Making an impact
Gates Cambridge turns 25
What unites a wildlife cameraman, a quantum physicist and the co-founder of a solar energy business? For Gates Cambridge Scholars at the University of Cambridge it is the desire to improve the lives of others.
The scholars, all international postgraduate students, come from all walks of life and all disciplines, but they are keen to leave a positive mark on the world, to have real impact.
The Gates Cambridge Scholarship, the University’s flagship scholarship programme for international postgraduate students, is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year and it kicks off with a ceremony celebrating the impact scholars have made over the last quarter century.
The Impact Prize ceremony takes place on Friday and will see eight scholars presented with an award for their achievements.
They symbolise the many different ways that scholars have been having an impact across the world and the enormous ripple effect that Gates Cambridge has had in such a short space of time.
The Gates Cambridge Scholarship was set up in 2000 following an historic donation from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Since 2001 2,156 scholars have been selected, representing 112 different countries.
The eight winners of the Impact Prize include current scholars and alumni. They will receive £5,000 each and be invited to participate in our 2025 anniversary events. They are:
Professor Urbasi Sinha [2002]
Professor Sinha from the Raman Research Institute in India has had a transformative impact on quantum computing in three areas: fundamental quantum science, policymaking and practical application. Named one of Asia's Top 100 Scientists in 2018, she has scored several world firsts in quantum science and significantly contributed to a shift in how policymakers regard quantum computing, from it being perceived mostly as a risk to it being viewed as an opportunity to tackle our most pressing global challenges, including public health, climate change and food security. Her new start-up company has begun to create products for use in cybersecurity and medical imaging, enabling more precise diagnoses.
Professor Sinha has also been a driving force behind India’s National Quantum Mission and the Open Quantum Institute (OQI). The OQI aims to accelerate quantum computing applications for the Sustainable Development Goals and foster collaboration between researchers, entrepreneurs, the UN and NGOs; ensure global, equitable access to quantum resources; develop international quantum education initiatives; and establish a neutral forum for quantum diplomacy.
She says: “Sometimes in science a lot of experiments don’t work, but this prize says that what I am doing is important and gives me a new injection of motivation. Quantum science has sometimes struggled to show its potential for impact so I am delighted the jury has understood the huge benefits it can bring for societal growth.”
Alex Vail [2010]
A leading wildlife cinematographer, Alex has been working on leading natural history programmes since finishing his PhD in animal behaviour, including Blue Planet II, Planet Earth III, Seven Worlds, Our Planet, Frozen Planet II, Mammals and Asia. Two thirds of his work has been for the BBC Natural History Unit and he loves the variety and breadth of the work he does, having done around 60 shoots in the last 10 years.
He feels privileged to be able to showcase the natural world to a wide selection of the public who would not otherwise see it. “Animal series are one of the main ways people are exposed to the wider natural world and understanding animals is vital for conservation work,” says Alex, who has won a BAFTA for his work. He adds: “So many scientists tell me that it was through watching David Attenborough programmes that they were inspired to go into marine biology.”
He is delighted to receive the Impact Prize, saying: "Receiving my Gates Cambridge PhD scholarship was one of the biggest events in my life. The opportunity this afforded me to study what I had always wanted to, and be immersed in a community of some of the most incredible thinkers and doers was truly life-changing for me. Since my PhD, my career has changed trajectory from academia into wildlife filmmaking, but with the same goal of bringing the wonders of nature and the complexity of the creatures we share the planet with to a wider audience, with the hope of helping to conserve them."
Alexandra Grigore [2012]
Alexandra Grigore is the Chief Strategy Officer and Co-Founder of Simprints, the world’s first open-source biometric ID platform with privacy at its core. Alexandra co-founded the non-profit company at Cambridge with two fellow Gates Cambridge Scholars. It has created safe and ethical biometric tools for use in everything from health to humanitarian aid, enabling more people to have access to healthcare and other support. In the Covid pandemic, for instance, the company worked with the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office to explore how biometric technology could be responsibly leveraged to support pandemic response efforts.
Alexandra, who was previously Chief Product Officer at Simprints leading a team of engineers to develop machine learning-based biometric recognition models trained explicitly for under-represented demographics, especially in low- and middle-income countries, including places with no internet connection. She now leads the company's strategic work, developing partnerships and working across multiple teams.
She says: “I am so proud of what we have achieved at Simprints. While many biometric tools exist on the market, few serve the world's most vulnerable populations. Simprints tools have empowered NGOs and governments to provide essential services to millions of people worldwide.”
Mona Jebril [2012]
Mona’s work has always been about communicating her research in social sciences beyond academia. To that end, she has experimented with all sorts of different genres, from animation to poetry. A former teacher from Gaza, Mona’s PhD in Education investigated the multiple ways occupation and conflict in the Middle East have affected the mobility of academics in Gaza, their academic freedom and attempts to reform the higher education system. Following her PhD, Mona has worked on a range of projects, from the political economy of health in Gaza to widening participation for postgraduate students.
Her interest in disseminating her research is driven by a passion for ensuring that her research has a real world impact and that policy is evidence-based.
Mona has disseminated her research through poetry, theatre and now her new podcast, A Life Lived in Conflict, which gives a voice to people in conflict areas and from different disciplines.
She says: “I really want my work to have an impact. I want to give something back and that means ensuring that my knowledge is accessible to everyone. That engagement with the public is not generally encouraged in academia. It can make you feel like you are an outsider and that you are doing something wrong. So to have won the Impact Prize sends the message that there are different forms of impact that are valid and different ways of going about creating impact.”
Emily Kassie [2016]
Emily is an Emmy and Peabody-nominated investigative journalist and filmmaker. Her work for The New York Times, PBS “Frontline”, Netflix and others ranges from drug and weapons trafficking in the Saharan desert to immigrant detention in the United States. She was named in Forbes 30 under 30 in 2020.
Her most recent film, Sugarcane, which won the US Documentary Directing Award at the Sundance Film Festival among a host of other awards, is about understanding the long-term impact of systematic abuse on indigenous people in her home country, Canada.
Emily co-directed and co-produced the searing documentary which exposes a litany of forced family separation and horrendous physical and sexual abuse at a residential school run by the Catholic Church. The film has triggered a series of policy debates and awareness-raising work across Canada and the US as well as serving as a process of healing for those involved in it.
Pointing out that there are hundreds of similar schools in Canada and the US, she says: “We are just starting to know the truth. We are at the beginning of understanding what happened.”
Emma Houiellebecq [2016/2021]
Emma Houiellebecq’s PhD explores a new systems-based approach to building resilience in conflict regions which takes into account the whole chain of political, economic, social and technical issues that affect vital infrastructure.
Through fieldwork in some of the world’s most vulnerable regions - Ukraine, Gaza, Lebanon and Venezuela - she has honed her work to ensure that electricity and water supplies are maintained even in the toughest conditions. Her previous work with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on electricity supply in Gaza helped ensure that a hospital in Khan Younis remained operational for months after the conflict escalated in October 2023.
She says: “It is not just about solving technology issues, but about the political, economic and social background to these. The aim is to identify the root cause of problems and vulnerabilities in the system. I felt there were tangible differences I could make on the ground and at an institutional level towards more systemic, resilience-building approaches in complex protracted crises. It’s good to have that work acknowledged.”
Anoop Tripathi [2022]
Anoop’s research on cross-hybridisation of plants aims to develop climate-resilient crops that could ensure food security for millions of people, especially in the regions that are most affected by climate change. Anoop is one of a very few people in the world who have experience of using a cereal grafting and hybridisation technique which requires an interdisciplinary approach that blends plant biology, genetics and agricultural science. The approach overturns the long-standing consensus that monocot plants such as grass and grass-like flowering plants cannot graft.
His PhD aims to improve the photosynthetic properties of rice plants so they can grow with less water. He says the research has the potential to increase rice production by 50%, leading to greater food security for the world.
Anoop states: “For decades, it was widely accepted that monocot plants could not be grafted due to their unique vascular structures. My work directly challenges this. I also hope to democratise the research process by including farmers from India as citizen scientists, ensuring that the perspectives of those directly impacted by agricultural challenges are integrated into the scientific solutions.”
Uchechukwu Ogechukwu [2024]
As an undergraduate Uche did a project on reducing waste at his father’s factory and found that most of it was caused by energy supply issues. While at the University, he co-founded a solar energy company, Greenage Technologies Power Systems Ltd, with four other friends and has gained major international funding. It aims to harness renewable energy to combat energy poverty and environmental degradation in Africa. It has significantly grown since its creation, putting solar energy solutions in the homes of thousands of people, hospitals and schools, saving millions of tonnes of carbon from going into the environment.
Now he is doing an MPhil in Technology Policy to learn how to scale his business while also looking to help fellow African student entrepreneurs innovate and scale theirs. For instance, he co-founded Hardware Garage, a centre for technology and hardware content promotion in Nigeria, and at Cambridge he has set up an African Founders webinar series through Kings E-Lab.
He says: "I'm eager to explore technology's policy aspects and collaborate with the Gates Cambridge community to drive positive change.”
Painting by Jill Dryer*
Painting by Jill Dryer*
Eilís Ferran, Provost of Gates Cambridge, said: “We are so happy to be celebrating Gates Cambridge’s quarter century by highlighting the achievements of our eight Impact Prize winners. They showcase the full diversity of scholars’ impact across the world in fields ranging from business, media and film to humanitarian work to research.
“For 25 years now, students from across the globe have come to Cambridge to work with us and become part of our community. As this Award shows, when they go back out into the world as Gates Cambridge scholars, they make it a better place in ways no one could have predicted at the start. Whether a contribution as small as a podcast that touches a single human heart or vast as the potential of quantum science to tackle a range of global challenges, the possibilities we set in motion are infinite. This is the heart – and the wonder – of the Gates Cambridge mission. To create a limitless ripple effect of possibility and change.”
The judges of the Impact Prize were Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, the 345th Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, former Chair of Cancer Research UK and the former Chief Executive of the Medical Research Council; Joe Cerrell, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Managing Director for Europe, the Middle East and East Asia; Professor Tebello Nyokong, Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Rhodes University and the 2009 L’Oréal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science recipient; and Dr Gillian Tett, the 45th Provost of King’s College London, Moral Money Co-Founder and Member of the Editorial Board & Columnist at the Financial Times.
Find out more about Gates Cambridge here.
*Picture above of Flying Together by Jill Dryer which she painted for the inauguration of Bill Gates Sr. House and which links to a similar work by Dryer at the BIll & Melinda Gates Foundation HQ.
Built with Shorthand