MENTEE – Thi Thao Nguyen

Thao obtained her Bachelor of International Economics and Business from the Foreign Trade University, Vietnam in 2012. She was awarded a Vietnamese Masters Scholarship to undertake a Masters of Economics which gave Thao the opportunity to study advanced Economics and also Mathematics and to gain valuable research experience which she finds exciting and very rewarding. Upon completing her masters degree, Thao was awarded a PhD scholarship to further her research in economics.

Thao’s previous studies in Economics and Business are complemented by a strong background in Mathematics, particularly Analysis and Statistics. This is reflected in her research which is strongly mathematical.  On the teaching side, whilst undertaking her studies Thao has had the opportunity to tutor in both Economics and Mathematics. Thao finds teaching and interacting with undergraduate students challenging but also rewarding.

Thao is now a PhD candidate in Economics at UQ where she is undertaking research in Welfare Economics and Microeconomic Theory. Her research focuses on designing algorithms and policies that allocate resources most efficiently in the way that meets a particular goal, for example, ensuring equality of opportunity. Thao is very excited at participating in the Industry Mentoring Network in STEM (IMNIS) program, particularly as a mentee in the QLD MedTech-Pharma Program.