The CANSSI Quebec Recruitment Scholarships (CQRS) program provides a supplement of $7,000 per year during the first two years of a doctoral program to promising PhD students in statistical sciences at Quebec universities. We are pleased to introduce the three recipients for 2026.
Rahma Jebali
Rahma Jebali will begin her PhD program at Concordia University in Fall 2026 under the supervision of Mélina Mailhot (Associate Professor, Mathematics and Statistics). Rahma completed a master’s degree in applied mathematics at Polytechnique Montréal and then worked as a Data Analyst at Air Transat. Her research interests centre on “uncertainty quantification and geometric representations of risk and uncertainty in complex stochastic systems” with a current focus on “theory and methodology for multivariate probability structures and geometric views of risk, with particular emphasis on high-dimensional settings.” She notes that she is “drawn to research that unites mathematical rigour with practical impact” and states that her goal in the doctoral program is “to contribute new methods, implement transparent computational tools, and publish peer-reviewed articles that advance the field.”
Gilles Delpy Sop Fofou
Gilles Delpy Sop Fofou will begin his PhD program at HEC Montréal in Fall 2026 under the supervision of Geneviève Gauthier (Full Professor, Department of Decision Sciences). He previously completed a research internship “to develop a particle filter for estimating latent variances and covariances in a multivariate Heston model” under the supervision of Professor Gauthier. Delpy credits his studies at the École Supérieure d’Ingénieurs Léonard de Vinci (Paris) with sparking his interest in research and his passion for quantitative financial modelling. His aim in pursuing a PhD is to combine mathematics with machine learning “in order to add my own contribution to the grand edifice that is quantitative finance.”
Yizhen Zhao
Yizhen Zhao will begin her PhD program at Concordia University in Fall 2026 under the supervision of Yang Lu (Associate Professor, Department of Mathematics and Statistics). She completed her master’s degree in statistics at Soochow University with an interest in spatial econometrics, compositional data modelling, quantile regression, and high-dimensional data analysis. She also notes that “my work experience in developing machine learning models for telecom-fraud detection has inspired a strong interest in financial risk analysis and broadened my perspective on applied econometric statistics.” Her goal in pursuing a PhD is “to further explore the areas of econometrics and financial statistics” with a focus on “theoretical development of statistical methodologies with wide-ranging applications.”
Congratulations, Rahma, Delpy, and Yizhen!
