Please join us in welcoming the first cohort of exceptional scholars though the Provost’s Program for Black and Indigenous Postdoctoral Scholarship.
Read more about our Black and Indigenous scholars below.
2023 Scholars
Cross, Shoronia
Faculty of Science, Department of Chemistry
Supervisor: Pavle Radovanovic
The objective of Cross’ research is to work with multiferroic materials – which means that the magnetization can be switched using an electric field, and the electric polarization can be switched using magnetic fields. This allows for the design of multistate bits which can store data in both their magnetization and electric polarization, allowing for higher density data storage.
The results of this study will provide critical insight into the rational design of multiferroic nanocomposites for applications in future information technologies, including quantum computing.
Learn more about Dr. Shoronia Cross
Daoud, Dalal
Faculty of Arts, Department of Anthropology
Supervisor: Secil Dagtas
Through the Provost’s Postdoctoral Program, Dalal aims to complete a book manuscript on Islamists’ interactions with ethnonational minorities. Her doctoral dissertation explored ruling Islamists’ approaches to minorities in Sudan and Turkey, and found that governing Sudanese and Turkish Islamists did not follow a coherent approach toward minorities. Rather, they changed their approaches diachronically between accommodative and exclusionary toward the different minority groups regardless of religious bond.
Investigating the Islamic Republic’s interactions with minorities will increase our knowledge on how institutions favourable to Islamists affect their decision making. This book project will pique the interest of those studying and researching Islamist politics, minority-state relations, ethnicity and nationalism, and the Middle East North Africa. It will also be of significance to foreign policy makers.
Learn more about Dr. Dalal Daoud
Gyamerah, Samuel
Faculty of Mathematics, Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science
Supervisor: Ruodu Wang
Not only does climate change increase global warming but also causes extreme droughts, water scarcity, rising sea levels, catastrophic storms, and water shortages. These effects of climate change have contributed to crop failures and have consequently led to extensive impacts on the economic activities of most rural and indigenous farmers.
Samuel's project will expedite partnership between public and private insurers, farmer cooperatives and groups to provide reasonably priced and sustainable weather-centered index insuranceto smallholder, marginal, and indigenous farmers.
Learn more about Dr. Samuel Gyamerah
Leudjo Taka, Anny
Faculty of Science, Department of Chemistry
Supervisor: Vivek Maheshwari
Research on sustainable, recyclable, and biodegradable high-efficiency nanomaterials has attracted tremendous attention. The challenge is to develop novel nanomaterials with multifunctional properties useful in various fields.
Anny's project aims to develop novel polymer nanobiocomposites with multifunctional, biodegradable, and recyclable properties. These novel polymer nanobiocomposites will be exploited as nanofiltration membranes for water desalination and as dielectric materials in thin-filmorganic electronic devices. The application of these polymer nanobiocomposites in water desalination and electronic devices represents a potential, sustainable approach to creating a water purification platform and developing a fully working electronics platform while decreasing the devices' environmental footprint.
