Two new Gates Scholars will be joining Selwyn in October. Paulina Lohbeck and Cong Minh Nguyen were announced on 17 April as members of the Gates Cambridge Class of 2026. Paulina will pursue a PhD in Materials Science and Metallurgy, and Cong Minh will read for a PhD in Economics.

The Gates Cambridge Scholarship is one of the world's most prestigious postgraduate awards, offered each year to outstanding students from outside the UK who demonstrate academic excellence, leadership potential and a commitment to improving the lives of others.

Paulina, who has studied across France and Germany, is drawn to questions of light and matter. "I am fascinated by how much can be revealed by looking at something differently," she says, "sometimes quite literally through light." Her PhD will investigate how optical excitation shapes the performance of next-generation optoelectronic devices, with the aim of understanding what currently limits their efficiency. 

Cong Minh, who grew up in Pleiku, Vietnam, where his family grow coffee, brings a deeply personal perspective to his research. "Farmers sell through middlemen who hold better information about demand, prices and market access, enabling them to capture value at farmers' expense," he explains. "I see a similar story in digital markets." His PhD will examine how platforms' information design may distort competition and facilitate algorithmic collusion, as part of a broader commitment to consumer protection.
 

Both scholars join a Selwyn community that spans disciplines, nationalities and generations. We wish them every success as they begin their research at Cambridge.

Since the first class in 2001, Gates Cambridge has awarded 2,299 scholarships to scholars from 112 countries, representing nearly 800 universities globally and all 31 Cambridge colleges. This year's class of 68 represents 25 countries.
 

Find out more about the Gates Cambridge Class of 2026.

 

Nearly 600 sixth form students from West Yorkshire experienced university study first-hand, with masterclasses covering everything from history to medicine. 

Selwyn Fellows and Master Suzanne Raine travelled to Greenhead College in Huddersfield on 15 April to deliver the day-long programme.

The visit is part of the College's Higher Education Extension (HEE) Programme, a Selwyn initiative running for several years with the aim of raising aspirations among 16 to 18-year-olds from disadvantaged backgrounds and encouraging applications to Cambridge.

Students chose from seven talks, each designed to stretch them academically and support future applications to Oxbridge and leading UK universities. Topics ranged from nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and Hawaiian history to the forensic science of voice and reading poetry.

Afterwards, students met Selwyn Admissions Tutors in dedicated arts and STEM sessions to ask questions about university applications and life at Cambridge.

The HEE Programme runs as a series of sessions from January to May which means Selwyn can reach significantly more students than is possible during school visits to Cambridge.

The programme is part of Selwyn's wider commitment to access and outreach across the North of England.

How do you convey an entire thesis in just three minutes? 

That was the question facing students who took part in Selwyn’s annual Three Minute Thesis competition. 

With such a limited time to present complex ideas and just one static slide, the event was an exercise in identifying the most essential information that would both inform and, most importantly, engage the panel of judges.

Entrants covered a range of thought-provoking topics on the evenings of 18 and 19 March, such as how AI is creating a challenging new environment for humans, leeches thriving in deforested areas, finding that groups of prime numbers are less likely to exclude individuals. Even linking classics to Swedish heavy metal and covering the Passion of Port Talbot re-enactment. They also explored the underlying mechanisms that shape intrusive memories in post-traumatic stress disorder, and how concepts drawn from general relativity might offer new approaches to diagnosing dementia. Another presentation examined the reception of Ulysses through the interpretive framework of The Divine Comedy.

Open to all Selwyn students, the process of preparing and presenting to an audience, helps to refine their ideas, sharpen their arguments, and develop the clarity and confidence needed to communicate their work effectively to an audience who will not all be specialists.

Master Suzanne Raine said: "It has been wonderful to see the quality, engagement and intellectual heft of our three-minute presenters. Being able to articulate clearly and succinctly research aims, method and conclusions is a key skill and this competition has been a fantastic way for our students to develop and demonstrate it."

Participants were enthusiastic about the process saying it was useful in honing their thinking, even though it was tough distilling their work into just one slide.

Congratulations to the prize winners:

• Alex Barrington (SE 2023) Zoology 
• Aryan Misra (SE 2023) Psychological and Behavioural Sciences
• Affan Dziyaul (SE 2025) Land Economy
• Raphael Hernandes (SE 2025) Digital Humanities

Professor Grant Stewart has led the development of the first national guideline on kidney cancer, published by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

A Selwyn Fellow, Dean and Director of Studies in Clinical Medicine at the College, Grant was clinical lead for the guideline which sets out the gold standard approach to diagnosing and managing kidney cancer at all stages.

A key recommendation from the guideline, published on 19 March, is to offer biopsies to more people with suspected kidney cancer, which could double the number of biopsies undertaken nationally. Testing a tissue sample confirms whether a lump is cancerous or benign, potentially sparing patients from unnecessary surgery.

Professor Stewart said: "By offering more patients with a kidney lump a biopsy, clinicians can tell patients if the lesion is cancer or benign and if they need to consider a treatment like surgery, or if they can avoid these treatments which do have considerable risks associated with them."

The guideline also recommends that every patient should have access to a clinical nurse specialist experienced in kidney cancer throughout their care.

The approach mirrors work already underway at Addenbrooke's, where Professor Stewart has established a one-stop biopsy clinic, led by clinical nurse specialists, allowing patients to receive their diagnosis on the same day, halving waiting times compared with the traditional pathway.

The guidance can be found here.

Selwyn College extends its warmest congratulations to Professor Charlotte Summers, Fellow and Director of Studies in Clinical Medicine, on her appointment as Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Southampton.

Charlotte is a Fellow and Director of Studies alongside her role as Director of the Victor Phillip Dahdaleh Heart & Lung Research Institute and Professor of Intensive Care Medicine.

A Southampton alumna herself, Charlotte was the UK's first NIHR Clinical Lecturer in Intensive Care Medicine and subsequently received a Fulbright All-disciplines Scholar Award and a Wellcome Trust Fellowship for Postdoctoral Clinician Scientists. She is an internationally recognised clinician-scientist whose work focuses on improving outcomes for patients with acute and critical illness, particularly respiratory failure and lung injury.

Charlotte said: "Selwyn has been an important part of my life since I joined the college in 2017, and I will miss it very much. It is an honour to be a member of this diverse community where academic excellence thrives alongside outstanding pastoral care, and I will be following developments with keen interest from Hampshire."

We will be very sorry to see her go when she takes up the post in September 2026. Charlotte has been an outstanding colleague, and we wish her every success.

Congratulations to two Selwyn Fellows awarded the prestigious Pilkington Prize for Teaching Excellence this year.

Professor Nick Butterfield, Professor of Evolutionary Biology in the Department of Earth Sciences, is recognised for his exceptional contribution to teaching. 

Nick has been a pivotal contributor to the Earth Sciences teaching programme since 1995, and was the Trevelyan Research Fellow at Selwyn from 1992 to 1995.  As director of teaching from 2018 to 2021, he led the lengthening of Part III projects and introduced the MASt degree.

He oversaw the department's return to in person teaching after the pandemic to make sure students had hands-on experience of specimens.

Oleg Kitov, Robert Martin Fellow and Associate Professor of Economics, receives the prize for a decade of transformative teaching across the University. 

He developed an evidence-based framework centred on retrieval practice and sustainable feedback — a learning-by-doing approach that has been adopted across the Faculty of Economics and colleges.

The impact of his innovative methodology has put Selwyn at the top of the Tripos for Economics exam results, while delivering consistently outstanding student satisfaction and higher academic attainment across the board.

Oleg is the first member of the Faculty of Economics to receive the Pilkington Prize in over 12 years, and this honour follows his recent QS Reimagine Education Award (2025).

Beyond the classroom, Oleg is a dedicated mentor to early-career colleagues and a leading voice in shaping University admissions and access policy. 

Oleg said: “This award feels particularly special as it honours a decade of work dedicated to my students at Selwyn. It validates my lifelong conviction that teaching is not just about lecturing; it’s about engineering student-centred systems that inspire confidence, ignite curiosity, and foster true intellectual independence.”

The award ceremony takes place on 16 June 2026. Selwyn is proud of both fellows and the profound difference they make to our students.

David Chivers, 1944-2026

We very much regret that Selwyn has lost Professor David Chivers. We will miss him.

All who knew David will have their own fond recollections of a dynamic, passionate and congenial colleague. He came to Cambridge in 1963 and after his undergraduate studies undertook a PhD in Physical Anthropology, focusing on primates in the Malaysian rain forests. He supervised and directed studies externally for Selwyn before becoming a Bye-Fellow in 1988, then a Fellow and Tutor in 1989. He was promoted to a Readership in 2000 and a Chair in 2011. He was awarded the DSc degree in 2002.

David was a deeply committed Tutor who vigorously and enthusiastically stood up for his students. He was a resolute champion of the interests of “my vets”. On College Council, as Gardens Steward, as a Proctor, and as Acting Praelector before becoming Praelector in his own right, David brought a characteristic mix of forceful views and profound enthusiasm. Dozens of postgraduate students benefitted from his teaching and training, many of them attracted to Selwyn by his presence. David’s contribution to the academic development of generations of veterinary science students was outstanding. Highly esteemed in his field, his contacts were global. He played a leading role in numerous scholarly and conservation bodies from the 1970s through to present decade. As long as one did not claim his work on gibbons involved studying “monkeys” his bonhomie was near to limitless. If someone made that suggestion the rejoinder “they’re apes, not monkeys” came as quickly as it did forcefully. He remained a lively presence in retirement. The trimming of the Boston Ivy in Old Court was one of his favourite causes, brought up with undiminished passion at College Meetings. His love of Cambridge United sometimes ran to his receiving commentary into an earpiece at High Table or in Governing Body meetings.

David’s successor as Director of Studies in Veterinary Medicine, Dr Stuart Eves, comments that "He was fierce in protection of the veterinary course and his students. He always believed that his students could excel and would go on to do great things but he managed not to pass this on as pressurising expectation. He had such a strong personality but knew when a personalised approach was needed.”  Many old members will recall precisely that mix from their contacts with him.

A family funeral was held at Selwyn Chapel on 30 March. Fellows attended the service and formed a guard of honour as his coffin left the chapel. His family are planning a memorial event in due course.

Around 150 people came to hear historian Professor David Farber talk about American conservatism — and left with rather a lot to think about.

David, a visiting bye-fellow at Selwyn and Roy A Roberts Distinguished Professor Emeritus, traced the journey from Reagan to Trump: from free markets to tariffs, multilateralism to America First, small government to "I alone can fix it." He was as interested in what connects the two presidencies as in what divides them.

One moment landed with particular force during the event on 25 February. Reagan, David noted, signed legislation in 1986 legalising three million undocumented workers — the last major immigration bill the United States has passed. "Today," Professor Farber observed, "it would be considered like communism."

A lively Q&A followed, hosted by Keasbey Research Fellow in American Studies Dr Tom Smith, ranging across the failures of the Democrats, the fracturing effect of social media on political parties, and whether Trump is best understood as a conservative at all.

We are grateful to David for a thought-provoking evening, bringing expert analysis of the world's biggest stories and thought-provoking debate to our community.

A video of the event is available on YouTube by clicking here.

Above: Dr Tom Smith and Prof David Farbar and the some of the audience at the event on 26 February

A 2024 symposium was held at Selwyn to mark the 25th anniversary of a landmark statute in the law of contract, and the resulting edited collection is now in print.

The Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 at 25, co-edited by Selwyn’s Vice-Master Professor Janet O’Sullivan and her faculty colleagues Professor Louise Merrett and Mr Will Day was published in February 2026 by Hart Publishing.

The 1999 Act fundamentally changed English contract law. Before it the traditional common law ‘privity’ rule was that only the parties to a contract could gain enforceable rights from it, even if the parties expressly made the contract for the benefit of a third party. 

The Act changed that, giving third party beneficiaries the right to enforce contracts made for their benefit, if the statutory requirements are met.  Initially, the legal profession responded cautiously, tending to exclude the operation of the 1999 Act when drafting contracts. However by its silver anniversary it is a well-established aspect of the law of contract.

A symposium held at Selwyn in September 2024, generously sponsored by leading City of London law firm Slaughter and May, brought together a mix of academics, judges of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal and High Court, barristers (including Selwyn fellow Sarah Fraser Butlin KC) and solicitors, to consider the theoretical and practical significance of the 1999 Act after 25 years.  Their papers became the chapters in this edited collection, which examines the operation of the 1999 Act in fields as diverse as employment, property, construction, shipping, insurance, banking and many other areas.

Overall, it is a seminal reference work for all practitioners engaging with the 1999 Act, as well as scholars and students of the law of contract.

Research co-led by Selwyn Fellow, Professor Charlotte Summers, has found that a mental rotation treatment that involves playing Tetris can significantly reduce intrusive memories, often called flashbacks, in healthcare workers traumatised during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Charlotte, an intensive care doctor, worked with clinical psychologist Professor Emily Holmes on a randomised controlled trial involving 99 NHS staff. Participants who used a short Tetris-based intervention had ten times fewer flashbacks than those receiving standard care or a placebo. After six months, 70 per cent were completely free of intrusive memories.

The intervention works by asking participants to briefly recall a traumatic memory, then play Tetris — the visual demands of the game create interference that disrupts how the memory is stored in the brain.

The research, published in The Lancet Psychiatry, has been described by Wellcome's Digital Mental Health Innovation Lead, Tayla McCloud, as "accessible, scalable and adaptable across contexts." 

The Wellcome Trust has featured the findings on their website.