Directory

Throughout my undergraduate education at Smith College, I gained a great appreciation for interdisciplinary dialogues to advance scientific knowledge. I leveraged my mathematical background to organize and connect topics in biology, biomathematics, chemistry, and physics, as well as psychology, sociology and archaeology. My interdisciplinary studies have broadened the perspective with which I approach problems in preparation for a career in the field of global medical research and the design of medical devices for the developing world. I have integrated my diverse academic interests with my medical aspirations through an MPhil at the Cambridge Centre for Medical Materials, where I am currently working to improve the three-dimensional architectural control of affordable ice-templated collagen scaffolds. My work allows these scaffolds to closely mimic the structure and texture of natural tissue and will be employed in regenerative medical applications such as cardiac muscle repair, dermal grafts, nerve regeneration, and joint restoration. As part of the Gates Cambridge community, I hope to broaden my multifaceted interests and share my knowledge as I pursue my PhD focused on the development of a cardiac patch that will facilitate the regeneration of damaged heart tissue. Additionally, I will refine the novel technique I developed during my MPhil to enable this technology to be used in regenerative medical applications throughout the body.

Previous Education

Smith College
University of Cambridge

In my LLM at Cambridge I plan to focus on intellectual property law and dispute resolution. I have spent the past two years living and working as a lawyer in China, and in the future I hope to combine my study of law with my interest in China and its development. I am looking forward to experiencing university life in Cambridge and making the most of a challenging academic environment.

As an undergraduate at the University of Washington, I majored in Bioengineering and Computer Engineering. I worked in three research labs building technology for individuals with lower limb amputations, mobile software for low resource settings, and DNA molecules for long-term data storage. I believe phones can be a valuable tool for change and I look forward to continuing research in mobile systems at Cambridge.

Previous Education

University of Washington

I come from Porto Alegre in Southern Brazil. My interest in languages stems from listening to my grandfather who taught himself Spanish and English. As a teacher of English in my community, I would scrutinise the language in search for patterns that could be explained and compared with my students’ native tongue, Portuguese. Due to the shortage of linguistic departments in my homeland and to the luck of finding a British benefactor, I undertook a degree in English Language and Linguistics at the University of York. The MPhil in Theoretical and Applied Linguistics at Cambridge provided me with an opportunity to contribute to a better understanding of this intricate faculty that defines our species and permeates our social lives. My thesis investigated how psychophysiological states (i.e. emotions) get 'trapped' in the lexicon (our mental dictionary) during language acquisition. As a Gates Alumnus, my ambition is to help developing countries such as Brazil to cope with the pressure of an ever growing need for bilingualism. I'm currently working in conjunction with the public and privates sectors to build strategies that may reduce foreign language anxiety (i.e. an automatic fear response when the foreign language is activated).

Previous Education

University of York English Language and Linguistics 2013

I am currently involved in WindAfrica, an EPSRC Global Challenge Research Funded project aiming to develop performance-based guidelines for wind turbines in Africa. My role is the development and supervision of the field testing which will be conducted in South Africa to investigate the representative behaviour of piled foundations under cyclic lateral loading in expansive soils.

Originally from Belarus, I have spent the last four years studying Mechanical Engineering at The University of Warwick, UK. During my undergraduate studies I have become increasingly fascinated by the significance and complexity of Fluid Dynamics and conducted an extensive year-long experimental research, which has inspired me to pursue a PhD in this subject. In my doctoral studies I will be addressing the topic of double-diffusive convection. This fundamental phenomenon has a wide range of applications in various engineering and natural processes and holds particular importance in environmental studies, such as geology and oceanography. My objective is to use the latest developments in numerical modelling and experimental techniques to complement relevant existing findings with accurate comprehensive data, enhancing our understanding the phenomenon. In doing that, I am hoping to contribute towards the development of our understanding of the global environmental processes and assist in tackling the challenges associated with climate change. With an ambition of being at the forefront of academic research I am eager to collaborate with the world’s best minds at Cambridge University whilst building a professional global network of future leaders committed to improving the lives of others.

Previous Education

University of Warwick

Originating from Pretoria, South Africa, I entered a career in human rights law with the hope that I contribute to rebuilding my country following the rights violations that characterised apartheid. My education from the University of Pretoria and New York University led me to clerk at the Constitutional Court of South Africa, work on litigation before the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and provide assistance to members of constitutional drafting assemblies in the Middle East following the Arab Spring. It is however academia that is my main interest. My research to date has focused on the extent to which human rights impose obligations on non-state actors, and whether doing so can create a more equitable and just society. At Cambridge, I will further my understanding on this topic by focusing on one particular type of non-state actor, political parties. I am humbled at the opportunity to join a global network of leading minds committed to creating a better society.

As I was born in Nepal but raised between Nepal, Cambodia, Laos, Bangladesh and Indonesia, I constantly grapple with the question: what defines identity and citizenship in regional, transnational and global contexts? Using my cross-cultural lens and my interdisciplinary experiences as a double major in International Studies and Strategic Communications and minor in Religious Studies, I plan to pursue an MPhil in Modern South Asian Studies at Cambridge to explore identity and intersectionality in context of South Asia. My proposed study explores how social media helped or hindered nuanced discussion on nationalism and identity in response to the 2015 unofficial border blockade between Nepal and India. By highlighting the ways in which social media driven narratives can influence how nationalism is embodied, my research would attempt to unpack the process by which complex phenomenon can turn into ‘broad-brush’ approaches to strategically influence particular stakeholders involved in the conflicts. The global rise in digital politics raises the need to develop necessary literature to understand its role in influencing public perception and framing dominant narratives around social issues.

Previous Education

Elon University

Cooperation is important for the evolution of many species, allowing them to persist in otherwise hostile environmental conditions. As an undergraduate at Princeton, I cultivated an interest in the evolution of cooperative behavior through my research on three avian species. During my PhD in Zoology as a Gates Cambridge Scholar, I hope to uncover the impacts of cooperation on biodiversity using burying beetles as a model study system. Not only do burying beetles provide essential ecosystem services such as returning bioavailable nutrients to the soil, but they can also help us understand how social behavior might influence biodiversity on a genetic and phenotypic scale. By studying wild beetle populations in Cambridge, I also hope to learn about drivers of local adaptation in a fragmented habitat, which can inform us about factors that allow species to adapt to human-induced environmental change. I believe that the biodiversity crisis is one of the most important challenges facing humanity today; my work will contribute to meaningful solutions to preserve the well-being of humans and the ecosystems in which we live. I am honored to be joining a community of scholars committed to improving the lives of beings around the world.

Previous Education

Princeton University Ecology & Evolutionary Biology 2022

Before my masters in Cambridge, I studied Egyptology and Art History at Leiden University, The Netherlands. My main interests as an art historian include 18th-century British architecture, the influence of Egypt on design, and the relationship between art and identity creation. During my PhD, I will study the depiction of architecture, especially country houses, in so-called topographical drawings and prints in 18th-century Britain. These works revealed an almost hidden part of the country to the middle class. In doing so, they contributed to the construction of a national taste and identity in a time where Britain was strongly polarised because of industrialisation and urbanisation. My long-term goal is to make a difference in the protection of architectural heritage, and I strongly believe that saving heritage starts with getting people more enthusiastic about it. My PhD will contribute to making country houses more popular and accessible and help us to protect these places that are not only places of memory but also of connection, both with our past and with each other. Next to my studies, I am active as classical percussionist and soprano, and look forward to sharing my passion for art and music with the Gates community.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge History of Art & Architecture 2024
Rijksuniversiteit Leiden (Leiden Univ) Art, Architecture and Interior 2023
Rijksuniversiteit Leiden (Leiden Univ) History of Art 2022

Growing up along the rural coastline of North Florida, my community was shaped by exchanges between science, government, and aviation. When hurricanes approached, instruments aboard federal satellites and aircraft enabled life-saving forecasts. During clear skies, the health of our springs and fishing industry generated intense discussions at the state and local levels.

At Florida State University, I majored in political science and psychology to study civic institutions and the minds influencing them. As a student, I interned in the White House, the Florida legislature, and twice for NASA. Meanwhile, I spent summers as a boat captain in the Wakulla Springs wildlife sanctuary, before serving its parent agency as a Florida Gubernatorial Fellow. Prior to graduation, I defended a psychology thesis and received my university’s top undergraduate honor for political science.

As a Gates Cambridge Scholar, I researched space, defense, and environmental policies while analyzing treaties for the UK's Royal Society. I now serve as a Research Fellow at UC Berkeley, where I develop strategies that employ aviation to address key energy challenges.

Previous Education

Florida State University Bachelor of Science Psychology & Political Science 2018
Tallahassee Community College Associate of Arts Psychology 2015

I grew up in Newtown, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Indian immigrants to the United States and a student in the local public school system. As an undergraduate at Harvard, I studied the intersections between Arabic, French, and English literary traditions and have spent much of my time focused on cross-cultural dialogue and education through my work at the Pluralism Project, the Philips Brooks House Association, and CONTACT peer counseling. Through the Arts, Creativity, Education, and Culture (ACEC) track of the MPhil in Education at Cambridge, I am excited to explore how the arts and creative thinking can teach students to engage across differences. After Cambridge, I plan to return to the United States and work towards becoming a secondary school English teacher through the Boston Teacher Residency program. Ultimately, I hope to translate my experiences as a student and teacher into a career in education policy, focusing on how educators can engage with cultural diversity.

A tragic personal event informed my interest in medicine from the tender age of six. My choice of the University of Maiduguri in North East of Nigeria for my undergraduate medical education was a deliberate attempt to gain exposure to some of the most underserved populations in the region, a situation which the Boko Haram violence has worsened. It is noteworthy that Nigeria contributes 19% of global under-five deaths despite accounting for only 2.4% of the world’s population. This experience fuelled my interest in poor, rural underserved populations and informed my decision to specialise in paediatrics. Paediatricians are well-positioned to identify public health issues that adversely affect well-being and are committed to the prevention and early identification of diseases and injuries. This integration of clinical medicine with public health principles is key to attaining genuinely population-oriented multi-level disease prevention. My research interest is in infectious diseases, particularly pediatric lung infections and how these affect the life course, and access to safe and quality healthcare. I am utterly grateful for the opportunity to expand my area of influence beyond the walls of a hospital or clinic.

Previous Education

Ahmadu Bello University Disaster Risk Mgt & Devt Study 2022
University of Maiduguri Medicine and Surgery 2015

My passion for technology began as a junior at Christian Academy of Louisville. All 10 of us in the AP Computer Science class could take a unique path to the solution and still l not have exhausted all the options. This limitless world of possibilities inspired a young boy who wanted to make some binary contributions. Looking to pursue this drive while also continuing my family’s nine generations of contiguous military service, I looked towards the US Naval Academy for my undergraduate foundation. On major selection day, I rallied to the calling, and I joined the first ever group of Cyber Operations majors. This interdisciplinary degree offers a technical foundation in traditional computer science courses, while appreciating the importance of additional considerations within the domain by including policy and human factors classes. I plan to further develop my holistic exploration into this emerging cyber domain by studying for an MPhil in Technology Policy in the Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge. This education will provide the critical international aperture and public-private sector knowledge necessary to best fulfill my naval career as an Information Warfare Officer actuating US cyber directives. I am humbled to join the Gates Scholarship community and work with globally focused, deeply passionate scholars in a united passion to elevate the state of humanity across all domains and disciplines.

Previous Education

United States Naval Academy

Born and raised in Morocco, I developed early on an interest for politics and international relations, especially as the Arab spring unfold in neighbouring countries. In order to gain a deeper understanding of how development issues can threaten regional and global security, I majored in International Studies at Al Akhawayn University to study and research the development-security nexus. After a semester spent at Binghamton University and an internship at the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, I particularly developed interest for biopolitics and the interrelation between health and security, which has been the main focus of my undergraduate capstone research. During the course of my Mphil in International Relations and Politics at the University of Cambridge, I seek to further deepen our understanding of how failing to provide for the right to health in complex civil war humanitarian emergencies in the MENA region constitutes an emerging security threat. I want my academic research to embody my engagement towards global development and equity, which I have developed while serving the social missions of clubs such as Rotaract and volunteering to tutor refugee children in Morocco. Besides, I also enjoy reading, traveling, and writing fiction. I am honoured to join the Gates Cambridge community, and look forward engaging in an as stimulating as inspirational journey towards improving others’ lives.

Previous Education

SUNY Binghamton
Al Akhawayn University

Growing up in Tallahassee, Florida, I asked way too many questions. In college, I realized curiosity could be a career. I learned about the practice of journalism at the Yale Daily News and CNN. My love of journalism also shaped my academic pursuits and I began focusing my independent research on the successes and failures of American journalism. In 2015, I graduated from Yale with a double BA in History and Global Affairs (Security Studies). After college, I worked as a production assistant at CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 and freelanced in Japan before going to Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship to study Modern Middle Eastern Studies. After receiving my MPhil, I worked as an editor at Foreign Affairs magazine in New York. At Cambridge, my PhD focuses on the narrative politics of the Iran Nuclear Deal. More broadly, I am interested in tensions between the political and technical dimensions of diplomacy and how stories about other states emerge and develop in the American public sphere.

Previous Education

Yale University
University of Oxford

Growing up in bucolic Connecticut, I am the girl who saved ants from being squished on the playground, the girl who sat still for hours waiting for a dragonfly to land on my nose. My fate was sealed from an early age: I am an insect lover. As an undergraduate at Pomona College, I studied the impacts of habitat fragmentation, urbanization, and fire on pollinator assemblages. In a time of intense land use change, I am interested in how targeted habitat modifications can help conserve insect diversity. For example, planting native wildflowers next to monocrop agricultural fields enhances bee habitat, increases bee abundances, and may also improve crop yields. I am passionate about igniting sustainable action through education. I am committed to mentoring the next generation to preserve insect biodiversity. With my PhD in Zoology, I hope to become a professor. In the long-term, I aspire to work with global organizations such as the United Nations to champion agricultural mitigation efforts that may be adopted worldwide, allowing pollinators and humans to more harmoniously coexist. I am honored to be selected as a Gates Cambridge Scholar, joining an extraordinary community of learners committed to promoting positive change worldwide.

Previous Education

Pomona College Biology 2022