Cohort 2018
Before starting the DPhil, I completed a BPhil in Philosophy at Oxford in 2018, and a MA and a BA in Philosophy at the University of Bologna, Italy.My main research interest is in ancient philosophy of physics and mathematics: my DPhil thesis investigates the relation between Aristotle's philosophy of geometry and his physics, especially his theory of place and of spatially extended magnitudes. In particular, I am interested in the relation between physical and geometrical modality, and how geometry applies to the physical world.
Chiara Martini
College/Degree: Pembroke College/DPhil Philosophy
Country of Origin: Italy
Cohort: 2018
Jamie L. Shenk is a Ph.D. (D.Phil) candidate in Sociology at the University of Oxford. Her research interests include the social effects of armed conflict and local participation with a regional focus on Latin America. She is particularly interested in the policy and applied implications of her research. Outside of her research, she is an avid cook, hiker, and beach volleyball player.
Jamie Shenk
College/Degree: Jesus College/DPhil, Sociology
Country of Origin: USA
Cohort: 2018
Received Bachelor's and Master's Honours degrees from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. Conducting DPhil research in the BUBBL lab, Oxford Institute of Biomedical Engineering. Scientific interests: biophysics and biomedicine, targeted drug delivery, translation of research into clinical practice. Personal interests: dancing, travelling, reading, learning languages.
Alexandra Vasilyeva
College/Degree: Exeter/DPhil
Country of Origin: Russia
Cohort: 2018
As a Clarendon Scholar at the Oxford Internet Institute (OII), Tomas' research principally relates to the social histories - and future imaginaries - of high-speed Internet access on the islands of Haida Gwaii. He is jointly supervised by Professor Gina Neff (OII/Sociology) and Professor David Zeitlyn (Social Anthropology). Tomas holds an MSc (Distinction) in Politics and Communication from the London School of Economics and a Double BA (High Honours) in Political Studies and Psychology from the University of Saskatchewan. Outside of academia, Tomas is a filmmaker and photographer with an interest in the poetics of rural communities in transition.
Tomas Borsa
College/Degree: St Edmund Hall/DPhil in Information, Communication, and the Social Sciences
Country of Origin: Canada
Cohort: 2018
Yung Au is a doctoral student at the Oxford Internet Institute and a researcher at the Computational Propaganda Project. Her research explores the technology infrastructures and human labour underlying AI/ML models and surveillance marketplaces, as well as the inequities that these systems embed. Prior to her DPhil, she worked in Hong Kong and Yangon doing research in the civil society sector. She received high honours for both her masters and bachelor degree, and was awarded the AH Halsey Prize for Highest Overall Grade in her Sociology MSc at Oxford.
Yung Au
College/Degree: St Antony's College/DPhil at the Oxford Internet Institute
Country of Origin: Hong Kong
Cohort: 2018
Alycia researches how we might best design electrical distribution systems for rural and remote developing areas using geospatial contextual data. She is part of the Energy and Power Group (EPG) and studies under the supervision of Professor Malcolm McCulloch. Prior to Oxford, Alycia completed a B.Eng. in Electrical Engineering at Memorial University of Newfoundland. She has experience working in power utilities, NGOs, and social enterprises in Canada and Ghana. Outside of her research, Alycia is a member of the Oxford Blues basketball team and enjoys knitting and practicing yoga.
Alycia Leonard
College/Degree: Hertford/DPhil in Engineering Science
Country of Origin: Canada
Cohort: 2018
Hailing from New York, Laurel studied physics at Duke University and medicine at Yale School of Medicine. Now as a third year DPhil student, she researches exoplanets- looking to discover new planets and better characterize known objects. When not studying stars and planets, she works on research with the Sports Equity Lab at Yale, studying load monitoring in Paralympic athletes. She is also actively involved in the field of space medicine as the Chief Editor of the Orbiter and as a leader and LGBTQ rep of an international organization for Women in Space Medicine. She spends her spare time on creative writing and rowing for the Oxford Women’s Lightweights.
Laurel Kaye
College/Degree: Worcester /DPhil Astrophysics
Country of Origin: United States
Cohort: 2018
Before coming to Oxford, Katherine studied Classics at Columbia University (BA) and Pembroke College, Cambridge (MPhil). Her current research focuses on the power of cultural capital and literary 'canons' over social norms in the late Roman Empire. She has a wider interest in the prose literature of the later Roman period, the study of women and gender in the ancient world, and in thinking about how the study of the ancient Mediterranean can provide tools for more ethical and accessible scholarly study. During her DPhil, has published on discourses of elitism in ancient bookstores, the intersection between early Christian theological texts and the ancient novel (forthcoming), and served as External Secretary on the Clarendon Council in 2019.
Katherine Krauss
College/Degree: Somerville/DPhil in Classical Languages and Literature
Country of Origin: United States
Cohort: 2018
I came to Oxford after reading for a Doctorate of Pharmacy and Master’s in Human Genetics at the University of Paris (laureate of the Ecole de l'INSERM, class of 2014). My academic interest in drug development for rare genetic diseases has developed through research projects at I-STEM (Évry Génopôle), Oxford University, the Rockefeller University (New York), and the Brain and Spine Institute (Paris). My DPhil, conducted in the Wood Group, focuses on splicing defects and RNA-based therapies in spinal muscular atrophy. Outside of the lab, I am a keen musician, and have flourished here as choral scholar within the Choir of Keble College.
Larissa GOLI
College/Degree: Keble/DPhil in Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics
Country of Origin: France
Cohort: 2018
Ioana graduated with a medical degree from the Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Romania. She was then awarded a Dulverton Scholarship to pursue a MSc in Neuroscience at the University of Oxford. For one of her rotations, she joined the Stagg Group, where she worked on a pharmaco-TMS project looking at how baclofen, a GABAB receptor agonist, influences motor learning.During her DPhil, she has been further investigating the role of inhibition in human brain plasticity using pharmacological interventions, neuroimaging and behavioural tasks. In her spare time, Ioana is the Captain of the Pistol Club and shot for the Oxford Varsity Team 3 years in a row.
Ioana Grigoras
College/Degree: St John's College/DPhil in Clinical Neurosciences
Country of Origin: Romania
Cohort: 2018
Before becoming a Clarendon Scholar, Zach received a BA in English, Government, and Hebrew from the University of Texas and an MA in English from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His DPhil explores the eighteenth-century evolution of the ‘chronicle’ from a historical form into a literary genre and the ways in which Scottish Romantic novelists appropriated the form to highlight competing paradigms for recording and remembering the recent, tumultuous past. When the English weather affords him the rare opportunity, Zach enjoys long runs among Oxford’s ‘dreaming spires’, but can more regularly be found next to a large stack of books.
Zachary Garber
College/Degree: Merton College/D.Phil. in English
Country of Origin: Israel
Cohort: 2018
Aizuddin's DPhil research explores rural young people’s STEM education and aspirations related to ‘development’ in his home country, Malaysia. He previously completed an MSc in Comparative and International Education also at Oxford. He also holds degrees from Teachers College, Columbia University and the University of New South Wales.Prior to Oxford, he worked in the philanthropy team of Malaysia’s petroleum corporation, focusing on planning and implementing education outreach initiatives across the country. As a writer of fiction he recently published The Towering Petai Tree, his first collection of stories and reflections.
Aizuddin Mohamed Anuar
College/Degree: New College/DPhil in Education
Country of Origin: Malaysia
Cohort: 2018
Irene is a Chinese South African. She studied Medical Science and Biomedical Engineering in Australia and is currently reading a DPhil in Musculoskeletal Science at the Oxford Orthopaedic Engineering Centre (OOEC). In her DPhil, Irene has developed a novel dislocation analysis tool in collaboration with the Oxford Robotics Institute that quantifies the risk of mobile bearing dislocation. Her research aims to reduce the clinical incidence of bearing dislocation, reduce dislocation related revision surgeries and prevent bearing dislocations. Irene is the former welfare rep at New College and a current peer supporter. In her spare time, Irene loves art and travelling.
Irene Yang
College/Degree: New College/DPhil in Musculoskeletal Sciences
Country of Origin: South Africa
Cohort: 2018