Testimonials

Roxanna Abhari My name is Roxanna and I’m a Swiss medical student at the University of Oxford. I was thrilled to receive support from Swiss friends of Oxford University for a research project last year. I was a visiting researcher at the Nuffield Department in Population Health, where I worked on developing and validating risk prediction models for cancer. I’m extremely grateful for the support from SFOU and am excited to join this growing community.” View full report

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Sofie Beluhli “My name is Sofie Behluli and I completed a DPhil in English at the University of Oxford (2017-2021). Attending international conferences is a vital aspect of an academic career because it allows you to disseminate your research results, get new ideas for future projects and network with excellent scholars in the field. In 2019 I wanted to attend the 8th ESCL Conference in Lille, France, and the generous financial support of the Swiss Friends of Oxford University made that possible. The SFOU also funded my brief research trip to Amsterdam and Delft, which I am thrilled to finally go on after 2 years in lockdown. I am very grateful to the SFOU for supporting my research and would recommend them to all eligible scholars.” View full report

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Francesco Fazzi “In September and October 2021, I had the pleasure of attending two courses offered by the Department of Continuous Education, Oxford University: Clinical Vaccine Development and Biomanufacturing, and Human and Veterinary Vaccinology. The two courses were very valuable, especially during the current times of a global pandemic. I am very grateful to the Swiss Friends of Oxford University for having supported me financially in taking these courses, for which I received two certificates from Oxford University.” View full report

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Olivia Flett “I received a grant from SFOU during the second year of my MPhil in Economics course whilst at the University of Oxford. This was to support research for my thesis, allowing me to conduct an experiment I designed and ran for this project. I’d like to, once again, thank SFOU for this enriching opportunity!” View full report

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Lionel Genoud View full report

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Michelle Hufschmid While completing my DPhil in History at Exeter College at the University of Oxford, I received a generous grant from the SFOU. I used the grant to deliver a conference paper on my research project entitled ‘The Crusade against the Staufer in Germany, 1246-51’ at the International Medieval Congress at the University of Leeds in summer 2019. The congress is the biggest research conference on the Middle Ages and the second largest in the world. It is interdisciplinary and attracts high calibre researchers from around the world. I received invaluable feedback on my paper from members of the audience; for example by Professor Len Scales, who after the submission of my DPhil served as my external examiner for my Viva. View full report

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Dr Alberto Lazari “I am absolutely grateful for the support provided by the Swiss Friends of Oxford University, which enabled me to attend one of the most prominent conferences on neuroimaging and brain stimulation in the world. There, I was able to present a poster, receive feedback on my research, and start new international collaborations. I am extremely thankful for this opportunity and would strongly encourage other Swiss students at Oxford to apply for an SFOU Scholarship, and to reach out to SFOU’s friendly and helpful staff for any advice on the application process.”

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Anita Noll I would like to express my gratitude to the Swiss Friends of Oxford University for the contribution towards my Master’s education expenses in 2019. Studying at Oxford has been an incredibly enriching and rewarding experience for me. However, pursuing a full-time study programme away from home involves significant financial challenges. This scholarship was a great help for which I would like to thank you profoundly. View full report

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David Rytz “Doing my DPhil in Engineering Science within the field of robotics I spend a lot of time writing software and analysing data. SFOU has helped me during the pandemic to purchase top-quality equipment for this purpose (keyboard, mouse, external monitor) which has been a tremendous help, especially during the pandemic as I had to work significant amounts of time from home. The quick response time and supportive setup is definitely something I got to appreciate over the course of my DPhil and I would recommend anyone who is eligible to get in touch with SFOU.”

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Anja Segmüller View full report

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Fabian Soltermann “The SFOU bursary helped in one of the most critical moments of my DPhil. Having just arrived back home in Switzerland for Christmas celebrations, in late December 2018, I was confronted with unexpected news from Oxford: The publication of a competitor’s paper, showcasing results similar to mine, was imminent. The question “How to publish faster and better?”, was soon followed by “How to cover additional travel costs?”. The SFOU unbureaucratically solved the funding problem and provided the freedom to focus on my research. The resulting boost in productivity brought my paper in 1 month from submission to publication, coinciding with our competitor’s publication.” View full report