Psychology PhD students Oliver Jacobs and Jin-Hui Wen have been recognized for their contributions in the advancement of research, receiving 2021 Killam Doctoral Scholarships.
The Killam Scholarship and Prize Programmes were established in memory of Izaak Walton Killam through the Will of his wife, Dorothy Johnston Killam, and through gifts made during her lifetime. In accordance with Mrs. Killam’s wishes, the UBC Killam Doctoral Scholarship are awarded to candidates “likely to contribute to the advancement of learning or to win distinction in a profession.”
“I am incredibly honoured to be amongst those selected for the Killam Doctoral Scholarship. It means an immense amount. I look forward to continuing to pursue my line of work for which this recognition was received. I want to thank all the wonderful people and support with which my research would not be possible.”
Join us in congratulating Oliver Jacobs and Jin-Hui Wen on this recognition!
About
Oliver Jacobs is currently a member of the Brain, Attention, and Reality lab working with Dr. Alan Kingstone, and a member of the Designing for People Research Cluster. Oliver completed his B.Sc. at Queen’s University where he did an undergraduate thesis working with Dr. Niko Troje. Oliver’s research interests revolve around emerging technologies and cognition in the real world. In particular, he advocates for virtual reality, both as a methodology tool for human research, but also for its greater ability to improve people’s lives.
His current research is focused on how VR can enable the study of how the head and eyes combine to perceive visual scenes. He currently has two studies involving 360-degree scene viewing involving perturbations to the head and eyes. Outside his thesis, Oliver is interested in other applications of VR to real-world problems. From exploring the possibility of VR therapies for cognitive impairment in the elderly to investigating how mental rotation tasks differ in VR. Oliver founded a virtual reality entertainment company – Visionary Realities – that has partnerships with over a dozen retirement homes. Its goal is to bring the latest VR technologies to immobile populations for therapeutic and entertainment purposes.
Jin-Hui Wen is currently a PhD student in the Health Psychology program under the supervision of Dr. Nancy Sin. He completed his Master’s degree in Health Psychology at the University of British Columbia in 2020. Jin’s research interest is examining the effects of night-to-night sleep on daily stress and emotions via ecological momentary assessments and biomarkers (e.g., cortisol, inflammation).
His current research seeks to evaluate cognitive appraisals as potential mechanisms in the links between objective sleep measures (e.g. actigraphy) and next-day affective reactivity to daily stressors. His future goal is to strive to develop accessible interventions to help improve sleep hygiene as well as mitigate the negative effects of daily stress.
