Researchers recognised for excellence in doctoral research
Author ADM+S Centre
Date 1 June 2026
Researchers from ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society (ADM+S) at QUT have been recognised for their outstanding contribution to research and excellence in higher degree research practice.
Research Fellow Dr Kateryna Kasianenko has received one of three 2025 Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Awards (ODTA) awarded by QUT’s the Faculty of Creative Industries, Education and Social ScienceOt. The ODTA is provided to the top five per cent of HDR doctoral students annually the year after they graduate, with nominations from examiners reviewed by faculty committees and ultimately decided by the Research Degrees Committee.
Dr Kasianenko was awarded for her thesis ‘Cosmopolitan Practices in Digital Publics: The Case of Responses to Russia’s War on Ukraine,’ which explores
how cosmopolitanism, or an attitude of openness and responsibility towards those outside of one’s nation, is practised by social media users during Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Since completing her PhD, Dr Kasianenko has joined the Australian Search Experience 2.0 project, where she examines how searching practices and search interfaces shape each other and relate to real-world events such as wars and crises, as well as social phenomena such as partisanship.
Research Fellows Dr Dominique Carlon and Dr Phoebe Matich were awarded Executive Dean’s Commendations for Outstanding Doctoral Thesis at QUT.
Dr Carlon’s thesis, ‘Bots and Other Platform Inhabitants: Stories of Inter-Bot Governance, Automated Play, and Protest on Reddit’ examines bots as active inhabitants in digital platforms, challenging conventional views that frame them as passive tools or external entities.
Now working on the Critical Capabilities for Inclusive AI and Generative Authenticity project, Dr Carlon focuses on the development of evidence-based approaches to understand the knowledge, skills, and literacies necessary for achieving inclusive AI in Australia.
Dr Matich thesis, ‘Misinformation Claims In Australian News: Lies, Fakes, And Scare Campaigns’ explores “fake news” and information legitimacy by examining how Australian journalists engage with politicians’ misinformation claims in their news production practices. Her current work on the Generative Authenticity project investigates questions of authenticity in journalism and the relationship between generative AI, witnessing and misinformation.
