Why do honours in health and social development?
An honours year builds on the foundation of study in content and research methods provided by undergraduate degrees in Health Sciences, Bachelor of Public Health and Health Promotion or Biomedical Science.
For prospective employers, honours graduates have an edge on their CV by demonstrating high levels of achievement, critical reading and information retrieval skills, and critical thinking and project management skills.
For critical thinkers, the honours program provides a pathway to the highly selective research candidature for higher degrees such as masters and PhD. Previous honours students have continued to complete PhD studies and acquired academic careers as researchers, lecturers and public health leaders in Australia and internationally.
Themes
A number of themes cut across the research endeavours within the School of Health and Social Development. There is a focus on social diversity and improving the health of marginalised/excluded groups, and a commitment to outcome-oriented research. Research in the School focuses on:
- gambling
- gender, family, reproductive and sexual health
- health, diversity and social inclusion
- health economics
- health literacy
- obesity prevention, healthy food environments and food policy
- physical activity, motor skill competence and self-perception
- professional practice and higher education in public health, health promotion, social work, occupational science and therapy
- refugee health
- sustainability, environments, communities, nature and health
- violence and abuse: prevention and intervention.
Skills gained studying honours
- Develop higher level skills in information retrieval and the critical analysis of published material.
- Develop conceptual frameworks and methodological procedures for the collection, analysis and interpretation of data.
- Become familiar with significant ethical and professional issues.
- Produce a thesis which demonstrates evidence of research ability and written communication skills.
Project proposals
If you are interested in honours, we encourage you to start preparing by thinking about your research interests, discussing these with supervisors and consider your preferences. Please contact the supervisor(s) listed in the below spreadsheet to express your interest in the topics, including those from previous years to explore other possible research areas.
View the honours information session 2024
View our honours supervisors pitch for projects in 2024 and 2025