AARMS invites nominations for two $2,500 Doctoral Thesis awards to be awarded in the Fall each year.  These awards will recognize exceptional research achievement of recently graduated doctoral students from Atlantic Canada.  AARMS welcomes and encourages applications from members of any group traditionally underrepresented in the mathematical sciences.  The nomination deadline is Nov 15 each year.  Award winners will be invited to give an online AARMS colloquium during the academic year.

2023-24 Award

Eligibility

Any doctoral student that successfully defended their thesis between Sept 1, and August 31 in either of the two most recent academic years, and was supervised (or co-supervised) by a faculty member from an AARMS member university Mathematics and/or Statistics Department is eligible for this award.

Selection criteria

Award winners will be selected on the basis of the excellence and impact of their doctoral thesis, as well as regional representation with Atlantic Canada.  The Selection Committee will also take into account that AARMS is committed to fostering a welcoming environment—one that is equitable, diverse and socially just.

Nomination procedures

Nomination materials should be submitted to our online portal by 11:59 pm (Atlantic time) on Wednesday, November 15.  Applications consist of:

  • Nomination letter from the supervisor summarizing the main research results and impact on the field (required).
  • A pdf copy of the thesis (required).
  • Current CV of the student (required).
  • Up to two additional letters of support (optional). Letters of support or reports from external examiners and/or examining committees are encouraged.

The first step of the nomination procedure is for the nominator (the student’s supervisor or one of the co-supervisors) to create an application via our online portal. Note that the nominator is responsible for uploading the supervisor letter of support and the CV, both of which are mandatory. If there is more that one supervisor, there should be a single letter from all supervisors.

From within online portal, the nominator may choose to generate electronic invitations for the student and other letter writers to upload optional additional documents.

All nomination materials should be submitted to our online portal by 11:59 pm (Atlantic time) on Wednesday, November 15. Any questions about the submission process should be directed to David Langstroth.

2022-23 Award Winner

Dr. Hamdan received his PhD from Memorial University in August, 2022, under the supervision of Dr. Scott MacLachlan, for a thesis entitled, Finite-element methods for fourth-order problems and smectic A liquid crystals.

A key goal of applied mathematical research is to use mathematical tools to improve our understanding of physical and industrial processes in the world around us, particularly at scales where classical theoretical and experimental science fail to yield clear answers.  Dr. Hamdan’s thesis does just this for the class of “smectic” liquid crystals that possess a unique layering structure that has been hypothesized to be useful in assembling nano-scale devices, such as photonic crystals.  While mathematical models of smectic liquid crystals were first proposed in the 1970’s, much of their structure remains hidden to us, due to their extremely small length scales that can only be imaged indirectly.  Dr. Hamdan’s thesis focuses on the development of computational tools to accurately simulate the structure of smectic liquid crystals in equilibrium, allowing physicists and engineers to better understand these materials and how they can be used in physical and industrial processes.

Congratulations to Dr. Hamdan and we wish him lots of success in his career ahead.