CIS awards 20 PhD research grants

Twenty doctoral students in international affairs at MIT were awarded PhD Student Research Grants. Included in this group are Julia Lodoen and Mrinalini Penumaka, who received the sixth annual Jeanne Guillemin Prize. The PhD Student Research Grants provide funding for research projects to PhD candidates whose work focuses on international studies and requires travel for field research and/or visits to archives. The Guillemin Prize is reserved for women pursuing doctoral studies in international affairs and was established by a longtime colleague of CIS. Awarded annually, the Center is pleased to support the work of an outstanding and varied cohort from across the Institute.

Learn more about the Center’s PhD Student Research Grants.

• Isabel Bailey, Architecture, “Soviet Sedentarization as a Process of Design”
• Ayelet Carmeli, Political Science, “Forging Financial Citizenships: The Origins of Savings Regimes in France, the U.K., and the U.S.”
• Nilsu Celikel, Political Science, “Amicable Relations and Conflict Termination”
• Jingtian Chen, Political Science, “The Competition Paradox: The Political Origins of Market Structures”
• Kathryn Dura, Political Science, “Perception, Power, and Innovation: Defense Elites and the Politics of Emerging Technologies”
• Odinaka Eze, STS, “Medical Governance: The Search for Health in Africa”
• Preston Johnston, Political Science, “Paying for Climate Change: The Politics of Insurance in a Warming World”
• Areti Kotsoni, DUSP, "Mapping Sociospatial Inequalities: Balancing Tourism, Living Heritage, and Policy Challenges in Chania, Greece"
• Zachary La Rock, STS, “Curative Malaise: Petrochemicals and the Pharmaceutical Model for Agriculture in South Italy”
• Julia Lodoen, Political Science, “In Democracy's Shadows: How Institutions Created under Democratic Regimes Strengthen Authoritarian Repression, State Actors, and Democratic Backsliding” Julia Lodoen was awarded the sixth annual Guillemin Prize
• Dení López, DUSP, “From Indigenous Grassroots to Policy: Redefining Disaster Risk Management Through Zapotec Expertise”
• Antonio Mahana, Political Science, “Peasants without Roots: Internal Colonialism and Land Distribution in Bolivia”
• Nina Miller, Political Science, “Blame Games: International Military Accidents, Blame Narratives, and Escalation”
• Benjamín Muñoz Rojas, Political Science, “The Political Dynamics Behind Pretrial Detention” 
• Mrinalini Penumaka, DUSP, “Evaluating Just Urban Transitions: Climate and Development Reforms in South Africa’s Water and Energy Sectors” Mrinalini Penumaka was awarded the sixth annual Guillemin Prize
• Clemente Sanchez Barja, Political Science, “To serve a cause: bureaucratic zeal and the foundations of the rule of law”
• Maia Simon, Architecture, “The City in the Economic Region: Industrialization, Urbanization, and Architectural Expertise in the Kazakh SSR, 1925–1965,”
• Thelma Wang, STS and Anthropology, “Seeking Medicine Elsewhere: Sino-Thai Pathways for Gender-Affirming Care”
• Chenhao Zhu, DUSP, “Global Urban Policies on Governing New Mobility Integration”
• Tingxuan Zhu, Political Science, “The Dilemma of Technology Control: Relative Gains in Great Power Technology Competition”