Charmine Hartel

Accepting PhD Students

PhD projects

Join the Opportunity Tech Lab Research Team!

https://www.monash.edu/business/impact-labs/opportunity-tech-lab

We are currently accepting PhD students who are passionate about contributing to an equitable society and digital economy through innovative applied research. Our interdisciplinary team explores a variety of impactful topics, including:

Digital Innovations for Social Good: Focus on developing and implementing digital technological solutions that address societal inequities. For example, virtual reality programs that counteract socio-cultural stigmas or foster an empathetic understanding of the barriers people with disabilities face on their path to open employment and digital tools to identify bias in digital services or apps.

Inclusive Employment and Entrepreneurship: Leverage emerging technologies (e.g., VR, AR, AI) to tackle bias, discrimination, and barriers faced by minorities and disadvantaged groups, such as vulnerable and low-income women, neurodivergent individuals (e.g., autism, ADHD, Dyslexia), people with cognitive impairments, and people with mental health conditions (e.g., depression, anxiety, PTSD).

Social Impact Evaluation: Measure and evaluate the effectiveness of social initiatives. This theme involves developing new metrics and indicators to assess the impact of various programs and technologies on all members of society.

Mental Health Disparities: Address systemic social and economic disparities, focusing on mental health disparities. Research may include studying the social determinants of mental health and initiatives to improve access to mental health care for underserved populations, e.g., creating mental health platforms for underserved populations and digital coaching tools to support employee mental health.

Inclusive Work Design: Explore innovative approaches to work and learning with virtual, extended or augmented reality. Projects could involve designing VR-based training modules for people with disabilities and their employers, or developing AR tools to foster inclusive behaviours in groups and organisations.