Course Instructors
The FitzEd Summer School is the only summer programme at Cambridge that is exclusively taught by current academics from the University of Cambridge or one if its constituent Colleges. We take great pride in offering a programme to international secondary-school students where all course instructors are active members of the teaching staff of our institution. You will be lectured and supervised by the same academics who teach our own undergraduate students at Cambridge.
Dr Ash Zarkan
Research Fellow and Group Leader, Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge
Bye-Fellow, Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge
Dr Ash Zarkan is a microbiologist with a long-standing interest in infectious diseases and microbial genetics. Ash is an expert on antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and his research is focused on tackling the rise of AMR, especially in the human pathogen Escherichia coli (E. coli). His clinical focus is on urinary tract infections (UTIs) where E. coli is the major pathogen affecting 150 million people per year worldwide. He is an active member of the Microbiology Society, and he serves as an academic reviewer for a number of prestigious microbiology journals and grant funding bodies. Ash has lectured on several summer programmes in Cambridge on topics ranging from infectious diseases, immunity, vaccination, and antimicrobial resistance. He is an excellent and very engaging speaker. His interactive teaching style brings the excitement and experience of his research to his audience. Ash is very passionate about tackling the rapid rise of AMR and hopes to convey his passion to those who attend his courses.
Departmental Profile: https://www.gen.cam.ac.uk/staff/dr-ashraf-zarkan
Cambridge Infectious Diseases Profile: https://www.infectiousdisease.cam.ac.uk/directory/dr-ashraf-zarkan
LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashraf-zarkan/
Dr Stephen Sawiak
Fellow, Tutor, College Lecturer, Assistant Director of Studies in Mathematics for Natural Sciences
Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge
MRI Physicist, Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience
University of Cambridge
Dr Sawiak is an experienced lecturer, supervisor and assistant director of studies responsible for organising the mathematics supervisions for students taking physical Natural Sciences, Computer Science and Chemical Engineering courses in Fitzwilliam College. He has interviewed Natural Sciences candidates for over 15 years and supervised students in mathematics for 18 years. Day to day he conducts research in magnetic resonance imaging acquisition and analysis methods with applications to neuroscience.
College Profile: https://www.fitz.cam.ac.uk/person/dr-stephen-sawiak
Professor Christos Genakos
Professor of Economics and Policy, Cambridge Judge Business School
Director of the MPhil in Technology Policy Programme
Director of Studies in Management and Fellow in Economics at Fitzwilliam College
BSc (National and Kappodistrian University of Athens), MSc (University College London), PhD (London Business School)
Prof Genakos’ research focuses on applied microeconomics, with an emphasis on industrial organization and quantitative techniques for competition analysis and regulation. He has published in many leading international peer-refereed journals and has advised many leading firms and international organizations on regulation, antitrust and pricing related issues. He is a College Lecturer in Economics, and directs studies in Management.
College Profile: https://www.fitz.cam.ac.uk/person/professor-christos-genakos
Judge Business School Profile: https://www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/people/christos-genakos/
Professor Matthew J. Mason
Professor of Comparative Physiology, Department of Physiology, Development & Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Fellow at St Catharine’s College
Matt is a physiology lecturer in the Department of Physiology, Development & Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge. He teaches and examines Cambridge undergraduate medical students in physiology.
Dr Peter Bolgar
Bye-Fellow at Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge
Director of Studies and College Lecturer at Magdalene College, University of Cambridge
Lecturer (Teaching) at University College London
Peter Bolgar is a teaching Bye-Fellow in organic and bio-organic chemistry at Fitzwilliam College. He completed his undergraduate degree in Natural Sciences at Cambridge, followed by a PhD in supramolecular chemistry at the same place. His research focused on the synthesis and characterisation of sequence polymers that are able to form sequence-selective duplexes, similar to nucleic acids. Peter now specialises in teaching chemistry at the university level, lecturing a range of courses from the first, second and third year of the undergraduate curriculum. He is involved with undergraduate admissions at Magdalene College. Peter is a member of the UK Chemistry Olympiad Committee, and he mentors students for the International Chemistry Olympiad both nationally and internationally.
College Profile: https://www.fitz.cam.ac.uk/person/dr-peter-bolgar
Dr Alex Carter
Associate Professor of Philosophy and Interdisciplinary Studies, ICE, University of Cambridge.
College Lecturer in Interdisciplinary Studies, Fitzwilliam College
Alex Carter teaches Philosophy and Creativity Theory at the University of Cambridge, Institute of Continuing Education. He also oversees the Institute's undergraduate research courses. At Fitzwilliam College, Alex supervises philosophy students and provides study skills support to all college members.
Alex’s research interests are diverse and include Wittgenstein’s later philosophy, the theology of Simone Weil and the philosophy of humour. Alex’s PhD thesis explored some of the surprising aspects of Wittgenstein’s views concerning freedom and fatalism. Alex is currently researching the relationship between humour and creative practice via the concept of ’serious play’.
www.ice.cam.ac.uk/about-us/staff-profiles/tutor/dr-alex-david-carter
Dr Joao Rodrigues
Bye Fellow of St Catharine’s and Wolfson Colleges
After many years working in Quantum Field Theory and Particle Physics, specifically in the parton structure of the nucleons, I changed my field of research to the climate of the polar regions. In the Polar Oceans Physics Group in Cambridge, I studied how the Arctic sea ice cover has changed in recent decades as a consequence of global warming. I examined sea ice thickness data collected by submarines and satellites and attempted to quantify the dramatic thinning of the Arctic Sea ice. At present, I teach several Physics and Mathematics courses for first-, second- and third-year students in the Natural Sciences and the Mathematical Tripos of the University of Cambridge.
College Profile: https://www.wolfson.cam.ac.uk/people/dr-joao-rodrigues
Dr Zsófia Zavecz
Research Associate at the Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge
Zsófia Zavecz is a postdoctoral research associate at the Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge. Her research areas are memory and sleep, with a particular emphasis on understanding the neural mechanisms of these processes. She was awarded a PhD in Psychology at the Eötvös Loránd University (Hungary) in 2020. In her doctoral work, she studied the differential association of implicit learning with sleep compared to explicit learning. She also used different techniques to examine the neural background of implicit learning, such as EEG, transcranial electric stimulation, and fMRI. After her PhD, Zsófia joined UC Berkeley (US) as a postdoctoral researcher, where she examined sleep as a protective factor against memory impairment in the face of Alzheimer’s disease pathology. For her second postdoctoral position, Zsófia moved to Cambridge to apply cutting-edge neuroimaging methods to investigate the neural mechanisms of perceptual learning.
Dr Daniel Fredrich
Research Associate, Engineering Department, University of Cambridge
Daniel is a senior researcher and entrepreneur in the field of thermofluids engineering. His research focuses on the numerical prediction of thermo-acoustic instabilities and the active control of reacting multiphase flows using external electrostatic fields and non-equilibrium plasma discharges. He holds a PhD in computational fluid dynamics from Imperial College London and an MSc in aeronautics and astronautics from TU Berlin. He is the co-founder of Pinepeak Ltd, a University of Cambridge spinout aiming to solve the problem of wildfires.
Dr Miles Stopher
Director of Admissions and Affiliated Lecturer, Department of Engineering, Cambridge
Senior Lecturer, Fellow and Director of Studies in Engineering, Homerton College
Bye-Fellow in Engineering at Jesus College and Fitzwilliam College
Dr Miles Stopher is a Senior Lecturer in Engineering at Homerton College and the Director of Admissions and an Affiliated Lecturer in the Department of Engineering. He is a Bye-Fellow of Fitzwilliam College, having previously been Acting Senior Tutor. He has supervised and directed studies in Engineering for 10 years, across a number of colleges at the University, including his alma mater, Jesus College. His research focuses on nuclear reactor design, with particular interest in the design of nanostructured materials for applications in extreme environments, such as the reactor core, radiation damage modelling, hydrogen embrittlement, and the engineering and safety of integral and passive small modular reactors. He lectures Nuclear Materials for Part III materials scientists at Cambridge, An Introduction to Materials Science for Engineers, and Nuclear Materials for Engineers on the MPhil in Nuclear Energy. He has also lectured on nuclear safety. Miles supervises Part IA and Part IB Mechanics, Materials and Structures to engineering undergraduates at Cambridge. Prior to his arrival at Cambridge, he worked on the design of the Royal Navy’s Dreadnought-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines.
Department profile: http://www.eng.cam.ac.uk/profiles/mas251
Mrs Serena Povia
College Teaching Associate at St John’s College
Supervisor at Magdalene and Jesus
Involved in Cambridge Admissions for the past 7 years in several colleges
STEMSMART Supervisor
Mrs. Serena Povia specialises in teaching Mathematics and Physics at the University level. She has been a supervisor in physics and mathematics for the Natural Sciences course for about ten years. Current teaching commitment are the Physics and Mathematics courses for the first year and the second year. Serena previously taught third year courses too.
College Profile: https://www.joh.cam.ac.uk/fellow-profile/410
Dr Katharina Zuhlsdorff
Bye-Fellow and College Lecturer at Downing College, University of Cambridge
Dr Katharina Zuhlsdorff is a visiting postdoctoral fellow at the Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge and a Bye-Fellow/Teaching Associate at Downing College. Katharina completed her PhD in the department on the topic of computational modelling of behavioural and neuroimaging data in patients with major depressive disorder and substance use disorder. Specifically, her research focussed on reinforcement learning and its underlying neural basis. Katharina’s postdoctoral work has focussed on developing predictive models of dementia and depression using cognitive and MRI data and graph neural networks. This work has included the use of large-scale datasets such as the UK Biobank and Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development studies. Katharina has received awards from the Alan Turing Institute, Foulkes Foundation and the Angharad Dodds John fellowship from Downing College.
Dr Andrea Chlebikova
Senior Project Chemist at Isaac Physics, Department of Physics, University of Cambridge
College Teaching Associate at Sidney Sussex College
Special Supervisor at Newnham College
Course lecturer, Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge
Andrea Chlebikova came to Cambridge as an undergraduate in October 2011, studying Natural Sciences at St Catharine’s College, specialising in chemistry. She continued to pursue a PhD in atmospheric chemistry, focusing on methods of predicting rate constants based on molecular structure. Andrea has previously been part of the organising team for the Cambridge Chemistry Challenge, as well as being a UKMT volunteer in charge of marking mathematics challenges and olympiads. She became involved in undergraduate teaching at Cambridge in 2015 and has been supervising first-year chemistry to students of Natural Sciences as well as more specialised physical chemistry courses ever since. She is also involved with undergraduate admissions in multiple colleges. Andrea is in charge of designing and teaching the chemistry content on the STEM SMART programme run by the University of Cambridge, preparing students from disadvantaged backgrounds for studying STEM subjects at university.
College Profile: Dr Andrea Cheblikova | Sidney Sussex College Cambridge
Dr Vasileios Kotsidis
College Assistant Professor at Gonville and Caius College
Dr Vasileios Kotsidis uses tools from traditional and evolutionary game theory to analyse social interactions that (potentially) involve strategic motives. His research focuses on the scope and limitations of models based on methodological individualism in interpreting individual behaviour (human or otherwise) as it is manifested in social settings. It spans along three main directions: how individuals think, what they are motivated by, and what the researcher can infer. He obtained his PhD in Economics at the University of Nottingham. His doctorate explored some theoretical aspects of social (strategic) behaviour and investigated its empirical manifestations. He also enjoys practicing karate, studying on the philosophy of mathematics, and reading fantasy literature.
Department profile: https://www.econ.cam.ac.uk/people/cto/vk340
Dr Marta Matuszewska
Research Associate, Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge and
Wellcome Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus
Marta Matuszewska, currently a Research Associate at the University of Cambridge, is an accomplished evolutionary microbiologist specialising in bacterial host adaptation. Holding a PhD in Veterinary Medicine, Marta's research is dedicated to understanding the host range and transmission dynamics of antibiotic-resistant pathogens, with particular focus on Staphylococcus aureus. In her current role, she is actively engaged in investigating the biological basis of nasal by S. aureus and the role of carriage in disease and evolution and spread of antibiotic resistance. Marta is employing a comprehensive approach that integrates microbiology and genetic epidemiology. Beyond her research, Marta actively contributes to education at the University by leading practical classes in mathematical biology and cell biology. Previously she has supervised undergraduate students in mathematical biology, nurturing the next generation of scientists. Marta also enjoys public science outreach, participating in events such as the Cambridge Science Festival, communicating complex scientific concepts to broad audiences.
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=hDJPDIgAAAAJ&hl=en
Cambridge Infectious Diseases Profile: https://www.infectiousdisease.cam.ac.uk/directory/marta-matuszewska
LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marta-matuszewska-b92432131/
Dr Andrea Giusti
Bye-Fellow, Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge
Senior Lecturer in Thermofluids, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College London
Andrea is a Senior Lecturer in Thermofluids at Imperial College London, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Bye-Fellow at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge. He studied Mechanical and Energy Engineering in Florence (Italy). He obtained a PhD in 2014 at the University of Florence, working on a project for the development of clean engines for airplanes. Following his PhD, Andrea joined the Engineering Department at the University of Cambridge as a Rolls-Royce Research Associate. He was appointed Lecturer by Imperial College in October 2018. In addition to the academic role at Imperial College, Andrea supervises undergraduate students at Fitzwilliam College. He is also Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Spray and Combustion Dynamics.
College Profile: https://www.fitz.cam.ac.uk/person/dr-andrea-giusti
Departmental Profile: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/a.giusti
Dr John Fawcett
Fellow at Churchill College, University of Cambridge
Director of Studies in Computer Science in multiple Colleges
Since completing his PhD, John Fawcett has been working in industry alongside lecturing, tutoring, supervising and directing studies in Computer Science at Cambridge. Over more than 15 years, John has seen around 500 students through to graduation. John has delivered courses in summer schools for over 10 years and is active in undergraduate admissions, including as Subject Convenor for the Computer Science undergraduate course. John served as University Senior Proctor in the 2021/22 academical year after being Praelector for 6 years at Churchill.
College Profile: https://www.chu.cam.ac.uk/fellows/dr-john-fawcett/
Dr Saeed Kayhanian
Academic Clinical Fellow in Neurosurgery at Cambridge University Hospitals
Fellow at Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge
Saeed is a neurosurgeon at Addenbrooke’s Hospital and teaches anatomy to medical students at Fitzwilliam College. He has a research interest in brain injury and cell therapy for the treatment of neurological disease.
Dr Robert Abayasekara
Lecturer in Human Reproduction and Director of Pre-Clinical studies for Medicine,
Admissions Tutor in Sciences, Fellow at Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge
Robert is a highly experienced medical and veterinary educator who has taught Endocrinology and Reproduction in Oxford, London and Cambridge.
Dr Aaron D'sa
Consultant in Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine at Norfolk and Norwich University
Hospital, Fellow at Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge
Aaron is an anaesthetist, and is involved in teaching undergraduate medical students physiology and neuroscience at the university. He has an interest in law and ethics.
Dr Aude Rauscent
Visiting Research Fellow, Department of Psychology
Bye-Fellow at Homerton College, Fitzwilliam College and Hughes Hall
Director of Studies for Psychological and Behavioural Sciences and Natural Sciences
Dr Aude Rauscent is a visiting research fellow at the Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, and one of the Directors of Studies in Psychological and Behavioural Sciences and Natural Sciences at various colleges across the University.
Aude studied at the University of Bordeaux, France, where she graduated in 2008 in Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology. During her PhD, she developed a new experimental model to investigate the plasticity of the central nervous system in the face of environmental or morphological constraints, allowing the maintenance of adapted behaviours. Aude then moved to the laboratory of Professor David Belin at the French Institute of Health and Medical Research, where she investigated the psychological, neural, and cellular mechanisms of individual vulnerability to developing compulsive disorders. Ten years ago, Aude moved to Cambridge University and continued her research on the neurological and psychological mechanisms subserving individual vulnerability to addiction in the CLIC, Cambridge Laboratory for research on Impulsive and Compulsive disorders, in the Department of Psychology.
Dr Alexandra Krugliak
Research Associate at MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, University of Cambridge
Dr Alexandra Krugliak studied Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience at The University of Maastricht (The Netherlands), before obtaining a PhD from the University of Birmingham (United Kingdom). Currently, Alexandra is a Research Associate at the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit at the University of Cambridge. Her main research interest is how the human brain represents the world around us based on perception, memory and learning, and how these processes change during healthy and pathological ageing. She combines neuro-imaging techniques such as Electroencephalography (EEG), Magnetoencephalography (MEG), and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) with cutting-edge computational approaches to study neural representations of visual and auditory perception both in healthy participants and in patients with Alzheimer’s disease.