Student Awards

Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Shanoon, a post-doctoral scholar in the AI Lab in the School of Computer Science, has been awarded Best Presentation at the 2025 8th International Conference on Digital Medicine and Image Processing (DMIP) in Tokyo, Japan. Held at the University of Tokyo from November 27–30, DMIP is a leading international conference where researchers and professionals from around the world share new work in digital medicine, image processing and related fields.

PhD candidate Genievieve Borg is the 2026 recipient of the Gilead Early Career Award for Excellence in Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, presented by the Canadian Society for Chemistry (CSC). This award acknowledges an early career chemist as a mark of distinction and recognition for excellence in their work advancing equity, diversity and inclusion initiatives.

The 76th Annual Meeting of the International Society of Electrochemistry (ISE) took place in Mainz, Germany from September 7–12, 2025, under the theme “Electrochemistry: From Basic Insights to Sustainable Technologies.” Chemistry PhD student Negar Sabouhabian, supervised by Dr. Jacek Lipkowski and Dr.

The Lincoln Alexander Chancellor’s Scholarship, given to one student this year, is named after the former U of G chancellor and honours the community and leadership achievements of students who are Indigenous, racialized or live with disabilities.

On August 7th, two University of Guelph chemists were honoured for their research excellence at the third annual ECS Guelph Young Researcher Symposium. The event brought together graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, faculty and research staff to share their work in electrochemistry, materials science and surface science. 

19 U of G CEPS grad students earned top provincial and federal scholarships for excellence in research, leadership and innovation.

Sonal Allana, a PhD candidate in Computer Science, won first place in the 3-minute thesis competition at the Responsible AI Track of the Canadian AI Conference, held in Calgary. The competition encourages ethical and responsible AI development by promoting fairness, transparency and accountability in the field.

Mukaila Ibrahim, a Ph.D. candidate in Chemistry, has been awarded an Inorganic Poster Award for his presentation at the 2025 Canadian Chemistry Conference and Exhibition (CSC) in Ottawa. His poster received outstanding reviews from the judging committee, reflecting both the quality of his research and his dedication to preparation and presentation.

Congratulations to Ibrahim on this achievement!

Chong Gan, who recently completed her PhD in statistics at the University of Guelph and has been awarded the prestigious CANSSI Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellowship for 2025–2027. Currently a Sessional Lecturer in Guelph’s Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Chong will advance her research on novel copula-based statistical models for survival and count data with applications in health research.

Mahdi Lavasani, recipient of the 2025 Hallett Memorial Scholarship, is a PhD student researching the molecular mechanisms of Parkinson’s Disease. His work focuses on how the neuronal protein alpha-synuclein interacts with cellular membranes and the autophagy protein LC3B, revealing how these interactions may contribute to protein aggregation and impaired autophagy in neurodegeneration.