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1 THE CLARENDON CHRONICLE – Newsletter of the Clarendon Scholars’ Association

Dear Friends,

This edition of the Chronicle celebrates Clarendon scholars, past and present, recognizing their accomplishments in their chosen fields. Whether it is by cultivating young minds, strengthening community engagement, pursuing breakthroughs in science and industry, or contributing to our collective wisdom, our scholars have brought their interdisciplinary interests to bear on the world in profoundly enriching and productive ways. We commend our featured scholars on their successes and praise the new Council on its continued efforts to foster a community of excellent people and distinguished young scholars.

To this end, we also request your continued support, by way of suggested improvements and article submissions. In coming editions, an expanded newsletter will present the work of artists and creative writers, so we ask that you submit your own writing and encourage friends, colleagues and acquaintances to share their work with the Chronicle at clarendonchronicle@gmail.com.

Lastly, many thanks to Mr. Ben Nicholson, our graduate funding administrator, for his guidance, vision, encouragement, and facilitation at the Scholarship. We, at the Chronicle, wish him the very best in his future endeavours.

Kunchok DolmaEditor-in-Chief

1. Editor’s note

2. Message from the President

3. Global Scholars Symposium

5. Empowering the Youth: A report from the field

7. A trip to Stonehenge

8. Meet a Fresher, featuring Pramila Rijal

9. Alumni news: Sumeet Agarwal

10. Bowling night /An Easter treat

11. Recent achievements by Clarendon Scholars

EDITOR’S NOTE

IN THIS ISSUE

Clarendon Chronicle Team | Chief-Editor: Kunchok Dolma | Designer & Editor: Erica Lombard | Editors: Robert Daly, Jean-Francois Gelinas, Pramila Rijal

Volume 2 Issue 2 – Trinity Term 2013 2

Dear Scholars and Alumni,

With flowers blooming and bees buzzing, spring has brought forth a fresh new term and with it a number of new and exciting programs and events for

the Clarendon Scholars. We started Trinity with the Global Scholars Symposium (GSS) at the Cambridge Union, featuring highly inspirational talks from Nobel laureates like His Holiness the Dalai Lama and microfinance pioneer, Muhammad Yunus. Later this term, we will be organizing and hosting the first ever reunion event for the GSS delegates.

This term our Council has also organized the first of many exclusive networking and recruiting events for Clarendon Scholars, with the first session hosted by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) at their London office, inaugurating a new careers chapter for our program. In addition to these new career events, you can expect many social and academic events in Trinity, which include our annual Garden Party, a publishing seminar hosted by the Oxford University Press, a sketch comedy night, punting and picnics, a whiskey tasting, a hiking trip to the Cotswolds, and even a Guinness Book of World Records attempt—another first for Clarendon Scholars in 2013!

I am also pleased to report that this year we have established new relationships between our Council and other Scholarship programs in Oxford and will organize exchange dinners among Clarendon, Rhodes, and Weidenfeld Scholars. But perhaps our grandest event of the term will be a talk by world-renowned moral philosopher and ethicist Professor Peter Singer, who will be speaking about eating ethically, what it is and why it matters, followed by a formal dinner at Balliol College.

As always, our Council is very keen to hear your ideas about how to better achieve our shared mission. I encourage all Scholars and Alumni to contact the council to share ideas for new programs and provide suggestions. On behalf of the Clarendon Scholars Association Council – which includes Dansie, Hong-Sheng, Nick, Timson, and a host of General Assistants and other volunteers – I would like to thank all Scholars and Alumni for their support and suggestions, and I look forward to seeing you at the next Clarendon event.

Ramtin Amin2013 President of the Clarendon Scholars’ Association

Message from the President

3 THE CLARENDON CHRONICLE – Newsletter of the Clarendon Scholars’ Association

On 20th April, 2013, one hundred and fifty Scholars from nine major scholarships in the UK gathered at the Cambridge Union to listen

to the keynote speech of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama of Tibet. Approximately forty of these were Clarendon Scholars who were selected to take part in the 2013 Global Scholars Symposium, which ran from 19-21 April.

The Dalai Lama spoke on a range of issues. He identified poverty, wealth disparity, and climate change as some of the biggest challenges facing the world today. He identified non-violence as the best method for addressing

Global Scholars Symposium

Volume 2 Issue 2 – Trinity Term 2013 4

conflicts. Calling the twentieth century an age of conflict and violence, he asked the young scholars gathered at the conference to make the twenty-first century, a century of peace. The Dalai Lama defines peace not only as an absence of violence but the cultivation of compassion. With his message that inner peace is found within us, he encouraged the young minds to cultivate happiness in their communities. Other speakers at the conference included Wes Moore, Justice Goodwin Liu, Wanjiri Maathai, H.E. Gordon Campbell, Professor Cindi Katz and Tony Juniper.

Clarendon Scholars were actively engaged in the conference’s organization. Our very own Hong-Sheng Lim, the treasurer of the Clarendon Council, served as the executive committee member, and Sebastian Bonilla as the conference’s IT officer —a role he also fulfils for the Clarendon Council. Some half dozen other Clarendon Scholars were also involved in the sub-committees and contributed to the success of the 2013 Global Scholars Symposium.

5 THE CLARENDON CHRONICLE – Newsletter of the Clarendon Scholars’ Association

Alas, the story of my fieldwork does not involve any exotic, tropical locations. Instead,

I have been working with young people in five of the most financially deprived parts of England to develop youth-led, anti poverty strategies for their regions. And I am glad to

say that it has been an amazing year. In total, over one hundred and fifty young people took part in the project. They identified the problems people of their age faced in their regions and developed policy solutions.

The participants identified housing, education, neighborhood crime and

low household incomes as some of the most prevailing challenges facing them. Tellingly, many issues that were repeatedly identified by the different focus groups, such as the high cost of public transportation, are also those that are overlooked in official policies aimed at these youngsters. Others that

Empowering the YouthA report from the field

Young people speak to the head of the Life Chances and Child Poverty Commission.

Volume 2 Issue 2 – Trinity Term 2013 6

are heavily cited by the Government, such as parenting programs, did not even rate a mention.

Through my research, I wanted to see what young people – who are often the targets of government policy and interventions – would like the Government to do to improve their lives. In part, I wanted to provide a voice for young people to make their ideas and concerns known.

So on 17 December of last year, working with the All Party Parliamentary Group on Poverty, we hosted a launch event to advertise the strategies the group had developed. The event was meant to allow the participants to lobby their local Member of Parliaments and others key policy makers. To our delight, over twenty MPs, peers and local

councilors, alongside representatives of the Life Chance and Child Poverty Commission, the Department for Education and children’s charities, turned up to listen to their ideas and discuss viable solutions. The room was jam-packed and the event a huge success.

After five brief and professional presentations (it should come as no surprise that most 12 year olds are experts with power-point!), the youngsters shut the doors and held the

audience hostage. To leave the room, each audience member had to secure a ‘Vote of Confidence’ from a presenter, by making an honest and realistic commitment to tackle one of the issues they identified. The commitments secured on the day were astonishing. For instance, one council member

agreed to increase their recycling rate in the targeted neighborhoods by twenty percent over the next two years.

It was apparent that young people can and critically want to be involved in the production of policies that affect them and I would like to

thank the Clarendon Fund for making this possible.

—Rys Farthing

Jesus College, DPhil Social Policy

Young people speak to their

local MPs and a councillor about

their strategy.

‘I wanted to provide a voice for young people to make their ideas and concerns known.’

7 THE CLARENDON CHRONICLE – Newsletter of the Clarendon Scholars’ Association

STONEHENGEA trip to

A trip to England is never complete without a visit to the prehistoric monument in Wiltshire. Every year, the Clarendon Council has been organizing a daylong trip to Stonehenge and Avesbury. This year too, some thirty Clarendon Scholars spent a full day at these sites including a visit to the Cathedral City of Salisbury,

whose famous cathedral houses one of the four best preserved surviving copies of the Magna Carta. Although the early March weather was frigid, scholars did not fret walking along the ruins and learning about the beautiful stones.

Volume 2 Issue 2 – Trinity Term 2013 8

Originally from the beautiful Himalayan Kingdom of Nepal, Pramila moved to the Netherlands in 2007. She studied life

sciences at Han University. During her undergraduate, she spent a semester at Oxford developing antibodies as part of an internship.

Currently, Pramila is a first year DPhil reading Clinical Medicine at Keble College. Her research is an extension of her undergraduate internship. In her lab at John Radcliffe, she works on developing monoclonal antibodies to influenza virus. Ask her why she chose her field of study and she says, ‘the research chose me, instead of I choosing the research. And, I am quite happy.’

Speaking of the Clarendon Scholarship, she says, ‘I feel truly happy to be a part of the Clarendon group, which has students from different countries with diverse backgrounds’. Pramila is also part of the Clarendon newsletter, serving as a staff writer and photographer. She is quite active in the Clarendon community and finds organizing events for the Council a rewarding experience. She is thankful to the Clarendon Fund for a great opportunity to study at Oxford and make new friends from all over the world.

Besides the long hours she puts in her lab, Pramila loves nature and photography. She is a poet and enjoys writing in Nepali. If you cannot find her in her lab, be sure to look for her at one of the Clarendon events with her camera and a welcoming smile. Otherwise, you will find her in town trying new restaurants and enjoying life.

Meet aFresher

featuringPramila Rijal

9 THE CLARENDON CHRONICLE – Newsletter of the Clarendon Scholars’ Association

Oxford is bound to be a hard act to follow. The sheer richness of activities and experiences

that one becomes accustomed to mean that leaving is rather like breaking up a relationship; for a while, it can leave a stark void in one’s life. But as always, one adjusts, and moves on. In my case, even after 15 months, the post-Oxford hangover hasn’t quite healed, but I’m gradually settling into a new sort of life. I had always intended to stay on in academia after my D.Phil.; having spent the requisite summer of lazy pointlessness after passing my viva last April, I finally joined the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi as an Assistant Professor in November.

The transition from student to teacher has been an eye-opener. As a student, I was casual, happy-go-lucky, perennially procrastinating; I rarely felt much

pressure, and always found time to explore other interests outside of research. As a teacher, that just doesn’t work: suddenly there’s a far greater sense of responsibility, and a lot more commitment of time needed. Apart from lecturing, there is so much more to do: preparing notes and problem sets; supervising assignments and projects; holding tutorials; taking exams. In a sense, there is no limit on the time one can spend on teaching. It is difficult, at least for me, to treat it like a 9-to-5 job. One’s mind is never quite free of it; ideas for ways to teach things keep popping up, and it always feels as if the more effort one puts into it the better one can be. True, that’s rather like research; but the difference is that in research one is doing it essentially for oneself, whereas in teaching one is doing it for others. So the moral imperative to try and do one’s best becomes that much greater.

Alumni news: Sumeet Agarwal

Despite the occasional attack of nerves, so far, I am liking it. Teaching is a great way of learning about oneself, one’s own limits and weaknesses. It forces one to clarify concepts that one might have been hazily taken for granted as a student. In that sense, it should also be beneficial for research (once I actually start finding time for some!). My time at Oxford has certainly stood me in good stead: not just the academic work, but also the experience of interacting with brilliant people, both dons and students, and the opportunities I got to teach and mentor undergraduates whilst there. One thing I really do miss here is the breadth of a truly comprehensive University. How often have I wished that I could still walk into the Bodleian, pick up a random book off a random shelf, and just lose myself in something completely different...

—Sumeet Agarwal

Merton College, DPhil Systems Biology; matriculated 2007

Volume 2 Issue 2 – Trinity Term 2013 10

An Easter treat

On a chilly afternoon in late March a group of Clarendon scholars gathered to munch toasted hot cross buns and binge on chocolate eggs in an attempt to chase off the neverending winter. Although it was too cold for an Easter egg hunt in the gardens, the beautiful Merton MCR provided a wonderful opportunity to huddle together, clutching glasses of mulled wine and cups of hot tea while the icy wind prevailed outside. Thanks very much to the organizers!

At the end of Hilary when it was still too cold to wander out and most students had left for Easter break, what were the few remaining scholars to do but to head off to the Bowlplex PLC near Blackbird Leys, just a few miles from the city centre, to strike a few pins. Organized and subsidized generously by the Clarendon Fund, scholars grabbed the bowling balls and made it a fun night.

Bowling night!

11 THE CLARENDON CHRONICLE – Newsletter of the Clarendon Scholars’ Association

We want to congratulate Adrian Murdock on his recent scientific discovery and publication. Adrian (St Edmund Hall, Clarendon 2009) is a DPhil student in the Materials Department. His research focusses on graphene, a substance composed of a one-atom thick sheet of pure carbon. Graphene has potential applications that range from integrated circuits and transistors to desalination and solar cells. This research field has already produced a Nobel Prize winner in 2010.

Adrian studies the chemica l vapour deposition growth of graphene. A problem of this technique is that the microscopic flakes of graphene form in random orientations, leaving defects in the structure.

His work showed that copper can be used as a canvas under the forming layer of carbon controlling the orientation of the flakes. This solution could allow industrial scale production of graphene and the generation of new graphene-based technologies.

He has since filled a patent for this discovery and the details of his research have been published in the following article: ‘Controlling the Orientation, Edge Geometry, and Thickness of Chemical Vapor Deposition Graphene’, Adrian T. Murdock, et al. ACS Nano 2013 7 (2), 1351-1359.

Recent achievements by Clarendon scholars

Adrian Murdock

Aligned hexagonal graphene domains

Volume 2 Issue 2 – Trinity Term 2013 12

Benjamin is a brain cancer researcher specializing in brain stem cells, neuroradiology, biomedical imaging and medical physics. He has published articles on the implications of brain imaging and radiation for the diagnosis and treatment of brain tumors and injuries.

We would like to congratulate Benjamin for his recent induction as a scientific advisory board member for the Foundation for Orthopedic Reconstruction. He also became a member of the International Neuroethics Society (INS). INS is an organization established for the promotion of neuroscience and refinement of its social, moral and ethical aspects. But forever a scholar, Benjamin yearns for knowledge on astrophysics, quantum mechanics and how science, ethics and religion intermingle. He is currently writing a book accommodating these domains of thoughts.

Sean’s research focuses on reporting randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the effectiveness of complex social interventions in disciplines such as public health, psychology, criminology, social work, and education. Although challenging to evaluate and interpret, Sean finds that the use of RCT evidence to inform policy, practice, and future research heavily depends on detailed reports of these research studies. Unfortunately, such reports often omit important information, hindering evidence-based decision-making. For his DPhil, therefore, Sean is working to develop and disseminate a new guideline to improve the reporting of these trials and their subsequent utility.

We would like to congratulate Sean for his excellent oral presentation co-authored with his supervisors at the Royal Society of Medicine, first annual conference. This conference was held on 23rd November 2012 in conjunction with The Lancet and LSHTM and focused UK public health science. The presentation about Sean’s guideline project was given to an audience of over 200 policy-makers, practitioners, and researchers leading public health research in the UK.

Benjamin Jacob Hayempour

Sean Grant

Volume 2 Issue 2 – Trinity Term 2013 13Clarendon Scholars’ Association 2013