Aisha Ahmad, University of Toronto

Research

Read how they describe their research on their University of Toronto profile.

Latest funding

The Long Jihad: The Causes and Consequences of Chronic Insurgencies
SSHRC · 2025 · Principal investigator
$65,759
Canadian Security Amid Global Change Research Symposium
SSHRC · 2024 · Principal investigator
$45,000
Survival Without the State: Community-Led Famine Mitigation in War-Torn Somalia
SSHRC · 2023 · Principal investigator
$74,940

All 6 grants and awards

No publications available.

The Long Jihad: The Causes and Consequences of Chronic Insurgencies

Principal investigatorSSHRC2025Insight Grants

Principal investigators: Ahmad, Aisha S.

Keywords: Insurgency; Civil wars; Organized crime; Terrorism; Military intervention; Conflict; War economies; Great power competition

$65,759

Canadian Security Amid Global Change Research Symposium

Principal investigatorSSHRC2024Connection Grants

Principal investigators: Ahmad, Aisha S.

Keywords: International security; national security; human security; conflict; great powers; war; climate change; gender and security; foreign policy

$45,000

Survival Without the State: Community-Led Famine Mitigation in War-Torn Somalia

Principal investigatorSSHRC2023Insight Development Grant

Principal investigators: Ahmad, Aisha

Keywords: Famine; Food security; Climate change; Civil war; State failure; Adaptation; Community development; Resilience; Foreign aid; Governance

$74,940

Future Security Challenges Facing Canada: Vital Insights from Women in International Security

Principal investigatorSSHRC2019Connection Grants

Principal investigators: Ahmad, Aisha S.

Keywords: international security; Canadian foreign policy; defence policy; women; gender; diversity; equity; leadership; intersectionality; mentorship

$24,950

The Long Jihad: Explaining the Durability of Jihadist Insurgencies

Principal investigatorSSHRC2019Department of National Defence Research Initiative (DNDRI)

Principal investigators: Ahmad, Aisha S.

Keywords: civil wars; insurgency; terrorism; political Islam; Jihad; criminality; illicit economies; trafficking; counterinsurgency; counterterrorism

$10,000

The Long Jihad: Explaining the Durability of Jihadist Insurgencies

Principal investigatorSSHRC2019Insight Development Grant

Principal investigators: Ahmad, Aisha

Keywords: (1) Civil wars; (2) Insurgency; (3) Terrorism; (4) Political Islam; (5) Jihad; (6) Criminality; (7) Illicit economies; (8) Trafficking; (9) Counterinsurgency; (10) Counterterrorism

$61,377

From CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC funding decisions: CIHR since 2008, NSERC since 1991 and SSHRC since 1998, including their latest published competition results.

Write to this professor

A short, specific email works best. This draft uses one of their recent papers; replace the parts in brackets with your own details before sending.

Applying for

Mention their SSHRC grant from 2025

Subject: Prospective PhD student Dear Professor Ahmad, My name is [your name], and I am a [your current degree or role] at [your institution]. I am applying for a PhD position starting in [term and year]. Your research connects closely to my own work on [your research topic]. [One or two sentences on what you did and what you learned.] I also saw your SSHRC-funded project "The Long Jihad: The Causes and Consequences of Chronic Insurgencies" (2025), and I would be glad to contribute to work in that direction. Are you accepting new PhD students for [term and year]? I have attached my CV and transcripts, and I would be glad to talk at a time that suits you. Thank you for your time. Kind regards, [your name]