First Nations Undergraduate
Student Summer Research Program

• People who are not of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander heritage.
• People who are not Australian citizens or permanent residents.
• People who reside outside Australia.
• People who are not currently enrolled in an undergraduate tertiary program in Queensland.
• Current Queensland Museum employees, Queensland Museum Board members, Queensland Museum Foundation trustees, and members of the Queensland Museum Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Consultative Committee are ineligible to apply.

Yes. A series of broad research projects are listed on the Expression of Interest form.

The research project you select does not need to be directly related to your area of study.

Your supervisor will work with you to refine your research project whereby it can be completed within the program's eight-week timeframe.

Application for the program is via completion of an Expression of Interest form on the Queensland Museum website.

Express interest

You will be asked to provide:

• Your contact details, the name of the course you are enrolled in, current year of study and expected completion date;
• A short Curriculum Vitae including the name and contact details of at least one (1) referee;
• An up-to-date academic transcript (unofficial transcripts are acceptable if downloaded from the official university webpage and clearly show the student’s name and the name of the university);
• Short responses to questions included in the Expression of Interest form.

You will be asked to nominate an area of interest within the Museum to undertake your research project.

Expressions of interest close at 11:59pm on Thursday, 11 September 2025.

Late applications will not be accepted.

• Students should be currently enrolled in a Queensland-based university undergraduate program.
• Students should have a minimum GPA of 4.5.
• Students should be able to come to Queensland Museum Kurilpa to attend the weekly student workshops.
• Responses to the short answers will be considered, particularly why you are interested in participating in the program and your future aspirations.

The assessment process includes:

• Expressions of Interest are checked for completeness and eligibility by Queensland Museum staff.
• An assessment panel comprising Indigenous and non-Indigenous Queensland Museum staff and an external independent member will assess the applications against the selection criteria.
• The panel will determine the Program participants, however may request an in-person interview with potential program participants to gather more information to make a final decision.

Queensland Museum reserves the right not to award all research places if suitable Expressions of Interest are not received.

Depending on the number of Expressions of Interest received, the Assessment Panel may ask you to attend an interview if they need more information about your application.

Yes, all students who submit an Expression of Interest will be notified about the outcome of their application via email by late October 2025.

The program will commence with attendance at the Orientation Days on Tuesday, 2 December and Wednesday, 3 December 2025.

No. The Summer Research Program is an extracurricular research experience and does not count towards course credit.

Students will receive a stipend of $4,000. Income tax and superannuation may apply.

If successful, you will be paid in instalments across the program against the achievement of milestones. It is important to note income tax provisions may apply.

Yes, however we encourage you to check the requirements of any scholarship you hold to ensure you do not breach their requirements.

Queensland Museum cannot provide financial and/or tax advice to students. Should you have any financial or tax-based questions about accepting a place in the First Nations Undergraduate Student Summer Research Program, please contact a finance professional.

This project involves working with Queensland Museum's editorial and biodiversity curatorial staff to research how the museum's publishing program might begin incorporating First Nations cultural knowledge alongside Western scientific knowledge in culturally appropriate ways, particularly in Queensland Museum's 'Pocket Guide' series.

The project would best suit someone studying science (especially zoology), editing and publishing, communication or other related subjects. The student would assess a forthcoming pocket guide to consider specific cultural knowledge and language that may be relevant for the topic and place.

This is also a great opportunity to learn about book publishing and gain insight into the many steps between initial concept and finished publication.

Working with the Queensland Museum Kurilpa archaeology team, this project aims to identify the parent communities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander collections within the Museum’s S register.

The project will require each archaeological site to be identified to a cultural map of Queensland’s Native Title holders; identify parent communities and contribute to the details in the Museum’s collection database. This invaluable work will improve the CMS data, community engagement and future repatriation efforts.

A project to survey the Pormpuraaw Ghost Nets (approx. 20) recently acquired into the Queensland Museum Collection.

For long term storage and conservation, it is important to have a clear understanding of the materials used in the Ghost Nets. They often include fishing lures, sinkers, found plastic objects, and other organic materials.

This project would involve documentation of each net – looking at the materials, hanging mechanisms, construction techniques and identification of areas that are fragile or vulnerable to damage. It could also include consultation with the Pormpuraaw community and artists to ensure we have a clear understanding of how each sculpture should be displayed, in terms of grouping or orientation.

The student would use conservation techniques to document and describe the nets, which will allow them to be better understood and cared for in the longer term.

This project will investigate how Traditional Knowledge (TK) Labels can be integrated into biological collections to respectfully recognise and communicate Indigenous cultural authority. It will involve reviewing current applications of TK Labels in similar institutions, and mapping how these labels could be applied to the museum’s own specimens and data.

The project will also examine how specimen labelling or databasing practices can be improved to provide more accurate, culturally sensitive, and context-rich information. It aims to provide practical recommendations to guide Queensland Museum towards more culturally responsive, collaborative, and ethically informed practices.

This project will investigate cultural learning – and explore what’s working, uncover what could be better, and research current approaches and best practice from within our local Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums (GLAM) sector and beyond.

The research will assist Queensland Museum to create practical, meaningful actions that build and develop cultural capability across our Museum sites for both staff and volunteers. Our overarching aim is to ensure Queensland Museum’s Cultural Learning Plan plays a key role in actioning the Museum’s commitment to the principle that “reconciliation is everyone’s business” by fostering respectful relationships with First Nations peoples, communities, and organisations.

Queensland Museum Kurilpa’s Wild State gallery takes visitors through five breathtaking environments – the arid outback, iconic eucalypt forest, tropical rainforest, sun-drenched coastal zones and teeming marine environments.  The gallery highlights the extreme beauty, yet fragile state of each environment. It explores how we, the human race, need to protect and preserve our precious natural world for future generations.

In this research project, the student will identify an animal in the Wild State gallery and undertake research into Indigenous Knowledges connected to that animal – which may include language, song, dance, stories, kinship systems, totems, and more – and explore how these knowledges might inform and enrich Western conservation practices. The information collected will be incorporated into the display and shared as part of Queensland Museum Kurilpa’s daily Highlights Tour.

This project aims to create a biography of a collector/donor, focusing on their engagement with the Queensland Museum and its staff. The biography will be informed by a review of archival materials, including correspondence, acquisition records, and published works. It will also draw on the Museum’s collections data to identify items currently attributed to the individual, with the aim of supporting their future recontextualisation by examining how and where they were collected, and connecting them back to their communities of origin.

Cultural Warning: Please be aware that this project will involve access to records that contain culturally sensitive, graphic and offensive language, descriptions and images that may be confronting, distressing and offensive.

Queensland Museum is actively engaged in the repatriation of First Nations materials which involves receiving surrendered items from individuals and organisations and facilitating their return to First Nations Communities.

This project will focus on a First Nations object surrendered to the Museum. The work will involve registering the item and conducting provenance research that will include archival research as well as liaising with cultural institutions, Traditional Owner groups, and other stakeholders. The project will also address challenges encountered when provenance information is incomplete or absent, and potential strategies for documenting these limitations transparently.