Huge congratulations to Magdalen DPhil students Oliver Jakes (2025) and Alexander Tashevski (2025), who have been selected for the highly competitive Europaeum Scholars Programme. They are joining the fifth cohort of the prestigious Future Leaders of Europe initiative. With only a small group of exceptionally talented students selected for each cohort, having two students from Magdalen chosen is a remarkable achievement.
The two-year programme will run alongside their doctoral studies and focus on policy-making, teamwork, and contemporary leadership within the EU. They will travel to leading universities across Europe to complete seven intensive modules, taking part in seminars and workshops led by leading academics and policy practitioners. Over the course of the programme, they will work in small multidisciplinary teams to design and deliver a project intended to help shape the future of Europe. Their final policy proposals will be evaluated by a panel of experts and presented at an international conference in Brussels.
Oliver’s research explores the various ways in which popular culture examined, challenged, and explained economic change following the financial revolution of the late seventeenth century. His thesis is titled Debt and Drama in Eighteenth-Century England. His work on the role of art in mediating complex technological and economic change highlights the continuing importance of Humanities education today.
“I applied to Europaeum because I want to help improve education policy across the EU and the UK,” he said. “I am excited to learn more from Europaeum teachers and scholars, as well as policy leaders from the European Commission and beyond.”
Alexander’s DPhil is in Computational and Mathematical Psychiatry and focuses on designing advanced computing systems, known as neural networks, to discover new medicines and detect Alzheimer’s disease at a much earlier stage. His aim is to create tools for large-scale public health systems, such as the NHS, to shorten waiting times and reduce workloads. He is the first participant in the programme with a background in clinical psychology.
“I’m delighted to have been selected for the Europaeum programme and to have the opportunity to collaborate with and learn from such a diverse group of policy and research specialists,” Alex said. “At a time when new technologies are reshaping healthcare and society, I hope to see how scientific innovation can be directed toward the public good.”
Past scholars have gone on to present their work to major international bodies, such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the World Forum on Democracy.
Congratulations again to Oliver and Alexander on this accomplishment. We look forward to following their progress over the next two years.