A doctoral citation summarizes the nature of the independent research, provides a high-level overview of the study, states the significance of the work and says who will benefit from the findings in clear, non-specialized language, so that members of a lay audience will understand it.
| Year | Citation | Program |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Dr. Yuan tackled a longstanding problem of understanding the evolution of acid during hydrolysis of xylan and successfully posed a mathematical model, with experimental evidence, to explain this behavior. Dr. Yuan also developed a bio-refinery concept for implementing bamboo into the kraft pulping process to produce dissolving pulp and ethanol. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemical and Biological Engineering (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Westlake studied the impact of political parties on multicultural policy adoption. He showed that the positions of both government and opposition parties matter, and that parties are responsive to competing pressures from ethnic minorities and far-right parties. | Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. McKay studied the epidemiology and impact of psychiatric disorders in multiple sclerosis. | Doctor of Philosophy in Experimental Medicine (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Serban created advanced solar power converters. His contribution includes higher efficiency, better stability, and improved safety for the next generation solar and energy storage power systems. | Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Nuesser asked whether parties follow voters in adjusting policies to popular demand or whether voters base their own opinions on the positions of the party they prefer for other, non-policy reasons. She found that voters routinely follow the party, not the other way around. These results point to a major democratic deficit. | Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. D'souza examined the role of the hormone leptin on body weight and blood glucose levels. She assessed the role of leptin signalling on insulin secretion and the significance of insulin levels when leptin is absent. These studies have further expanded our knowledge of leptin function in the context of obesity and type 2 diabetes. | Doctor of Philosophy in Cell and Developmental Biology (PhD) |
| 2017 | Despite their negative image, plastics are still critical to modern life. Dr. Chile investigated how modifications to bio-plastics can impact material properties, with the aim of increasing their widespread use. Her work provides insight into the feasibility of developing bio-derived and biodegradeable plastics to replace synthetic plastics. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Shi created computer methods that identify which DNA sequence alterations impact the on/off switches for gene activity. This research will help us understand how each person's DNA increases or decreases the risk for health problems. | Doctor of Philosophy in Bioinformatics (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Kay's work has established a scientific understanding of how gasses flow during the production of composite materials. This understanding will help engineers to create processes that can produce high quality composite parts at reduced costs compared to current methods. | Doctor of Philosophy in Materials Engineering (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Petrucci studied Japanese piracy in southern Japan from the early 16th century. She determined that Kyushu pirates contributed to the economic integration of Kyushu within regional trade and that their absorption into local militia groups facilitated the political integration of Kyushu under the Tokugawa regime. | Doctor of Philosophy in History (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Lu developed high-performance data switches based on integrated optics technology. His research demonstrated that integrated optical switches can provide low-cost, high-speed, and high-capacity data switching service for next generation optical communication networks. This work will help to meet the rapid growth of data traffic. | Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical and Computer Engineering (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Hein developed a new class of asymmetric ancillary ligand scaffolds for the synthesis of base-metal complexes. Low-coordinate species were isolated and used for small-molecule activation and catalysis. This research was an exploration into chemical space and will have useful impacts in future catalyst development. | Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry (PhD) |
| 2017 | Fires play an important role in forests. Dr. van der Kamp examined how fuel moisture changes across a forested landscape due to variations in terrain and forest cover. By applying a novel model for simulating fuel moisture, he found that knowing how forest cover changes is important when predicting patterns in fuel moisture. | Doctor of Philosophy in Geography (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Spencer created a framework which expands the concept of deixis to analyze Dene/Athabaskan poetics in dual-language textualized orature, focussing on the epistemological power of animals within these texts to consider the concept of "narrative revitalization," which she defines as cognate to and coeval with community practices of language revitalization. | Doctor of Philosophy in English (PhD) |
| 2017 | The interplay between ETS transcription factors and DNA is tightly regulated to maintain our normal daily life, and misregulation often leads to disease such as prostate cancer. Dr. Lau investigated the mechanism that regulates the activity of ETS factors. He also worked to develop new molecules that inhibit ETS-DNA interaction. | Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Schulz-Weiling studied the evolution of plasma near the exotic regime of Coulomb coupling. He found unexpected system behaviour in the arrest of energy redistribution channels for uncharacteristic durations, suggesting new physics. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Ferland's research investigated the importance of decision making in addiction. She found that rats who naturally made poor choices were more sensitive to cocaine and showed enhanced risky decision making after a drug experience. Her work may help to inform therapies for addiction, and will hopefully reduce stigma around the condition. | Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Sharif Khodaei's work has provided new insight into the fundamental question of how protective barriers are created between cells to block pathogen invasion and fluid loss. She identified a group of proteins that create barriers at the corners of cells and a novel mechanism that controls the levels of the main protein at cell corners. | Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Shi completed her doctoral studies in the field of wood physics. She focused on water behavior inside the wood cell walls and used water molecules to unlock the cell wall structures. Her findings contribute to a better understanding of water sorption in wood and cell wall nanostructure and subsequent application to wood products in service. | Doctor of Philosophy in Forestry (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Khademi studied the effect of depositing metal atoms on a sheet of graphene, the first known two-dimensional material. His research advanced our understanding of interactions between graphene and atoms laying on it. He also found an experimental solution to an outstanding inconsistency between predictions and experiments in this field. | Doctor of Philosophy in Physics (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Munarriz studied the opposition and resistance of Indigenous communities in Peru to extractive projects that affect their lands, health and life. He examined the central role of law in the dispossession of Indigenous lands by multinational corporations, as well as in the increasing criminalization and repression of affected communities. | Doctor of Philosophy in Law (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Gong studied Rho-kinase, an enzyme involved in regulating the shape and movement of cells. She studied its effectiveness for the treatment of diabetic cardiovascular disease, different cancers, HIV, as well as inhibitors of protein for the treatment of cancer. Her work advances our understanding of disease at the molecular level. | Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmaceutical Sciences (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Xia developed a systematic approach to apply machine health monitoring in design optimization of mechatronic systems. He improved the approaches of machine health monitoring with deep learning methods. The research enhances continuous and on demand design improvement of mechatronic systems. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Selgrath quantified how small-scale fisheries shifted from benign to damaging through a growing use of destructive fishing gears and an increasing number of fishers. She demonstrated that past fishing impacted contemporary coral reefs, and identified opportunities for conservation programs to foster sustainable fisheries. | Doctor of Philosophy in Zoology (PhD) |
| 2017 | Dr. Moon designed robots to move in communicative ways so they can better coordinate their actions with people. She developed a way for robots to hesitate in human-inspired ways when they encounter conflicts with people. Her work demonstrates that robots can be designed to negotiate with people in an intuitive, efficient, and safe manner. | Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering (PhD) |