CANADA-UK POST DOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION
A shared past to a sustainable shared future, Canada and the UK – developing the next generation of Global Innovators.
Promoting the careers of talented young postdoctoral researchers who are from or have a strong interest in Canada, the Canada-UK Fellowships empower future world-leaders in their fields. Piloted with the University of Cambridge’s Office for Postdoctoral Affairs, the Fellowships’ first cohort is in place for 2018 and has a goal of making Fellows career-ready through an 18 month detailed programme of exposure to leading innovation and entrepreneurship training in the UK and Canada. This will also deepen relationships between UK and Canadian academic and industrial centres of excellence.
Meeting Global Challenges in Academia and Entrepreneurship
In recent years an overwhelming increase in the number of early career researchers globally has increasingly limited the career prospects for new PhDs within academia. Many talented young scientists are choosing to actively seek alternative careers in industry, innovation and entrepreneurship. The CanUK Fellowship will provide the best and brightest of these with training and exposure that can help them to achieve their professional goals.
Fostering a Shared Strategic Vision
Canada and the UK have a long established industrial, academic and cultural joint heritage which enables and encourages cross-atlantic collaboration. Bolstered by this shared strategic vision for the future of technological advances in key sectors, CanUK Fellows will be able to tap in to the best that both Canada and the UK have to offer.
Linking the Research and Industrial Sectors through Innovation
Canada-UK Fellows are encouraged to bolster their skills in research with an appreciation for and cultivation of those skills required in industry and business. CanUK Fellows receive training and sponsorship to pursue entrepreneurialism in order to achieve exceptional “career ready” outcomes in academia, business and industry.
https://www.opda.cam.ac.uk/career-development/2018-canada-uk-fellows
Driving Performance through the Cultivation of Excellence
The Canada-UK Fellowships support an international class of world-leading academic and research pioneers, identifying and promoting only the most distinguished of international talents. Cultivated in Canada, Cambridge and around the world, these outstanding leaders represent the brightest future of their fields.
2019 Cohort
Matias Acosta
I hold a materials engineering degree from Prof. Jorge Sabato Institute, Argentina and doctorate from the Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany. I came to Cambridge with a Feodor Lynen Fellowship from Alexander von Humboldt to work at the Materials Science Department. My research achievements have been recognized with 13 international awards including two covers of Journals, invited participation to the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting, and outstanding academic achievements by Springer and the Technical University of Darmstadt, among others.
Currently, I work as a Canada-UK Fellow at the Center for Science and Policy. I decided to use my background in natural sciences to promote a better integration of the scientific knowledge for policymaking. I investigate processes of scientific advice in parliaments and approaches to foster diplomacy using science and technology. In addition to my position at the University of Cambridge, I will further work as the Head of Exploration from the United Nations Development Programme Accelerator Lab of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
I have been the president of Trinity College Postdoctoral Society, policy representative of associates at the University of Cambridge, a committee member of Cambridge Science and Policy Exchange, and curator of the Global Shapers Cambridge Hub. I was the founding committee of the Association of Argentinian Scientists in the UK and founding coordinator of Empowering UK-ARG to promote scientific cooperation and mobility of entrepreneurs. I have also founded and managed Shaping Horizons, a high-level summit & action programme to discuss challenges and ignite local projects jointly between the UK and Latin America for sustainability. I have along with local and national governments, embassies and many Hubs along the UK and Latin America to meet my passion of building disciplinary, geographical and generational bridges for an inclusive and sustainable future.
The Canada-UK fellowship was instrumental for developing my professional network and skills. I received a dedicated professional training that open the opportunity for me to work at the United Nations. Importantly, it is also the only scheme I have known so far that would accept and support a career shift as the one I did from natural sciences to policymaking/innovation.
Saif Ahmad
I obtained my PhD from the University of Cambridge, where based in the MRC Cancer Unit, I studied the intersection of DNA repair processes and cell-cycle control.
Now I am a post-doctoral researcher based at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, studying how breast cancers develop resistance to radiotherapy. As part of this, I am collaborating with AstraZeneca to define novel drug-radiotherapy combinations aimed at overcoming treatment resistance. I also practice as a cancer clinician within the National Health Service.
The understanding of science within the wider public is important to me. As an Assistant Editor of the Royal College of Radiologists’ Clinical Oncology journal, I lead the development of podcasts to increase accessibility to scientific and health research. My own research has also featured on BBC News online and in The New York Times.
This Fellowship has been a fantastic opportunity for me to develop my skills in innovation, policy and entrepreneurship and this has enabled me to be more effective in both my clinical and academic endeavours.
Engaging with all of the Postdoctoral Fellows has been an incredible and inspiring experience. Being involved in our Global Challenge project, which involved acquiring air pollution data through a citizen science project in Argentina, and engaging with local government and academic stakeholders was a fantastic learning experience.
I have also been able to engage with like-minded researchers at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto. Moreover, the Fellowship allowed me to meet fellow postdoc Nicole Weckman who has expertise in developing biosensors and together we have been working on an exciting start-up venture - NeutroCheck - which is developing a novel medical device to improve the care of cancer patients on chemotherapy.
Karina Vold
I am a postdoctoral research associate at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence and the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Cambridge, as well as a Digital Charter Fellow at the the Alan Turing Institute. I received my Ph.D. in philosophy from McGill University, where my dissertation focused on metaphysical issues in philosophy of mind and cognitive science.
My current research focuses on how artificial intelligence systems can be designed to support and enhance human cognitive capabilities. My work has been recognised and supported by multiple international grants and awards, and covered by media outlets such as the British Broadcasting Corporation, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and Channel News Asia, among others. I have also been a visiting scholar at multiple international institutions, most recently at Ruhr University, Duke University, and the Australian National University, as well as a lecturer at Carleton and McGill Universities. In 2020 I will begin as an Assistant Professor in Philosophy, Humanities, and Technology at Carleton College, in Minneapolis.
As a Canada-UK Fellow, my objective was to build partnerships between British and Canadian institutions working on AI ethics including between government, business, and academic institutions. This work helped teach me how to successfully engage with government and industries, and I have since used this knowledge to both feed into governmental reports and to consult with AI companies.
Nicole Weckman
I hold a PhD in Engineering from the University of Cambridge (2018) where I researched the design of microelectromechanical systems to be used as environmental and biosensors. I have previously studied Chemical Engineering at McGill University (MEng (thesis), 2013) and Nanotechnology Engineering at the University of Waterloo (BASc, 2011). My current research focuses on the development of nanopore sensors for use as biosensors, with a particular emphasis on the translation of my research to real world medical diagnostic applications.
I believe that diverse mindsets are critical to solving the global science and engineering challenges society faces. Motivated by this I sat on the management committee to organize Shaping Horizons, a high-level summit & action programme to discuss global challenges and ignite collaborative sustainability projects between the UK and Latin America. I am also actively committed to discussing my research with the broader community and promoting greater diversity in students pursuing STEM careers, particularly in the engineering field.
Supported by the Canada UK Fellowship I have worked with the Government of Argentina and open-seneca on an air quality sensing project to drive environmental policy. This has built my experience in managing multi-stakeholder public policy and citizen science impact projects. Through the Canada UK Fellowship I have also built entrepreneurship skills and become involved in the start-up company, NeutroCheck, which is developing a medical device to improve the care and quality of life of chemotherapy patients.
In the second year of the Canada-UK Fellowship, I will be using my independent time to research the development of nanopore sensors for diagnosing tuberculosis in vulnerable communities in Canada and around the world. This will take advantage of the networks and the entrepreneurship training that I have gained during the first year of the Fellowship programme. It will also enable me to further build my project management skills by leading my own independent research project.
2019/20 fellows
Bo Larsen
My main research interests lie in synthetic biology and in the development of transformative methods and technologies that enable us to explore the questions that fascinate us the most.
Academically, my story started with an engineering degree, MSc in Biotechnology from the Technical University of Denmark, where I specialized in heterologous protein expression and medical microbiology.
Later I did my PhD with Professor Barbara Halkier at the DynaMo Center of Excellence, University of Copenhagen, where I characterized plant transporters and developed a high-throughput functional genomics technology platform for plant transporter identification.
I was most recently recruited to Alexander Jones group at the Sainsbury Laboratory, University of Cambridge, where for the last three years I have engineered optogenetic sensors and actuators to study phytohormone patterning in plants.
I currently lead the team’s optogenetic subgroup, but aspire to start my own group or perhaps even a company.
Through the Canada-UK fellowship programme, I hope to develop skills that will allow me to make the most of future opportunities, talent and resources and to explore my capacity for entrepreneurship.
Karol Nowicki-Osuch
I completed my PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology at the University of Manchester in 2015 and moved to Cambridge soon after to start my postdoctoral training at the MRC Cancer Unit.
My research focuses on the origin and molecular mechanisms in the development of a pre-cancerous condition called Barrett’s oesophagus.
I am using cutting-edge technology to answer these complex questions. I bring basic biology into the clinical setting by developing novel sequencing technologies that facilitate studies on large cohorts of clinical samples.
I am passionate about bringing science to the broader community and in improving patients’ and scientists’ wellbeing. Outreach activities are also a great way to involve young people and enthuse them to consider a career in science.
I have established and run several graduate and postdoctoral societies which are both supportive to members and forums for sharing ideas across different areas of research.
As a Canada-UK fellow, I am looking forward to further developing my leadership skills, establishing new collaborations that will facilitate advances in early detection of cancer and translating my research skills into effective clinical applications.
For more information please contact ceo@canadaukfoundation.org.