Directory

At Washington and Lee University, I obtained a B.S. in physics, a B.A. in global politics and was part of the Shepherd Program for the Interdisciplinary Study of Poverty and Human Capability. I am interested in how communities can implement technological innovation to promote sustainability while eliminating poverty. At Cambridge, I plan to study the fundamental physics behind polymer semiconductors in order to improve the efficiency of organic solar cells. This research could lead to cheap, flexible, lightweight solar cells that would allow us to harness solar power in more convenient ways to meet the energy demands of people who live far from electric grids. After my PhD degree, I plan to continue developing sustainable energy technology and to help make that technology accessible to communities that are off the grid and economically marginalized.

Neha is the founder of the Humanology Project, a nonprofit organization with the mission to reduce the stigma of mental & neurological illness by democratizing medical literature and providing a forum for patients to share their story. She graduated from the University of Cambridge in 2015 with a degree in Modern Society & Global Transformations. Her research investigates the psychosocial and stigmatizing effects of epilepsy on marriage through ethnographic and quantitative studies. In 2015, Neha was the youngest person on the Healthcare List for Forbes 30 under 30.

My proposed course in Criminology is intended to contribute to a deeper understanding of public opinion towards crime and justice. In particular, I feel social reformers could benefit from understanding the psychological roots of punitiveness and forgiveness within the context of individual identity management.

Christopher Kirchhoff is a strategist in emerging technology. Most recently, Kirchhoff created and led the Pentagon's Silicon Valley Office, Defense Innovation Unit X, with its $1 billion investment portfolio harnessing emerging commercial technology for national security innovation. Previously he was Director for Strategic Planning at the National Security Council, Special Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Senior Advisor to Presidential Counselor John Podesta. Kirchhoff authored the White House report on Big Data & Privacy, the NSC after-action report on Ebola, the Space Shuttle Columbia Accident Investigation report, and the U.S. government history Hard Lessons: The Iraq Reconstruction Experience. Kirchhoff graduated in History and Science from Harvard College and holds a doctorate in politics from Cambridge University, where he was a Gates Scholar. He has been awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Service and the Civilian Service Medal for hazardous duty in Iraq.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge MPhil, Social and Political Science 2002
Harvard University AB History 2001

So far my student life has been a lot of fun both in and outside the classroom. Parallel to studying on both sides of the Atlantic, I’ve run a vigorous student association, managed a nationwide project on European integration and established a monthly for young people. Thanks to the Gates Scholarship I am able to engage in intensive research on social sacrifices made in extraordinary situations. Pursuing this project in Cambridge's unique multicultural environment is a great adventure.

Born and raised at the foot of the Rocky Mountains in Castle Rock, Colorado, I completed my Master's degree in Applied Mathematics just a few miles north at the University of Colorado Boulder in 2014. At Cambridge, my PhD research will involve mathematically modelling influenza epidemics, in order to better understand the disease's transmission and to predict which control measures (such as vaccination, travel advisories, and school closures) will most effectively slow or stop an outbreak. I hope that this will ultimately lead to a career in mathematical epidemiology, emphasizing in preventing emerging infectious diseases that cross over from animal to human hosts. In addition to research, I also love to teach mathematics, and I hope to find ways to do so during my time at Cambridge and over the course of my career.

I am pursuing an MPhil in Computational Biology to enable me acquire the skills and knowledge necessarily for a fruitful career as a researcher in the fields of informatics and computational biology. The Gates scholarship has offered me a chance to learn the trade from the very best the world has to offer. The knowledge I will acquire on this course will prepare me well for a PhD in the same area and a very successful and fruitful career in Mathematical Biology. I am from a mathematical background and the idea of using the sophisication of the subject to understand biological phenomena is an intriguing one.

From a young age, I have always been fascinated by the natural sciences. As an undergraduate in Molecular Biomedicine at the University of Bonn, I developed a strong interest in neuroscience. I have worked on several research projects using the fruit fly Drosophila; studying larval feeding behaviour at Bonn, accumulation of evidence prior to decision-making in larvae at HHMI Janelia Research Campus, and attention in adult flies at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. As a PhD student at Cambridge, I will investigate the neural basis of operant learning in Drosophila larvae. This is the process in which an animal learns about the consequences of its own behaviour, leading to reinforcement or suppression of certain actions. I anticipate that these studies will reveal many of the general principles underlying operant learning. This will hopefully lead to a better understanding of operant learning in vertebrate model systems, facilitating the investigation of related diseases, such as learning disorders, neurodegenerative diseases or obsessive-compulsive disorders, and eventually the development of better cures. After my PhD, I plan to pursue a career in scientific research, investigating the fundamental questions in neuroscience to help us better understand how the brain works. In my spare time, I volunteer as a mentor for high school students with exceptional mathematical talent, and am involved in the organisation of mathematical competitions in Germany.

Previous Education

Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universitat Bonn
Fudan University

During cellular division, DNA needs to be replicated and distributed into two daughter cells. My studies in Cambridge will focus on factors which are required to trigger the initiation of DNA replication. The characterisation of these initiation factors will help to understand the molecular basis of this process in normal and cancerous cells.

During my thesis as an undergraduate, I first began exploiting various aspects of magnetic resonance (MR) to develop a multiphase flow meter. Through this project, I came to realise the potential of MR and the lack of it in the engineering sector, even though it is used quite heavily in other fields. While undertaking my doctorate at Cambridge, I will be harnessing the power of MR to develop a tool in the engineering sector. This tool aims to understand how catalysts behave on a local level, during reactions, with real operating conditions. To date, reactors containing catalysts are designed in an inefficient manner due to this lack of understanding. Such research will ensure our current resources will be used efficiently, but will also ensure catalysts can be designed and operated effectively to handle the challenging feedstocks we will be encountering in the future. It is a truly great honour to be joining the Gates Cambridge community, working with other scholars to help solve some of these global issues we are facing. INTERESTS: bush-walking, cycling, cooking (especially the science behind it!), reading, playing the flute and self-sustainable living.

Previous Education

University of Western Australia

Having studied English at the University of Sydney, I undertook an MPhil in Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic at the University of Cambridge. My PhD in Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic was funded by Gates Cambridge and considered Old English biblical poetry. I am currently Lecturer in the Faculty of Arts and Education at the Australian Catholic University where I mainly teach medieval and Renaissance literature.

Previous Education

University of Sydney
University of Cambridge

I'm part of Arup's sustainability group in Melbourne. Since graduating from Cambridge in 2007, I have worked with developers, designers and policy makers to make sure our towns and cities are great places to live, produce their own energy, recycle water, and give people access to public transport. Some of my work that I am proud of include: advising the City of Melbourne on getting sustainability into the planning system and helping the UK construction industry reduce carbon emissions.

While growing up next to the library in Cockeysville, Maryland, I came to love stories. After reading hundreds of books, I consider the grandest origin story to be the curious saga of how we developed from a single cell into who we are today. Even more exciting to me is that this remarkable journey still has many questions left unanswered. To explore this further, I am pursuing a degree in Human Developmental and Regenerative Biology at Harvard University and conducting research in autism spectrum disorder and cortical development in the Arlotta Lab. Through this research and my coursework, I became interested in how the nervous and immune systems communicate with each other in sickness and in health. During my PhD at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, I will explore this theme in Andrew McKenzie’s group and I aim to interpret the dialogue between the nervous system and innate lymphoid cells. I hope that this research of fundamental interactions will empower the field to understand neuro-immune diseases better. I am immensely excited and grateful to join the vibrant and passionate community of Gates Cambridge Scholars.

Previous Education

Harvard University AB Developmental Biology 2019

Svitlana Kobzar is a senior programme manager at the European Endowment for Democracy, where she oversees Ukraine and Georgia programmes. She is also an assistant professor at Vesalius College where she teaches a course on International Approaches to State-Building, Good Governance and Reform. From June 2014 to February 2017, Kobzar served as head of International Affairs Department and academic director of the European Peace and Security Studies at Vesalius College. Before that, she had worked as an analyst and research fellow at RAND Corporation in Cambridge and Brussels. Her research focused on societal trends, EU foreign and security policy, civil society, state-building, the European Neighbourhood Policy and Eastern Partnership. Kobzar received her PhD in international relations and her MPhil in contemporary European studies from the University of Cambridge as the Gates-Cambridge Scholar.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge MPhil in Contemporary European Studies 2005
Alma College BA in Foreign Service 2004

Links

https://www.democracyendowment.eu
https://www.facebook.com/svitlana.kobzar
https://www.linkedin.com/in/svitlana-kobzar-3900786

I am very excited about starting my PhD in Cambridge. My dream is to study principles of animal genetics and development. I think it is both interesting and important to learn about the very basic processes and laws ruling biology. I am especially interested in the influence of chromatin regulation on the cell life.