The Rhodes Trust yesterday announced five students from Karnataka, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and Jharkhand as Rhodes Scholars for 2025. The five were shortlisted from applicants who underwent a competitive application process and two preliminary rounds of interviews. Interviews were conducted with the finalists and five were selected for the elite scholarship.
They will begin their lives at the University of Oxford in October 2025, joining over a hundred scholars from across the globe to pursue fully funded postgraduate studies and be part of a vibrant community eager to create a difference.
"The Rhodes Trust is pleased to introduce the outstanding class of 2025 Rhodes Scholars Elect who represent cultures and perspectives from every corner of the world," Rhodes Trust CEO Dr. Elizabeth Kiss said.
It is always a pleasure to see candidates from various disciplines, institutions, and parts of the country apply to the Rhodes Scholarship. The calibre of intellect, as well as the character and empathy, with which they all present themselves is always impressive. "As is the case every year," said a statement from the Rhodes India Secretariat, "we had a very diverse and talented field of applicants.".
The Rhodes Scholarship is the world's oldest and most prestigious graduate fellowship, based at the University of Oxford since 1903. The Scholarships for India were established in 1947 and have been conferred on five talented individuals annually.
The following winners of the Scholarships for India are from Bengaluru, Kolkata, Kurukshetra, Ghaziabad, and Ranchi and will continue the fantastic legacy of excellence.
At present, Rayan Chakrabarti is working on his Master's at Jawaharlal Nehru University's School of Arts and Aesthetics. He wishes to initiate an archive and museum on the Covid-19 pandemic and its effects in South Asia.
The other is Vibha Swaminathan, a final-year law student, pursuing an LL.B. (Hons.) at the National Law School, Bengaluru. Interested in studying political and legal fragilities of citizenship regimes, she hopes to combine this academic engagement with a human rights litigation practice before trial courts in India.
Avanish Vats, blind Avanish Vats of Ranchi has completed his undergraduate in Philosophy from St. Stephen's College. Academic interests are epistemology and philosophy for the disabled.
Shubham Narwal becomes country's first veterinary medicine scholar-elect. Shubham Narwal is currently doing a Bachelor's in Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry at ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute in Bareilly, UP.
He is eager to pursue an M.Sc. in Clinical Embryology to discover new conservation methods for the critically endangered bird, the Great Indian Bustard.
Pal Aggarwal is in the final year of B.Tech. Engineering Physics at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, and plans to read high-energy astrophysics at Oxford with hopes of reaching her long-time dream of becoming an astronaut and a proponent for women in science.
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