Postgraduate research news

Higher Degree Student News

Our postgraduate students have continued to excel in 2025. They have published over 17 research papers in peer-reviewed journals including Eye, Ophthalmic and Physiological Optics, Contact Lens & Anterior Eye, The Ocular Surface, Ophthalmology Glaucoma, Seminars in Ophthalmology, Advances in Ophthalmology Practice and Research, Experimental Eye Research, Antibiotics, Molecules, Springer Nature, Translation Vision Science and Technology and Microbiological Research,

Our students have also presented their research at international conferences, both online and physical, including Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (Salt Lake City, USA), the American Academy of Optometry (Boston, USA), Australian Society for Microbiology National Meeting (Adelaide, Australia), British Contact lens Association Meeting (Birmingham, UK), Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists (RANZCO) Annual Scientific Congress (Melbourne, Australia), Drug Delivery Australia Meeting (Sydney, Australia), Pathobiology for Investigators, Students, and Academics. 

Thesis Submissions and Awards

During 2025 we had the following students submit their PhD theses: Mariam Soomro, Allan Ared, Hashim Ali Khan, Zeeshan Akhtar, Adrian Marcus, Srikanth Dumpati, Rehanna Tajuddin Mohammed Akthar Khan, Pawan Baral and Nur Amalina Md Isa.

Awards Received

Congratulations also go to a long list of postgraduate students who received various awards throughout the year:

Annual Postgraduate Conference

The 2025 annual postgraduate conference was held on two occasions: 28 April – 1 May and 11-15 August 2025. The presentations were held in-person in the Old Main Building (April/May) and at the June Griffith Lecture Theatre (August).  The interviews were conducted via a virtual platform. Over 40 students presented their research findings across a range of topics including public health, myopia and glaucoma studies, dry eye disease, systemic disease and the eye, and close to 60 students were interviewed as part of the review process. The reviews are always a great opportunity to find out the array of research currently being undertaken by research students at SOVS. 

Congratulations to Rehana Khan for the “Best presentation” award and to Samea Khan for the runner-up award.

Many thanks to the following members of the SOVS community who served as panellists for the postgraduate student interviews: Juno Kim, Eric Papas, Sharon Oberstein, Sieu Khuu, Nayuta Yoshioka, Nicole Carnt, Maitreyee Roy, Jerome Ozkan (Chair), Isabelle Jalbert (Chair), Kathleen Watt, Fiona Stapleton, Mark Willcox, Vanessa Honson, Revathy Mani, Lisa Nivision-Smith, Jackie Tan-Showyin, Vinod Maseedupally, Daisy Shu, Pauline Kang, Angelica Ly, Suki Jaiswal and Michele Madigan.

New Postgraduate Research Representatives

This year we thanked Xiaona Ping, Mahar Safdar Ali Qasim, Hamidreza Heidari & Mukesh Kumar for their service as postgraduate representatives and welcomed Srikanth Maseedupalli, Meseret Alem Damtie, Yuting Jin, Janani Surya Ravichandran and Gaurav Paramasivan as the incoming representatives. 

Other Events

Thank you to Dereje Anbesse for representing the School of Optometry & Vision Science at the UNSW Faculty of Medicine and Health 3-minute Thesis Competition in June 2025.

Postgraduate Club

Postgrad club continues to run fortnightly on Thursdays from 4.00pm – 5.00pm. A wide range of fantastic speakers and topics have been presented this year including:

MPhil

The MPhil is a one-and-a-half-year degree that incorporates coursework and a research project. The completion of an MPhil equates to honours equivalency. You can learn more about that here: https://www.optometry.unsw.edu.au/sites/default/files/documents/conditionsMPhilpolicy.pdf

PhD Opportunities

Are you interested in undertaking postgraduate research? Our school offers a structured postgraduate program consisting of in-house research seminars, developing students’ methodological, statistical and research skills, and access to the internationally recognised researchers, who provide their expertise, knowledge, advice, and guidance. Learn more about our postgraduate program.