Hey everyone - I'm Gitika, but I go by Aki, and I'm a former Laidlaw Scholar currently based at the University of St Andrews. I'm originally from California, but moved to Scotland to pursue my undergraduate studies in history and economics. My Laidlaw research focussed on the colonial and postcolonial histories of sexuality and gender in Asia, and particularly how it has impacted the current lives and experiences of LGBTQ+ individuals based in India and Japan. Now, I am entering my final undergraduate year with an aim of pursuing postgraduate studies in social & economic history. I'm eager to meet you all, so do reach out if you want to chat about research or just connect over a shared interest! Apart from my work in gender and sexuality history, I'm also keenly interested in archival history, colonial/postcolonial studies, and language / linguistics. Outside of academics, I'm often playing music, walking along the Fife coast with a hot cup of tea, writing, or watching Doctor Who with my friends.

Hello, my name is Katarina and I'm a first-year Physics student at Durham University. I'm looking forward to being a part of the 2026 cohort with my project about mitigating the effects of light pollution. I aim to continue studying Physics to PhD level, and am particularly interested in researching sustainable technology. My passion for public speaking shapes my goal of driving scientific communication globally, as a vessel for sustainable change. My interests beyond academia include playing guitar, fashion, boxing and reading, as I've been fortunate enough to study an English Literature module this year.

Hi I'm Freddie, a student in PPE at Durham University with particular interests in British Political history and the development of its constitution.  I am excited to express this in my research project, focusing on the impact of formalised political parties on voter behaviour, specifically choice and participation. Whilst contributing to the development of an existing dataset containing parliamentary election data from 1832 onwards, I am aiming to perform data-driven alaysis to evaluate Britain's shift from a candidate-based political tradition towards the dominance of party labels. Outside of my studies, I am a keen church bellringer, an avid reader, and enjoy exploring new places.

I am Andrew Hamilton, I have a keen interest in both methods of quantative statistical analysis through R and also through the discipline of comparative politics, in looking at electoral turnout and civic participation in the UK. My work has included being a co author on a experiential case study on pedagogic practice into how methods of statistical analysis through R, can be made accessible for students with visual impairments. Millican, A., Toth, F., & Hamilton, A. (2025, December 4). Seeing differently: Making R accessible for visually impaired students through collaborative learning design. National Centre for Research Methods. https://eprints.ncrm.ac.uk/id/eprint/5006/  Further I am an award winning disability rights activist and have a particular interest in disability rights and digital accessibility, work has included lobbied politicians, co-authored a UN report, delivered oral evidence to the UN CRPD committee’s inquiry into the UK government and most recently being invited to give a witness statement to the Covid 19 national enquiry alongside advising an Northern Irish MLA on a disability private members bill. Through my 4+ years experience of campaigning, I have developed a passion for media, as a tool to spread awareness. I am also passionate about ensuring young people have a voice in matters that affect them. Lastly I am an active participant in Durham University’s venture scene, having founded an award winning public affairs startup, Just Include, which aims to ensure that everyone has a voice within politics.

Hello! I'm Maia, an undergraduate student at the University of Toronto, Victoria College. I'm majoring in Sociology with minors in Political Science and Women and Gender Studies.  My research brings together women-identified social media users into focus groups to investigate how young women understand social media's value, their consumption of it, and its impacts on them. Despite extensive literature on the negative impacts of social media, few studies have explored how women make sense of their scrolling, especially in their own words. In light of this, my research focuses on not only exploring how women experience their online time but also developing collaborative strategies for more positive engagement; it moves beyond documenting harm to support women in shaping more conscious digital practices. Outside of research and academia, as of late I love to spend my free time crocheting, reading and writing, learning ASL, and developing my martial arts skills. If you'd like to know more about my research, collaborate, or just say hi, I'd love to connect—you can reach me at maia.cassie@mail.utoronto.ca!

Shruti Jain is an Oxford Saïd MBA and a Laidlaw and Skoll Scholar. She’s an entrepreneur (Kaze Living, exited) and now works as an MBA admissions and scholarship consultant, specializing in competitive scholarships. She’s also building MBA Copilot, an AI-led product for MBA and scholarship applications.