ANNUAL REPORT |
2012
CONTENTS
03 Our Trustees and Officers
04 Foreword by the Provost
05 Building a Global Network
06 Scholar Focus – Megan Sim
07 Alumni Focus – Aditi Mukherji
08 Scholar Focus – Rajiv Chowdhury
09 Scholar and Alumni News in Brief
10 A word on finances from the Director of Finance
11 Condensed Financial Statements 2012
PATRONS
In 2012, Bill and Melinda Gates generously agreed to become Honorary Patrons of
the Gates Cambridge Trust. The Trust is delighted to reinforce a direct link between
the Gates Cambridge Scholarships and the Gates family and Foundation.
Cover image: © Sir Cam
© sir cam
Gates Cambridge:
OUR Trustees AND OFFICERS
The Gates Cambridge Trust brings together nine distinguished Trustees from a range of backgrounds,
two of which are appointed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and others by the University of
Cambridge. The Trustees meet twice a year in order to provide strategic direction for the programme.
TRUSTEES
Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz
Vice-Chancellor of the University of
Cambridge and Chair of the Gates
Cambridge Trust
DR MIMI GARDNER GATES
Former Director, Seattle Art Museum and
Yale University Art Gallery
ms MARTHA CHOE
Chief Administrative Officer, Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation
Lord Rees of Ludlow
Past President, The Royal Society and
former Master, Trinity College, Cambridge
Mr Eric Godfrey
Vice President & Vice Provost for Student
Life, University of Washington
Dr David Runciman
Reader in Political Thought at Department
of Political Science and International
Studies, University of Cambridge and
Fellow of Trinity Hall, Cambridge
Dr Andrew Robertson
Former Gates Cambridge Scholar,
Director, US Regulatory Policy Merck
Research Laboratories
Mr Andrew Thompson
Honorary Treasurer and Fellow (and
Senior Bursar Emeritus) of Magdalene
College, Cambridge
Professor Susan Smith
Mistress of Girton College and Honorary
Professor of Social and Economic
Geography, Cambridge
OFFICERS
Provost: Professor Robert
Lethbridge
Master of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge
Director of Finance:
Dr DAVID LOTT
Senior Member, Wolfson College,
Cambridge
© sir cam
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Secretary:
Dr Jonathan Nicholls
Registrary of the University of Cambridge
Developments
and Initiatives
Gates Cambridge goes from strength to
strength. Following on from last year’s Review
of its first decade, 2012 has been devoted to
implementing proposals for the future.
A communications strategy designed to enhance the global visibility of the
Scholarships was unveiled at a major public occasion in June. This was attended
by the Chancellor of the University, Lord Sainsbury, the Vice-Chancellor and
other Trustees, senior academics, representatives of the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation, US Embassy staff, leading figures from the local business community
and from further afield, as well as by current, graduating and alumni Scholars. The
presentations were prefaced by a filmed message of support from Bill Gates himself.
Participants learnt much about the branding of Gates Cambridge (including our new
logo) and our ambitious plans as we go forward. The occasion coincided with the
retirement of Bill Gates Snr after 12 years as a Trustee and provided a celebratory
context to pay tribute to his commitment to the programme and generations of
Scholars whose achievements he has followed so closely and with such admiration.
We are delighted that Dr Mimi Gardner Gates has been appointed by the University
as a new Trustee, thereby sustaining a family link now reinforced by the willingness
of Bill and Melinda to become our Honorary Patrons.
Such PR developments are merely symptomatic. Behind the scenes, Trust Officers
and staff have progressed other important initiatives: renewing the Ambassador
programme, thanks to the goodwill of Gates Cambridge alumni prepared to
share their experience with potential candidates; organizing reunions of Gates
Cambridge Scholars to reinforce international networks; developing ways and means
of highlighting opportunities in Cambridge for the benefit of parts of the world
insufficiently represented to date; working to exploit possible synergies between
Gates Cambridge and the priorities of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation itself.
Our confidence in the future of the programme rests on the exceptional funding
on which it was originally built, still the largest donation ever made to a UK
university. Rising costs, such as fees, have required us to exercise tighter controls in
some areas. But that is consistent with the mission of Gates Cambridge. Entrusted
by the Foundation to use its generosity in the interests of nurturing outstanding
intellectual talent and creating leaders in all fields of human endeavour, the Trust
can report that, even in these unstable times, it remains financially strong. It is thus
positioned to sustain, in perpetuity, a prestigious graduate scholarship programme
unique in its global reach.
Professor Robert Lethbridge
Provost of the Gates Cambridge Trust and Master of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge
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BUILDING
A GLOBAL NETWORK
This year, Grenada has joined the 94 countries already represented
in our growing global network. Jill Paterson is the first Grenadian to
join the ranks of Gates Cambridge Scholars and Alumni as part of our
2012 cohort.
GRENADA
Grenada
Ms Jill Paterson
MPhil Theoretical & Applied Linguistics
Hughes Hall
Being the first Gates Cambridge Scholar from Grenada
doesn’t mean that my island has finally stumbled upon
someone with great intellectual ability and leadership
skills. It simply means that Grenada has been given
the noble opportunity of showcasing just a smidgen
of its potential to the world. To say I feel proud and
honoured to be the pioneer for future Grenadian Gates
Cambridge Scholars would be an understatement. I thank
God, family, friends, teachers and the generous Gates
Foundation for this phenomenal achievement. For it is
not only a personal victory but a national one as well!
KEY
2001–2011
Countries represented
Countries not yet
represented
New countries
represented in 2012
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SCHOLAR FOCUS: MEGAN SIM
Protecting Children
in the Legal System
Megan Sim, 2009
PhD Social & Developmental Psychology
Born and raised in Singapore, Megan
Sim has always been passionate about
protecting and helping children.
During her youth, Megan was the
co-founder of a theatre group aimed
at providing leadership opportunities
and a creative outlet for disadvantaged
adolescents. Whilst studying at the
University of Southern California,
Megan pursued her passion both by
teaching kindergarteners in an enriched
afterschool literacy programme and
volunteering for counselling services
which provided group therapy for
vulnerable teenagers. It was through
serendipity, however, that Megan found
her niche in the intersection between
psychology and law.
Scanning the university student
newspaper for a job, Megan came
across a research assistant position with
a group studying forensic interviewing
and child maltreatment. Through
being accepted for this post she began
research into the competency of children
in U.S. courts, children’s disclosures of
adult wrongdoing, and best practice
for interviewing young victims and
witnesses. As her passion for the subject
grew, Megan sought training on the
structured interview protocol developed
by researchers at the National Institute of
Child Health and Human Development
and was subsequently able to assist
at the Los Angeles Children’s Court,
interviewing young, maltreated victims
on behalf of their lawyers.
As a Gates Cambridge Scholar,
Megan has continued her work on
the experiences of young people
and the law, focussing her research
on juveniles, who she believes form
an often underserved population.
“Juvenile suspects and offenders are
often viewed through a negative lens,
although the origin of the word itself
is the Latin juvenis, simply meaning ‘a
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young person’” says Megan. “Juveniles’
comparatively immature mental
and psychosocial capacities can be
overlooked by those who believe that
young offenders are as culpable as
adult criminals. In addition, although
juveniles may be more vulnerable and
suggestible than adult suspects, they can
still be subjected to police interrogation
practices that are at best confusing,
and at worst psychologically coercive.
The consequences of such coercive
interrogations can be severe, and
juveniles are over-represented amongst
suspects who have provided proven
false confessions.”
Megan Sim has
always been
passionate about
protecting and
helping children.
In response to these issues, Megan is
investigating whether police interviews
of juveniles in the United Kingdom are
lawful and, more importantly, whether
they are appropriate for young people.
Her findings so far indicate that UK police
officers do generally abide by the rules
during interviews, but have been found
to admit to occasional deviations. Megan
hopes to introduce improvements to the
processes of interviewing young suspects
that will maximise police efficacy while
protecting juvenile rights. In the long
term, Megan intends to pursue further
research on forensic interviewing and
aspires to enact changes to the criminal
justice system that are supported by
empirical research in psychology and law.
Megan is a previous Vice-President of
the Gates Cambridge Scholars’ Council,
rows for Sidney Sussex College and is a
singer in Cambridge’s graduate choral
group, the Wren Choir.
Alumni Focus: ADITI MUKHERJI
Applying research
to alleviate poverty
Aditi Mukherji, 2003
PhD Geography
Born in India, Gates Cambridge Alumna
Aditi Mukherji started working on
groundwater and irrigation issues after
completing her MPhil at the Indian
Institute of Technology in Bombay.
Joining the International Water
Management Institute (IWMI), her
first assignment was to run a survey of
groundwater users in South Asia. The
multi-country study was challenging, but
it was through this research that Aditi
uncovered the issues that she would
later focus on both as a Gates Cambridge
Scholar and subsequently in her career.
Aditi’s work has
won her the
inaugural Norman
Borlaug Award for
Field Research and
Application.
Aditi realised that groundwater
economies in Eastern India were very
different from the rest of the country,
where scarcity and over-exploitation is
the norm. It became clear that although
groundwater is available at shallow
depths in these regions, it was no longer
being used for irrigation as it had been
in the 1980s and 90s. ‘Access to reliable,
affordable and timely irrigation is a
powerful tool in poverty alleviation’ says
Aditi, and it was with these thoughts in
mind that in 2003 she applied to pursue
this research further as part of the
then newly launched Gates Cambridge
Scholarship programme.
Joining the Department of Geography in
Cambridge, Aditi’s research focussed on
policy and institutional issues in access
to groundwater in West Bengal. Aditi
says, “Without the privilege of being a
Gates Cambridge Scholar, I would not
have been able to take up my place at
Cambridge. I believe that as a Gates
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Cambridge Scholar and a Cambridge
graduate, I am now better able to
contribute to the development discourse
in my country and beyond.”
On leaving Cambridge, Aditi re-joined
the IWMI and continued her work on
the slowdown in agricultural growth in
the eastern state of Bengal. Through
her research Aditi was able to show that
restrictive groundwater policies had
much to do with this problem. Farmers
in these regions were now facing high
costs for pumping ground water due to
red tape and corruption brought on by
permit applications now required under
the Groundwater Act of 2005. This was
compounded by the high connection
costs associated with implementing
pumping systems, often making
groundwater irrigation beyond the
capacity of small and marginal farmers
owning less than half a hectare of land.
With the help of India’s Planning
Commission, Aditi was able to take her
research findings to the government
of West Bengal. Her recommendations
were accepted, and the Groundwater
Act has been amended so that permits
are no longer required for small farmers.
Alongside this measure, the one off
electricity connection fee for farmers has
now been reduced.
Aditi’s work has won her the inaugural
Norman Borlaug Award for Field
Research and Application, a $10,000
award made as part of the 2012 World
Food Prize International Symposium.
Aditi hopes that now that these policy
changes are in place, small farmers will
have easier access to groundwater, be
able to intensify their cropping systems,
earn better livelihoods and emerge out
of poverty. She says “What truly inspires
me is the impact that one’s research
can make on the lives of the poor by
providing more food on their table”.
Scholar Focus: RAJIV Chowdhury
The fight against
heart disease
When I started my first job as a
research physician for a clinical trial in
Bangladesh, I found myself in a humble
setting inside what was the largest
slum in the capital city, Dhaka. In those
days, “Gates” and “Cambridge” (words
that have subsequently shaped my life)
meant very little to me. The job was
tough, and set in a much less glamorous
environment than might be the case for
a typical clinician; yet the work was to
make a lasting impression on me.
Rajiv Chowdhury, 2009
PhD Public Health & Primary Care
During my time in Dhaka, I witnessed
first-hand how public health discoveries
can be made at ground level, and how
simple, cost-effective interventions can
then be rolled out at the population
level to save lives – millions at a
time. I soon became keen to gain
formal research training, and in 2006,
was the first Bangladeshi to win a
Commonwealth scholarship to study the
MPhil in Epidemiology at the University
of Cambridge.
Following the successful completion of
my MPhil, I joined the Cardiovascular
Epidemiology Unit (CEU) in Cambridge
as a junior epidemiologist. Over the
next two years my research at the CEU,
working alongside some of the brightest
minds in chronic disease epidemiology,
led to several high impact publications
(including joint first-authored papers
in the British Medical Journal, and
Circulation – the official journal of the
American Heart Association). It was also
during my work at the CEU that I realised
that whilst Bangladesh has one of the
highest rates of cardiovascular disease
(CVD) globally, it remains among the
least studied. In the late 1990s it was
estimated that there would be a 100%
increase in CVD across South Asia by 2020.
Bangladesh, however, had already seen a
3500% increase by the late 2000s. In the
global combat against CVD, Bangladesh
was a country ‘missing in action’.
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In 2009 I led a Cambridge team to
meet the Health Minister and clinical
leaders in Bangladesh, and proposed
a pioneering research project to help
shape vascular health policies locally
and regionally (the Bangladesh Risk
of Acute Vascular Events or “BRAVE”
study). This project was to become
the basis of my research as the first
Bangladeshi Gates Cambridge Scholar.
I witnessed first-hand
how public health
discoveries can be
made at ground
level, and how
simple, cost-effective
interventions can
then be rolled out at
the population level
to save lives.
The boost given to me by joining this
prestigious network of future leaders
has been a significant one. Over the
past three years as a Gates Cambridge
Scholar, I have published or submitted
15 original papers in key medical
journals, been elected a Fellow in the
UK Royal Society for Public Health, and
(as a Principal Investigator), have led
the BRAVE study to become one of
the largest scientific resources for
heart disease research in South Asia;
nearly five thousand participants are
enrolled already.
Needless to say this journey so far, from
the slums of Dhaka to where I am today,
would not have been possible without
the support and intellectual drives
from those two amazing words, “Gates
Cambridge” which came together at
the right time to help me steer this
important work forwards.
Scholar AND ALUMNI
News in Brief
OneLeap, a social enterprise company founded by Gates Cambridge
alumni Hamish Forsyth and Robyn Scott, aimed at making it easier
for people with good ideas who are not well connected to get the ear of
decision-makers, has just published its first e-book giving advice to others
seeking to build social enterprises that make money. More info available
at www.oneleap.to
Niraj Lal was awarded the UK Student Volunteering Gold Award from the
Office of External Affairs at the University of Cambridge.
Dr Matt Hawkeye, who nominated Niraj for the award, said: “Niraj has
demonstrated the strongest commitment to volunteerism and public
outreach by far of any student I have worked with or supervised.”
Siza Mtimbiri was selected to be advisor on education for a team requested
by the President of Togo to prepare a framework for the development of
Togo over the next 10-20 years. Siza said of his position: “It’s an honour and a
privilege to advise on a project that covers the entire spectrum of a country’s
education and has the potential to change millions of children’s and adults’
lives for the better.”
Toby Norman won two business innovation prizes for a mobile phonebased biometrics device which allows healthcare workers to collect and
check patient information on the move in the developing world. He
said: “We’re currently working closely with MedicMobile to develop our
prototype and figure out how to operationalise the platform through
their network of projects in 15 countries. If we can get this to the field that
would be the real success.”
Gates Cambridge Alumna Nicole Basta has won a prestigious five-year,
$1.25 million grant to investigate a meningitis vaccine in Mali. The grant will
support her proposal to evaluate the duration of protection provided by the
new MenAfriVac meningococcal meningitis vaccine in Mali.
Mona Jebril has been recognised for her work administering a scholarship
programme for female Palestinian students.
Mona says: “The students really appreciate receiving the Kolmar Scholarship
as it is doesn’t mean just money being transferred from the bank to the
university...It also creates feelings of solidarity in our community. Working in
a community always gives strength.”
9
FINANCIAL
SUMMARY
“October: This is one of the peculiarly
dangerous months to speculate in stocks in.
The others are July, January, September, April,
November, May, March, June, December,
August and February. ”
Mark Twain,
Pudd’nhead Wilson’s Calendar for 1894
The Financial Year 2011/12 saw continued uncertainty in the Eurozone, with many
countries remaining in, or falling back into recession. Equity markets were unstable,
and many benchmarks, including the FTSE all share, MSCI All Country World and
WM Total Charity Fund, showed negative returns over the period. Given the difficult
external environment, the Trust’s portfolio performed reasonably well, with net assets
rising from £172 to £173m during the year; this was after expenditure of £6.2m, over
90% of which was incurred on direct Scholar grants and Scholar related activities. The
Financial Year also included one-off expenditure on the establishment and launch of
the new Gates Cambridge brand which, once removed from the calculation, leaves
on-going administration costs standing at an all-time low of 9% of total expenditure.
The greatest financial pressure on the Trust continued to stem from year on year
University fee increases. These increases have acted to raise the proportion of Trust
funds spent on University fees from 30% of direct Scholar costs in 2009 to 41% in
2012. These figures include both the effect of fee inflation and the phasing out of
the government funded Overseas Research Scholarship (ORS) scheme. Combined,
these effects have caused the average University fee funded by the Trust rise by
around 36% in a three year period. The full effect of the withdrawal of the ORS
Scheme has now been felt, but 2012/13 sees a further 10% rise in University fees
for the majority of the Trust’s new Scholars and uncertainty remains around the
likelihood of continued above-inflation increases.
The Trust has acted to control costs where it can to offset external cost pressures
elsewhere, but has continued to offer Scholars additional support where needed in
the areas of over-run, family allowances, conferences, fieldwork and in situations
where hardship has arisen due to unforeseen and unfortunate events.
Through understanding and control of its cost base, effective forecasting and
sound investment management, the Trust remains confident that it can sustain its
yearly intake of 90 Scholars, with an overall community in excess of 225 Scholars in
residence into future years.
Dr David Lott
Director of Finance, Gates Cambridge Trust
10
SUMMARY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
YEAR ENDED 31 JULY 2012
Summary Statement of Financial Activity
2012
2011
£’000
£’000
INCOMING RESOURCES
Incoming resources from generated funds
6,673
5,447
RESOURCES EXPENDED
Costs of generating funds
Charitable activities
Governance costs
7
6,097
57
94
5,939
52
Total resources expended
6,161
6,085
Net incoming/(outgoing) resources before other recognised gains and losses
512
(638)
OTHER RECOGNISED GAINS/LOSSES
Gains on investment assets
511
12,836
1,023
12,198
RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS
Total funds brought forward at 1st August 2011
172,272
160,074
Total funds carried forward at 31 July 2012
173,295
172,272
Net movement in funds
Summary Balance Sheet
2012
2011
£’000
£’000
168,345
168,676
4,994
3,634
CURRENT LIABILITIES
(44)
(38)
NET CURRENT ASSETS
4,950
3,596
NET ASSETS
173,295
172,272
UNRESTRICTED FUNDS
173,295
172,272
FIXED ASSETS (Including Fixed Asset Investments)
CURRENT ASSETS
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Honorary Patrons: Bill and Melinda Gates