RBC Borealis is proud to introduce the 2024-2025 Fellows, an outstanding group of emerging AI scholars selected for our Fellowships Program, whose research is driving new possibilities, new discoveries, and the future of artificial intelligence across Canada.
This year’s Fellowships have been awarded to ten PhD researchers from universities across Canada. These Fellows are thoughtful, curious, and dedicated to advancing the fields of machine learning and artificial intelligence. Representing leading universities nationwide, they bring forward research that contributes meaningful progress to the broader AI community, and we’re excited to their work.
The RBC Borealis Fellowships Program empowers exceptional doctoral students with the financial support and recognition they need to deepen their research and bring bold ideas to life. Through this program, we champion the next wave of scientific advancement, research that has the potential to transform industries, strengthen communities and redefine what’s possible with technology.
Each Year, our Fellows remind us of the incredible talent shaping Canada's AI ecosystem. By supporting their work, we're advancing discoveries that influence the future of technology and its impact on society.
Director of Research Partnerships, RBC Borealis
Meet the 2024-2025 RBC Borealis Fellows and learn about their research:
Soroush Ebadian
Faculty: Dr. Nisarg Shah
Research topic: Fair and Socially-Aligned Collective Decision-Making
Somayeh Davar
Faculty: Dr. Thomas Fevens
Research topic: Advancing Medical Image Analysis Through Deep Learning: From Diagnosis to Treatment
Jiayun Luo
Faculty: Dr. Leonid Sigal
Research topic: Interpreting the Internal Attention Mechanism of Vision–Language Models for Enhanced Alignment and Practical Use
Han Zhou
Faculty: Dr. Jun Chen
Research topic: Generative AI, 3D Vision, Multimodal AI, Vision-Language Models
Parand Alizadeh Alamdari
Faculty: Dr. Sheila McIlraith
Research topic: Building AI Agents Aligned with Human Values
Shrisudhan Govindarajan
Faculty: Dr. Andrea Tagliasacchi
Research topic: 3D computer vision and graphics
Juan Ramirez
Faculty: Dr. Simon Lacoste-Julien
Research topic: Constrained Deep Learning and Feasible Learning
Parishad BehnamGhader
Faculty: Dr. Siva Reddy
Research topic: Analyzing and Building Powerful Text Representation and Retrieval Models
Mike Lasby
Faculty: Dr. Yani Ioannou
Research topic: Sparse Transformers
Hiroki Naganuma
Faculty: Dr. Ioannis Mitliagkas
Research topic: Co-design of Optimization and Generalization for Large-Scale Deep Learning
About the RBC Borealis Fellowships
The RBC Borealis Fellowships underscore our mission to strengthen and elevate Canada’s AI research ecosystem. The program provides financial support to exceptional domestic and international PhD students pursuing research across key areas of ML and AI. In addition to funding, Fellows can apply for a co-publishing partnership with RBC Borealis researchers; creating opportunities to collaborate on impactful, real-world research. This initiative deepens the connection between academia and industry and helps advance Canada’s leadership in the global AI space.
To learn more, and apply for the 2025 – 2026 Fellowships Program, visit: