News

Today, Tuesday 28th November, is “Giving Tuesday” – a global day of giving fuelled by the power of social media and collaboration.

At Nuffield, we’re taking this day as an opportunity to connect with alumni all over the world to discover and share news about each other. We have recruited six student volunteers who will be calling alumni throughout the day to talk about their research, discover alumni career paths, discuss current events, and importantly, share news of our ambitious student funding campaign in order to fulfil our commitment to underwrite funding for all students admitted to Nuffield College.

We’ve been introducing our student volunteers on social media in the days leading up to #GivingTuesday, and have collated their pictures and profiles below for all to see.

We’d like to express our thanks to our volunteers and to the alumni who have so kindly agreed to talk with them today.

To find out more about our campaign and how to give, please visit our #GivingTuesday page or contact our development team at development@nuffield.ox.ac.uk

Arshia Hashemi

From a small village in Hertfordshire, I am a first year MPhil Economics student. Prior to Oxford, I graduated from UCL with a BSc in Economics.

I was drawn to Nuffield because of its small, intimate community and its specialisation in the social sciences. In my eyes, Nuffield is a special place because the people here are fully committed to our development both academically and personally.

I look forward to speaking with Nuffield alumni to understand their experiences at the College and to learn about the impact they have in their current roles. In addition, I wish to be of service to our alumni in whatever capacity possible, and to that extent, I welcome all questions and comments!

Matthias Haslberger

I am interested in how labour market institutions can contain rising wage inequality in countries facing the effects of technological change. Now at Nuffield, I am working on this issue with Erzsebet Bukodi and Brian Nolan. Originally from Germany, I completed the MSc in Comparative Social Policy at Oxford last year. I wanted to do my DPhil at Nuffield because of the unique environment the College provides for social scientists and the strong focus on quantitative research.

Personally, I enjoy the benefits of a small, close-knit community like Nuffield and the interaction between students and fellows (and, obviously, the great food). Volunteering for Giving Tuesday is an opportunity for me to support the efforts to underwrite funding for all students and contribute to the continued success of the College.

Tuuli-Anna Huikuri

Having completed my MPhil in Nuffield, I am now on my first year of the DPhil in International Relations. I am interested in international institutions, and I work with Duncan Snidal on the global governance regime of international investment. I am initially from Finland, and Nuffield was my first choice of college for its reputation in social sciences - and the famously great lunch.

I enjoy both the research and networking opportunities in Nuffield with likeminded students and regularly visiting researchers. I also enjoy sports, and how active and friendly the small community of Nuffielders is. I hope that I can help fundraise for graduate scholarships, a cause that is close to my heart. I am also excited to chat to Nuffield alumni, who hopefully can share some interesting Nuffield-memories as well as life and career tips.

Alejandro Espinosa Herrera

I am a PhD candidate in Politics and this is my third year at Nuffield. My research interests include public budgeting, fiscal federalism, decentralization, party politics, and Latin American politics. I am researching the effects of multiparty coalitions on public policies.

Before coming to Nuffield, I worked as an advisor in the Mexican Senate, as a researcher at a think-tank and as an economic analyst at the Mexican Congress. I also did internships at the Central Bank of Mexico and the OECD. I hold a M.Sc. in Latin American Studies and a M.Sc. in Politics, both from the University of Oxford, as well as a B.A. in Economics from Tecnológico de Monterrey.

I love Nuffield because it is a knit and supportive community. It is a place where you can always engage in interesting conversations and be intellectually challenged by those around you.

I volunteered for #GivingTuesday because I would like to give back to Nuffield by helping to raise funds for the future. I would love to have the opportunity to chat with alumni, tell them what is happening right now at the college, find out about their career paths after Nuffield, and discuss current world affairs with them. 

Helena Roy

I’m reading for the MPhil in Economics at Nuffield. I’m most interested in behavioural economics, applied microeconomics and political science.

It was Nuffield’s focus on policy, and finding syntheses between all aspects of social sciences, that I found incredibly appealing when I applied. I received a BA in Economics from the University of Cambridge (Pembroke College) in 2016. In my final year at Cambridge I focused on economic theory and econometrics, and completed a dissertation on radicalisation as a strategic choice in democracies. After graduating from Cambridge, I worked for UNICEF’s Policy Planning Unit in New York for four months, before moving to Caltech as a pre-doctoral scholar in 2017. Research at Nuffield spans all of those areas and more.

For a student, Nuffield offers extremely generous financial support that opens up so many more research possibilities. I think that’s something that has to be continually worked on and that I was keen to be a part of. Nuffield is a very international place, and I’m looking forward to finding out what alumni are doing across the globe.

Chris Jacobi

My DPhil research tests whether psychological concepts of multi-dimensional happiness (well-being) are relevant for sociological life-course research. Over the last few years many organisations like the ONS, OECD or governments have become very interested in well-being research, so this is quite a timely topic. I am supervised by Professors Christiaan Monden and Francesco Billari. 

I applied to Nuffield College because of its world-leading research environment, its vibrancy, and because of the fact that it has the resources to host many exciting seminar series and initiatives. I originally come from Düsseldorf, Germany, but I have lived in in the UK for many years now. Before Nuffield, I did my MSc in Sociology at Oriel College. Last term I had the chance of studying at the Population Studies Center at the University of Pennsylvania.

What I mostly love about Nuffield is the commitment and energy everyone has for their work. It is also great that we are close-knit community.

Having been on the telethon last year, and as a former JCR President, I did not hesitate a moment to take part in #GivingTuesday. I believe that it is the perfect moment to donate to Nuffield: The campaign to fully fund every student has already had some great success. I enjoy hearing about the careers our alumni had and to talk about the ways in which student life has (or has not) changed over the years.