On Thursday 21st of September, the Martingale Foundation hosted a welcome dinner celebrating the 2023 Martingale Scholars at The Royal Society in London.
The Scholars were welcomed by the Martingale Team, Heads of Department from partner universities and supporters of Martingale. Sir Adrian Smith, President of the Royal Society and Statistician, greeted the Scholars. In his welcome address, he shared some advice with the incoming Scholars, reminding them to follow their own motivation and make the most of having time to think, reflect and change the world.
The welcome dinner marks the official beginning of the Martingale Development Programme for the cohort, giving the Scholars a chance to meet their peers before beginning their degrees. During the year, the cohort will have opportunities to work together, take part in training and socialise as part of the programme.
Cassandra Hugill, Chief Executive of the Martingale Foundation shared “We are so privileged to be supporting a new generation of STEM postgraduates, and I am already blown away by the talent and passion of you all.”
She told the Scholars “Make the most of these next few years, ask lots of questions, be curious, challenge yourself and others. You are here because of your talent, your passion, and the high potential we, and some of the world’s leading universities, see in you. I can’t wait to see the incredible things you will achieve as the first cohort of Martingale Scholars.”
The 21 Scholars will start their postgraduate studies at one of the five founding partner universities; University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, King’s College London, University of Oxford, and University College London. They plan to study a range of courses from Pure Mathematics to Complex Modelling Systems and Quantum Computing.
Denis, who will be studying at King’s College London shared what he is most excited for “I’m most excited about the possibilities, I’m looking to explore as many as possible, especially in terms of developing further academic interest for my PhD course.”
Orson shares “I’m most excited to start doing actual research, working with the most famous and eminent researchers in the field and just get into the work and do my own research. I’m going to be studying quantum computing at Cambridge, looking into quantum algorithms.”
Applications for the 2024 Martingale Scholarship are open until the 25th of October, with an early application deadline of the 2nd of October. Martingale Scholars will now also be able to study at one of Martingale’s new partner universities; University of Bristol, University of Edinburgh, and University of Manchester.
More information on the application process can be found here.
Photography credit: Amanda Summons