Winners of Vice-Chancellor's Social Impact Awards announced

The awards, organised by Cambridge Hub, recognise and celebrate exceptional achievement in contributing to society.
This year saw 15 students recognised with awards, with one special recognition award also handed out at the ceremony yesterday.
University of Cambridge Vice-Chancellor Dr Anthony Freeling said: “It’s wonderful to present these awards to the students, who have shown such commitment and dedication to social impact. 
“The winners have demonstrated that innovation and perseverance can go a long way in making a positive impact on society. Their accomplishments serve as an inspiration to us all."
 

Undergraduate awards
Joseph Duffy from Emmanuel
Joseph, a second year linguist and a Platinum winner at the 2022-23 Cambridge University Law Society Pro Bono Awards, has volunteered hundreds of hours this year to seeking improve the lives of others in the immediate area and beyond. 
Joe Beadle from Pembroke
Joe, a fourth year student studying Chinese, is a Senior Organ Scholar and President of Pembroke’s Music Society. Joe founded the Lovely Choir at Pembroke to democratise music at Cambridge.  
Imogen Arden-Jones from St John’s
Imogen is a fifth-year medical student, trustee of the national mental health charity YoungMinds, and senior facilitator of Cambs Youth Panel. 
Sanah Kashyap from Newnham
Sanah is a third year history student. With a formidable passion for civic engagement, Sanah has served as a Member of Youth Parliament and on the Parliamentary Youth Select Committee. 
 

Master’s award
Neema Jayasinghe from Homerton
Studying education, policy and international development, Neema has volunteered with numerous charities and societies and worked with think tanks and UNESCO on social impact projects.
 

PhD student award
Awa Farah from Churchill
Awa founded the Siman Foundation, providing free mentoring to students from refugee backgrounds. Awa is also an award-winning filmmaker.
Megan Groom from Darwin
Megan, a third-year PhD student in physics, is working on developing an optical technique to better monitor degradation in Lithium-ion batteries and has been involved in numerous sustainability initiatives at Cambridge. 
Nomisha Kurian from Wolfson
Nomisha is a PhD candidate specialising in wellbeing and inclusion for at-risk children. Nomisha has designed and delivered Widening Participation Interventions for over 200 low-income and state school children across some of the UK's most deprived neighborhoods. 
Madeleine Hahne from Pembroke
Madeleine is the co-founder of climate action non-profit Vision of Soon, a Gates Cambridge Scholar, an honorary Woolf Institute Scholar, and a PhD Candidate in Geography researching how conservative religionists view climate change. 
Eleonore Poli from Lucy Cavendish
Eleonore, a PhD student in materials and metallurgy, is an analogue astronaut, amateur athlete, pianist and photographer, and leads initiatives on space, sustainability and social impact. 
 

Volunteering award
Olivia Taylor from Clare
Olivia has been an outstanding student at the charity Cambridge Student Community Action. She has been a project Leader for kids' club Bounce for five years now, going every Saturday to organise craft sessions, parties, soft play centre visits and much more. Not only has Olivia helped in Bounce, she has also proved adept at organising events from Easter and summer parties to punting on the river Cam. She is popular with children and parents alike, and also volunteers for other charities like St. Andrews Youth Café and Concrete Rose.

Innovation Award
Qinglan Du from Christ's
Qinglan, a first-year law student, started the environmental initiative Cleaning Up Jerusalem, inspiring peers to pick up litter in nature reserves as well as founding a small business called Mask Up, selling sustainable and customisable fabric masks.

Global Impact Award
Abdul Malik Al Nasir from St Catharine's
Malik is a third year PhD candidate in history. His research into his slave owner ancestors made global headlines, landing him a two-book deal with HarperCollins. In his first year at St Catharine’s, he published his memoir, which charts his childhood care experience and academic journey from semi-literacy to Cambridge. He made representations to the UN on ‘Lifting the Barriers to Black Academia’ and his policy brief will be published this year. He also helped develop the Widening Access and Participation Bill currently in the House of Lords. Projects arising from his slavery research include a Royal Television Society award-winning documentary and an exhibition that was runner-up for the Museums Association ‘Museums Changes Lives Award’. He has delivered keynotes for the CARICOM Reparations Commission in Antigua with Sir Hilary Beckles and Prime Minister Gaston Browne.

Impact in the Local Community Award
Sarah Gough from Clare Hall
Sarah, a final year PhD student in cancer immunology, is dedicated to expanding and promoting Clare Hall’s allotment, so that college members can sustainably grow organic fruit and vegetables. 

Sustainability Award
Chloe Balhatchet from Selwyn
The University’s Sustainability Team and Cambridge Zero jointly nominated Chloe for the Sustainability Award because of Chloe’s outstanding and numerous contributions to sustainability programmes across the University. 

Special Recognition
Harry Goolnik from Girton
The judges were impressed with Harry’s commitment, service, dedication, and potential for lasting impact in helping coordinate a successful campaign to get the Universal Bus to stop at Girton and Homerton.