Among the most critical elements of any doctoral exam, from the perspective of those who coordinate these complexities, is the search for a strong Chair. Yet this search serves as a perennial challenge to the Doctoral Examinations team. We consider ourselves very lucky indeed if we issue fewer than 10 invitations before confirming 1 chair for an upcoming exam. It is not at all unusual in some disciplines to invite 30 or more chairs before some gracious faculty member agrees to help us out.
If you would like to contribute your time and wisdom to UBC’s doctoral exams:
- Please have a look at the list of upcoming exams below and if one interests you, please send us an email to graduate.doctoral@ubc.ca
- Or send us an email detailing the areas that interest you and days/times that you might be generally available and we'll contact you as new exams are scheduled. Again, send an email to graduate.doctoral@ubc.ca
Please bear in mind that the chair cannot be affiliated with the candidate’s graduate program, or a member of the supervisor's department..
Friday, May 1, 2026 9:00 AM - Room 200
Avilash Mukherjee
(Electrical & Computer Engineering)
Energy Efficient Deep Neural Network Accelerators
Supervisor(s): Professor Sudip Shekhar, Professor Mieszko Lis
Friday, May 8, 2026 9:00 AM - Room 200
Jessica Toigo
(Chemistry)
Development of Earth-Abundant Photosensitizers for Photocatalysis
Supervisor(s): Professor Michael Wolf
Friday, May 8, 2026 12:30 PM - Zoom
Maria Cristina Breilh Ayora
(Interdisciplinary Studies Graduate Program)
Music Praxis, Sumak-Alli Kawsay (Wellness-Healthy Living) and Cultural Transformative Action in Two Andean Ecuadorian Communities
Supervisor(s): Professor Gage Averill
Friday, May 8, 2026 2:00 PM - D219, Chemistry Bldg, 2036 Main Mall
Elvis Chandler McFee
(Chemistry)
Photoredox Oxetane Functionalization and the Development of a 3-Electrode High-Throughput Electrochemistry Platform
Supervisor(s): Professor Corinna Schindler
Friday, May 8, 2026 4:00 PM - 146, ICICS, 2366 Main Mall
Gaurav Bhatt
(Computer Science)
Building Robust and Adaptative Foundation Models Using Structured Learning Signals
Supervisor(s): Professor Leonid Sigal
Monday, May 11, 2026 12:30 PM - Room 200
Chuiyang Meng
(Electrical & Computer Engineering)
Resource-Aware Distributed Edge Intelligence
Supervisor(s): Professor Vincent Wong
Tuesday, May 12, 2026 9:30 AM - 969, Henry Angus Building, 2053 Main Mall
Rui Cao
(Sauder School of Business)
Essays About Firm Cybersecurity Risk Management
Supervisor(s): Professor Hasan Cavusoglu, Professor Moksh Matta
Wednesday, May 13, 2026 9:30 AM - 5505, Fred Kaiser Building, 2332 Main Mall
Bahar Iranpour
(Electrical & Computer Engineering)
Prolonged Slow Cycling in Aqueous Zn-MnO2 Batteries
Supervisor(s): Professor John D Madden
Wednesday, May 20, 2026 12:30 PM - Zoom
Allan Michel Jales Coutinho
(Curriculum and Pedagogy)
Reconceptualizing Curriculum in Internationalization: Conceiving Futurity
Supervisor(s): Professor William Pinar
Thursday, May 28, 2026 12:30 PM - Room 200
Yuying Lin
(Zoology)
Origin and Maintenance of Genetic Variation in Guppies
Supervisor(s): Professor Judith Mank