News from and about graduate studies at Simon Fraser University
Simon Fraser University and the Office of the Dean of Graduate Studies will be closed from December 25 through January 3. We’ll be back in the office on January 4, 2011.
Have a great holiday season, and we look forward to working with you in 2011!
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Update: This post is moving to a new home: [See our new website.]
Derek Congram completed his PhD in archaeology at Simon Fraser University in 2010.
He writes:
Since 1999 I have been working as a forensic archaeologist and anthropologist. This has entailed the usually criminal investigation of crimes involving the disappearance and death of civilians, but also soldiers. I have worked for different groups including the United Nations, the US, Costa Rican and British Columbian legal authorities, non-governmental organizations and legal defence counsel. I have conducted forensic work in about eight countries including Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iraq.
My work typically involves the search for and recovery of human remains (eg, excavation of mass graves) and their subsequent analysis.
My PhD research involved helping with the search for missing civilians from the Spanish Civil War — there are tens of thousands of them, mostly from 1936–1937. It’s a private, grass-roots initiative by families of victims, and the Spanish government, according to the United Nations, has shirked its legal responsibilities of investigating these missing civilians. In fact, a Spanish judge for whom I served briefly as an advisor is on trial for attempting to investigate the controversial issue.
To complicate matters further, an Argentine judge is investigating whether or not the Spanish government has been negligent in their failure to investigate. This is a result of Spanish families who fled the war, immigrated to Argentina and who have now petitioned the Argentine courts to act on their behalf investigating their missing family members. The surviving children of the victims are now very elderly and so attention to their cause is really quite urgent.
I am currently doing a postdoctoral fellowship at the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command’s Central Identification Laboratory (JPAC-CIL), which is based in Hawai’i. JPAC is a branch of the US Navy that is tasked with the search, recovery, identification and repatriation of US personnel who have died in past conflicts overseas (mostly Korea, Vietnam, WWII).
We hope our profiles give you a better idea of the work our graduate students are doing. We’d love to feature more of our graduate students and alumni: please share your story.
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Update: This post is moving to a new home: [See our new website.]
Jennifer Jones’ archaeology research examines material culture from an early British Columbia psychiatric hospital or “insane asylum” as it was called at the time.
She writes:
I’m trying to look at changes in daily life for patients and different treatment regimes used at the Public Hospital for the Insane in New Westminster, BC, as reflected in the material remains. This project will focus on the period from the opening of the institution in 1878 until the 1940s.
By looking at the objects of day-to-day life, such as the ceramics, cutlery, and clothing selected for patients, we can get a sense of these things were used to rehabilitate people and create “proper citizens.” We can also look at whether patients were allowed personal effects, the types of things they were eating, and how they were spending their time.
I’ll be using a variety of methods to explore some of these ideas, including archaeological excavations and archival research.
We hope our profiles give you a better idea of the work our graduate students are doing. We’d love to feature more of our graduate students and alumni: please share your story.
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Update: This post is moving to a new home: [See our new website.]
The Office for Science and Technology of the Embassy of France in Canada has launched the first FCRF award for a joint PhD.
An award of $1500 will be given to the best France-Canada “cotutelle” thesis defended in 2010.
The deadline for applications is March 15, 2011.
The French Embassy also offers a scholarship to PhD candidates which finances academic study visits in France. The call for applications is now open.
Related post: Is France in Your Future?
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Update: This post is moving to a new home: [See our new website.]
The Africa Initiative Graduate Research Grant offers full-time graduate students the opportunity to conduct field-based research in Africa for three months. Participants will receive a grant of up to $10,000 toward their research in Africa.
For more information: Africa Initiative Graduate Research Grant flyer.
This award is offered by the Centre for International Governance Innovation. Email aiexchange@cigionline.org. Application deadline is January 31, 2011.
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Update: This post is moving to a new home: [See our new website.]
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Update: This post is moving to a new home: [See our new website.]
Congratulations to graduate students Andrew Henrey (Statistics and Actuarial Science) and Hua Huang (Computing Science) and undergraduate student Wesley May. They’ll be travelling to Egypt in February to compete in the finals of the International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC), after winning the regional competition in November.
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Update: This post is moving to a new home: [See our new website.]
NSERC has announced the 2011 NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Awards (USRA) Competition. These awards are meant to stimulate interest in research in the natural sciences and engineering and to encourage undergraduate students to undertake graduate studies and pursue a research career in these fields. There will be 68 NSERC USRA awards granted to SFU undergraduate students in 2011-12.
In addition, SFU’s Vice-President, Research (VPR), will be supporting approximately 58 VPR USRAs who are working with faculty members who hold NSERC grants.
The value of these two awards is $4,500 over the 16-week period of the award.
For more information and an application checklist, visit the Dean of Graduate Studies website.
Please share this with your friends on Facebook and encourage them to apply:
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Update: This post is moving to a new home: [See our new website.]
A new award offers undergraduate students in the humanities and social sciences an opportunity to try out a career in research.
SFU’s Vice-President Research is funding a pilot project for the Undergraduate Student Research Awards (VPR USRA), meant to stimulate interest in research in the social sciences and humanities and to encourage undergraduate students to undertake graduate studies.
Eligible applicants must work a minimum of 16 weeks under the supervision of a faculty supervisor who currently holds a SSHRC Standard Research Grant in your department. Awards are available for the spring 2011 term and can be held on a full-time or part-time basis.
The value of a full-time VPR USRA is $4,500 paid on a biweekly basis, over a minimum 16-week period and the value of a part-time VPR USRA is $2,250 paid on a biweekly basis, over a minimum 16-week period.
Application forms must be completed and submitted to the Dean of Graduate Studies Office by January 28, 2011.
Please share this with your friends on Facebook and encourage them to apply:
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Update: This post is moving to a new home: [See our new website.]
For the last three years, Jason Peterson, who’s a PhD candidate in behavioural ecology at SFU, has also been working with elementary school children in North Vancouver through the Let’s Talk Science program.
The children face a variety of learning challenges but with Jason’s assistance, they’ve produced award-winning films for the “Kid Witness News” national film competition.
For more: SFU coordinator brings science to life for kids with learning disabilities
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Update: This post is moving to a new home: [See our new website.]