Ehsan Nouri

I'm a second-year doctoral student at the Beedie School of Business, specializing in Management Information Systems (MIS). As digitalization, data and connectivity continue to blend with business activities, and generally, with our daily life, we can expect to observe interesting outcomes from these interactions and decide to align our actions, understanding, and policies accordingly. In other words, we should be on deck, to sail towards the digital world, the future. That's what MIS scholars work on, and I have the privilege of working with a team of the brightest, here at SFU Beedie. My research interests are Social Media, Online Communities, and Social Simulation.

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO COME TO SFU?

SFU's Beedie School of Business has a dynamic environment with several active research groups which motivated me to start following new ideas and possibilities. Most importantly, novel research areas like Social Simulation are welcomed at SFU Beedie, and we'd have a unique chance of collaborating with the amazing scholars of MIS group.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR RESEARCH OR YOUR PROGRAM TO A FAMILY MEMBER?

We study social phenomena through simulations. There are macro-level policies that cannot be studied in the real world because of their consequences and costs. Simulations provide us with an artificial lab to test innovative ideas and see the collective outcomes. In business studies, the application of simulations can reveal interesting aspects of collective customer behavior, inter-firm relationships, market dynamics, online communities, and more. Currently, we're studying the spread of negativity on social media platforms like Twitter, and aim to extract policies and interventions that could prevent its harmful or unwanted societal consequences.

WHAT ARE YOU PARTICULARLY ENJOYING ABOUT YOUR STUDIES/RESEARCH AT SFU?

I started working on my favorite field, Social Simulation, and it got beyond an interest alone. There's a saying that "If you stand at the edge of your abilities, it extends", and SFU has enabled me to see further beyond my primary understanding, and come up with new exciting questions.

HAVE YOU BEEN THE RECIPIENT OF ANY MAJOR OR DONOR-FUNDED AWARDS? IF SO, PLEASE TELL US WHICH ONES AND A LITTLE ABOUT HOW THE AWARDS HAVE IMPACTED YOUR STUDIES AND/OR RESEARCH.

Graduate Dean's Entrance Scholarship is a generous award I received in Fall 2020. It helped me propose new topics and focus on research instead of looking for other jobs.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR PROGRAM/POSTDOC POSITION TO SOMEONE STILL SEARCHING FOR A PROGRAM OR POSTDOC POSITION?

PhD is a path to explore and exploit the potential in your ideas. Even if these ideas are not well-developed, many scholars are there to help you learn, and find the right questions to ask. You'll earn the joy of finding answers. A Business PhD at SFU allows you to interact with not only a group of experts in MIS, Finance, Strategy, and Marketing, but all the disciplines in the university, from Psychology to Communications, and Engineering, to find your right track. Any question in social sciences embodies a complex relationship of numerous fields, and this program is designed to help students design their own unique path.

Contact Ehsan: ehsan_nouri@sfu.ca