The University of Toronto Mississauga is proud to announce its newest graduate initiative - the inaugural UTM International PhD Scholarship Program that recognizes incoming international students that have demonstrated outstanding academic achievement. The Program aims to advance graduate activity and research at UTM while increasing the number of international doctoral students admitted to participating tri-campus programs.
The inaugural cohort is comprised of ten scholars from around the globe. In addition to funding, the scholars participate in unique programming and networking opportunities. They also play a pivotal role in nurturing a diverse and inclusive graduate scholarly community on the UTM campus.
Shawn Gu
Shawn is currently enrolled in the doctoral program in Classics and holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Toronto, where he majored in Classical Civilizations and Near and Middle Civilizations. He is deeply passionate about history, literature, and linguistics. Shawn has valuable experience as an undergraduate editor for the Plebeians Journal and as a scholar-in-residence in the Jackman SiR Program.For his graduate research, he is currently focusing on assessing the level of cultural diversity during the Hellenistic Period. His research aims to investigate the extent to which the introduction of Greek sovereignty and the spread of Hellenic culture influenced and became ingrained in Greek-occupied Asian communities
Jixin Jia
Jixin is currently at PhD student at the Cinema Studies Institute. Born and raised in Shanghai, China, he has spent the past six years in the United States, where he completed both his BA and MA degrees. His research is centered on Sinophone cinema, which encompasses films produced by individuals or ethnic groups who speak Chinese in its various forms. Jixin's primary research areas include environmentality and elemental media theory. In addition to his academic pursuits, he is also a filmmaker, specializing in documentaries and essay films.
Han Kang
Han Kang is a doctoral student of political theory in the Political Science department. They received a BA in Sociology and Political Science from Seoul National University, and an MA in Political Science at the same institution. Their interests are liberalism, gender, and the history of political thought in the 19th and 20th centuries. For their PhD project, Han plans to investigate the relationship between liberal theory and cultural conceptions of gender, through historical research on late 19th century feminist, cultural, moral, and legal discourses in the English-speaking world. Their question would be: what do the ways in which the modern state coerces and endorses gender norms, either explicitly or implicitly, reveal to us about contemporary notions of liberal legitimacy and citizenship? For their research, Han intends to work at the intersection of political theory, gender/queer/trans studies, and global intellectual history.
Zeynab Kohandel
Zeynab is currently pursuing her master's degree at York University. She completed her undergraduate studies in biology at the University of Tehran in Iran. Her master's thesis is centered on genetics and involves the application of CRISPR/Cas9 technology to achieve genetic modification in mosquitoes. Zeynab is set to commence her PhD studies at the University of Toronto in January.
Congping Li
Congping is a Cantonese researcher hailing from Huizhou City, Guangdong Province, China. She earned both her bachelor's and master's degrees from Sun Yat-sen University in China, majoring in Tourism Management and Planning. Now, as a first-year PhD student in Human Geography, she has embarked on her academic journey at the University of Toronto. Congping's research interests are centered on the urban built environment and its impact on mental health.
Yating Liao
Yating Liao is a first-year Ph.D. student in the Anthropology Department. Her research interests lie in the Archaeology of East Asia, especially early China. In her MPhil project completed in Hong Kong, she conducted a systematic study of circular jades in Hong Kong dating back to before 500 BC and discussed the two manufacturing systems in the production process, elucidating local innovation and cultural developments.
Fesobi Oluwamuyiwa
Fesobi, a first-year Ph.D. student from Nigeria, brings a diverse educational background to the Anthropology department. He holds a first-class degree in Microbiology from the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), and a Master's degree in Bioinformatics from Covenant University. While his academic home is in the Anthropology department, Fesobi's research takes an interdisciplinary approach. He will be conducting Genome-wide analysis studies to uncover genetic variations associated with suicidality. This research spans across multiple fields, including anthropology, psychopathology, statistics, and precision medicine. Fesobi is eagerly looking forward to the exciting challenges that lie ahead in this interdisciplinary journey.
Maria Shemeteva
Hailing from the Russian Federation, Maria is set to join the University of Toronto's Department of Physics as a first year PhD. Maria obtained her Bachelor's degree at HSE University in Moscow, majoring in Nanooptics. n the Fall of 2023, she joined the Gradinaru group to study the regulation of Go signalling in live cells in the context of CNS disorders. She will use single particle tracking to study Go activation and regulation in the live cell environment, where expression levels, membrane rigidity and crowding effects are likely critical factors. The goal is to address key questions about receptor-G-protein (RG) coupling in the cell membrane, in the context of the A2AR–Go system.
Kezia Suryoraharjo
Kezia Erina Suryoraharjo is a direct-entry PhD student in Analytical Chemistry working under the supervision of Professor Alana Ogata at University of Toronto's Department of Chemistry. Born and raised in Indonesia, she relocated to Toronto to pursue her undergraduate studies. She holds an Honours Bachelors of Science in Chemistry from the University of Toronto, where she gained research experience in Synthetic Chemistry through working on ligand design for inorganic complexes as well as Analytical Chemistry through developing titration on a digital microfluidic platform. Her doctoral research focuses on utilizing ultrasensitive detection for gynecological disease diagnostics, specifically endometriosis biomarker discovery. Driven by the complexity and the pressing need, she aims to help improve women's health.
Kai Wang
Kai, originally from China, is in the first year of his Ph.D. program in art history. With over a decade of dedicated study in the field, his primary focus is on premodern Chinese art history. Kai completed his Bachelor's and initial Master's degrees in art history in China before earning his second Master's degree at the University of Toronto. During his time in China, he gained valuable experience working at both a museum and a university. While pursuing his MA program at U of T, he also served as a Teaching Assistant at UTM. He is set to continue this role as a TA at UTM in the upcoming semester.