Science Exec off to Cambridge

by Julia Hollingsworth | 3:55 am 18/05/2010

Last year’s Science Representative on the OUSA Executive has been awarded a prestigious Woolf Fisher scholarship to support her postgraduate study at Cambridge University.

Nathalie Saurat is one of three students nationwide to be awarded the scholarship, which is selected by a panel of trustees of the Woolf Fisher Trust. The scholarship enables Saurat to study towards a biochemistry doctorate at the Gurdon Institute.

At Cambridge, Saurat intends to continue her research on how microRNAs (strands of molecules that regulate gene expression) evolve in the neo-cortex of the brain. This research will help scientists to better understand how the brain is formed during early stages of its development. In addition, advances in this area may have implications for the future development of cancer therapies.

Saurat says she is pretty excited about the opportunity. “I’ve been on cloud nine ever since.” 

The scholarship is awarded to three applicants from New Zealand annually, and covers course fees, college fees, a living allowance, and flights back to New Zealand each year for three years. Saurat says the scholarship is worth around $100 000 per year.

The trust was established in 1960 by Sir Woolf Fisher, co-founder of the company Fisher and Pykel, and foundation member of New Zealand Steel. Successful applicants can choose to study at either Cambridge or Oxford University for three or four years. Candidates are selected for their outstanding academic ability, along with other qualities that Sir Woolf Fisher admired, including integrity, kindness, generosity, leadership, boldness of vision, and exceptional zeal. 

After completing her PhD, Saurat hopes to continue her research with a postdoctoral scholarship.

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