Imperial students awarded prestigious Fulbright Scholarships

Harvard Widener Library (credit: Harvard University)

The two awardees will receive the scholarships to allow them to continue their education in the United States.

Laura Connell and Benjamin Miller are two of the 46 British grantees that make up the 2016-17 Fulbright Cohort.

Laura, currently an MPhil student in the Brain Sciences Division of the Department of Medicine, has received a British Friends of Harvard Business School Fulbright Award. She will be studying at Harvard Business School for a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) with a special focus on healthcare technology and services.

Laura Connell

“It is an honour to have been awarded the British Friends of Harvard Business School Fulbright Award.” Laura said, “I look forward to spending two years in Boston developing both my cultural familiarity with the US as well as my professional skills in the context of an incredibly diverse and accomplished international peer group.”

Benjamin, who graduated from the College in 2012 with an MEng in Biomedical Engineering, has received an All Disciplines Postgraduate Award to study for a PhD in Bioengineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Amy Moore, Director of the Fulbright Awards Programme, said: “It's very rewarding seeing a group of talented, inspirational and very deserving individuals, embark on a life changing trip to the US. This year's cohort are no exception, and have been carefully selected for their impressive accomplishments, academic excellence, and a genuine desire to delve into US culture and collaborate with new people and experience new ideas.”

Benjamin Miller

The US-UK Fulbright Commission is the only bi-lateral, transatlantic scholarship programme, offering awards for study or research in any field, at any accredited US or UK university.

The Commission is part of the Fulbright Programme, conceived by Senator J William Fulbright in the aftermath of World War II to promote leadership, learning and empathy between nations through educational exchange. The Commission anticipates that award recipients and summer programme participants will be the future leaders of tomorrow and support the ‘special relationship’ between the US and UK.

Penny Egan, Executive Director of the US-UK Fulbright Commission, said: “I know our 2016 cohort will do us great credit during their time in the US and beyond. Only exceptional scholars and students win Fulbright awards: one of the world’s most competitive merit-based international scholarships. In the 70th year of the special relationship, we are proud to send the best of British academia to the US.”

Two Imperial researchers, Miss Bynvant Sandhu and Dr James Seddon, have also received Fulbright awards to undertake research as Visiting Researchers at Harvard.

Miss Sandhu will work with the Robson lab at Harvard University exploring signalling pathways in organ transplantation. Dr Seddon will be working with the team at the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, also at Harvard, to evaluate different strategies for preventing multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in children.

Portraits: Leo Johnson