Wolfson welcomes the 2024 Gates Scholars

Each year, the Gates Cambridge Scholarship programme offers a limited number of full-cost scholarships for postgraduate study to non-UK applicants. 

Wolfson’s incoming Gates Scholars come from all over the world – Turkey, South Africa, and the United States – and each embodies the criteria at the heart of the programme: outstanding intellectual ability, leadership potential, and a commitment to improving the lives of others.

Find out more about them below:

Ceren Canse

To start her PhD in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Ceren doesn’t have far to go – she’s been living in Wolfson’s R Block for the past year, as she completed her master’s degree. 

“I love Wolfson, and love the community,” says Ceren. “It’s an amazing place for a postgrad student – the College is made for postgrads to have support in an academic and social sense.”

For Ceren’s PhD, which will be funded by the Gates Cambridge Scholarship, she’ll use the essential lab techniques she learned during her master’s, which focused on primate embryonic development and amniotic sac formation utilizing a microfluidic-based human stem cell model.

“When I was in med school, I realised that this field needs a lot of improvement, in the sense that most of the very common conditions involving women’s health don’t have a definitive diagnosis or treatment approach,” she says. “I think the trick to addressing these pregnancy complications comes down to understanding the placenta better.”

Ceren, who grew up in Istanbul, studied medicine in Turkey before coming to Cambridge, which she says got her interested in research. “Before the master’s degree I didn’t have any background in research – that was so helpful and broadened my scientific knowledge and understanding. With medicine you learn how to analyse information, and with the master’s I learned how to ask questions.”

And Ceren had no doubt that she wanted to continue asking questions in Cambridge, at the University. “Cambridge is the best place you can do this. The scientists here created the fundamental literature, and there’s a huge biobank of patient data. I can look and see if findings from the lab mean something in the general population, and then directly try to find applications that might be useful for clinical practice. With the opportunity to interact and learn from the pioneering scientists of the field, Cambridge is just an amazing place.”

Oliva Rowe

When Olivia arrived at Wolfson, she swapped one Cambridge for another. Before her move to the UK, Olivia – originally from the state of Georgia – lived in Cambridge, Massachusetts. During her undergrad at Northeastern University, where she studied Psychology, Olivia completed a six-month internship, working with brain injured patients at a hospital. 

This sparked a profound passion for working in neurorehabilitation. “After I graduated, I pivoted to research, and learned how to use neuroimaging biomarkers to better understand neurodegenerative diseases,” says Olivia. “Then I joined a company working on a non-invasive sensory stimulation device for Alzheimer’s disease. I kept my position in the hospital part-time for several years.”

Although she enjoyed the sense of immediate impact that this work gave her, Olivia says she had been thinking about postgraduate studies for years.

“I’m really interested in the clinical spaces within research. My mom suffered from a brain injury when I was younger, and I knew I wanted to return to this population for my PhD – not necessarily because I felt my story as a family member of someone with a brain injury was unique, but because my work at the hospital made me realize it unfortunately wasn't," says Olivia.

"Brain injury research at Cambridge University is among the top in the world, and there’s an incredible network of people and resources. And with the support of the Gates Cambridge Scholarship there’s an even broader community of individuals who share this drive to help others through their research.”

Taryn Adams

When asked why she picked Wolfson, Taryn – who comes to the College from Johannesburg to do an MPhil in Bioscience Enterprise – says, “I want to interact with professionals from all backgrounds, not only the sciences. Wolfson emphasizes the entrepreneurial culture, and that’s my goal. I want to meet people who think differently and come from different backgrounds.”

Taryn’s background is lab-based, focusing on molecular and cell biology. During her studies at Johannesburg’s University of Witwatersrand, she looked at HIV and communicable diseases, and research related to drug design for resistant HIV strains – research she continued during her two-year MSc in Biochemistry and Cell Biology. After contributing to a paper, Taryn started to wonder if academia was the right fit for her. 

“I liked to look at problems holistically and be involved in designing the solution,” she says. “I wanted to give industry a try but didn’t want to let go of the lab.”

A university biotech pitching competition was being hosted by the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, and Taryn and a friend decided to come up with a biotech business idea. “It was far from perfect,” Taryn says, “but we placed third.” Recognising Taryn's interests and comprehensive skillset – which was geared toward the business of science – one of the judges on the panel hired Taryn at their company, which focuses on regenerative medicine and genetic testing. But, eager to expand her experience in business and biotech, Taryn found and applied for the MPhil at Cambridge, and for the Gates Cambridge Scholarship.

“There’s a thriving biotech ecosystem within the University, and that’s where I’ll exercise some of the concepts I’ve already learned and be able to apply them to the practical components of the course,” says Taryn. “There are lots of extremely qualified scientists in South Africa, and people with experience in business, but the two don’t communicate with each other as well as they could. We have talented PhD scientists and researchers and savvy business people, but we need somebody who sits in between, who can speak both languages.”

Learn more

Applications for entry in the academic year 2025-2026 are now open. There are two selection rounds based on the applicant’s citizenship, with different deadlines for each round. More information about the application process and about the Gates Cambridge Scholarship programme can be found on the programme’s website.