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Carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) is one of several clean energy technologies that must be deployed globally to minimise the effects of climate change on future generations. However, the CCUS methods currently in use are inefficient and uneconomical due to the difficulty of selectively capturing carbon dioxide from mixtures of gases. I plan on addressing this by investigating the mechanism of action for new electrochemical CCUS systems. Understanding these reactions will mean we can build cheaper, more effective, and longer-lasting CCUS systems. My interest in zero-emissions technology stems from my time working on freight and electric vehicle policy as a public servant in the Australian federal government, which taught me the importance and difficulty of decarbonisation from a technological, economic and political perspective.

My academic research at the Computer Laboratory in Cambridge focused on the application of formal methods for mechanised proof to the domain of computer security generally and privacy and anonymity specifically.

I grew up catching praying mantises and damselflies in rural Kentucky. As an undergraduate at Centre College, I majored in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; I spent my summers taking care of sick children at the Center for Courageous Kids and doing research in organic chemistry and neuroscience. I matriculated directly to the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry and completed my first three years of medical school. I then moved to Janelia Research Campus as a HHMI Medical Research Fellow; there I studied the neural and genetic bases of behavior. As a PhD student in Zoology, I will study adaptive behavior. All animals integrate information about past experience into future decisions; this is the basis of learning and memory. I am proposing to write a specific memory and read the memory trace in the brain. I will use the fruit fly as a model organism. By understanding mechanisms of memory storage, we can begin to investigate changes in memory formation in disease; this may allow us to develop rational therapies for disorders of memory formation, including autism and Alzheimer’s disease. After completing my PhD, I will return to finish my last year of medical school and pursue a career as a child neurologist and neuroscientist, using my lab to better understand the patients I see in clinic.

Previous Education

Centre College

Born in Cape Town to a South African father and a German mother, I have always been deeply aware of how culture affects the way in which we think and value knowledge. Throughout my undergraduate degree at the University of Cape Town I was drawn to exploring the ways knowledge is deeply implicated in relations of power, where certain knowledges and ways of knowing are privileged over others and the impact this has on addressing questions of inequality and social injustice. As a Commonwealth Scholar at doing an MPhil in Intellectual History at Cambridge, I explored the ways in which Scottish Enlightenment thought impacted upon narratives around slavery and emancipation in nineteenth century South Africa. After completing my Cambridge MPhil, I decided to shift my focus from history to anthropology, with the desire to be involved in more engaged academia. For my MSc in Social Anthropology at the University of Amsterdam I conducted three months fieldwork in Malawi studying Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres in rural villages and the ways in which these centres are embedded in asymmetrical power/knowledge relations which privilege outside and ‘expert’ knowledge above that of the community. During my PhD at Cambridge I hope to further explore the ways in which unequal power/knowledge constructions are embedded in ‘development’ focused literacy projects, by examining the import of children’s fantasy and fairytale literature into rural communities and the asymmetrical relations of power within which these are embedded.

Previous Education

University of Amsterdam
University of Cambridge

Growing up in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia, USA, I loved to tinker. Naturally, my predilection for building (and at times, unintended destruction!) steered me towards exploring the field of engineering. I recently graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a degree in Chemical-Biological Engineering and have aspirations to explore the interface of biology and engineering as a future physician-scientist. At Cambridge, I will pursue an MPhil in Computational Biology to gain formal training in applied mathematics so that I can better apply mathematical modeling and computational methods to tissue engineering research. After my year in the UK, I will enroll in the MD-PhD Program at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine to train as a physician-scientist. Ultimately, as a future physician-scientist, I aspire to develop innovative therapeutic technologies and translate them from "bench to bedside" and in doing so, help make regenerative medicine a reality.

Previous Education

Massachusetts Institute of Technology S.B. Chemical-Biological Engineering 2012

I'm a third-year medical student at Johns Hopkins, and ever since I started medical school I have been fascinated by ethical and anthropological aspects of medicine. In particular, I am interested in the transformation of medical students into doctors, changing historical concepts of the "professional code" of medicine, and how physicians and medical students can use narrative essay to reflect on emotionally intense or disturbing experiences. I am also curious about what happens to doctors who break the professional code, and about aspects of existing medical culture that may paradoxically make it more difficult for physicians to behave ethically. While at Cambridge I look forward to exploring these issues through the Department of Social Anthropology.

Ben Cole matriculated at Cambridge as a Gates Scholar in 2011, where he was a member of Trinity College and served as the Communications Chair for the Gates Scholars Council. Before Cambridge, Ben was a Technology Pioneer for Google's emerging markets team and a data scientist at Facebook. Since graduating, Ben has worked as a product manager and product strategy consultant at a wide range of organizations including Google.org, Kickstarter, and a number of startups. In his spare time, Ben has enjoyed acting at the Metropolitan Opera of NY, serving as a driver in President Obama's motorcade, and hosting events in NYC and the Bay Area.

Previous Education

Cornell University

Links

https://linkedin.com/in/bencole
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/author/ben-cole

After completing my MPhil at Cambridge, I received a PhD in history from Yale University. My dissertation, "Empire on Edge: Land, Law and Capital in Gilded Age Basra," looked at the accumulation strategies of elites in a changing legal and geopolitical context between the Ottoman, Qajar, and British Indian states. I have since returned to Cambridge for a JRF at Jesus College (2020-2023) where I am working on a project on the transnational history of concessions, and on turning my dissertation into a book manuscript.

As an undergraduate researcher at UNC at Chapel Hill and NIH, I gained a broad understanding of biological mechanisms underlying disease, especially cancer. My experiences while designing an undergraduate course, research work, and clinical volunteering sparked my interest in genomics and precision medicine. My coursework and clinical experiences during my master's in genomic medicine at Imperial College London demonstrated to me the potential of precision medicine to revolutionize healthcare. As an MD/PhD student, I will study the genomic landscape of paragangliomas, pheochromocytomas, and gastrointestinal stromal tumors at the NIH and the University of Cambridge. Through metabolic, epigenetic, and functional genomic studies, I hope to elucidate the biological underpinnings of these devastating neuroendocrine tumors, leading to advancements in prognostication and treatment. Outside the lab, I will continue my involvement in scientific outreach/education and refugee health. I am honored to be part of the multidisciplinary and collaborative Gates Cambridge community seeking to improve global society. As a future physician-scientist, I aspire to translate scientific advancements into precision medicine diagnostics and therapeutics.

Previous Education

University of North Carolina Medicine 2026
Imperial College London (University of London) Genomic Medicine 2017
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Biology 2016

I completed my PhD in History in 2019, and after two years working as a Departmental Lecturer in Modern European History at Christ Church, University of Oxford, I am now a Junior Research Fellow at Pembroke College, Cambridge. My first monograph is appearing with Oxford University Press later in 2022 (see https://global.oup.com/academic/product/prussia-in-the-historical-culture-of-the-german-democratic-republic-9780192865908?lang=en&cc=no)

At the University of Cambridge, I will pursue a MPhil in International Relations. My research will focus on the African Union (AU) 6th Region Diaspora Initiative which seeks to foster economic and socio-political relationships between Africa and the African Diaspora. More specifically, I am interested in the potentialities and limitations of invoking Pan Africanism as a means of achieving regional development throughout the African continent. In addition, I seek to understand the ways in which regional institutions such as the AU promote or challenge normative assumptions of the nation-state. I am confident that Cambridge University will provide me with the necessary academic mentorship and theoretical framework to pursue meaningful research. As a Gates Scholar and Cambridge graduate, I hope to provide consultation on regional and developmental projects within Africa and the Caribbean.

In 2012, I completed a dual degree program at the University of Michigan in chemistry and piano performance. While at Michigan, I led research in the preparation of nanostructured semiconductor films for solar energy conversion applications. I have also worked on projects developing new processing methods for semiconductor purification. Since graduating, I have worked at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (USA), conducting research on the role of atmospheric aerosols in climate change. I am currently working on my PhD in Materials Science and Metallurgy at Cambridge with a focus on electron microscopy and spectroscopy. By visualizing materials and their properties at length scales approaching individual atoms my work serves to understand fundamental properties of light-matter interactions. These fundamental relationships underpin advances in a variety of technology areas from chemical and biological sensing to information technology applications. Throughout my career, I hope to lead research aimed at understanding the chemistry and physics of materials in climate science and renewable energy.

In hopes of performing meaningful research on the efficient and responsible use of energy, I am pursuing a PhD in engineering with a focus on the optimization of fuel injectors in gas turbine engines. The ultimate goal is the minimization of the environmental impact of gas turbine combustion and the maximization of fuel efficiency. More specifically, I am analyzing liquid fuel injectors for aero-engine applications. This optimization problem is complicated by a number of design trade-offs and the computationally expensive simulations required for an accurate assessment of a given design's performance. Combining empirical and analytical tools with computational fluid dynamics conducted at varying degrees of spatial and temporal resolution, I aspire to develop an automated, multi-fidelity approach for fuel injector design. Furthermore, this project will provide some insight into the influence of injector design parameters on overall combustor performance.

My research focuses on the heritage of mass repression, Soviet and post-Soviet memorialization and heritagization, grievability and memory, and contested memory. I am specifically interested in how post-repression societies variously portray suffering, loss, perpetration, and victimhood at sites associated with mass violence. The overarching goal is to analyze how the heritage of past violence can be instrumentalized in order to avoid reckoning with past violence and, further, how this heritage can be weaponized in order to further contemporary violence. My research interests also include preservation and tourism at sites of mass repression, materiality and memorialization, and heritage and climate change. My doctoral dissertation title was 'The Heritage of Repression: Memory, Commemoration, and Politics in Post-Soviet Russia'. It focused on changing patterns of commemoration and memorialization of Soviet repression at sites in Russia connected to the former gulag system and Great Terror, with a special focus on concepts of 'grievability' (as conceived by Judith Butler) and my complementary concept of 'blameability'. It also introduced a theoretical model for categorizing and thinking through heritage sites' representations of victims and perpetrators.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge
University of California, Berkeley

My phd in epidemiology will focus on patterns of individual dietary ‘lifestyle choices’ and how these are influenced by multiple social determinants, particularly the contribution of the physical environment. After migrating to many cities since growing up in a small town near canada’s point pelee national park in south-western ontario, I am thrilled to be studying in cambridge with the support of a Gates Scholarship. Since completing a Master’s in Life Sciences (Edinburgh) and a Master’s in Public Health (Columbia), I have worked as a health policy analyst at Rand Europe, a not-for-profit research organisation. My goal is to develop a career in the intersection of academia and policy, working closely with communities and governments to support the translation of research evidence into preventive action for tackling disparities in population health and well-being.

I am a proud New Jerseyan by birth and rearing. I earned my B.A. at the University of Pennsylvania where I got my start in my now career-long focus on insulin and its actions in the lab of Dr. Bryan Wolf. Thereafter I came to Cambridge as a Gates Scholar. I earned my M.Phil. in Clinical Biochemistry as a member of Clare College at the Institute of Metabolic Science under Dr. Robert Semple by modeling syndromes of severe insulin resistance in cell culture models. I next continued my research on insulin resistance in the lab of Dr. Domenico Accili at Columbia University in New York, where I graduated from the M.D./Ph.D. program in 2016. I have since stayed on at Columbia to complete my residency in internal medicine and fellowship in endocrinology.

I am currently Assistant Professor of Medicine within the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism at Columbia University Medical Center. I am the leader of a research group studying the role of insulin in hepatic lipid metabolism in human subjects.

Previous Education

University of Pennsylvania BA, Biology 2008

Julie is an attorney at Farallon Capital Management, an institutional asset management firm based in San Francisco, California. At Farallon, among other things, she designed and implemented a fossil--fuel filter, the first to be applied to a multi-strategy hedge fund. Julie joined Farallon in 2007 after working as a corporate associate at Morrison & Foerster, also in San Francisco. Her work there included assessing a proposal for Sudan-related divestment by a large university. Julie obtained an LL.M. from the University of Cambridge in 2002, where she wrote a thesis on the use of referendums. Julie has a J.D. from Columbia University Law School and a B.A. with honors in Economics and English from Duke University.