Funding Opportunities for Students

I am interested in working with students that have a strong mathematical background and are enthusiastic about working on problems that have an applied or industrial significance. There is research funding available to support students working in a number of areas listed below:

Graduate Students: Modelling and Scientific Computation

Studentships are available at the MSc and PhD level for students who have interest or experience in modelling and computation of complex fluid flows. In particular, I am interested in studying flow in porous media, often coupled to some other physical phenomenon such as heat transport, phase change, or reaction chemistry. The applications of this work range from studies of transport through biological membranes, to water uptake in soils and building materials, to sap flow in trees. Funding is available in the form of a research assistantship, in addition to a teaching assistantship from the Mathematics Department. A strong background in mathematics and/or scientific computing is a requirement.

Graduate Students: Immersed Boundary Method for Fluid-Structure Interaction

I am specifically interested in attracting students at both the MSc and PhD level to work on research problems related to the immersed boundary method for simulating the interaction between a flexible elastic structure and an incompressible fluid. Specific applications of interest include suspensions of flexible wood pulp fibres and swimming dynamics of marine organisms. Funding is available in the form of a research assistantship in addition to a teaching assistantship from the Mathematics Department.

Undergraduate Students: Summer Research Projects in Mathematical Modelling and Scientific Computation

I am interested in supervising undergraduate students to do summer research projects or internships in a wide range of problems involving mathematical modelling and numerical simulation. Some examples of recent undergraduate student projects include:

• Heat transport and sap flow in trees.
• High resolution schemes for atmospheric contaminant transport.
• Traffic flow modelling using Hyperbolic conservation laws.
• Dynamics of collective behaviour in honeybee clusters and emperor penguin huddles.

If you have an interest in problems of this sort, then please email me or come talk to me in person. Most of my research is motivated by some application in the physical or biological sciences, and several of the above projects arose from past or current collaborations with industrial research partners. I am particularly keen to supervise students having a strong background in mathematics, physics, or computational methods.

If you are interested in any of the above projects, then you should contact John Stockie (Department of Mathematics, Simon Fraser University). For graduate students, please see the application requirements for the Graduate Programme in Mathematics and note that the deadline for applications in each calendar year is January 15.