Directory

After an MPhil in Theoretical Chemistry, I moved into theoretical physics to understand more about more fundamental processes in different systems. My supervisor and group in Cambridge and the support of the Trust have helped me enormously during this transition. I am now working towards my PhD in the area of ultracold atoms. I hope that at some point I will be able to make use of all the different aspects of my education.

Previous Education

Barnard College
Oxford University

As an undergraduate at the University of Chicago and during my time in Cambridge, I worked on the ATLAS experiment at CERN's Large Hadron Collider. For my MPhil thesis, I analyzed rare decays of the Z boson, a well-known Standard Model particle, in order to calibrate mass measurements of the recently-discovered Higgs boson. I am currently a PhD student and NSF Graduate Research Fellow at Stanford University, where I work on the Dark Energy Survey, a wide-field cosmology survey using a 4-meter optical telescope in Chile, as well as hardware development for the upcoming Large Synoptic Survey Telescope.

Previous Education

University of Chicago Physics 2012

Links

https://mbaumer.github.io
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mbaumer

I was born in Mongolia, a country that is the most sparsely populated and has the coldest capital in the world. I studied Environmental Economics and later Environmental Policy at Whitman College and Yale University, respectively. During my years of study, I was fascinated by how the valuation of environmental services can be used as a powerful tool to influence policies. More recently, I managed a market-based conservation project called the Sustainable Cashmere Project while at the Wildlife Conservation Society Mongolia program. As an MPhil in Conservation Leadership candidate, I am very interested in further exploring ways to incorporate sustainable practices and standards into supply chains. I believe that forging strong relations with committed industries is one of the key solutions to expanding the impact and influence of conservation principles around the world. I am also passionate about further supporting young environmentalists, which will build on the Environmental Fellowship Program that I initiated while working for the Zorig Foundation. I hope to see Mongolian conservationists play a more critical leadership role nationally by pushing to incorporate climate change sensitive policies, and globally by increasing our collaboration with other countries. As a Gates Cambridge Scholar, I am very excited to be a part of a dynamic network of bright minds around the world that can cross-fertilize a rich array of ideas and experiences on innovative and pressing topics.

Previous Education

Yale University Environmental Policy 2013
Whitman College Environmental Economics 2009

I’ve always lost myself in stories, sci-fi narratives, fantasy quests, tales of faraway places. Growing up, I became increasingly fascinated by stories of the past. How objects and traces can be brought together, giving a glimpse into the lives of those who came before. After earning an Anthropology BA from American University, I pursued a career as an educator, researcher, and project manager at the Smithsonian NMNH. My work involved developing content to highlight key concepts within exhibits and fostering understanding around culturally significant topics. Witnessing the power of museums as spaces for reconciliation, education, and care inspired me to undertake an MPhil at Cambridge, where I investigated ethnographic collections that may lack context. My proposed PhD seeks to build deeper connections with 'ordinary' objects in museum collections and establish best practices based on the needs of stakeholding communities worldwide. These everyday items weave us into the tapestry of life, linking people with their ancestors and fostering shared connections across time and cultures. Our past informs our present and future; I hope that by harnessing this potential, we can create a more empathetic and inclusive museum system.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge Archaeological Research 2022
American University Washington Archaeology 2017

I am pursuing an MPhil in African Studies. My areas of interest include: black transnationalism, political protest, and youth identity.

My research in the field of Supramolecular Chemistry - the study of how molecules interact, recognise one another, and organise themselves into well-defined functional assemblies. Studying in Cambridge gave me a wonderful opportunity to live and work with talented and ambitious people form all over the world. I now lead a research group in the Chemistry Department at the Technical University of Denmark.

Previous Education

University of New South Wales B.Sc Chemistry (Honours) 2005

Having grown up in India and the UK, and living in different parts of the world to seek knowledge in subjects from the theoretical and practical sciences, with teachers in the Western and Islamic scholarly traditions, my current doctoral research project is concerned with exploring the constitution of 'ilm and an 'aalim, focusing particularly on bodies and language.

As an undergraduate at North Carolina State University, I began to appreciate the pragmatic perspective and mathematical methods of research in biomedical engineering, and I sought to apply this empirical approach to medicine. This lead me to pursue an MD-PhD dual-degree with the University of North Carolina in hopes of leading medical researchers in facilitating the translation of new treatments and technologies into the clinic. I am particularly interested in studying neurophysiology through computational modeling, specifically with regard to neuroplasticity in both a single neuron as well as across neuronal circuits. Gaining a basic mechanistic understanding of neuronal regulation has great implications for understanding and treating various neurological disorders and pathologies. The ideal solution to any illness, especially neurodegenerative diseases, involves input from all applicable fields, including basic science, clinical science, epidemiology, sociology, and psychology, among others. The Gates Cambridge community promotes collaboration across this wide range of disciplines, and I hope to apply my engineering background and clinical experiences to my graduate work and many future projects. With careful consideration of all these viewpoints, we can achieve our ultimate goal of providing the best possible patient care.

Previous Education

North Carolina State University
The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

In discussions on practical topics, there is always a great amount of theoretical knowledge embedded in contending positions. Whether we are judging something to be morally wrong or arguing that a policy is unjust, there is an extensive background to our practical perspectives. During my BA in Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam, I developed a strong interest in uncovering and assessing this background. This pointed me in the direction of methodological questions such as: how should we determine the meaning of a concept or, to what extent should theories be informed by practical issues? When the concepts or theories under analysis are social, our answers to such methodological questions greatly impacts our view of practical issues. During my MPhil in Philosophy at Cambridge, for example, I researched whether notions of justice established through abstract theorising can capture why something is unjust. Because of the importance of using a method that can critically assess practical problems, I intend to undertake my doctoral research on the intersection between metaphilosophy and social philosophy, looking at the ability of metaphilosophical views to accommodate critical reflection on historical and political issues.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge Philosophy 2021
University of Amsterdam Philosophy 2020

I'm the Founder and General Partner of Air Street Capital, a venture capital firm investing in AI-first technology and life science companies.

Computer-aided drug discovery is - potentially - able to shorten the development phase of new drugs and at the same time it reduces the number of animals used for experiments. Being on the borderline between computer algorithms and chemistry it is both exciting and "sensible" work to do and I am looking forward to having an enjoyable and fruitful time in the field.

Links

https://www.andreasbender.de
https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreasbender