OIST PhD Graduates

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

Graduated in AY2024 (Total as of October 2024: 5)

Michael S Izumiyama

Supervisor Name: Timothy Ravasi
Research Unit: Marine Climate Change Unit
Thesis: Using Natural Analogues of the Future Ocean to Study the Adaptive Potential of Fish Communities to Environmental Change
Graduation Date: 2024 October 31

 

Ke Wang

Supervisor Name: Hiroki Ishikawa
Research Unit: Immune Signal Unit
Thesis: The Role of JunB in Exhausted CD8 T Cell Populations in Tumors
Graduation Date: 2024 October 31

 

Masato Hirota

Supervisor Name: Hiroki Ishikawa
Research Unit: Immune Signal Unit
Thesis: Vps37b and Ramp3 Regulate CD8+ T Cell Response by Facilitating Adaptation to Plasma Membrane Damage
Graduation Date: 2024 September 30

 

Gulfiya Kadyrzhanova

Supervisor Name: Hiroki Ishikawa
Research Unit: Immune Signal Unit
Thesis: Aging Effects on Murine Adoptive T cell Therapy for Solid Tumor
Graduation Date: 2024 September 30

 

Salvatore Andrea Lacava

Supervisor Name: Marylka Yoe Uusisaari
Research Unit: Neuronal Rhythms in Movement Unit
Thesis: The Role of Tails in Maintaining Balance: Neuronal and Behavioral Insights from the Mouse
Graduation Date: 2024 September 30

 

Graduated in AY2023 (Total as of July 2024: 34)

 

Aditi Sunil Pophale

Supervisor Name: Samuel Reiter

Research Unit: Computational Neuroethology Unit

Thesis: Sleepy Heads: Active and Quiet Sleep in Octopus laqueus

Graduation Date: 2024 August 31

 

Charlotte Rebekah Denman

Supervisor Name: Bernd Kuhn

Research Unit: Optical Neuroimaging Unit

Thesis: Development of a Human Midbrain Organoid Model Containing Microglia for Investigating the Role of Glucocerebrosidase in Alpha-Synuclein Pathology

Graduation Date: 2024 August 31

 

Dongpeng Hu

Supervisor Name: Ichiro Masai

Research Unit: Developmental Neurobiology Unit

Thesis: Dscamb Regulates Zebrafish Cone Mosaic via Filopodium-Mediated Homotypic Recognition

Graduation Date: 2024 August 31

 

Lina Mohamed Koronfel

Supervisor Name: Bernd Kuhn

Research Unit: Optical Neuroimaging Unit

Thesis: Dendritic Voltage Signaling in Cerebellar Purkinje Neurons during Associative Motor Learning

Graduation Date: 2024 August 31

 

Wataru Ohata

Supervisor Name: Jun Tani

Research Unit: Cognitive Neurorobotics Research Unit

Thesis: Investigation of the Sense of Agency in Human–Robot Interaction Based on the Free Energy Principle

Graduation Date: 2024 July 31

 

Santanu Mondal

Supervisor Name: Fujie Tanaka

Research Unit: Chemistry and Chemical Bioengineering Unit

Thesis: Development of Catalytic Asymmetric Reactions of Pyruvates as Nucleophiles

Graduation Date: 2024 July 31

 

Minh Hoan Dinh

Supervisor Name: Julia Khusnutdinova

Research Unit: Coordination Chemistry and Catalysis Unit

Thesis: Synthesis and Reactivity of Transition Metal Complexes Supported by Non-Phosphine Ligands in Metal-Ligand Cooperation and Fluoroalkyl Incorporation

Graduation Date: 2024 June 30

 

Yang Mi

Supervisor Name: Hiroki Ishikawa

Research Unit: Immune Signal Unit

Thesis: Maternal Immune Activation Alters Fetal Cerebellar Development and Motor Behavior in Mouse Offspring via Type-I Interferon

Graduation Date: 2024 June 30

 

Muhammad Sirajul Hasan

Supervisor Name: Thomas Busch

Research Unit: Quantum Systems Unit

Thesis: Dynamics of Complex Quantum Systems - Engineering and Control in Cold Atomic Systems

Graduation Date: 2024 June 30

 

Prasanna Vijayaraghava

Supervisor Name: Jun Tani

Research Unit: Cognitive Neurorobotics Research Unit

Thesis: Free Energy Based Neural Network Model to Study Embodied Language

Graduation Date: 2024 June 30

 

Leilee Margaret Chojnacki

Supervisor Name: Nic Shannon

Research Unit: Theory of Quantum Matter Unit

Thesis: Analogues of Light and Gravity in the Collective Excitations of Quantum Magnets and Cold Atoms

Graduation Date: 2024 June 30

 

Rio Kashimoto

Supervisor Name: Vincent Laudet

Research Unit: Marine Eco-Evo-Devo Unit

Thesis: Unveiling the Genomic and Transcriptomic Landscape of Anemones and Corals: Key Players in the Mutualistic Symbiosis with Algae and Anemonefish

Graduation Date: 2024 May 31

 

Miles Josef Desforges

Supervisor Name: Kenji Doya

Research Unit: Neural Computation Unit

Thesis: Characterisation of Serotonin, Noradrenaline and Dopamine Release in the Motor Cortex

Graduation Date: 2024 May 31

 

Berta Hudak

Supervisor Name: Liron Speyer

Research Unit: Representation Theory and Algebraic Combinatorics Unit

Thesis: On the Representation Theory of Cyclotomic KLR Algebras

Graduation Date: 2024 April 30

 

Mohamed Amine Boubakour

Supervisor Name: Thomas Busch

Research Unit: Quantum Systems Unit

Thesis: Control of Cold Atomic Systems for Quantum Heat Engines

Graduation Date: 2024 April 30

 

Billy Connor Moore

Supervisor Name: Timothy Ravasi

Research Unit: Marine Climate Change Unit

Thesis: Physiological and Transcriptomic Response of Early-Life Stage Clownfish to Future Ocean Warming and Marine Heatwaves

Graduation Date: 2024 March 31

 

Kojiro Suda

Supervisor Name: Keiko Kono

Research Unit: Membranology Unit

Thesis: The Role of Calcium Ion Dynamics and Inter-Organelle Communication During Plasma Membrane Damage-Dependent Cellular Senescence

Graduation Date: 2024 March 31

 

Florian Lalande

Supervisor Name: Kenji Doya

Research Unit: Neural Computation Unit

Thesis: Planetary Systems Insights through Numerical Data Imputation Algorithms and Machine Learning

Graduation Date: 2024 March 31

 

Zhehao Cheng

Supervisor Name: Yoko Yazaki-Sugiyama

Research Unit: Neuronal Mechanism for Critical Period Unit

Thesis: Neuronal Mechanism for Processing Complemental Information of Species Identity and Individual Variation in the Zebra Finch Higher Auditory Cortex

Graduation Date: 2024 March 31

 

Hung-Ju Chiang

Supervisor Name: Ichiro Masai

Research Unit: Developmental Neurobiology Unit

Thesis: Investigation of the Role of Male Germ Cell-Associated Kinase in Zebrafish Photoreceptor Ciliogenesis and Cell Survival

Graduation Date: 2024 March 31

 

Maki Maeda

Supervisor Name: Sile Nic Chormaic

Research Unit: Light-Matter Interactions for Quantum Technologies Unit

Thesis: Design, Fabrication, and Characterization of Optical Nanofiber Cavities

Graduation Date: 2024 March 31

 

Hsiao-Chiao Chien

Supervisor Name: Hiroki Ishikawa

Research Unit: Immune Signal Unit

Thesis: JunB is Essential for Chromatin Regulation in Pathogenic Th17 Cells

Graduation Date: 2024 March 31

 

Shukla Sarkar

Supervisor Name: Hiroki Ishikawa

Research Unit: Immune Signal Unit

Thesis: Analysis of the Function of JunB in Regulation of CD8+ T Cell Response

Graduation Date: 2024 March 31

 

Sergey Zobnin

Supervisor Name: Kenji Doya

Research Unit: Neural Computation Unit

Thesis: Investigation of the Bayesian Sensory-Motor Integration in the Cerebral Cortex

Graduation Date: 2024 March 31

 

Kota Ishikawa

Supervisor Name: Satoshi Mitarai

Research Unit: Marine Biophysics Unit

Thesis: Effects of Mean Flow and Turbulence on Planktivory by Anchored Garden Eels and Site-Attached Fish

Graduation Date: 2024 February 29

 

Markel Pardo Almanza

Supervisor Name: Yoshinori Okada

Research Unit: Quantum Materials Science Unit

Thesis: Fabrication and Spectroscopic Investigation of a Tunable Magnetic Material and its Heterostructures

Graduation Date: 2024 January 31

 

Sara Emad Mohamed Elagamy Abdelaal

Supervisor Name: Marco Terenzio

Research Unit: Molecular Neuroscience Unit

Thesis: Dynein Light Chain Roadblock 1 Regulates FMRP Axonal Transport and Degradation

Graduation Date: 2024 January 31

 

Anjana Krishnadas

Supervisor Name: Yoshinori Okada

Research Unit: Quantum Materials Science Unit

Thesis: Spectroscopic Visualization of Surface Electronic State in High Temperature Superconducting Oxide Thin Films

Graduation Date: 2023 December 31

 

Sarah Yukie Nagasawa

Supervisor Name: Erik De Schutter

Research Unit: Computational Neuroscience Unit

Thesis: Stochastic Spatial Modeling of Vesicle Trafficking of AMPA Receptors to Understand Roles in Synaptic Plasticity

Graduation Date: 2023 December 31

 

Ianto Samuel Cannon

Supervisor Name: Marco Edoardo Rosti

Research Unit: Complex Fluids and Flows Unit

Thesis: Simulations of Multiphase Turbulent Flows

Graduation Date: 2023 November 30

 

Qiao Lu

Supervisor Name: Simone Pigolotti

Research Unit: Biological Complexity Unit

Thesis: Biophysical Modeling of Cas9 Target-searching and Recognition

Graduation Date: 2023 October 31

 

Vivek Pareek

Supervisor Name: Keshav Dani

Research Unit: Femtosecond Spectroscopy Unit

Thesis: Unraveling the Nature of Excitons and their Interactions through Time-Resolved Photoemission and Optical Spectroscopy

Graduation Date: 2023 September 30

 

Hunter Daniel Barbee

Supervisor Name: Keiko Kono

Research Unit: Membranology Unit

Thesis: Plasma Membrane Damage-Dependent Senescent Cells Accelerate Wound Healing In Vitro via Soluble Molecules and Increased Extracellular Vesicles

Graduation Date: 2023 September 30

 

Anzhelika Koldaeva

Supervisor Name: Simone Pigolotti

Research Unit: Biological Complexity Unit

Thesis: Population Dynamics of Microorganisms in Spatially Structured Environments

Graduation Date: 2023 September 30

 

Graduated in AY2022 (Total as of August 2023: 30)

 

Barnaby Smith

Supervisor Name: Yoshinori Okada

Research Unit: Quantum Materials Science Unit

Thesis: Imaging Electronic States in the Charge Density Wave Material CeTe3

Graduation Date: 2023 August 31

 

Rachapun Rotrattanadumrong

Supervisor Name: Yohei Yokobayashi

Research Unit: Nucleic Acid Chemistry and Engineering Unit

Thesis: Machine Learning Guided Exploration of an Empirical Ribozyme Fitness Landscape

Graduation Date: 2023 August 31

 

Osamu Horiguchi

Supervisor Name: Hiroshi Watanabe

Research Unit: Evolutionary Neurobiology Unit

Thesis: Identification and Functional Analysis of Group A bHLH Transcription Factor in Ctenophore Bolinopsis mikado

Graduation Date: 2023 August 31

 

Thomas Francis Burns

Supervisor Name: Tomoki Fukai

Research Unit: Neural Coding and Brain Computing Unit

Thesis: Geometry and Topology in Memory and Navigation

Graduation Date: 2023 July 31

 

Shubham Deolka

Supervisor Name: Julia Khusnutdinova

Research Unit: Coordination Chemistry and Catalysis Unit

Thesis: Naphthyridines as Versatile Ligand Scaffolds For Metal-Metal Cooperative Bond Activation and Photocatalysis

Graduation Date: 2023 July 31

 

Ali Rahmani

Supervisor Name: Eliot Fried

Research Unit: Mechanics and Materials Unit

Thesis: The Landau–Levich Problem for a Uniaxial Nematic Liquid Crystal

Graduation Date: 2023 June 30

 

Otis Davey Brunner

Supervisor Name: Satoshi Mitarai

Research Unit: Marine Biophysics Unit

Thesis: The Role of Connectivity in Structuring Community Composition and Diversity at Hydrothermal Vents Across the Northwest Pacific

Graduation Date: 2023 June 30

 

Theodoros Bouloumis

Supervisor Name: Sile Nic Chormaic

Research Unit: Light-Matter Interactions for Quantum Technologies Unit

Thesis: Metamaterial Plasmonic Tweezers for Enhanced Nanoparticle Trapping

Graduation Date: 2023 May 31

 

Nadine Wirkuttis

Supervisor Name: Jun Tani

Research Unit: Cognitive Neurorobotics Research Unit

Thesis: Social Interaction Under the Free Energy Principle: A Cognitive Robotics Approach

Graduation Date: 2023 April 30

 

Stefano Pascarelli

Supervisor Name: Paola Laurino

Research Unit: Protein Engineering and Evolution Unit

Thesis: Protein Sequence, Structure, and Dynamics Reveal Insights in the Divergence of Protein Functions

Graduation Date: 2023 April 30

 

Tsung-Yen Huang

Supervisor Name: Hiroki Ishikawa

Research Unit: Immune Signal Unit

Thesis: Phosphoenolpyruvate Regulates the JunB-Dependent Pathogenic Th17 Transcriptional Program

Graduation Date: 2023 March 31

 

Yuna Hattori

Supervisor Name: Pinaki Chakraborty

Research Unit: Fluid Mechanics Unit

Thesis: Self-similarity in a Boundary-layer Flow over a Dynamic Boundary: Flow of Air Induced by a Falling Soap Film

Graduation Date: 2023 March 31

 

Friederike Metz

Supervisor Name: Thomas Busch

Research Unit: Quantum Systems Unit

Thesis: Machine Learning Applications for the Study and Control of Quantum Systems

Graduation Date: 2023 February 28

 

Qiong Huang

Supervisor Name: Kenji Doya

Research Unit: Neural Computation Unit

Thesis: Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning for Distributed Solar-Battery Energy Systems

Graduation Date: 2023 January 31


Aleksandra Bliznina

Supervisor Name: Nicholas Luscombe 

Research Unit: Genomics and Regulatory Systems Unit

Thesis: Cross-genome Comparison of Global Oikopleura dioica Populations

Graduation Date: 2022 December 31

 

Christopher Campbell

Supervisor Name: Thomas Busch

Research Unit: Quantum Systems Unit

Thesis: Supersymmetry and Nonequilibrium Quantum Dynamics

Graduation Date: 2022 December 31

 

Mohamed Atwa

Supervisor Name: Yoshinori Okada

Research Unit: Quantum Materials Science Unit

Thesis: Doping Evolution of Magneto-Transport Properties in the Layered Magnetic Semimetal Cr(1+δ)Te2

Graduation Date: 2022 December 31

 

Lewis Ruks

Supervisor Name: Thomas Busch

Co-Supervisor: Sile Nic Chormaic

Research Unit:Quantum Systems

Thesis:Wave Propagation and Light-Matter Interactions in Optical Nanofibers and Discrete Media

Graduation Date: 2022 November 30

 

Kimberly Remund

Supervisor Name: Nic Shannon

Research Unit: Theory of Quantum Matter Unit

Thesis: Spin–1 Magnets and Their Excitations

Graduation Date: 2022 November 30

 

Manana Kutsia

Supervisor Name: Ichiro Masai

Research Unit: Developmental Neurobiology Unit

Thesis: Single cell transcriptome analysis reveals heterogeneity and a dynamic regenerative response of quiescent radial glia in zebrafish adult brain

Graduation Date: 2022 November 30

 

Maki Kohata Thomas

Supervisor Name: Satoshi Mitarai

Research Unit:Marine Biophysics Unit

Thesis: Role of Island Systems in Mangrove Biogeography

Graduation Date: 2022 November 30

 

San To Chan

Supervisor Name: Amy Shen

Research Unit: Micro/Bio/Nanofluidics Unit

Thesis: Torsional Instability of Rheologically Complex Liquid Bridges

Graduation Date: 2022 October 31

 

Ainash Garifullina

Supervisor Name: Amy Shen

Research Unit: Micro/Bio/Nanofluidics Unit

Thesis: Estimating Protein-Protein Interactions with High Aspect Ratio Plasmonic Nanopillars

Graduation Date: 2022 October 31

 

Mizuki Kato

Supervisor Name: Erik De Schutter

Research Unit: Computational Neuroscience Unit

Thesis: A Computational Model of Granule Cell Migration and Purkinje Cell Primary Dendrite Selection during Cerebellar Development

Graduation Date: 2022 October 31

 

Christine Joy Guzman

Supervisor Name: Hiroshi Watanabe

Research Unit: Evolutionary Neurobiology Unit

Thesis: Investigating the Role of Neurexins in the Early Evolution of the Nervous System

Graduation Date: 2022 October 31

 

Sofiia Kosar

Supervisor Name: Keshav Dani

Research Unit: Femtosecond Spectroscopy Unit

Thesis: Characterization of Nanoscale Defects in Hybrid Perovskite Thin Films for Photovoltaic Applications

Graduation Date: 2022 September 30

 

Aliya Mari Purser

Supervisor Name: Izumi  Fukunaga

Research Unit: Sensory and Behavioural Neuroscience Unit

Thesis: Designing a Tractable Behavioral Paradigm for Investigating Olfactory Figure-ground Segregation

Graduation Date: 2022 September 30

 

Dongqi Han

Supervisor Name: Jun Tani

Research Unit: Cognitive Neurorobotics Research Unit

Thesis: Self-Organization of Action Hierarchy and Inferring Latent States in Deep Reinforcement Learning with Stochastic Recurrent Neural Networks

Graduation Date: 2022 September 30

 

Takeshi Ricardo Tabuchi Yagui

Supervisor Name: Yohei Yokobayashi

Research Unit: Nucleic Acid Chemistry and Engineering Unit

Thesis: High-Throughput Screening of Cell-Free Riboswitches for Chemical Communication between Microdroplets

Graduation Date: 2022 September 30

 

Saahil Acharya

Supervisor Name: Akihiro Kusumi

Research Unit: Membrane Cooperativity Unit

Thesis: SynGAP Condensates Recruit PSD95, and Selectively Retain Multivalent Receptors, Functioning as the Basic Platform for Generating Neuronal Excitatory Synapses

Graduation Date: 2022 September 30

 

Graduated in AY2021 (Total as of August 2022: 23)

 

Tim Keller

Supervisor Name: Thomas Busch

Research Unit: Quantum Systems Unit

Thesis:Controlling Superfluid and Insulating States in Interacting Quantum Gases

Graduation Date: 2022 August 31

 

Dmitrii Koldaev

Supervisor Name: Eliot Fried

Research Unit: Mechanics and Materials Unit

Thesis: Mathematical Modeling and Numerical Analysis of Unstretchable Elastic Ribbons

Graduation Date: 2022 August 31

 

Alexandru Mihai

Supervisor Name: Eliot Fried

Research Unit: Mechanics and Materials Unit

Thesis: Soap Film Mediated 3D Self-Assembly: Suspended and Displacement Driven Geometries Using Centimeter-Scale Tiles

Graduation Date: 2022 August 31

 

Shan Zou

Supervisor Name: Denis Konstantinov

Research Unit:Quantum Dynamics Unit

Thesis: Detection of the Rydberg States of Electrons on Superfluid Helium Confined in Microchannel Devices

Graduation Date: 2022 August 1

 

Agneesh Barua

Supervisor Name: Vincent Laudet

Research Unit: Marine Eco-Evo-Devo Unit

Thesis: The Evolutionary Genetics of Venoms: How Nature Created the Perfect Chemical Weapon

Graduation Date: 2022 July 1

 

Makoto Tokoro Schreiber

Supervisor Name: Matthias Wolf

Research Unit: Molecular Cryo-Electron Microscopy Unit

Thesis: Diffraction-Based Experiments in Transmission Electron Microscopy: Lensing, Charging, and Amorphous Structures

Graduation Date: 2022 July 1

 

Ratnesh Kumar Gupta

Supervisor Name: Sile Nic Chormaic

Research Unit: Light-Matter Interactions for Quantum Technologies Unit

Thesis: Evanescent Field Mediated Interactions of Cold Rubidium Atoms with Optical Nanofiber Guided Light

Graduation Date: 2022 June 1

 

Mai Omar Abdulrahman Ahmed

Supervisor Name: Ichiro Masai

Research Unit:Developmental Neurobiology Unit

Thesis: Investigating the Function of Strip1 in Ganglion Cell Survival and Neural Circuit Formation of the Developing Zebrafish Retina

Graduation Date: 2022 March 31

 

Swathy Babu

Supervisor Name: Ichiro Masai

Research Unit: Developmental Neurobiology Unit

Thesis:Banp Regulates DNA Damage Response and Chromosome Segregation to Promote Cell-cycle Progression and Cell Survival in Zebrafish Retina

Graduation Date: 2022 March 31

 

Jigyasa Arora

Supervisor Name:Tom Bourguignon

Research Unit: Evolutionary Genomics Unit

Thesis:Functional Metagenomics and Evolution of Termite Gut Microbiome

Graduation Date: 2022 March 31

 

Mohieldin Magdy Mahmoud Youssef

Supervisor Name:Tadashi Yamamoto

Research Unit: Cell Signal Unit

Thesis: Role of TOB in the Brain: An Insight into Stress Coping Machinery

Graduation Date: 2022 March 31

 

Larisa Sheloukhova

Supervisor Name: Hiroshi Watanabe

Research Unit:Evolutionary Neurobiology Unit

Thesis:  Molecular Dissection of Ancestral Glia

Graduation Date: 2022 March 31

 

Xunwu Hu

Supervisor Name: Ye Zhang

Research Unit:Bioinspired Soft Matter Unit

Thesis: Developing Integrin-targeted Peptide Assemblies to Direct Cancer Cell migration

Graduation Date: 2022 January 31

 

Evropi Toulkeridou

Supervisor Name: Evan P. Economo

Research Unit: Biodiversity and Biocomplexity Unit

Thesis: Automated segmentation of micro-CT images by deep learning and its application to comparative morphology

Graduation Date: 2022 January 31

 

Masakazu Taira

Supervisor Name: Kenji Doya

Research Unit: Neural Computation Unit

Thesis: The Role of Serotonin Neurons in Mouse Reward-based Behaviors

Graduation Date: 2022 January 31

 

Yuka Suzuki

Supervisor Name: Evan P. Economo

Research Unit: Biodiversity and Biocomplexity Unit

Thesis: The effects of dispersal network structure on biodiversity pattern and stability in metacommunities

Graduation Date: 2022 January 31

 

Menglin Wang

Supervisor Name: Tom Bourguignon

Research Unit: Evolutionary Genomics Unit

Thesis: Worldwide Historical Biogeography of Termites (Blattodea: Isoptera)

Graduation Date: 2021 December 31

 

Ivan Mbogo

Supervisor Name: Hiroshi Watanabe

Research Unit: Evolutionary Neurobiology Unit

Thesis: The Evolution of Dual Functionality of β-catenin in Metazoans

Graduation Date: 2021 December 31

 

Po-Shun Chuang

Supervisor Name: Satoshi Mitarai

Research Unit: Marine Biophysics Unit

Thesis: From Polyps to Colonies: Applying Polyp Bail-Out to Study Coral Coloniality

Graduation Date: 2021 December 31

 

Tsung-Han Hsieh

Supervisor Name: Hiroki Ishikawa

Research Unit: Immune Signal Unit

Thesis: Deciphering the Role of AP-1 Transcription Factor JunB in CD4+ T Cells

Graduation Date: 2021 October 31

 

Dong Cao

Supervisor Name: Ichiro Maruyama

Research Unit: Information Processing Biology Unit

Thesis: Investigation of Circular RNA Regulation by Cis and Trans Elements in Caenorhabditis Elegans

Graduation Date: 2021 September 30

 

Joel Perez Urquizo

Supervisor Name: Keshav Dani

Research Unit: Femtosecond Spectroscopy Unit

Thesis: Terahertz Patch Antenna Microcavity Lasers with Integrated Beam Control

Graduation Date: 2021 September 30

 

Kun-Lung Li

Supervisor Name: Hiroshi Watanabe

Research Unit: Evolutionary Neurobiology Unit

Thesis: A Study of Horizontally Transferred Glycosyl Hydrolase Family 6 Genes in Tunicate Genomes

Graduation Date: 2021 September 30

 

Graduated in AY2020 (Total as of August 2021: 17)

Awarded at AY2020 Graduation Ceremony on May 21 2021

2021 Graduation Ceremony webpage 

YouTube Video of Graduation Ceremony

 

Andreas Thomasen

Supervisor Name: Nic Shannon

Research Unit: Theory of Quantum Matter Unit

Thesis: Topology of Band-Like Excitations in Frustrated Magnets and Their Experimental Signatures

Graduation Date: 2021 August 31

 

Jason Robert Ball

Supervisor Name: Denis Konstantinov

Research Unit: Quantum Dynamics Unit

Thesis: Investigating Color Centers in Diamond for Microwave Quantum Technologies

Graduation Date: 2021 August 31

 

Afshan Jamshaid

Supervisor Name: 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 Name: 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 Name: Thomas Busch

Research Unit: Quantum Systems Unit

Thesis: Atom-Light Interactions via Evanescent Fields

Graduation Date: 2021 April 30

 

Shoko Igarashi (Ota)

Supervisor Name: Kenji Doya

Research Unit: Neural Computation Unit

Thesis: Intrinsic Motivation in Creative Activity

Graduation Date: 2021 April 30

 

Sandrine Burriel

Supervisor Name: 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 Name: 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 Name: 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 Name: 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 Name: 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 Name: Pinaki Chakraborty

Research Unit: Fluid Mechanics Unit

Thesis: Storm moisture and landfalling hurricanes

Graduation Date: 2020 December 31

 

Christina Ripken

Supervisor Name: 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 Name: 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 Name: 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 Name: 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 Name: 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 Name: 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 Name: 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 Name: 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 Name: 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 Name: 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 Name: 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 Name: 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 Name: 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 Name: 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 Name: 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 Name: 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 Name: 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 Name: 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 Name: 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 Name: 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 Name: 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 Name: 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 Name: 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 Name: 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 Name: 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 Name: 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 Name: 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 Name: 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 Name: 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 Name: 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 Name: 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 Name: 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 Name: Noriyuki Satoh

Research Unit: Marine Genomics Unit

Thesis: Genomic insights on secondary metabolism in symbiotic dinoflagellates

Graduation Date: 2019 April 30

 

Yafei Mao

Supervisor Name: 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 Name: 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 Name: 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 Name: Thomas Busch

Research Unit: Quantum Systems Unit

Thesis:  State engineering in one-dimensional quantum gases

Graduation Date: 2019 March 31

 

Kazuto Kawamura

Supervisor Name: 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 Name: 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 Name: 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 Name: 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 Name: 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 Name: 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 Name: 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 Name: 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

 

Kalale Chola 

Supervisor Name: Tsumoru Shintake

Research Unit: Quantum Wave Microscopy Unit

Thesis: Development of an SPH variant of implicit LES for studying wave energy transport

Graduation Date: 2018 August 31

 

Tsai-Ming Lu

Supervisor Name: Noriyuki Satoh

Research Unit: Marine Genomics Unit

Thesis:  Comparative genomic studies on Dicyema japonicum: the phylogenetic position of dicyemids and the genomic adaptations to parasitic lifestyle

Graduation Date: 2018 August 31

 

E Laine Wong

Supervisor Name: Keshav Dani

Research Unit: Femtosecond Spectroscopy Unit

Thesis: Ultrafast spatiotemporal control of photocarriers in doped semiconductors

Graduation Date: 2018 July 31

 

Chris Reinke

Supervisor Name: Kenji Doya

Research Unit: Neural Computation Unit

Thesis: The Gamma-Ensemble - Adaptive Reinforcement Learning via Modular Discounting

Graduation Date: 2018 June 30

 

Dongrong Zhang

Supervisor Name: Gustavo Gioia

Research Unit: Continuum Physics Unit

Thesis: Spectral theory of turbulent flows 

Graduation Date: 2018 June 30

 

Lashmi Piriya Ananda Babu

Supervisor Name: Tomoyuki Takahashi

Co-Supervisor: Professor Jeff Wickens

Research Unit: Cellular & Molecular Synaptic Function Unit

Thesis: Functional roles of microtubules in a giant presynaptic terminal

Graduation Date: 2018 May 17

 

Daisuke Takahashi

Supervisor Name: Hirotaka Sugawara

Research Unit: Advanced Medical Instrumentation Unit

Thesis: Minimal gauged U(1) extension of the Standard Model with classical scale invariance and phenomenology

Graduation Date: 2018 February 21

 

Keita Ikegami

Supervisor Name: Noriyuki Satoh

Research Unit: Marine Genomics Unit

Thesis: Comparative transcriptome analysis of basal deuterostomes and its implications for the phylotypic stage

Graduation Date: 2018 February 9

 

Nino Espinas

Supervisor Name: Hidetoshi Saze

Co-Supervisor: Professor Ulf Skoglund

Research Unit: Plant Epigenetics Unit

Thesis: rCBP-dependent regulation in rice innate immunity

Graduation Date: 2018 February 9

 

Cong Liu

Supervisor Name: Evan Economo

Research Unit: Biodiversity and Biocomplexity Unit

Thesis: Understanding the ecological and evolutionary processes shaping ant biodiversity across spatiotemporal scales

Graduation Date: 2018 January 31 

 

Caroline Starzynski

Supervisor Name: Mitsuhiro Yanagida

Research Unit: G0 Cell Unit

Thesis: Investigating ancient metabolic reactions contributing to G0 quiescence survival in fission yeast S. pombe

Graduation Date: 2017 December 31

 

Zafer Hawash

Supervisor Name: Yabing Qi

Research Unit: Energy Materials and Surface Sciences Unit

Thesis: Surface science studies of perovskite solar cells: spiro-MeOTAD hole transport material and perovskite absorber

Graduation Date: 2017 December 20

 

Rico Pohle

Supervisor Name: Nic Shannon

Research Unit:  Theory of Quantum Matter Unit

Thesis:  Signatures of novel spin liquids in kagome-like lattices

Graduation Date: 2017 December 7

 

Graduated in AY2016 (Total as of August 2017: 7)

Awarded at AY2016 Graduation Ceremony, February 24 2018

Kenneth Baughman

Supervisor Name: Noriyuki Satoh

Research Unit: Marine Genomics Unit

Thesis: Decoding and analysis of the Crown-of-Thorns Starfish Acanthaster planci Genome

Graduation Date: 2017 August 25

 

Dongxin Zhang

Supervisor Name: Fujie Tanaka

Research Unit: Chemistry and Chemical Bioengineering Unit

Thesis: Amine catalyzed functionalization of enolizable ketones

Graduation Date: 2017 August 14

 

Yi-Jyun Luo

Supervisor Name: Noriyuki Satoh

Research Unit: Marine Genomics Unit

Thesis: Insights into lophotrochozoan evolution and the origin of morphological novelties from brachiopod, phoronid, and nemertean genomes

Graduation Date: 2017 August 14

 

Mart Toots

Supervisor Name: Ulf Skoglund

Research Unit: Structural Cellular Biology Unit

Thesis: Exploring the potential of cryo-electron tomography on protein nanocrystals for molecular structure determination

Graduation Date: 2017 July 18

 

Faisal Mahmood

Supervisor Name: Ulf Skoglund

Co-Supervisor: Professor Hiroaki Kitano

Research Unit: Structural Cellular Biology Unit

Thesis: Algorithmic and architectural developments for cryo-electron tomography

Graduation Date: 2017 March 10

 

Lee O'Riordan

Supervisor Name: Thomas Busch

Research Unit: Quantum Systems Unit

Thesis: Non-equilibrium vortex dynamics in rapidly rotating Bose-Einstein condensates

Graduation Date: 2017 March 10

 

Mark Daly

Supervisor Name: Síle Nic Chormaic

Research Unit: Light-Matter Interactions Unit

Thesis: Light-induced interactions using optical near-field devices

Graduation Date: 2017 March 10