On September 25^th, M.Sc. and Ph.D. management students from the Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO), the Sprott School of Business at Carleton University, and the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa had the opportunity to present their research at the “Two Cities, Curious Minds: Graduate Research at Three Universities - National Capital Region Thesis Competition and Poster Session.” The event is hosted yearly at one of the national capital region’s three universities.

Through a thesis presentation and a poster session, 20 graduate students from these three institutions were challenged to explain as creatively as possible the impact and significance of their research. Over 80 students and faculty members attended the event. Participating students also had the support of UQO’s Dean of Research, as well as the Deans and Vice-Deans, Research, from the Telfer School of Management and Sprott School of Business.

François Julien, Dean of the Telfer School of Management, officially opened the event, congratulating all M.Sc. and Ph.D. students from the national capital’s three universities for sharing their exciting research projects. He was pleased that the Telfer School was hosting this event for the first time.

Making Decisions at Graduate School

Keynote speaker Ralph L. Keeney (Duke University and University of Southern California) advised the future doctorates and masters in the audience. Based on his research and professional experience, Dr. Keeney explained how to make better decisions meaningfully. Effective decision-making strategies are particularly important for graduate student experience, from the moment they choose their thesis statement to the defence of their research.

Telfer Research on Stage

Equally important is the process of sharing research with the community. Vice-Dean, Research, Wojtek Michalowski reminded us of how graduate students contribute to the university’s mission to develop and share knowledge:

“As we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Telfer School of Management, we are very proud of the role that master and doctoral students play in the development of knowledge that will help improve the lives of Canadians.”

Ph.D. students Vusal Babashov and Marwa Soliman know well that to share knowledge to the academic and wider communities successfully, graduate students not simply need to be prepared to present their research questions, methodology and results, but they should also tell a compelling story. Simply put, young researcher should look for creative ways to communicate the impact and significance of their work.

"The thesis competition was a great opportunity to develop my presentation skills. I have learned how to communicate my academic work in a simple and interesting way to engage an audience unfamiliar with my field. Also, this valuable occasion enabled me to demonstrate the implications of my research, receive feedback, and connect with other students about their ideas and work." – Marwa Soliman, PhD candidate.

"Unlike academic conferences and competitions that focus on specific subjects, this thesis competition gives us an opportunity to present our research to other students and professors who may not be familiar with our research domain and specific technical language. It is a difficult exercise to convey your research topic to such a broad audience as clearly as possible in under 10 minutes of time. That said, it is a very useful and valuable skill to have." – Vusal Babashov, PhD. candidate.

Twelve graduate students from the Telfer School of Management also translated complex research ideas into well-presented and fun posters. The poster session gave faculty members, graduate students, and the community a sneak preview of the next generation of research leaders.

Competition Results

Congratulations to all students who shared their work at the National Capital Region Thesis Competition and Poster Session. Here are the prize winners:

Thesis competition:

First prize – Marwa Soliman (Telfer) won $2,000

Second prize – Vusal Babashov (Telfer) and Vivi Zhang (Sprott) tied, winning $1,500 each

Third prize – Jesse Schnobb (UQO) won $1,000

 Poster competition:

First prize– Afshin Kamyabiniya (Telfer) won $500

Second prize – Pengcheng Guo (Sprott) won $300

Third prize– Nada Elnahla (Sprott) won $200

The 2019 edition of the competition was also a great success thanks to amazing volunteers from the Telfer Graduate Research Programs Student Association.

See you in 2020 at Sprott School of Business!

Meet our new faculty member: Fabio Moneta joined the Telfer School of Management as an Associate Professor at the University of Ottawa. He holds a PhD in Finance from the Carroll School of Management, Boston College.  He was recently awarded a competitive Senior Research Fellowship at the Long-Term Investors Think Tank at the Università di Torino. We interviewed him to learn more about his research interests in the areas of investments, institutional investors, and trading behavior.

Why did you choose to study Finance?

With my last name, I had to be in Finance. Actually, I am one of ten children and the only one who is in Finance. Maybe because I am from Italy, from Pisa in Tuscany, I have always been interested in history. As Cicero, the famous Roman orator, once said “historia est magistra vitae”, which is Latin for “history is life’s teacher”. Finance played a very important role throughout history. This is particularly true for Italy. We would not have had the Renaissance without Finance and the Medici family, who became rich through their banking activities. As one of the most important patrons of Renaissance artists in the 15^th and 16^th centuries, the Medici family played a crucial role in laying the foundations of banking and finance that we know today.

You have 10 years of experience in Finance research in Canada and abroad. Any personal motivation behind your research interests in investments, trading behavior, and mutual fund performance?

I have two main research areas. The first concentrates on institutional investors and studies their performance and trading behavior. The second research area relates to the study of the risk premium in different financial markets. I believe that it is important to conduct research that has practical relevance. For example, since half of households invest in mutual funds, my research in this area can provide helpful, practical information for investors. My papers are mostly empirical, but I refer to existing theories and propose simple models so other professionals can understand and apply my research findings into practice.

You received a SSHRC, what was the topic and outcome of that research?

The main outcome of my SSHRC grant was my paper: When Anomalies Are Publicized Broadly, Do Institutions Trade Accordingly?, recently published in Management Science. An important phenomenon that occurred in the past two decades is the shift to greater institutional investing. Currently, institutional investors dominate the U.S. equity market. In this study, my co-authors and I examined whether institutional investors trade on stock market anomalies and contribute to market efficiency. We showed that investors do so after the anomalies are documented by academics through publication.

How can your research influence the public sector and business communities in Canada?

My Management Science study shows that investors can improve their investment returns by following academic research. Our results also suggest that academic research and engagement with a broader audience such as practitioners, media, and regulators can lead to societal and economic benefits by helping to correct mispricing and contributing to more efficient markets. In turn, efficient prices can help firms make better and more informed investment and financing decisions.

Alexander Chung takes the spotlight as the 2019 recipient of the John Duncan and Deb Cross Award, for publishing in the International Journal of Information Management, a highly ranked peer-reviewed journal in his field. He was the lead author on an article entitled “Where the Shoe Pinches: Realizing Dominant Problems as an Organizational Social Media Business Profile Evolves”. Congratulations to Alex for his ceaseless dedication to his doctoral studies. We reached out to Alex to see if he could share his very positive publication experience with us. Here is what he had to say:

What was the motivation behind this study?

The paper implements a model that I previously developed to identify problems that can arise as an organization’s social media presence evolves. We contacted organizations in the Canadian business community and asked them to identify problems they have experienced with social media use and rate the severity of each problem experienced. The results will help managers gain a better understanding of what to expect in the future and potentially plan for problems that may arise later on.

Based on your publication experience, is there any advice you would offer other students?

My advice for other students wanting to publish or who are going through the publication process is to:

• Find the right journal. It’s important to find one that supports your research and where the article will be read. The primary goal of publishing is to disseminate your work to others in the research community so that they can build on it.
• Have other people read your work before submitting and be open to feedback.
• Be patient because the process can take several months to years. We went through two rounds of revisions that lasted close to a year, but it’s important to stay motivated and to believe in your research. In the end, it was worth it!

How did you benefit from the John Duncan and Deb Cross Award?

The publication has greatly enhanced my experience as a Ph.D. student. Thank you to my supervisor, Dr. Pavel Andreev for supporting and guiding me through this process. Thank you, Mr. Duncan and Mrs. Cross, for encouraging us to publish early on in our degrees. The experience has been invaluable for me and has led to opportunities to review for other journals and conferences as well.

Contrary to popular belief that the publishing process is complex, frustrating and emotionally demanding, in Alexander's case it went really well. He truly enjoyed the publication experience and was recognized for his hard work and perseverance, not only with a new manuscript, but also a distinctive award.

The John Duncan and Deb Cross Award recognizes the quality and impact of a student’s publication in a peer-reviewed journal. Learn more about graduate scholarships.

The 2018-2019 recipient of the PhD Engagement Award was Yanhong Li. Since starting the program, Yanhong has maximized her development as an academic scholar, beyond the requirements of her PhD program, and contributed to a number of impactful manuscripts. She regularly competes in scholarship opportunities and was awarded the Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarships Program Doctoral Scholarship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. She has actively worked with program directors to increase professional development opportunities for research-based graduate students, such as career consulting workshops. Yanhong was also central in organizing informative seminars like the monthly CARMA live viewing event, helping Telfer Faculty and students increase their research methods skills and knowledge. She excels in her academic performance and has contributed considerably to the undertakings of the Telfer Graduate Research Program Student Association.

Overall Yanhong is a remarkable role model for her fellow students, and highly worthy of the PhD Engagement Award. Congratulations to Yanhong on this well-deserved distinction.

The PhD Engagement Award recognizes an exemplary doctoral student who demonstrates continued initiative in applying for funding and scholarships, leadership and engagement in the PhD Program, academic success, and persistent research progress. Learn more about our graduate scholarships.