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A few weeks ago, Meera Paleja successfully defended her PhD dissertation, which will make her the recipient of Ryerson’s very first PhD in psychology this fall.

“The greatest challenge in defending my thesis was anticipating all the questions that may be asked of me by my examination committee,” says Paleja.

“I had been keeping a notebook for months to jot down potential questions that may arise during the defense as I thought of them. Immediately before the presentation, I actually felt quite relaxed. I felt that I had done all I could do to prepare, and had practised the presentation enough to be completely comfortable.”

When it comes to the successful defence of a PhD thesis, Paleja’s advice is “to focus on one thing at a time.”

Her dissertation, Neural networks involved in spatial and temporal pattern separation, sheds light on a critical component of memory function in humans and is the first of its kind to examine whole-brain networks supporting pattern separation.

Paleja successfully completed her thesis studies while balancing coursework, a PhD comprehensive requirement, a research practicum and lab projects and co-supervising junior trainees, teaching some courses for the psychology department and serving as a graduate assistant for others. She was also a student representative on the psychology department’s Psychological Science Graduate Curriculum committee.

“Her diligence and focus on her work, as well as excellent organizational and time-management skills surely contributed to her ability to be our first doctoral graduate,” says her supervisor and psychology professor Todd Girard.

Having completed the program, Paleja looks back on her time at Ryerson with satisfaction.

“I had opportunities to pursue research with faculty with complementary interests, both in and out of Ryerson. The atmosphere at Ryerson is incredibly collegial and I learned a lot not just from the faculty but from my peers as well.”

“On behalf of everyone in the Department of Psychology, I want to extend heartiest congratulations to Meera,” says Martin Antony, chair of the department. “As we celebrate Meera's success, I wish also to note that this is an important milestone for our program, as this was our first psychology PhD exam.”

Ryerson was Paleja’s top choice for grad school.

“There’s a buzz around the new psychological science program and the research that’s happening in the brain imaging and memory lab,” she said in the 2010 Ryerson Intersections publication in which she was featured. “Research culture is very open and we’re encouraged to pursue a diverse range of research opportunities.”

Paleja has been a standout in her program since she began at Ryerson. She was funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) throughout her PhD, and was among the first cohort at Ryerson to ever receive a CIHR doctoral scholarship.

Paleja will now be making her way to the Montreal Neurological Institute to start a post-doctoral fellowship at McGill University, where she will be supervised by world-renowned neuropsychologist Brenda Milner, who coincidentally received an honorary doctorate from Ryerson in 2008.  

Paleja maintains that patience plays a vital role when it comes to research.

“Research is a slow process, and at times a frustrating process. That’s just the nature of what we do. I believe the role of the researcher is a critical one to society and ultimately a fulfilling one to the individual. The potential for discovery, for uncovering new knowledge about the human mind, remains the greatest driving force for me.”