Directory

I am honored to be joining the Gates community to study for an MPhil in Nuclear Energy at Cambridge. Nuclear Energy has the potential to serve as a clean, cost-effective baseline source in a diverse, global energy profile. The first steps toward this desirable end state are two-fold: to establish safe, long-term nuclear waste disposal methods, and to garner informed societal support for the responsible use of nuclear energy. At Cambridge, I will focus on these challenges, and consider the safety mechanisms employed by the US Navy's submarine fleet, evaluating their potential for application in the civilian sector. I will then complete a year of technical nuclear power schooling and eventually serve as an officer on nuclear submarines. I hope this unique combination of experiences will allow me to contribute to the nuclear energy technologies and policy that could potentially transform the global energy industry and, subsequently, the world's economic and political landscape.

As an undergraduate at Northwestern University, I studied Earth sciences to better understand the fundamental processes underpinning the natural environment and how modern society has pushed those processes to the brink of collapse. I learned that one of the greatest sources of unsustainable natural resource consumption is modern agriculture. This was an auspicious realization, as the study of agriculture overlaps with many interesting disciplines from nutrition to environmental sustainability to biotechnology. I therefore decided to study agricultural sciences as a masters student at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. I researched how light quality influences plant growth and resilience to stress. As a natural progression, I then moved into commercial greenhouse hydroponics where I worked to optimize environmental conditions most suitable for crop growth. I then returned to more academic pursuits at the Carnegie Institution for Science, where I continued to investigate how plants respond to environmental stress. At Cambridge, I study how plants tell time and how the circadian clock helps plants anticipate and adapt to environmental fluctuations. Insights gained from this research will support continued efforts to breed more efficient, productive, and sustainable crops.

Previous Education

Hebrew University of Jerusalem Agricultural Sciences 2018
Northwestern University Earth & Planetary Sciences 2013

During the past two years, I was a paralegal for the federal public defenders in Brooklyn, New York. Working with hundreds of indigent clients charged with a variety of federal crimes, I developed a strong interest in young adult offenders. I plan to focus my future research on juvenile offenders, targeting the underlying factors contributing to crime and ideally working to develop effective interventions to alter their trajectory. I am curious about the British approach to sentencing and rehabilitation, particularly for young offenders. After this year, I plan to attend law school in the United States and become a public defender or alternatively work on reducing recidivism at a nonprofit organization.

Previous Education

Princeton University

Links

http://www.linkedin.com/eglennon

My interest in Physics was piqued in 2008, when I was selected to represent Australia at the annual International Physics Olympiad in Hanoi, Vietnam. In 2009, I moved from my home state of Queensland to Canberra, where I studied at the Australian National University. I read for the Bachelor of Philosophy (Hons) [Science] – a flexible, yet demanding undergraduate research programme – and completed several individual research topics during this time. I also participated in an exchange at Universität Bonn, Germany, where I studied Masters-level courses in many-body quantum physics. After returning home to Australia, I completed my research project and was awarded first class honours in Theoretical Physics. My MPhil research at the University of Queensland followed naturally, aiming to prototype an ultra-sensitive rotation detector based on the interference of cold atom condensates. My project for the PhD in Physics sees a slight change of pace to more fundamental physics. I will explore the role of interactions between atoms in the transition from dilute gas vapour through to condensate. Understanding the nuances of these interactions is key to developing sophisticated technologies that could one day supersede laser-based counterparts for inertial and field sensing. I’m delighted to be joining the Gates Cambridge community, and look forward to the challenges and opportunities in store in the years to come.

Previous Education

Australian National University
University of Queensland

I am currently working at the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) at IIT Bombay. In addition to conducting research and teaching, I also coordinate activities of the Gender and Policy Forum at CPS.

I recently completed Ph.D. at the University of Cambridge under the Gates Cambridge Scholarship. My research sought to understand the impacts of increasing incidence of land sale on a rural society in Pune district. Prior to Ph.D,I did M.Phil. in Environment, Society and Development in Geography Department at University of Cambridge under the Gates Cambridge Scholarship.

Trained in anthropology I have worked in the environment and development sector. I coordinated a DFIF-NRSP research project for University of Cambridge on participatory forest management in Madhya Pradesh. I also worked as a consultant with Winrock India, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, World Resources Institute. I taught short course in anthropology at the Centre for Liberal Arts, Symbiosis College, Pune.

I have been doing voluntary work with a grassroots organisation Jeevan Sanstha, in helping to set up initiative for rural women and children in villages in Maval tehsil of Pune district. I intermittently contribute to the Marathi TV channel News18 Lokmat.

Previous Education

University of Maryland Biological Sciences/Business 2016

Links

https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhishekgoel21

My PhD at the Cavendish Laboratory, the „Home to DNA“, is about smart nano-objects folded out of DNA. I aim to use this so-called DNA origami to create functional molecular machines, inter alia for drug delivery systems. I always found it fascinating how physics brought novel tools into biology and how these tools led to discoveries. Thus, I studied physics and molecular medicine in Erlangen, Germany. As a scientist, I wish to contribute to the controversial discourse on nanotechnology in politics, legislation and society - not to defend a field of science I am passionate about, but to achieve sensible regulations for our future. A student exchange with Zambia directed my interests towards the developing world. I co-founded AidReversed, a platform of ideas on how the Western world can learn from developing countries and how this can drive sustainable development. I am looking forward to be part of the Gates community to share ideas for a sustainable future and to take them forward!

Previous Education

University of Cambridge Physics, MPhil 2013
Friedrich-Alexander Universitat Erlangen Molecular Medicine, Core Corriculum 2012
Friedrich-Alexander Universitat Erlangen Physics, Bachelor of Science 2012

Links

https://goepfrichgroup.de
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kerstin-g%C3%B6pfrich-51257a8a

After graduating from Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, with a Bachelor of Science in Physics, I moved to Cambridge. At the University of Cambridge I have been studying theoretical physics for the past year. Now, having just started my PhD in animal physiology, I am very excited to investigate some of the biomechanical principles of jumping insects. My research interests are in adhesion mechanisms, especially those of insects that can jump off smooth surfaces. I hope to use nature’s principles to improve technology.

I was drawn to the nanotechnology program at Cambridge due to the uniqueness and diversity of its offerings. I graduated from North Carolina State University just this past May in electrical engineering and applied math. My primary interests involve using nanostructures to develop novel electrical and photonic devices as well as improve current devices including photovoltaics, LEDs, and lasers. After my MPhil program ends I will move to UC Berkeley for my PhD in electrical engineering.

During law school at the National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata I met students from diverse backgrounds, including many from tribal communities in India. Their encounters with the law were vastly different from my own and there existed little in Indian law libraries to contextualise their experiences. The reason for this lack of materials remained at the back of my mind for the several years that I worked as a Supreme Court judicial clerk, litigator and a researcher in India. Despite several legal protections and living on richly resourced lands, many tribes remain the worst off amongst India’s citizenry across various socio-economic indices. My PhD at Cambridge explores how colonial rule uniquely affected tribes in South Asia and also how tribes affected colonialism. It seeks to develop a “hybrid” legal history for tribes in India which views not only colonial law’s perceptions of tribes but also tribal perceptions of law and government. This builds on my LLM at Harvard where I explored tribal property rights in Indian legal history. In looking back, I hope to find workable solutions for a more just future for tribal communities across South Asia.I am grateful to the Gates Cambridge Trust for providing a global platform to this underserved area of law. I look forward to the opportunity to be part of a vibrant interdisciplinary community of scholars with a social conscience.

Previous Education

Harvard University Law 2018
NUJS Arts and Law 2012

Previous Education

University of Pennsylvania BA English and Comparative Literature 2001

My research uses network analysis and other quantitative methods to study police misconduct and related phenomena. In particular, I am interested in developing methods to identify both misconduct-prone officers and officers who are resilient to negative peer influences. Additionally, my research examines how sanctions for misconduct and other official responses affect future misconduct. My other research interests include progressive prosecution and the intersections of local government law and criminal justice reform.

Previous Education

University of Cambridge Criminological Research 2021
Williams College Political Science and Math 2020

I graduated in 2010 from Duke University with a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. After receiving my degree, I was commissioned as an officer in the United States Navy, where I served on USS STERETT (DDG 104) for nearly two years as the Electrical and Auxiliary Systems Officer. I then worked as an engineer for Access Midstream, a natural gas midstream company, where I helped design pipelines and facilities for natural gas in the Utica shale in Ohio. Both my experience on a ship and time in the energy industry made me appreciate how important energy is, and inspired me to pursue ways to reduce energy requirements and usage. While at Duke, I did research on smart materials, which piqued my interest in their applications. I combined these two interests while pursuing my MPhil in Engineering, which focused on how materials can be used to improve energy efficiency and reduce both usage and costs.

After finishing my degree, I became employed as a test engineer at SpaceX. I deeply believe in SpaceX's mission of sending humans to live on Mars - my energy research at Cambridge make me increasingly concerned about the dire effects of global warming on our planet. We need to tackle the problems here, but also need to spread out as much as we can. I am currently living and working in Los Angeles, at SpaceX's headquarters. As a test engineer, I make sure that the hardware sent into space can survive launch conditions by physically testing it before it is installed on the rocket.