Hi! I'm Amanda, a third year Neuroscience student and Laidlaw alum from UCL. I'm Swedish-Persian and grew up in Sweden before moving to London for uni. These days, alongside my studies, I work for the Foundation as a Marketing Assistant 💅. For my first year research project, I worked on optimising alginate hydrogels for 3D astrocyte culture systems. In simpler terms, I was figuring out the best way to prepare a jelly-like scaffold so that star-shaped brain cells called astrocytes could grow in three dimensions rather than flat on a dish. This matters because 3D environments mimic the brain more realistically, which could help researchers develop better treatments for neurological disorders! 🧠🧬 For my Leadership-in-Action project, I co-created Beyond the Books, a resource designed to help students from underrepresented backgrounds navigate the unwritten rules of university life, from internships and networking to professional opportunities that aren't always obvious if you're the first in your family to go to uni. 🌟 Always happy to connect, whether you want to chat about neuroscience, widening access, the Laidlaw experience, or just say hello! One of my favourite things about this community is getting to meet scholars from different universities and backgrounds, so please do reach out! 🌈✨💕💞🌟

Hi everyone! I'm a rising junior at Barnard College of Columbia University, where I am double majoring in Political Science and Human Rights, and minoring in French. This summer I'm researching about art reinstitution and its ethical and legal components. Some of my other interests include social work, human rights, and law. Please feel free to reach me at cd3442@barnard.edu

Բարեւ ձեզ! I'm a Class of 2027 student at Barnard College of Columbia University in NYC. I am pursuing a combined major in Gender Studies and Human Rights with a concentration in Asian Diasporas and Asian American Studies, focusing on Armenia and the Levant Last year, I researched how Artsakhtsi women navigated decisions related to their reproductive and maternal health throughout the 2023 blockade and displacement. This summer, I am interning with the Women's Support Center in Yerevan, Armenia—the country's leading DV center and one of the most prominent advocates fighting for systemic change by combatting gender-based violence, myths and taboos regarding DV, and patriarchal structures in Armenia.

Reese Taylor is a rising junior majoring in Philosophy, History, and Human Rights on a pre-law track. As a Laidlaw Scholar, she spent her first summer researching the role of labor in the economic and social uplift of Black Americans in the wake of Reconstruction. She was selected to present this research at Johns Hopkins University, The University of Pennsylvania, and the Global Laidlaw Scholars Conference. In her second summer, Reese founded The Voices in Action Initiative which is a program developed to empower and mobilize youth voices by providing them skills and practice in speech and debate. She enacted the program in Nassau, Bahamas with sponsorship from both the Laidlaw Foundation and The Kiwanis Club of Nassau.

I am a junior at Columbia University, majoring in Urban Studies with a specialization in Public Health, and a 2024 Laidlaw Scholar. My first summer research was with the Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Preservation and Planning Mapping Historical New York Initiative. I digitized historical maps and census data, contributing to a digital atlas of early New York settlements, focusing on Queens and the Bronx. For my second summer, I worked with WeCanMake, a community land trust, on a mixed-use housing microsite in the UK.