A curious writer, learner, and economist in training. Always open to having a virtual or in-person coffee chat :)

Hello :) I am a year 3 student in the University of Hong Kong, studying Bachelor of Science in Speech and Hearing Sciences.

Laidlaw Scholar Alumni (Durham University Cohort 6, 2022-24) Current Endeavours: I am studying MSc Environmental Economics and Climate Change at the LSE for 2024-25. From September 2025, I will be starting a PhD in Environmental Economics at the University of Basel, Switzerland. --- My time as a Laidlaw Scholar: I graduated with First Class Honours in BA Economics from Durham University. My foremost interests are Development Economics and Environmental Economics. This is reflected in my research project which explored Demographic Economics, titled "The Shifting Distribution of the Global Population in the Twenty-First Century: an Econometric Analysis of the Projected Fortunes of Nigeria and Japan, with Policy Recommendations for Sustainable Development". I have experience working in economic consulting, specialising in competition economics, and am also a Zumba instructor. During my time on the Laidlaw Programme I have also served as a Laidlaw Schools Trust Mentor for Excelsior Academy in Newcastle. In 2023, I completed a six-week international ‘Leadership in Action’ project in partnership with Think Pacific for my Laidlaw Scholarship. For this, I participated in a multi-faceted programme, comprising the building of a health centre, collaborations with Diabetes Fiji and Youth Champs 4 Mental Health, and a Fijian Culture Course. The project ended with a Think Tank where we planned how we would sustain progress. In my sub-group’s case, we are working on a new project to build a multi-purpose building to act as a kindergarten and evacuation centre, for which we are currently fundraising. We have had multiple meetings with the Laidlaw Foundation CEO and the Laidlaw Schools Trust, and we are presenting at the Conversations Conference in Dublin in October 2023. Our project took place in Vunimaqo and Waisava, Dreketi Settlement, Nalawa district, Ra province, Vita Levu island, Fiji. I attended the Impact 2022 conference at the LSE and (virtually, after flight cancellations) the Conversations 2023 conference at Trinity College Dublin.

Hi! I'm Maria and I am a current undergraduate scholar from the University of Leeds. I study Law and I aspire to be a corporate solicitor. 

International Business student at the University of Leeds I currently work as a Student Ambassador, a maths tutor, and I have my own little crochet business on the side! My research project 'Imposter syndrome and Sense of belonging' delves into student perceptions of the condition, and the flaws surrounding the measures used to diagnose it.

I am so honoured and excited to have been selected as a 2022 Laidlaw Scholar. After taking an alternative route to university I am enthusiastic to take advantage of the skills and experience I can gain from any and all opportunities and truly appreciate the power of education. My purpose and drive are fuelled by my ambition to have the freedom of choice that education provides. I hope an available choice in my future career will be to lead innovative and socially beneficial projects. I look forward to connecting with you all as an amazing group of scholars.

Hello! My name is Julie and I am a current National Scholar studying architecture at the University of Toronto. I am interested in the intersection between architecture and mental health, which has resulted in me pursuing a minor in Buddhism, Mental Health and Psychology. Outside of school I am a cellist, photographer, and dancer. I am excited to research how architecture impacts mental health and use my findings in my designs. As an architect, I aspire to open my own firm and design spaces that connect others and bring light to the world. 

Hi! I'm an undergraduate scholar from the University of Toronto and am interested in inclusion and mental health. With my research project, I hope to explore how we improve mental health support and treatments to make them more accessible and inclusive of Canadian Muslims. Beyond my research interests, I enjoy connecting with people and learning from people's diverse backgrounds and unique experiences. I'm a keen listener and love learning new things!

My project looks at the educational outcomes of children on the Autistic Disorder Spectrum and their correlates. My subjects are Mathematics and Economics within NatSci at Durham University, but I'm eager to engage with anything economics, mathematics and mental health more broadly.

I am studying Sociology, and my research area is sense of belonging, achievement and peer group formation in first-generation undergraduates at Durham University. More generally, I am interested in the sociological study of health (specifically mental health and wellbeing) and the ways in which this intersects with inequalities. Alongside this, I also have an interest in the role Higher Education plays in social mobility and inequalities.

Hi there! I am a psychology student interested in psychotherapy, computational psychiatry, trauma and stress-related disorders, and the prevention of domestic and sexual violence.  I am currently working with the Gillan Lab at Trinity College Dublin which has allowed me to explore my research interests further and led me to my research topic where I want to explore factors that may be of use for individualising treatment of psychiatric illnesses.

Hi there! My name is Asha, and I am a third-year undergraduate student at the University of Toronto, where I study global health, political science, and psychology.  I was part of the 2021 Laidlaw Scholars cohort at UofT — my research summer focused on determinants of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among ethnocultural minority communities in Canada, and my Leadership-in-Action project was with Tortoise Media in London, UK.  I'm always eager to chat about topics in global health, particularly public health policy, planetary health, and health equity! 

I am an open-minded and driven first-year student, excited to explore her interests in Public Health and Policy as well as Women, Gender, and Sexuality studies.

Hi! I'm Izzy from North Wales (or a 'gog' - someone from the North - as we would say in Welsh). I am part of the 2022 scholars cohort and my research project is about Imposter Syndrome and sense of belonging. I study Psychology at the University of Leeds which I am thoroughly enjoying as I love people (and science/ evidence!). I chose this degree as I believe that understanding people's thoughts, motivations and behaviours is what is going to lead us to a more equal and just society. Working as a teaching assistant alongside children with special educational needs last year confirmed my intuition that I would like to go into social justice work after graduating. In my spare time I love to cycle, dance and swim outside.

Hey, I'm Jackson. I'm one of the 2022 scholars at University of Leeds. My course is Mechatronics and Robotics; in particular I'm interested in the ways that technology interacts with social and political issues that are important to me, such as environmentalism, the digital divide and the racial and gender biases in algorithms. My research focusses on improving the robustness of energy storage devices, e.g. for electric vehicles and solar panels. You can read a quick summary below! The recent global shift towards electrification is raising questions concerning the robustness of current energy storage devices. Electrical vehicles require many battery cells connected together in order to provide a sufficient amount of energy to power the car and solar panels contain many generating cells connected. However, the assumptions made when designing and developing these storage devices, can become invalid due to the uncontrolled environmental conditions or unpredictable faults with individual cells in the arrangement. In order to prevent failure and premature end-of-life, a unique collection of equalisation circuits can be designed for a system. My research centers on widening the use cases for these equilisation circuits and investigating whether a single set of circuits can be designed in a way that allows it to be used for a variety of applications rather than just one.