Getting ready to welcome two new Gates Scholars

We look forward to welcoming Gates Scholars 2023 Anais Berkes and Gregor Feierabend when they join us later this year!

Anais and Gregor are two of the incoming Gates Cambridge Class of 2023, which has just been announced. Seventy-seven new Gates Scholars from across the world will be starting their studies in Cambridge this autumn.

Anais, from Germany, is coming here to study for a PhD during which she will pursue her interest in how AI can be used to combat climate change and save the natural world.

"I first thought about this as an undergraduate computer science student, conducting research for both ETH Zurich and Cambridge," she says. "I studied AI’s role in the transition to clean energy and the adoption of distributed solar production technologies in residential housing."

"It is my mission to fully leverage the potential applications of AI in the fight against climate change. I will explore how the predictive capabilities, reliability, and multi-variable pattern recognition power of AI can be used to preserve and protect the natural world."

Gregor, also from Germany, is joining us from the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa where he has been studying mathematics and computer science. 

Here, he'll be working towards an MPhil in Advanced Computer Science, pursuing his interest in formal languages, which are "omnipresent in computer science and fundamental in the development of, for example, network protocols or programming languages."

Gregor's current research interests lie in the applications of category theory and mathematical logic to formal language theory. He is also interested in the related area of proof assistants and their use in building provably correct software.

Gates Cambridge
The Gates Cambridge scholarship programme is the University of Cambridge’s flagship international postgraduate scholarship programme.

It was established through a US$210 million donation to the University of Cambridge from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2000 and since the first class in 2001, Gates Cambridge has awarded 2,100 scholarships to scholars from 112 countries. 

In addition to generous funding to do their research, the new scholars will benefit from the strong sense of community and identity that has been forged by their predecessors and an absolute commitment to improving the lives of others.

Solar power for rural Indonesian communities
Anais-Marie is a global ambassador for AI’s potential in environmental protection and has been involved in setting up a non-government organisation to bring solar power to rural communities in Indonesia.

She says: "My research at Cambridge will shape the way in which AI is used to combat climate change. I will leverage recent developments in the field of AI to create solutions that reduce carbon emissions, protect our environment and allow people to live more sustainable lives.

"My goal is for my research to have practical everyday applications, which makes interdisciplinary collaboration essential for my work. I see my mission as redesigning our interactions with the natural world and inspiring next generations to reshape our future."

Professor Eilís Ferran, Provost of the Gates Cambridge Trust, said: "It gives me great pleasure to announce the class of 2023. Like their predecessors, they are both intellectually outstanding and demonstrate the kind of leadership qualities needed to tackle the complex global challenges we face today.

"We know that these scholars will flourish in the rich, international community at Cambridge and will go on to make a significant impact in their fields and to the wider global community."

• More information on Gates Cambridge can be found on www.gatescambridge.org 
• A full list of the 2023 Gates Cambridge Scholars can be found on the Gates Cambridge website