Macquarie University Alumni Rowan Nicholson and Matthew Samson have both been awarded separate scholarships from the University of Cambridge, England, towards postgraduate research in International Law, and Psychology respectively.
Rowan was one of seven applicants out of a competitive field of 44 academics to be awarded a Cambridge Australia Scholarship, awarded to outstanding Australian graduates to undertake Masters and PhD studies at the University of Cambridge.
Beginning October 2014, Rowan will pursue a doctorate in international law, focusing on the extent to which it has developed beyond its origins in Western Europe into a 'universal' legal system.
“One of the historical curiosities of public international law is that despite centuries of claims of universal legal authority – by emperors, popes and natural lawyers – the system that spread around the world rested on avowedly non-universal principles,” said Rowan.
“An example is the notion that each state must consent to the rules that bind it. This system became universal in practice only through the historical 'accident' of European expansion. I want to investigate the practical implications of this type of universality for a number of doctrinal questions.
“These include the extent to which certain rules can bind newly emergent states regardless of their actual consent, challenges mounted by developing states to the universality of investment law norms, resistance by states such as China to the prevailing interpretation of universal human rights, and the renewal and reformulation of claims of universal legal or moral authority in the twentieth century.”
Macquarie University Alumnus Matthew Samson also received a prestigious scholarship from the University of Cambridge, having been awarded a Gates Cambridge Scholarship. Established in 2000 by a donation of US$210m from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, it facilitates postgraduate students with a capacity for leadership and a commitment to improving the lives of others.
Matthew’s research in psychology was motivated by his love of sports and football refereeing, which in turn led to his interest in moral caveats (cheating, and harmful behaviour) both in sport and in broader society.
His undergraduate pursuit of psychology investigated the clinically immoral and the phenomena that turn good people bad, tackling questions like what exactly does ‘wrong’ mean? His PhD will ask ‘how do different people judge right and wrong’?
“I aim to investigate the factors that cause differential moral judgments towards issues such as gun reform and climate change. I hope that my PhD makes possible second-generation research investigating strategies that can strengthen adaptive and weaken maladaptive moral judgments,” said Matthew.
While still at Macquarie Matthew received the 2012 Prime Minister's Australia Asia Award (undergraduate), which is for meritorious Australian undergraduates to study and intern in Asia. It is awarded to 20 students per year (selected from up to 5 nominations from each Australian university). By virtue of the scholarship, he studied and subsequently conducted research at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, and worked for the Human Development Foundation: Mercy Centre, Thailand. He credits this scholarship as a key influencer of his current trajectory.
Matthew is currently undertaking his Masters degree at Cambridge on a combination of the Cambridge Trust International Scholarship and the Trinity Hall Studentship, for which he would like to thank his benefactors for their generosity.
Rowan was one of seven applicants out of a competitive field of 44 academics to be awarded a Cambridge Australia Scholarship, awarded to outstanding Australian graduates to undertake Masters and PhD studies at the University of Cambridge.
Beginning October 2014, Rowan will pursue a doctorate in international law, focusing on the extent to which it has developed beyond its origins in Western Europe into a 'universal' legal system.
“One of the historical curiosities of public international law is that despite centuries of claims of universal legal authority – by emperors, popes and natural lawyers – the system that spread around the world rested on avowedly non-universal principles,” said Rowan.
“An example is the notion that each state must consent to the rules that bind it. This system became universal in practice only through the historical 'accident' of European expansion. I want to investigate the practical implications of this type of universality for a number of doctrinal questions.
“These include the extent to which certain rules can bind newly emergent states regardless of their actual consent, challenges mounted by developing states to the universality of investment law norms, resistance by states such as China to the prevailing interpretation of universal human rights, and the renewal and reformulation of claims of universal legal or moral authority in the twentieth century.”
Macquarie University Alumnus Matthew Samson also received a prestigious scholarship from the University of Cambridge, having been awarded a Gates Cambridge Scholarship. Established in 2000 by a donation of US$210m from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, it facilitates postgraduate students with a capacity for leadership and a commitment to improving the lives of others.
Matthew’s research in psychology was motivated by his love of sports and football refereeing, which in turn led to his interest in moral caveats (cheating, and harmful behaviour) both in sport and in broader society.
His undergraduate pursuit of psychology investigated the clinically immoral and the phenomena that turn good people bad, tackling questions like what exactly does ‘wrong’ mean? His PhD will ask ‘how do different people judge right and wrong’?
“I aim to investigate the factors that cause differential moral judgments towards issues such as gun reform and climate change. I hope that my PhD makes possible second-generation research investigating strategies that can strengthen adaptive and weaken maladaptive moral judgments,” said Matthew.
While still at Macquarie Matthew received the 2012 Prime Minister's Australia Asia Award (undergraduate), which is for meritorious Australian undergraduates to study and intern in Asia. It is awarded to 20 students per year (selected from up to 5 nominations from each Australian university). By virtue of the scholarship, he studied and subsequently conducted research at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, and worked for the Human Development Foundation: Mercy Centre, Thailand. He credits this scholarship as a key influencer of his current trajectory.
Matthew is currently undertaking his Masters degree at Cambridge on a combination of the Cambridge Trust International Scholarship and the Trinity Hall Studentship, for which he would like to thank his benefactors for their generosity.
