OIST PhD Graduates

Theses are published in the OIST Institutional Repository and are available online.

Graduated in AY2020 (Total as of May 2021:15)

Awarded at AY2020 Graduation Ceremony on May 21 2021

2021 Graduation Ceremony webpage 

YouTube Video of Graduation Ceremony

Afshan Jamshaid

Supervisor: Professor Yabing Qi

Research Unit: Energy Materials and Surface Sciences Unit

Thesis: Scanning Probe Microscopy Studies of Metal Halide Perovskite Materials

Graduation Date: 2021 May, 31

 

Mathias Mikkelsen

Supervisor: Professor Thomas Busch

Research Unit: Quantum Systems Unit

Thesis: Quenched and Driven Dynamics of One-Dimensional Quantum Systems

Graduation Date: 2021 April, 30

 

Seyedeh Sahar Seyed Hejazi

Supervisor: Professor Thomas Busch

Research Unit: Quantum Systems Unit

Thesis: Atom-Light Interactions via Evanescent Fields

Graduation Date: 2021 April, 30

 

Shoko Igarashi (Ota)

Supervisor: Professor Kenji Doya

Research Unit: Neural Computation Unit

Thesis: Intrinsic Motivation in Creative Activity

Graduation Date: 2021 April, 30

 

Sandrine Burriel

Supervisor: Professor Tadashi Yamamoto

Co-Supervisor: Professor Nicholas Luscombe

Research Unit: Cell Signal Unit

Thesis: Functional analysis of LMTK1 in lung adenocarcinoma

Graduation Date: 2021 March 31

 

Shivani Sathish

Supervisor: Professor Amy Shen

Research Unit: Micro/Bio/Nanofluidics Unit

Thesis: Surface-based Microfluidic Systems for Enhanced Biomarker Detection

Graduation Date: 2021 March 31

 

Kamila Mustafina

Supervisor: Professor Yohei Yokobayashi

Research Unit: Nucleic Acid Chemistry and Engineering Unit

Thesis: Engineering Synthetic Riboswitches for Mammalian Cells

Graduation Date: 2021 February 28

 

Sakurako Watanabe

Supervisor: Professor Jeff Wickens

Research Unit: Neurobiology Research Unit

Thesis: Interaction of multiple inputs in plasticity of the corticostriatal synapses

Graduation Date: 2021 January 31

 

Ayaka Usui

Supervisor: Professor Thomas Busch

Research Unit: Quantum Systems Unit

Thesis: Control and measurement of non-classical properties of cold atomic and optical systems

Graduation Date: 2020 December 31

 

Lin Li

Supervisor: Professor Pinaki Chakraborty

Research Unit: Fluid Mechanics Unit

Thesis: Storm moisture and landfalling hurricanes

Graduation Date: 2020 December 31

 

Christina Ripken

Supervisor: Professor Síle Nic Chormaic

Co-Supervisor: Professor Noriyuki Satoh

Research Unit: Light-Matter Interactions for Quantum Technologies Unit

Thesis: Micro- and Nanoplastics in Okinawa – Potential Impacts on Planktonic Microalgae and Endosymbiotic Dinoflagellates

Graduation Date: 2020 November 30

 

Adrian David

Supervisor: Professor Shinobu Hikami

Co-Supervisor: Professor Yasha Neiman

Research Unit: Mathematical and Theoretical Physics Unit

Thesis: Higher-spin holography in de Sitter space: horizon modes, black holes, and the boundary partition function

Graduation Date: 2020 November 30

 

Shijin Zhang

Supervisor: Professor Ye Zhang

Research Unit: Bioinspired Soft Matter Unit

Thesis: Design and Synthesize Small Molecular Self-Assembling Peptides for Biomedical Applications

Graduation Date: 2020 November 30

 

Andrew Winchester

Supervisor: Professor Keshav Dani

Research Unit: Femtosecond Spectroscopy Unit

Thesis: Spatially and temporally resolved microscopy of traps in hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites

Graduation Date: 2020 October 31

 

Krishna Priya Subramonian Rajasree

Supervisor: Professor Síle Nic Chormaic

Research Unit: Light-Matter Interactions for Quantum Technologies Unit

Thesis: Rydberg Excitation and Other Multiphoton Processes in Cold Rubidium Atoms Near an Optical Nanofibre

Graduation Date: 2020 September 30

 

 

Graduated in AY2019 (Total as of August 2020: 25 )

Awarded at AY2020 Graduation Ceremony on May 21 2021

2021 Graduation Ceremony webpage 

YouTube Video of Graduation Ceremony

 

Hong Huat Hoh

Supervisor: Professor Tadashi Yamamoto

Co-Supervisor: Professor Ye Zhang

Research Unit: Cell Signal Unit

Thesis: Study on Alteration of Cellular Phenotypes and Processes in Cancer Using Exogenous Biological Agents

Graduation Date: 2020 August 31

 

Sebastien Lapointe

Supervisor: Professor Julia Khusnutdinova

Research Unit: Coordination Chemistry and Catalysis Unit

Thesis: Nickel Complexes of New Electron-Rich, Sterically-Hindered PNP Pincer Ligands

Graduation Date: 2020 August 31

 

Ankur Dhar

Supervisor: Professor Tsumoru Shintake

Co-Supervisor: Professor Nic Shannon

Research Unit: Quantum Wave Microscopy Unit

Thesis: Imaging Monopoles in Spin Ice via Electron Holography

Graduation Date: 2020 August 31

 

Farzana Rahman

Supervisor: Professor Kenji Doya

Co-Supervisor: Professor Alexander Mikheyev

Research Unit: Neural Computation Unit

Thesis: Identifying the Evolutionary Conditions for the Emergence of Alternative Reproductive Tactics in Simulated Robot Colonies

Graduation Date: 2020 June 30

 

Hemanta Sarmah

Supervisor: Professor Tadashi Yamamoto

Co-Supervisor: Professor Yohei Yokobayashi

Research Unit: Cell Signal Unit

Thesis: Molecular and Physiological function of the mammalian CCR4-NOT subunit CNOT9

Graduation Date: 2020 May 31

 

Margaret Mars Brisbin

Supervisor: Professor Satoshi Mitarai

Research Unit: Marine Biophysics Unit

Thesis: Characterization of Acantharea-Phaeocystis photosymbioses: distribution, abundance, specificity, maintenance and host-control

Graduation Date: 2020 May 31

 

Sona Rani Roy

Supervisor: Professor Ye Zhang

Co-Supervisor: Professor Mitsuhiro Yanagida

Research Unit: Bioinspired Soft Matter Unit

Thesis: Design Integrin-targeted Molecular Self-assembling Peptides for Studying Cancer Migration Inhibition

Graduation Date: 2020 May 31

 

Nishtha Ranawat

Supervisor: Professor Ichiro Masai

Research Unit: Developmental Neurobiology Unit

Thesis: Behavioral and transcriptomic analysis of embryonic microglia during colonization and degeneration of zebrafish retina

Graduation Date: 2020 April 30

 

Collin Stecker

Supervisor: Professor Yabing Qi

Research Unit: Energy Materials and Surface Sciences Unit

Thesis: Scanning Tunneling Microscopy and Photoelectron Spectroscopy Studies of Lead Halide Perovskite Surfaces, Defect Dynamics and the MAPbX 3 - CuPc Interface

Graduation Date: 2020 April 30

 

Noa Burshtein

Supervisor: Professor Amy Shen

Research Unit: Micro/Bio/Nanofluidics Unit

Thesis: Flow Instabilities and Vortex Dynamics in Intersecting Flows

Graduation Date: 2020 April 30

 

Han Yan

Supervisor: Professor Nic Shannon

Research Unit: Theory of Quantum Matter Unit

Thesis: Fracton States of Matter: From Holography to Frustrated Magnetism

Graduation Date: 2020 April 30

 

Tadashi Kozuno

Supervisor: Professor Kenji Doya

Research Unit: Neural Computation Unit

Thesis: Efficient and Noise-Tolerant Reinforcement Learning Algorithms via Theoretical Analysis of Gap-Increasing and Softmax Operators

Graduation Date: 2020 March 31

 

Leonidas Georgiou

Supervisor: Professor Bernd Kuhn

Research Unit: Optical Neuroimaging Unit

Thesis: Astrocyte calcium activity mapping in behaving mice using anterograde axo-astrocytic AAV transfer

Graduation Date: 2020 March 31

 

Shohei Takaoka

Supervisor: Professor Tadashi Yamamoto

Co-Supervisor: Professor Hiroaki Kitano

Research Unit: Cell Signal Unit

Thesis: Role of 5’ - 3’ exoribonuclease Xrn1 in energy expenditure and control of obesity

Graduation Date: 2020 March 31

 

Viktoras Lisicovas

Supervisor: Professor Keshav Dani

Research Unit: Femtosecond Spectroscopy Unit

Thesis: Improvements in optical techniques to investigate the behavior and neuronal network dynamics over long timescales

Graduation Date: 2020 March 31

 

Stefan Pommer

Supervisor: Professor Jeff Wickens

Research Unit: Neurobiology Research Unit

Thesis: The effect of serotonin receptor 5-HT1B on lateral inhibition between spiny projection neurons in the mouse striatum

Graduation Date: 2020 February 29

 

Hsieh-Fu Tsai

Supervisor: Professor Amy Shen

Research Unit: Micro/Bio/Nanofluidics Unit

Thesis: Glioma on Chips Analysis of glioma cell guidance and interaction in microfluidic-controlled microenvironment enabled by machine learning

Graduation Date: 2020 February 29

 

Dina Mostafa

Supervisor: Professor Tadashi Yamamoto

Research Unit: Cell Signal Unit

Thesis: Functional Analysis of CCR4-NOT Complex in Pancreatic β Cell

Graduation Date: 2020 February 29

 

Paavo Parmas

Supervisor: Professor Kenji Doya

Research Unit: Neural Computation Unit

Thesis: Total stochastic gradient algorithms and applications to model-based reinforcement learning

Graduation Date: 2020 January 31

 

James Schloss

Supervisor: Professor Thomas Busch

Research Unit: Quantum Systems Unit

Thesis: Massively parallel split-step Fourier techniques for simulating quantum systems on graphics processing units

Graduation Date: 2019 December 31

 

Mayank Aggarwal

Supervisor: Professor Jeff Wickens

Research Unit: Neurobiology Research Unit

Thesis: The Role of Ventral Tegmental Area and Nucleus Accumbens in the Kamin Blocking Effect

Graduation Date: 2019 November 30

 

Bianca Sieveritz

Supervisor: Professor Gordon Arbuthnott

Co-Supervisor: Professor Jeff Wickens

Research Unit: Brain Mechanism for Behaviour Unit

Thesis: Ventral motor thalamic projections to prelimbic cortex in cost-benefit decision-making

Graduation Date: 2019 November 30

 

Simon Peter Mekhail

Supervisor: Professor Síle Nic Chormaic

Co-Supervisor: Professor Gordon Arbuthnott 

Research Unit: Light-Matter Interactions for Quantum Technologies Unit 

Thesis: Optical Fiber Probes for in-Vivo Neuronal Compressive Microendoscopy and Mode Analysis in Nanofibers

Graduation Date: 2019 September 30

 

Neil Dalphin

Supervisor: Professor Bernd Kuhn

Research Unit: Optical Neuroimaging Unit

Thesis: Two-Photon Voltage Imaging of Supragranular Barrel Cortex in Mice: Oscillations and Responses

Graduation Date: 2019 September 30

 

Sho Kasumie

Supervisor: Professor Síle Nic Chormaic

Research Unit: Light-Matter Interactions for Quantum Technologies Unit 

Thesis: Hollow Whispering Gallery Mode Resonators: from Fabrication to Application

Graduation Date: 2019 September 30

 

Graduated in AY2018 (Total as of August 2019:15)

Awarded at AY2018 Graduation Ceremony on May 25, 2019

2018 Graduation Ceremony webpage 

YouTube Video of Graduation Ceremony

 

Jiabao Chen

Supervisor: Professor Denis Konstantinov

Co-Supervisor: Professor Thomas Busch

Research Unit: Quantum Dynamics Unit

Thesis: Coherent control of charged particle systems strongly interacting with microwave photons

Graduation Date: 2019 August 31

 

Thomas Nieddu

Supervisor: Professor Síle Nic Chormaic

Research Unit: Light-Matter Interactions for Quantum Technologies Unit 

Thesis: Optical Nanofibers for Multiphoton Processes and Selective Mode Interactions with Rubidium

Graduation Date: 2019 July 31

 

Girish Beedessee

Supervisor: Professor Noriyuki Satoh

Research Unit: Marine Genomics Unit

Thesis: Genomic insights on secondary metabolism in symbiotic dinoflagellates

Graduation Date: 2019 April 30

 

Yafei Mao

Supervisor: Professor Noriyuki Satoh

Co-Supervisor: Professor Evan Economo

Research Unit: Marine Genomics Unit

Thesis: Whole-genome sequence analysis of the evolutionary history of the reef-building coral genus Acropora (Scleractinia, Cnidaria)

Graduation Date: 2019 April 30

 

Nilupaer Abudukeyoumu

Supervisor: Professor Gordon Arbuthnott

Research Unit: Brain Mechanism for Behaviour Unit

Thesis:  Cholinergic interneurons in striatal microcircuit dynamics studied with anatomical and behavioral methods

Graduation Date: 2019 March 31

 

Haytham Mohamed

Supervisor: Professor Tadashi Yamamoto

Research Unit: Cell Signal Unit

Thesis:  Post-transcriptional regulation of circadian rhythm: Involvement of the CCR4-NOT complex

Graduation Date: 2019 March 31

 

Irina Reshodko

Supervisor: Professor Thomas Busch

Research Unit: Quantum Systems Unit

Thesis:  State engineering in one-dimensional quantum gases

Graduation Date: 2019 March 31

 

Kazuto Kawamura

Supervisor: Professor Ichiro Maruyama

Research Unit: Information Processing Biology Unit

Thesis: Forward genetic screen for Caenorhabditis elegans mutants with a progressive decline in adult locomotor function

Graduation Date: 2019 March 31

 

Tosif Ahamed

Supervisor: Professor Ichiro Maruyama

Co-Supervisor: Professor Greg Stephens

Research Unit: Information Processing Biology Unit

Thesis:  Capturing the nonlinear dynamics of animal behavior with applications to the nematode C. elegans

Graduation Date: 2019 March 31

 

Masakazu Igarashi

Supervisor: Professor Jeffery Wickens

Research Unit: Neurobiology Research Unit 

Thesis: The role of interhemispheric cortico-cortical connections in bimanual coordination in the rat

Graduation Date: 2019 February 28

 

Hiroaki Hamada

Supervisor: Professor Kenji Doya

Co-Supervisor: Professor Greg Stephens

Research Unit:  Neural Computation Unit

Thesis:  Serotonergic control of brain-wide dynamics

Graduation Date: 2019 January 31

 

Jessica Verena Schulze

Supervisor: Professor Kenji Doya

Research Unit: Neural Computation Unit

Thesis: Spatial and modular regularization in effective connectivity inference from neural activity data

Graduation Date: 2018 December 31

 

Patricia Himeka Wepfer

Supervisor: Professor Satoshi Mitarai

Co-Supervisor: Professor Evan Economo

Research Unit: Marine Biophysics Unit

Thesis: Spatial genetic structure in the coral genus Galaxea (Euphyllidae) and their associated Symbiodiniaceae communities

Graduation Date: 2018 November 30

 

Ray Xin Lee

Supervisor: Professor Bernd Kuhn

Co-Supervisor: Professor Greg Stephens

Research Unit: Optical Neuroimaging Unit

Thesis: Nature and source of animal spontaneous behaviors: Insights from psychobehavioral development and neuronal population dynamics in mice

Graduation Date: 2018 November 30

 

Jui-Yin Lin

Supervisor: Professor Denis Konstantinov

Research Unit: Quantum Dynamics Unit

Thesis Title: Transport properties of strongly correlated 2D electrons confined in microchannels

Graduation Date: 2018 September 30

 

Graduated in AY2017 (Total as of August 2018:13)

Awarded at AY2017 Graduation Ceremony, February 24 2018

2017 Graduation Ceremony page

YouTube Video of Graduation Ceremony