Trinity welcomes Gates Scholars

Trinity College will welcome five new Gates Scholars in September: Emma Gattey who is completing a Masters in Global and Imperial History at the University of Oxford; Yinou Han from the University of Sydney; Sarah Hirschfield from Princeton University, and Ri Yang Benjamin Tan who is  studying for an MPhil in Political Thought and Intellectual History here at Trinity. The fifth scholar is Dan-Mircea Mirea from Romania who will defer for a year.

Gates Scholarships are offered each year to 80 outstanding international students enabling them to study for an MPhil or PhD in any subject offered at the University of Cambridge. At any one time there are 240 Gates Scholars studying at the University. Current scholars represent 111 countries.

Professor Barry Everitt, Provost (CEO) of the Gates Cambridge Trust, said:

The Gates Cambridge Scholarship programme aims to build a global network of future leaders committed to tackling some of the major global challenges. This year Gates Cambridge celebrates its 20th anniversary. Since 2001, we have selected over 1,700 academically outstanding and socially committed scholars from over 100 countries. They have pursued PhD and Masters degrees in a wide range of subject areas, embodying the values of excellence, internationalism and social leadership that are so necessary at this uncertain time.

The Gates Cambridge Scholarship programme was established in October 2000 with a donation of US$210m from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to the University of Cambridge, one of the largest single donations to a UK university.

There are now over 1600 Gates Scholar alumni spread across the world. Trinity Gates Scholar Dr Stan Wang, now working in the biotech sector in Massachusetts, pursued a PhD in stem cell biology & regenerative medicine, supervised by Professor Roger Pedersen and Sir John Gurdon, 2011-15.

Dr Wang said:

I was fortunate to be there when Sir John was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2012, which was exciting, inspiring, yet humbling to witness first hand.

I am working in biotech now to pioneer novel advanced therapeutic approaches for patients in need – the scientific foundation for this was laid during the rigorous training I received during my time at Cambridge.

Importantly, the broader network of alumni through Gates, Trinity, and Cambridge has been a wonderful resource and source of support in my entrepreneurial endeavours. This has been especially profound in the Greater Boston area due to the concentration of alumni in the region and the alumni community has certainly benefited from various events, such as Sir Greg Winter’s (Nobel prize winning biochemist and former Master of Trinity) visit last year.

The research areas of Trinity’s Gates Scholars-elect include race relations, colonialism, astronomy, the nature of consent in rape cases, and mental health.

Emma Gattey from New Zealand will undertake a PhD in History into how Maori resisted and altered colonial power in New Zealand and further afield.

Yinuo Han from Australia will use high-resolution imaging and dynamical modelling to understand how planets and debris disks interact for his PhD in Astronomy.

Sarah Hirschfield from the USA will study for an MPhil in Philosophy inspired by the #MeToo movement. She will study the nature of consent, the appropriateness of blame and punishment, and the requirements of justice in cases of rape.

Ri Yang Benjamin Tan from Singapore is interested in the origins of the Anglo-American idiom of race and will study for a PhD in Politics and International Studies.

Dan-Mircea Mirea from Romania will study for a PhD in Psychiatry and is deferring his place until 2021.

We will feature each of the Gates Scholars over the coming weeks to learn more about them and their research.