The Ontario Graduate Scholarship Program (OGS) is a merit-based award open to graduate students of all disciplines. The province provides 2/3s the award funds while universities provide the remainder. The scholarships are in the amount of $10,000 for two consecutive terms, or $15,000 for three. After a rigorous application and ranking process, twelve PhD students of the Department of Economics have been awarded the OGS this year.
Bryce Balanuik entered the program in 2021. He is an especially well-recognized figure among undergraduates having served as a teaching assistant for ECO101, ECO102, ECO200, ECO202 and ECO204.
“I am interested in education, health, and labour economics and the interactions between these fields,” Balanuik explained. “My current work investigates how neighbourhoods and schools during childhood shape individuals’ longer-run outcomes and how health shocks may disproportionately affect immigrant populations. I am honoured to receive OGS and value it as feedback that the topics that interest me are worth pursuing.”
Devin Bissky Dziadyk is a fifth year PhD candidate who has been with the Department of Economics since starting his master’s degree here in 2019. The Saskatchewan native is best known around Max Gluskin House for his helpful advice to those considering a PhD.
“My work uses newly digitized historical census records to examine the impact of one room schools in Western Canada,” Bissky Dziadyk stated. “Combined with a quantitative spatial model I show how the construction of schools pushed people out of agricultural occupations and led to the consolidation of farms. This funding will enable me to do further work to link the Canadian and US census, and to examine how the development of both countries is strongly intertwined.”
Jonathan Brasseur started his PhD in 2023. As a master’s student, Brasseur worked as a student researcher at CIRANO, a Quebec-based inter-university policy research centre that fosters collaboration between academia, public service organizations, the private sector and government institutions.
“I’m very grateful and excited to have been awarded the Ontario Graduate Scholarship,” Brasseur said. “This support will enable me to research why income levels vary significantly across countries, using a macroeconomic lens to explore how politics and institutions influence the allocation of resources within the economy.”
Benjamin Couillard is a fifth year PhD candidate best know for his paper Rising Geographic Disparities in US Mortality that examines rising inequality in both income and health.
“I am interested in developing and applying new methods for structural estimation in urban economics,” said Couillard. “My job market paper estimates the effect of rising housing costs on fertility, explicitly correcting for fertility-based selection into neighborhoods with a highly heterogeneous sorting model that can be estimated using only sufficient statistics observed in public data.”
Vanya Georgieva is a fifth year PhD candidate who applies data science methods (causal inference, ML, NLP, LLM) to pressing economic issues. She completed her MA at the University of Toronto and her undergraduate degree at the University of Ottawa.
“Awards such as the OGS, and previously the SSHRC CGS-D, have been instrumental in supporting my research as a PhD Candidate,” Georgieva said. “In particular, I research the effects of trade and subsidy wars in the context of a global production network. The funds from OGS and CGS-D have allowed me to dedicate more of my time to this, and other, policy-relevant topics.”
Yue (Amy) Huang is a fourth year PhD candidate, teaching assistant and research assistant. She is an executive member of the graduate students’ Women in Economics group.
“I am very grateful to receive the Ontario Graduate Scholarship,” Huang said. “My main research interests lie in education policy, and it means a lot to have support for my work as it allows me to pursue more ambitious projects.”
Sobia Jafry entered the PhD program in 2020 after completing her MA at UofT. The teaching assistant and research assistant is best known for her paper Policy Forum: Inequity and Inefficiency in the Tax Treatment of Capital Gains.
“My research interests span public finance and household finance topics,” explained Jafry. “I am a recipient of the SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship for 2024-2025 year. As the SSHRC funding comes to an end this summer, the OGS funding will provide much needed financial support during the job market year. I will be able to direct all my efforts towards finding the perfect role that matches my passion.”
Niketana Kannan is a fourth-year PhD candidate who has been both a research assistant and teaching assistant. Her research work has been affiliated with both the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, the Institute for Gender and the Economy (GATE), and the Department of Economics.
“I’m grateful to have received the Ontario Graduate Scholarship this year. This funding will help further my research in health policy and women’s health and enable me to present my work to broader audiences,” said Kannan.
Quinlan Lee entered the PhD program in 2020 after completing his MA at UofT. Earlier this summer he shared two new working papers he has co-authored, Bottom-Up Mixed-Frequency Data Sampling (BUMIDAS) and Identification of Impulse Response Functions for Nonlinear Dynamic Models.
“I’m honored to have been awarded the Ontario Graduate Scholarship this year,” said Lee. “This support will enable me to attend multiple conferences in time series analysis and econometric theory, where I can present my research, connect with fellow econometricians, and strengthen my professional network ahead of the job market.”
Atom Vayalinkal entered the PhD program in 2021 after completing both his BA and MA at the University of Toronto. He has worked as a research assistant in the diverse fields of industrial organization, labour economics, and behavioural and experimental economics.
“I am grateful to the province for recognizing and supporting my research in econometric theory,” said Vayalinkal. “This award will allow me to maintain my focus on developing new tools that enable us to extract deeper insights from data and deliver more nuanced, credible policy guidance.”
Natalia Vigezzi entered the PhD program in 2019 after completing her MSc and BSc at Università Bocconi. She is the co-author of Health Spillovers: The Broad Impact of Spousal Health Shocks and The Opportunity Cost of a PhD: Spending Your Twenties.
“I am honored to receive the Ontario Graduate Scholarship, which will support my research on the long-term outcomes of refugees, other immigrants, and their children in Canada,” said Vigezzi. “This funding will help me complete my PhD and continue work on research that contributes to evidence-based immigration and settlement policy.”
Jackson Woloschuk will enter the PhD program in August having completed his MA at the University of Toronto.
“I am grateful to be awarded the OGS and the financial support that comes with it,” said Woloschuk. “As I begin my PhD, receiving this award will help me with this transition as I turn my focus towards research. After completing the first year of the program, I hope to pursue research in micro theory.”
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