Honours research

Lily Kiriyama Bachelor of Psychology with Honours graduate sits in front a 2 computer screens, she is smiling at the camera

Why study Honours?

An Honours year is designed for undergraduate students to develop skills and interests in independent research. Your research thesis will allow you to contribute original knowledge to your discipline and may be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at academic conferences.

Plus, you’ll join the Faculty of Health's renowned research community and work alongside researchers who are making a difference to people’s health and wellbeing.

An Honours degree can also launch your career in research and academia. It is also the stepping stone to a PhD.

When it comes to a career in psychology, Honours is the necessary preparation for entry into further training for professional practice. The Psychological Science with Honours program, in particular, provides students with advanced and integrated knowledge in psychology, experience and competence in conducting research.

Rachel Clark, Psychology Honours student speaking at a podium at a Southern Cross Univeristy event for postgraduates

“The Honours Program was really well-rounded, so after I finished, I really prospered.”

Rachel Clark Psychology Honours student
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How to apply

Step 1 - Handbook

Read the Honours program handbooks and direct any questions to the appropriate Honours Coordinator: 

Bachelor of Psychological Science with Honours Handbook 2023 

or

Bachelor of Health & Human Sciences (Honours) Program Handbook 2023.

Step 2 - Supervisor

Approach a supervisor and complete a Supervision Agreement Form to submit with your application.

Information about supervisors for the Bachelor of Psychological Science (Honours) program appears on page 13 in the Bachelor of Psychological Science with Honours Handbook 2023.

Information about supervisors for the Bachelor of Health and Human Sciences (Honours) program appears on page 10 in the Bachelor of Health & Human Sciences (Honours) Program Handbook 2023.

View the list of supervisors

Step 3 - Proposal

Write a one-page project proposal to be submitted with your application.

A list of projects for the Bachelor of Psychological Science (Honours) program appears below.

A list of projects for the Bachelor of Health and Human Sciences (Honours) program appears below.

View the list of projects

Step 4 - Apply online

Once you have completed these steps, you can apply online. 

Bachelor of Health and Human Sciences (Honours)

Bachelor of Psychological Science (Honours)

Apply today
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Honours scholarships

Honours scholarships are on offer specifically for the Faculty of Health. Visit Honours scholarships on the Scholarships website for more information.

Explore scholarships

[Joshua Toope – Registered Nurse Honours Student]

 So one of the reasons I’ve chosen to do the honours grad program is the opportunities that I know it is going to open up in the future. I’d like to perhaps look at doing my masters one day and I think it is a good stepping stone on the way to getting there.

[Jana Joveljic- Registered Nurse Honours Student ]

I thought it was a great opportunity to pursue further studies whilst undertaking my graduate year and being supported by both the University and NSW Health in doing so.

[Joshua] Besides that, it also puts me in a good position to take on leadership roles in the future like CNS or nurse unit managing.

[Jana] I’d always known I wanted to pursue further studies. I’m interested in moving into critical care or education.

[Joshua] It gives me a two-year contract within the NSW Health Department and I really like the stability that kind of brings to my life.

[Jana] With the honours program you don’t have to attend university in person. It’s all online, which makes it a lot more flexible, but I prefer to go in person.

[Joshua] The workload has been extremely manageable because I’m sure as a lot of uni students are aware of we do tend to work quite a bit while doing our undergraduate studies. I’ve actually found that I’m working less now than while I was doing my undergraduate registered nursing degree.

 [Jana] One of the best things about this honours program is all the support that’s involved. We get a lot of support from our supervisors.

[Ryan Armstrong – Nurse Unit Manager] Support for me within the honours program, I guess, that’s the exciting thing. It interacts very much so with clinical leadership. So, for me I can pass on what I’ve found works in projects that I’ve been involved in. I think it’s a great transition for the student to work with them, utilising a structure from a clinical perspective and also an academic background and moulding that together to get the best outcomes for our patients.

[Jana] I would definitely recommend the program to any future student. It’s just a great opportunity to dip your toes into further study whilst also being supported.

There are two Honours degrees available:

There are two Honours degrees available:

Honours supervisors

Admission to the Honours program is also subject to the availability of appropriate supervision. These academic staff members, their research interests and contact information are listed here as potential supervisors. Other academic staff may also be available, see faculty researcher profiles.

Associate Professor Christina Aggar

Associate Professor

Research interests: Primary health care, transition programs for new graduate nurses, clinical skills education, chronic care and rehabilitation, carers and caregiving, international students and nurses

Dr Kachina Allen

Lecturer

Research interests: Cognitive psychology, attention, perception, speech and language processing, psychophysiology

Dr Jacinta Arellano

Lecturer (Teaching Scholar)

Nutritional biochemistry, herbal medicine and plant constituents, and biomedical science

Dr Alex Barwick

Course Coordinator, Lecturer

Research interests: Chronic foot disease, diabetes, screening for peripheral arterial disease, footwear, lower limb biomechanics

Dr Kyle Bennett

Lecturer

Research interests: Skill acquisition, expertise, talent, development, esports, performance analysis, sport science

Dr Jessica Browne

Lecturer

Research interests: Respiratory infectious disease, otitis media, clinical microbiology, antimicrobial resistance, microbe-host relationships, immunology

Dr Paul Butterworth

Senior Lecturer

Research interests: Obesity and foot pain, foot surgery, chronic disease

Professor Andrew Cashin

Professor

Research interest: Autism Spectrum Disorders

Dr Yingyan (Lisa) Chen

Lecturer (Teaching Scholar)

Research interests: Knowledge translation, process evaluation, change management, cardiovascular nursing research

Associate Professor Rosanne Coutts

Associate Professor

Research interests: Sport and exercise psychology, exercise physiology, sport science, exercise science, exercise interventions, teaching and learning in health

Dr Zachary Crowley-McHattan

Senior Lecturer

Neuromuscular control strategies of novel muscular contraction modes, Neuromuscular electrical stimulation and peripheral sensory stimulation effects on cross-activation/cross-education, Clinical application of cross-education interventions.

Professor Marie Hutchinson

Professor

Research interests: Nursing; nursing workforce; safety and quality; child and family nursing; patient participation; workplace bullying; domestic and family violence

Dr Elizabeth Emmanuel

Senior lecturer

Research interests: Women’s health, motherhood, domestic violence, learning, quality of life

Dr Elaine Jefford

Adjunct Associate Professor

Research interests: Maternity, women’s health, education/curriculum, clinical reasoning & decision-making, perinatal mental wellbeing, unregulated health workers (Doulas)

Associate Professor Deb Massey

Adjunct Associate Professor

Research interests: Midwifery, midwifery education, interprofessional education, women’s health, maternal and infant heath

Beth Mozolic-Staunton

Course Coordinator and Lecturer

Knowledge translation, prospective community-based design Occupational Therapy, Paediatrics, Early Intervention, School-based practice, Autism Spectrum Disorder, health and early childhood education workforce capacity building, service-learning and practice education

Dr Karin Plummer

Lecturer (Teaching Scholar)

Research interests: Nursing, pain, oncology, paediatrics

Dr Nedeljka Rosic

Senior Lecturer

Research interests: Neurodegenerative diseases, genetics, medicinal bio-products, environmental stress markers, host-microbe interaction, clinical biomarkers

Dr Nasim Salehi

Adjunct Associate Professor

Public health/health promotion, health services management/healthcare leadership, health and community services, social capital, social determinants of health, social policy and practice, social psychology, mental health and wellbeing, health psychology, citizen science, digital health, health education

Lucy Shinners

Lecturer (Teaching Scholar)

Research interests: Artificial intelligence, digital technology, intensive care

Associate Professor Christopher Stevens

Chair Human Sciences

Research interests: Sports science, exercise physiology, environmental physiology, training monitoring, exercise engagement

Dr Kirstine Shrubsole

Lecturer

Research interests: Implementation science, evidence-based practice, knowledge translation, stroke rehabilitation, aphasia, acquired communication disorders, communication access, Parkinson’s disease

Dr Felicity Walker

Lecturer

Research interests: Nursing, nursing workforce, leadership, management, teamwork, supervision and delegation, clinical placement education, collegiality/ civility in the workplace, the new graduate nurse experience, communication

Dr Nicola Whiteing

Lecturer

Research interests: Nursing, preparation for practice, curriculum design, rural and remote nursing, workforce

Associate Professor Jacqui Yoxall

Chair Allied Health, Social Work and Community Welfare, and Midwifery

Research interests: Deception detection and malingering, interpersonal violence and risk assessment, human response to trauma, interprofessional education, psychological assessment, program evaluation

Lisa Charmer

Lecturer

Birth trauma, Women's health, obstetrics, midwifery, Maternity care, Public Health and Health Services, Psychological aspects of childbirth, Perinatal mental health, Birthing on Country. 

Dr Andrew Woods

Lecturer

Research interests: nursing, workforce development, professional identities, simulation learning, peer-assisted learning, interprofessional education, action research

Honours projects

  • Measuring footwear: development of a tool to measure footwear use and related habits Alex Barwick
  • Technical and tactical performance during small-sided game variants in youth soccer Kyle Bennett
  • Identifying the psychosocial characteristics of motorically gifted children Kyle Bennett
  • Investigating the dynamic nature of nasopharyngeal colonisation in infants – this is a data-based project (not the MLST one if you still have the details on that) Jessica Browne
  • Antimicrobial activity of marine mollusc extracts against medically important microorganisms Jessica Browne
  • Development of standardised methods in antimicrobial susceptibility testing against biofilms of medically important bacteria Jessica Browne
  • Cardiac patient education Lisa Chen
  • Muscular control strategies during novel contraction modes Zac Crowley-McHattan
  • Effects of hypoxia on cognitive and motor performance Zac Crowley-McHattan
  • Clinical implication/efficacy of cross education training/intervention Zac Crowley-McHattan
  • Neuromuscular control of functional sports and training movements/methods Zac Crowley-McHattan
  • Abortion Doulas (ethics approval granted). Exploring what personal life experiences relate to person’s decision to become a doula Elaine Jefford
  • Deteriorating Childbearing Woman (ethics approval granted). Exploring Australian midwives attitudes and sociocultural factors influencing their decision-making related to recognition of and response to maternal deterioration Elaine Jefford
  • Deteriorating Childbearing Woman: Exploring educational strategies that specifically targets factors influencing midwife’s recognition and response to maternal deterioration Elaine Jefford
  • Enhancing midwives’ capacity to support women with urinary incontinence through participation in a digital game-based workshop Elaine Jefford
  • What is valued and what matters in a woman’s incontinence experience Elaine Jefford
  • Genetic polymorphism in Cystic Fibrosis in association with microbial and pathophysiological profiles Nedeljka Rosic
  • Parkinson's disease aetiology related to meat consumption Nedeljka Rosic
  • Exploring the healthcare professionals' education needs for artificial intelligence technology Lucy Shinners
  • Technology implementation frameworks for healthcare: What are the socio-cultural dimensions, and are they sufficient? Lucy Shinners
  • What are the essential components required for a safe digital hospital orientation? Lucy Shinners

Contact the Faculty of Health

Executive Assistant to the Executive Dean

Donna Simon
T: +61 7 5589 3224
E: ExecDeanHealth@scu.edu.au

Associate Dean Research

Professor Marianne Wallis AM
M: +61 427 633 708
E: marianne.wallis@scu.edu.au

Associate Dean Education

Professor Fiona Naumann
T: +61 7 5589 3470
E: fiona.naumann@scu.edu.au