Best PhD theses recognised
Emeritus Professor Mollie Holman, pictured here in 1978. Image courtesy of the Monash University Archives.
Monash University's most outstanding PhD graduates have been honoured with the prestigious Mollie Holman Medals.
The latest round of awards recognises the best PhD thesis in each faculty and the Monash Injury Research Institute, and take into account criteria such as the quality and scope of the research conducted, and the publications and patents that arise directly from the thesis.
The Mollie Holman Medal is named after the late pioneering physiologist, Emeritus Professor Mollie Holman AO, in honour of her significant contributions to science and education.
2013 Mollie Holman Medal winners:
Faculty of Art Design & Architecture
Dr Kathleen Just, Department of Fine Arts
Thesis: The texture of her skin: a studio project excavating and reweaving visions of female subjectivity.
Faculty of Art
Dr Vicki Hutton, School of Social Science
Thesis: Living with HIV in developed nations: subjective wellbeing and the human-animal bond.
Faculty of Business and Economics
Dr Worapree Maneesoonthorn, Department of Econometrics and Business Statistics
Thesis: Stochastic volatility, jumps and variance risk premia: a Bayesian state space approach.
Faculty of Education
Dr Kate Jacobs
Thesis: Validly measuring cognitive ability by self-reporting: relevance of response format and type of ability assessed.
Faculty of Engineering
Dr Aditya Putranto Department of Chemical Engineering
Thesis: Theoretical extension and innovative applications of reaction engineering approach to modeling drying and other transport processes.
Faculty of Information Technology
Dr Michael Brand, Clayton School of Information Technology
Thesis: Computing with arbitrary and random numbers.
Faculty of Law
Dr Eric Windholz
Thesis: Harmonisation of social regulation in the Australian federation: a case study of occupational health and safety.
Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Science
Dr Anna Vlahandonis, Monash Institute of Medical Research
Thesis: Long-term sleep and cardiovascular outcomes in children with sleep disordered breathing: a four-year follow-up.
Monash Injury Research Institute
Dr Miranda Cornelissen
Thesis: How can they do it? A structured approach to modelling performance variability.
Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences
Dr Carl White, Department of Pharmaceutical Biology
Thesis: An investigation of the non-adrenergic contractile mechanisms in the mouse prostate gland.
Faculty of Science
Dr Jozua Van Otterloo, School of Geosciences
Thesis: Complexity in monogenetic volcanic systems: factors influencing alternating magmatic and phreatomagmatic eruption styles at the 5 ka Mt Gambier volcanic complex, South Australia.
Vice-Chancellor's Commendations
The Graduate Research Centre also ratified five awards for the Vice-Chancellor’s Commendation for Doctoral Thesis Excellence – 2013, and four awards for the Vice-Chancellor’s Commendation for Masters Thesis Excellence – 2013.
Vice-Chancellor’s Commendation for Doctoral Thesis Excellence in 2013
Dr Carolyn Sutherland, Department of Business Law and Taxation
Thesis: Complexity and simplicity in Australian enterprise agreements: a content analysis of agreements in the higher education and fast food sectors, 1993 - 2011.
Dr Nicole Papadopoulos, School of Psychological Sciences
Thesis: Defining the motor profile of children with autism, Asperger's disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
Dr Christopher Chan, Department of Immunology
Thesis: Mechanisms of NK cell-mediated regulation of inflammation and cancer.
Dr Wye-Khay Fong, Drug Delivery, Disposition and Dynamics (D4)
Thesis: Photoresponsive self-assembled nanomaterials for on-demand drug delivery.
Dr Archana Singh, School of Chemistry
Thesis: Water oxidation catalysis by metal oxides derived from coordination complexes: from complexes to natural minerals.
Vice-Chancellor’s Commendation for Masters Thesis excellence in 2013
Nina Ross, Department of Fine Arts
Thesis: Finding a voice: An exploration of the impact of language acquisition on identity using self-portraiture performance video.
Adam Bales, School of Social Sciences
Thesis: Expanding the bounds of rationality: three optimistic pieces.
Anne Deschepper, Faculty of Education
Thesis: Negotiating credit transfer: an examination of institutional practices.
Kai Gong, Department of Civil Engineering
Thesis: Mechanical and rheological properties of graphene oxide reinforced cementitious composites.