American Jazz Pianist Ahmad Jamal said: I would like to be a scholar in whatever I do, a scholar is never finished, he is always seeking and I am always seeking.

The same can be said to be true for former GIIS student, Samvid Kurlekar, a student who has a string of scholarships to his name. Samvid has been a CV Raman scholar at GIIS from 2013-2015 and is now pursuing Master of Biochemistry (MBiochem) course at Trinity College in the University of Oxford under the Simon and June Li Scholarship 2015-2019. 

Samvid is the fourth year student of Biochemistry (MBiochem) at Trinity College in the University of Oxford. He has completed the first three years of the course, equivalent to a Bachelor in Science, and is currently in the final year, similar to Master’s course that includes a full-time research project and two advanced courses. An outstanding student, Samvid secured the 2nd rank in his department for the Bachelors equivalent part of the course.

Samvid acknowledges that the guidance and opportunities he received from the school and teachers at GIIS have largely contributed to his achievements. For example, the school provided him with a valuable opportunity in the field of scientific research by liaising with Nanyang Technological University, where he shadowed a PhD student working on Graphene.

While the area of research is not related to what Samvid is pursuing currently, getting access to such a top class research environment, participating in discussions, experimental design, and reading about the cutting edge technology, were altogether an enriching experience.

As a scholar from India, Samvid stayed in the GIIS hostel with the rest of the scholars and feels that the networking and bonding helped him get into the course of his choice at Oxford. He is especially appreciative of the teachers whom he quotes as being “incredibly supportive”. The scholar is thankful to GIIS as he feels that the school provided him with the stepping stone to a wide choice of science courses in universities abroad.

Samvid believes that it is the richness of experience that counts and GIIS helped him grow as a person. Coming from a Pune/Marathi middle-class background to a multi-cultural environment helped him gain different perspectives and offered exposure to a diverse environment. He quoted, “I remember that my 11B class spoke 19 languages as the mother tongue and I appreciate how enriching of an experience that was.”

Although a research scholar, Samvid is not just a book worm and believes in a holistic personality. He loves to engage in rowing activity at the college and has been involved in setting up and running a Kabaddi Club for the last two years. The club has eventually gained a lot of popularity and competes with other Kabaddi teams in England. 

Samvid’s special area of interest is in the biology of cancer, and how the origin of tumour affects its progression and metastasis. He is going to research on this topic in his PhD (DPhil) and will be financially supported by Nuffield Department of Medicine in Oxford, in the form of NDM Prize Studentship. The research will be conducted in the laboratory of Prof Sir Peter Ratcliffe FRS. It is worth mentioning that Samvid also qualified for the PhD program at Harvard University, but chose to stay at the University of Oxford because of the nature of the research.

GIIS is thankful to Samvid Kurlekar for staying connected with the school and apprising us of developments in his academic career. It is a matter of pride that an Ex-GIIS scholar is carrying the flag of the school to a prestigious university like Oxford and setting the benchmark high by continuously achieving academic excellence.

GIIS constantly strives to provide the best learning environment to its students and our scholarship scheme has helped many brilliant students like Samvid, achieve their dreams.