Linacre College, Oxford

A packed audience in the Tanner Room enjoyed a fantastic evening of presentations from our Domus Prize finalists this week. Through generous donations from our alumni community, the College offers the annual Domus Research Prize which is worth £500 for the winners of each category. The prize aims to recognise students who can present their research with clarity and engage an audience unfamiliar with the topic presented. The judges were extremely impressed by the high standard of research presentations and Senior Tutor, Jane Hoverd, said; “The competition was outstanding. All of the presentations were excellent and thoroughly enjoyed by the audience and panel alike.” The winners in each category were: Keene Domus Prize – Winner: Nadia Talukder Runner-up: Jessica Edgar Busuttil Domus Prize – Winner: Sophie Kubik, Runner-up: Haofan Wang Dobson Domus Prize – Winner: Marina Luchner Runner-up: Meredith Leston Sophie, who is studying for a DPhil in Political Theory, said of the experience; “It was wonderful to hear about all the interesting and impactful research going on at Linacre, and I was particularly happy to be recognised alongside my Linacre Boat Club teammate Marina. We’ve spent so many hours in a boat together, it’s easy to forget the professional sides of our lives! I was honoured to be awarded the prize in politics and government for my work in political theory, which often goes under recognised in the field at-large.” Nadia is a DPhil student at the Department of Education who was delighted to be able to share her research with the wider Linacre community; “When I was shortlisted for the competition, I was thrilled that my research would be heard by those at my college. I am passionate about my research and felt that I was able to share my story and journey in a way that others could see why it mattered so much. I loved the questions asked by the panel as they were comprehensive and challenging. The warmth of the staff and fellow students radiated through the evening and the experience made me feel like I truly belong at Linacre.”

Please join us tomorrow at 5pm in the Tanner Room for the Domus Research Prize where finalists will present their research for a chance to win £500. There will be complimentary wine, cheese and refreshments for all who attend. This year’s finalists and presentation titles are: Nadia Talukder - What’s Religion Got Do With It? An exploration of Muslim Student Experiences in Initial Teacher Education in England. Jessica Edgar - Singing and the Aging Ear: Social-emotional Effects of age-related Hearing Imparement on Singing Enjoyment. Sophie Kubik - What’s Social About Social Equality? A Positive Rearticulation of Arendt’s Social Sphere. Haifan Wang - Balancing Ecology and Industry: Sustainable Development in China’s Underdeveloped Regions Meredith Leston - Righting Manifest Wrongs: Enhancing Disease Surveillance for the Immunosuppressed. Marina Luchner - Using Computers To Build Better Delivery Vehicles For Gene Therapy. #LinacreCollege #LifeatLinacre #OxfordUniversity #PostgraduateResearch

This International Women’s Day, we celebrate the many amazing women at Linacre College, and all who are striving for a world that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive. Shaniek Parks is pursuing a DPhil in Population Health as a Vital Strategies Healthy Food Policy Fellow. She is excited to be attending the 68th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW68) next week. The annual gathering, organized by the UN, focuses on gender equality and women’s empowerment. The priority theme for this year is ‘Accelerating the achievement of gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls by addressing poverty and strengthening institutions and financing with a gender perspective.’ We caught up with Shaniek about her aspirations for attending the event. Read the full story ➡️ https://lnkd.in/e_RsRdTK #IWD2025 #LinacreCollege #LifeatLinacre

Calling alumni and friends of College 📢 Please join us for an evening of music featuring performances by members of the Linacre Community Choir and Postgraduate Orchestra. From Purcell to Lauridsen, enjoy an inspiring programme of ensemble and solo pieces in the Tanner Room, followed by the opportunity to attend Guest Night Dinner in the Dining Hall. Head to the alumni events page of our website to book ➡️ https://lnkd.in/eueN6aXu #LinacreCollege #LifeatLinacre #LinacreAlumni

Please join us for the fourth seminar in the Hilary Term series. This week’s speakers will be Tea Ghigo and Sara Hijazi and as always the seminar will offer an inclusive and welcoming space for academic discussion with complimentary wine, cheese and refreshments. Tea Ghigo is a Heritage Scientist specialising in the material analysis of museum collections. Her passion for this field began during her Master’s, where she researched painting materials from 15th-century Spain. Her PhD focused on Late Antique Egyptian writing inks, studying collections at the Vatican Library and the Egyptian Museum in Turin. Sara Hijazi completed a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry with a minor in Psychology at the American University of Beirut (AUB). Following that, Sara completed my Ph.D. degree at the Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology department in Amsterdam. In February 2020, she moved to Professor Steven Kushner’s lab at the Erasmus MC in Rotterdam as a post-doctoral researcher to investigate the molecular and cellular mechanisms of psychiatric genetic risk. In December 2022, Sara joined the group of Dr Tim Viney as a Blashko fellow funded by the Blaschko Trust.

Congratulations to Linacre DPhil Population Health student Shaniek Parks on this fantastic achievement 🎉

One of our amazing Fellows Sophie Lund Rasmussen (Dr Hedgehog/Dr Pindsvin) and her new podcast covering her leading research on Hedgehogs ⬇️👏

Please join us at 6pm tomorrow evening for the third seminar of the Hilary Term. The Seminar Series offers a relaxed and engaging space for sharing research and academic discussion with complimentary wine, cheese and refreshments. The speakers this week will be Stephanie Montesinos Volder and Katherine Beard Stephanie has a PhD in Comparative Literature from Aarhus University and is currently a Carlsberg Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at Linacre researching ‘Entangled Islands’ examining the reception of the Haitian Revolution in British Romantic literature about Jamaica from 1791-1834. Katherine is a DPhil student at Linacre reading Old Norse Literature. She holds an MA in Old Nordic Religion from the University of Iceland, an MA from New York University in Graphic Communications Management and Technology, and a BA from Rowan University. Her seminar is entitled ‘Complex Chair: Ritual Seats in Old Norse Mythology, Literature, and Archaeology.’

We are delighted that the second online talk in the ‘In Conversation with the Principal’ series will feature Linacre alumna, Baroness Alex Freeman. Baroness Freeman completed a DPhil in Zoology at Linacre. She spent 16 years as an award-winning BBC science journalist before joining the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication at Cambridge. Last year, she was recommended for a non-party-political life peerage in the House of Lords, recognising her expertise in scientific evidence. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear Baroness Freeman share insights from her remarkable career. Secure your free online space ➡️ https://lnkd.in/dr4g8A-B

Congratulations Lubasi Limweta 🎓