Sukrit Silas ’11 will join Justine Drennan ’11 as a recipient of a scholarship from the Gates Cambridge Trust to study at University of Cambridge for the 2011-12 academic year.
While Drennan was among the 30 U.S. scholars selected for the award in New York in early February, Silas, as an Indian citizen, is among the 60 international scholars selected after an interview at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge University, in late March.
The Gates Cambridge Scholarship was established in 2001 with a $210 million donation from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to fund 80–100 full-cost scholarships each year for students outside the U.K. who have already gained admission to Cambridge.
Several thousand students applied for the international students’ scholarship, from which 350 were ranked by academic departments, 100 were shortlisted for interview and 60 were selected as award recipients.
Silas learned of his selection for an interview in late March via email, and, a week later, he interviewed and learned of his selection for the fellowship the following day.
A molecular biology major with a certificate in applied and computational mathematics, Silas did his thesis work on fruit fly embryogenesis with professor Eric Wieschaus, analyzing the mechanical forces behind the closure of a particular membrane at a specific stage in fruit fly development.
While his thesis work is not directly related to the research he plans to pursue at Cambridge, Silas said he became interested in pathogens after spending his junior fall in Oxford, where he did research in pathogen labs.
“That’s what started me off on disease and pathogen stuff,” Silas said. “I like development but it’s always good to diversify and focus later.”
Aside from his studies, Silas is also a peer academic adviser, a peer tutor and the treasurer and alumni relations chair for the International Relations Council.
While Silas said he was excited about his selection, he noted that he was torn between getting his master's degree at Cambridge and pursuing a Ph.D. in America.
“It made the choice more complex, so I wasn’t as excited as I should’ve been,” Silas said. “When I won, it was sort of like I opened a whole can of worms.”
Silas eventually decided to pursue a master's degree in pathology at Cambridge and return to America to pursue a Ph.D. in immunology at Stanford, which has agreed to defer his admission.
At Cambridge, Silas plans to study schistosomiasis, a parasitic disease, with professor David Dunne.
Silas said Dunne’s work “spans the more qualitative, molecular stuff as well as real-world issues ... [schistosomiasis] imposes a huge burden on those countries affected.”
After completing his degree at Cambridge, Silas said he may continue working with infectious diseases at Stanford, depending on how the next year goes.
After that, he said, he will pursue “either academic research or something to do with policy. I feel like it needs to be something that I’m excited about, something I believe will work, not necessarily to change the world, but worth accomplishing.”
In addition to Drennan and Silas, Luis Perez-Simon GS ’05 and Kathryn Schoefert GS ’06 were also among this year’s Gates Cambridge Scholarship recipients.
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