
Institutional Ownership and Technology Spillovers |
Eunice Khoo |
The Impact of Reputation on a Firm's Financial and Non-Financial Outcomes |
Dandan Yu |
Three Essays on Household Decision-Making |
Faculty of Engineering
Name |
Thesis Title |
Deepak Dalakoti |
Direct numerical simulation of lifted flames in diesel engine conditions |
Jinwen Feng |
Unified probabilistic and interval analysis of structures with hybrid uncertainties |
Alireza Gerami Kaviri Nejad |
Utilizing microfluidics for visualization of multiphase flow in coal cleats |
Xi Gu |
Heat Generation in Irradiated Gold Nanoparticle Solutions for Hyperthermia Applications |
Ziyuan Gu |
Dynamic Congestion Pricing in Urban Networks with the Network Fundamental Diagram and Simulation-Based Dynamic Traffic Assignment |
Wei Huang |
One- and two-qubit operations in Si-MOS quantum dots |
Haiwen Li |
Dynamic properties of sand-fiber mixtures |
Yifeng Li |
Advanced Modelling, Optimisation and Control of Vanadium Redox Flow Battery |
Joanna Ng |
Biotextilogy - Applications for Research and Development |
Alireza Pouraminaein |
Design Optimization of High-Performance Interior Permanent Magnet Machines Using a Fast and Accurate FE-based Technique |
Matthew Priestley |
Developing fault-tolerant control strategies for a five-phase permanent-magnet machine drive system |
Brian Stasak |
An Investigation of Acoustic, Linguistic, and Affect Based Methods for Speech Depression Assessment |
Haiqiao Wang |
Cubosome and Hexosome Microparticles: Shape, Rheology, and Templating |
Yuan Wang |
Porous Metal Oxides and Supported Noble Metal Catalysts for Methane Oxidation and CO2 Methanation |
Changyong Zhang |
Selective Abatement and Recovery of Nutrients from Wastewaters using Electrochemical Technologies |
Yulai Zhang |
Multi-scale Characterisation of Diffusion in Shale |
Qiancheng Zhao |
Investigation of light, thermal and radiation induced effects on the spectral behaviors of BACs in Bi/Er codoped silica-based fibers |
Faculty of Medicine
Name |
Thesis Title |
Jongho Baek |
Improvements in super-resolution fluorescence microscopy |
Sahar Bajis |
Enhancing the care cascade for hepatitis C infection in marginalised populations |
Adeniyi Borire |
Utility of Ultrasound in Peripheral Neuropathy |
Deborah Burnett |
Investigation into immune tolerance |
Sophie Carter |
Novel respiratory phenotyping to determine the effects of zopiclone on obstructive sleep apnoea |
Keeming Chia |
Targeting the androgen receptor in breast cancer |
Qian Du |
DNA replication timing: impact on the cancer genome and epigenome |
Alex Gavino |
Studies on atrial fibrillation and associated risk factors in a rural Australian population |
Katherine Giles |
BRG1 ATP-Dependent Chromatin Remodelling in Prostate Cancer: Epigenetic Consequences |
Simon Hardwick |
Designing synthetic spike-in controls for next-generation sequencing and beyond |
Tejaswi Kandula |
Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy in Children |
Erin Kelly |
Tackling adolescent bullying head on: Victimisation, perpetration and targeted intervention |
William Lee |
Improving risk assessment for drugs that cause cardiac arrhythmias: In silico and in vitro insights into acquired long QT syndrome |
Chantal Marquez Badilla |
Differential modulation of HIV-1 capsid uncoating kinetics revealed by a novel single-particle uncoating assay |
Joyce Meiring |
Recruitment and Organisation of Tropomyosins in Stress Fibres |
Vivienne Moxham-Hall |
Investigating the Utility of Indexes in Comparative Drug Policy Analysis |
Erin Nesbitt-Hawes |
The structure, function and treatment of the pelvic floor in women with chronic pelvic pain |
Pietro Ridone |
Modulation of mechanosensitive channel activity by plasma membrane lipids |
Eden Robertson |
The development and pilot of 'Delta': Supporting parents and young people deciding whether to enrol in a paediatric oncology clinical trial |
Amanda Roxburgh |
The epidemiology of opioid overdose mortality in Australia |
Neda Seyedsadjadi |
Associations between modifiable lifestyle behaviors and plasma biomarkers of oxidative stress, inflammation and NAD+ metabolism in an apparently healthy human cohort |
Rachel Sutherland |
New Psychoactive Substances in Australia |
Scott Teasdale |
Nutrition Interventions In People Experiencing Severe Mental Illness |
Faculty of Science
Name |
Thesis Title |
Peter Ayre |
Hypergraphs: Colourability, Contiguity and Rigidity |
Eun A Choi |
The role of paraventricular thalamus in motivational conflict |
Gustavo Espinoza Vergara |
Mechanisms of intracellular resistance and the role of the escape of Vibrio cholerae from protist hosts |
Gavin Ferguson |
Age-related changes of glutathione homeostasis in Caenorhabditis elegans |
Georgette Fleming |
Internet-delivered parent training for young Australian children with conduct problems: Adapting treatment for non-responders |
Franzisca Froreich |
Issues of personal control in eating disorders: from theoretical understanding to application in clinical practice |
Emma Gibson |
Sex Hormones, Tears and Dry Eyes |
Nadja Herger |
Towards a viable alternative to model democracy using optimal climate model subset selection |
Jinghao Huang |
Derivations with values into ideals of a semifinite von Neumann algebra |
Karina Hudson |
Spin Properties of Heavy Holes in Low-Dimensional Quantum Electronic Devices |
Zoey Isherwood |
A BOLD approach to natural scene statistics |
Dohyung Kim |
Exploring Nanoscale Properties in Metal Halide Perovskites and Multiferroics via Scanning Probe Microscopy |
Huan Lin |
Novel likelihood-based inference for symbolic data analysis |
Neil Mallo |
Visible light-responsive photoswitches |
Anna McGann |
Derivation Of Fractional-Order Models From A Stochastic Process |
James McPherson |
Transition metal and lanthanide chemistry of dipyridylpyrrolide ligands |
Firouzeh Noghrehchi |
Multiple Imputation and Access to Likelihood Based Tools in Missing Data Problems |
Gennady Notowidigdo |
Rational trigonometry of a tetrahedron over a general metrical framework |
Daniel Pearson |
Learning to avoid looking: The influence of reward on attentional capture and control |
Metaxia Toumbelekis |
The Effect of Secure Attachment Priming on Fear Learning |
Uyen Tran |
Development of Novel Organic Syntheses Using Sustainable Methods |
Hon Lun Wong |
Rocking the cradle of life: Illuminating the microbiome of microbial mats from Shark bay using genome-resolved metagenomic analyses |
Yanfang Wu |
Solid-State Nanopore Blockade Sensors: From Fabrication to Localized Surface Functionalization to Sensing Application |
Jenna Zhao |
Control over emotion-induced blindness: The roles of context, expectation, and motivation |
UNSW Canberra
Name |
Thesis Title |
Peter Job |
The Fraser government and the Indonesian occupation of East Timor, 1975-1983 |
Angeline Lewis |
Rajah Brooke and the 'Pirates' of Borneo: A Nineteenth Century Public Debate on Sea Power |
Abdullah Salamai |
Intelligent Decision Support System for Risk Management in Supply Chains |
2020 Round 1
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Name |
Thesis Title |
Leon Ankersmit |
Partnership between birth parents and foster carers: a complex systems framework |
Caitlin Buckle |
Mapping mobile lives: Explorations of migrants' lived experiences through narrative, visual imagery and virtual visitation |
Anthea Compton |
The function of "traditional culture" in Australian political discourse, 1963-2007 |
Kenny Kor |
A multi-informant study on practice development and implementation of therapeutic residential care for young people in Out of Home Care |
Vicki Likourezos |
The Variability Effect: An Instructional Approach to Enhance Mathematics Learning |
Faculty of Built Environment
Name |
Thesis Title |
Malay Dave |
High performance prefab housing: towards an evaluation framework for design, sustainability and affordability |
Jin Zhu |
Pro-growth planning regime and housing outcomes in urbanising China: A case study of Shanghai |
UNSW Business School
Name |
Thesis Title |
David Bell |
Three Essays Exploring intertemporal asset allocation |
Jonas Heller |
Reality re-imagined: How augmented reality redefines decision processes and consumer behaviour in retailing |
Faculty of Engineering
Name |
Thesis Title |
Yara Alzahid |
Multi-Dimensional Visualization Methods for Multiphase Flow Characterization of Alkaline-Surfactant-Polymer (ASP) Flooding: Impact of Phase Behavior |
Serwan Asaad |
Electrical control and quantum chaos with a high-spin nucleus in silicon |
Kaixuan Chen |
Multi-modal Human Behavior Understanding |
Yongyoon Cho |
The development of interface engineering for improving stability and efficiency of perovskite solar cells and understanding meta-stability of perovskite solar cells |
Chen Deng |
Non-Precious Metal-based Electrocatalysts from Prussian Blue Analogues for Energy-Related Reaction |
Ali Dorri |
A Scalable Lightweight Blockchain-based Framework for IoT Security and Anonymity |
Scott Dorrington |
The Trajectory Optimization & Space Logistics of Asteroid Mining Missions |
Song Gao |
Interfacial engineering by meso/microporous materials towards efficient biocatalysis |
Maryam Haghighat |
Rate-Distortion Driven Overcomplete Decomposition of Imagery for Compression |
Tuan Le |
Buckling of high-strength steel beams |
Da Seul Lee |
Solution Process Engineering for Improving Stability and Efficiency of Perovskite Solar Cells |
Aziz Mahmood |
Development of a High-density geopolymer concrete for coastal protection applications |
Alison McQuillan |
A Risk-Based Slope Stability Assessment Methodology (SSAM) for Excavated Coal Mine Slopes |
Laura Montano Luna |
An experimental study of free-surface dynamics and internal motions in fully aerated hydraulic jumps |
Sayidul Morsalin |
Diagnostic Measurement and Modelling of Electrical Insulation Based on Very Low Frequency High Voltage Excitation |
Lingzhe Rao |
In-Cylinder Soot Oxidation in an Optically Accessible Automotive Diesel Engine |
Adel Rezaeimotlagh |
Non-thermal processing of liquid food products by using Radio Frequency Electric Fields (RFEF) technology |
Michael Roberts |
The value of co-operation: Opportunities for deployment of rooftop photovoltaics on Australian apartment buildings |
Zahra Sadrearhami |
The value of co-operation: Opportunities for deployment of rooftop photovoltaics on Australian apartment buildings |
Chenyu Wu |
Computer-guided design of photocatalyst for PET-RAFT polymerisation |
Weiwei Xing |
A Scaled Boundary Finite Element Based Node-to-node Scheme for Contact Problems |
Yitao Yan |
Distributed control of interconnected systems in the behavioural framework |
Fan Zhang |
Rational design of wearable strain sensors by employing dual-scale fillers and structural engineering |
Yan Zhu |
Advanced Characterization of Defects in Silicon Wafers and Solar Cells |
Yuting Zhuo |
Numerical modelling of the pyrolysis of ellipsoidal low-rank coal briquettes and pyrolysis product char combustion in a blast furnace |
Faculty of Law
Name |
Thesis Title |
Bradley Gooding |
Plurality in Legal Reasoning - the Place of Value Pluralism in Theories of Law and Adjudication |
Faculty of Medicine
Name |
Thesis Title |
Ilina Bareja |
Unravelling the molecular interactions of tropomyosin on actin at the single molecule and single filament level |
Yolanda Colino Sanguino |
Dissecting the role of histone variant H2A.Z acetylation in transcription regulation |
Sophie Hertel |
Templated Assembly of the Bacterial Flagella Motor Protein FliG using DNA Nanostructures |
Shann Hulme |
The diversion and supply of pharmaceutical drugs for non-medical use |
Elan Lazuardi |
Navigating the social dynamics of HIV care: a qualitative study in urban Indonesia in the era of scaled-up testing and treatment |
Robert Lloyd |
The Effect of Chiari Malformation Type I on Cerebrospinal Fluid Dynamics |
Alastair Loutit |
Suitability of the dorsal column nuclei for a neural prosthesis: functional considerations |
Richard Mellor |
Advancing understandings of remission and approaches to treatment through an examination of untreated remission from alcohol problems |
Liza Tilia |
Is there a Link Between Oocyte Meiotic Spindle Normality and Embryo Euploidy? |
Collin Tran |
Investigating the role of sphingosine 1-phosphate in neuroprotective signalling |
Anne Wand |
Understanding self-harm in the very old: A qualitative study with implications for clinical care and wider society |
Faculty of Science
Name |
Thesis Title |
Erica Barlow |
Diversification of early life: Microfossils of the c. 2.45-2.21 Ga Turee Creek Group, Western Australia |
Claire Brandenburger |
Rapid evolution of an introduced plant |
Ngee Kiat Chua |
Degron features of the regulatory domain of squalene monooxygenase - a rate limiting enzyme in cholesterol synthesis |
Phillip Green |
Determinants of Choice in Animal Models of Gambling |
Thomas Macdonald |
Controlling Molecular Motion |
Edward McDonald |
Double Operator Integration with applications to Quantised Calculus |
James Peak |
Investigating the roles of dorsomedial striatal projection neurons in goal-directed action |
Angela Soeriyadi |
Expression, Characterisation, and Engineering of Cyanobacterial Natural Product Biosynthetic Pathways |
Thomas Stindl |
Statistical inference for renewal Hawkes self-exciting point processes |
Song Tang |
Correlation between microstructure and properties of magnesium-lithium-aluminium alloys |
Shyam Tummanapalli |
Evaluation of corneal nerves and tear neuromediators in diabetic peripheral neuropathy |
Gaurav Vats |
Investigation of electrical, optical and mechanical control of ferroelectric domains using scanning probe microscopy |
Adrian Walker |
Learning and earning under uncertaninty: The impact of uncertainty on human choice and attention in the exploration/exploitation trade-off |
Daniel Wenholz |
Development of Bacterial RNA Polymerase Holoenzyme Inhibitors and Total Synthesis of an Archaea Signalling Molecule |
UNSW Canberra
Name |
Thesis Title |
Ali Abbas Hussein Ameri |
Microstructural Evolution of Lean Duplex Stainless Steels under Different Loading Conditions |
Binod Aryal |
Mechanical Behaviour of Carbon Fibre Reinforced Laminates and Honeycomb Sandwich Panels Subjected to Low-Velocity and High-Velocity Ballistic Impacts |
Sumana Biswas |
Real-Time Path Planning for a Swarm of Autonomous Systems |
Florian Gottwalt |
ACNADA: A Contextual Network Anomaly Detection Approach for False Alarms Reduction and Semantic Reasoning Enhancement |
Ahsanul Habib |
Efficient Algorithms for Computationally Expensive Optimization Problems |
Nickolaos Koroniotis |
Designing an effective network forensic framework for the investigation of botnets in the Internet of Things |
Vu Lam |
Intermestic Public Diplomacy in Vietnam: Boosting International Standing and Drumming up Domestic Support |
Carlos Macana Morena |
Modeling and Control of Inverter Based Microgrids |
Awanthika Senarath |
Embedding Privacy into Software Systems : A Privacy Engineering Methodology for Data Minimisation |
Vu Phi Tran |
Formation Control of Multi-Vehicle Systems using Negative-Imaginary-Systems Theory in Uncertain Environments |
Yuanlong Wang |
New Developments in Quantum Tomography |