Elections by Congregation: Council (MPLS & Medical Sciences) - TT 2021

Candidate statement:

I am a Professor of Theoretical Physics and a Tutor at Merton. I was educated in Russia and the US and worked at three universities in the US and UK before coming to Oxford in 2008. My research interests are in plasma (astro)physics, ranging from thermodynamics of galaxy clusters to magnetic-confinement fusion for clean energy production. I have a fair amount of experience of college and departmental governance; a big task that was particularly rewarding (intellectually) and revealing (of how things work) was helping set up and run the new MMathPhys degree, for which I am currently Chair of Examiners. During the 2018 pension crisis, I was deeply involved in the campaign that persuaded Council to declare protecting pensions a top priority. The most immediate challenges that, if elected, I expect to face as a member of Council are how to resolve the 2021 pension crisis without detriment to employees; how to stop the decade-long erosion of salaries; and how to enable merit-based access to Oxford education, undergraduate and postgraduate, for a diversity of talent from across the world, a task that has been made more pressing by the extension of overseas fees to all non-UK students; convinced of the merits of academic self-governance, I will also do all I can to keep Council accountable to Congregation in a meaningful way. I believe that the University’s first priority must be its people – students, faculty, staff – as the University is only ever as excellent and as happy as they are. 

Candidate statement:

As a member of the collegiate University since 2003, I have benefited from inspiring colleagues, a nurturing environment and extraordinary students. I have been afforded the opportunity to contribute to an increasingly diverse and inclusive community of global health leaders. I work continually to realise the University’s strategic priority of fostering inclusive and supportive environments to further enhance diversity and innovation. As course director for the MSc in International Health and Tropical Medicine, I have extended opportunities for access for under-represented students from LMICs with tremendous potential to effect positive change in their contexts through securing more than £3,600,000 in graduate scholarships. I recognise that recruiting students from disadvantaged backgrounds necessitates efforts to support them to succeed. This involves creative curriculum design and teaching innovations. I am immensely proud to have been recognised by Oxford SU with six teaching awards to date, including the Special Recognition Award, and by MSD with a Major Educator Award. I share my passion for teaching through Divisional teacher training workshops as well as workshops across our Oxford Tropical Medicine sites in Thailand (MORU and SMUR), Vietnam (OUCRU) and Kenya (KEMRI). As a current member of the University’s Education Committee, I engage with discussions and help inform educational policy decisions. I have also contributed to the Student Attainment Gap Working Group to address a significant challenge to meaningful inclusion efforts.

On Council, I will draw on my experience to advocate for accountability on commitments to diversity, inclusion, educational innovation and the well-being of our community.

Candidate statement:

I am keen to represent the interests of the experimental sciences that require laboratory and other shared infrastructure within the University community, which are primarily based in MPLS and MSD. As an experimentalist working in the Department of Materials, I have seen how crucial it is for students as well as academic staff to engage actively in work within such shared or specialized facilities to enhance human understanding and knowledge. Indeed, such experimental work is often the catalyst for true breakthroughs in the sciences, and for transformative social change. Thus, University decision making requires active representation of areas that overlap with and rely heavily on such infrastructure.  I hope to actively represent the creativity involved in experimental work that uses physical resources, and the challenges associated with it. I would inform decision making on ways and means to effectively champion such work within the collegiate University. I bring in experience across industry and academia as well as a global network into the role, which might help Council develop effective benchmarks for goal setting.