Our people

My research explores contemporary challenges—migration crises, climate change, geopolitical tensions, and technological shifts—through the lens of philosophical theology. I examine these issues in relation to such concepts as Imago Dei, Deus Migrator, hospitality, and the theology of the Other.

Prof. Wojciech Szczerba (Ph.D., habilitatus) is the Rector of the Evangelical School of Theology in Poland and a scholar specializing in the philosophy of religion, patristics, and ecumenism. His research explores themes of universal salvation, human dignity, and interreligious dialogue, engaging with historical and contemporary theological discourse. He has authored and co-authored multiple books and scholarly articles in these fields and has served as an editor for various academic publications on philosophy, theology, and religious studies. Prof. Szczerba completed his undergraduate studies at the Christian Theological Academy in Warsaw (1996) and the Economic Academy in Wrocław (1997). He pursued theological studies in the Netherlands at the Theological Seminary in Amsterdam and in Belgium at the ETF in Leuven. In 2000, he earned his Ph.D. in Patristics from the University of Wrocław and a second Ph.D. (habilitation) in Ancient Philosophy from the same institution in 2009. His scholarly contributions include three books on universal salvation in Greek philosophy and Christian thought and numerous articles on Protestant theology, ancient philosophy, and religious traditions. In 2025, he published In Search of Dignity: Humanity in the Light of Formative Metaphors, a monograph exploring human identity's philosophical and theological dimensions.

Since 2002, Prof. Szczerba has played a key role in theological education and leadership. He served as the Academic Dean of the Evangelical School of Theology before being appointed Rector in 2006. He is the editor-in-chief of Theologica Wratislaviensia and secretary of the Evangelical Union. His commitment to ecumenical dialogue and interreligious engagement is reflected in his involvement with numerous scholarly and practical initiatives. In 2021, he was nominated as chairman of the Foundation of Mutual Respect in Wrocław, Poland, an organization dedicated to fostering mutual understanding. Prof. Szczerba has held research and teaching affiliations with several institutions. Since 2016, he has been a member of the International Doctoral School at “Aurel Vlaicu” University in Arad, Romania. In 2019, he joined the Von Hügel Institute at St. Edmund’s College, University of Cambridge, as a Research and Senior Research Associate. In 2025, he was nominated as a Visiting Fellow at the Duke Center for Reconciliation at Duke University.

His current research analyzes contemporary global challenges—including migration crises, climate change, geopolitical tensions, and the technological revolution—through philosophical theology. His work examines these issues within sociological and historical frameworks, engaging with theological concepts such as Imago Dei, Deus Migrator, Apocatastasis, hospitality, and the theology of the Other. In recognition of his contributions to preserving religious and cultural minority identities, Prof. Szczerba was awarded the Silver Cross of Merit by the President of Poland in 2018.

Academic Profile

Publications

• W. Szczerba. 2025. „The Imago Dei Concept as a Symbol of Human Dignity?” Rocznik Teologiczny 67
• W. Szczerba. 2024. „Post-religious World and Religion: Jürgen Habermas”. Studia Religiologica 57 (1)
• W. Szczerba. 2023. „Knowing the Unknowable: Gregory of Nyssa”. Rocznik Teol. LXV (1)
• W. Szczerba. 2022. „The Concept of Apocatastasis - Human Equality and Inclusion”. Forum Phil. 27 (2)
• W. Szczerba. 2022. „There and back again: freedom in the Plato’s cave”. Forum Phil. 27 (1)

Awards & Recognitions

• 2018, the Polish president awarded Prof. Szczerba the Silver Cross of Merit.

My work focuses on inequalities in education, intergenerational income mobility, and policies to narrow the socio-economic gap in education and the labour market. I am currently working on evaluating the My Village programme delivered by the People’s Action for Learning (PAL) Network.

Yuyan is a Research Associate at the Faculty of Education, working on the evaluation of the My Village programme. Yuyan’s research interests include educational inequalities, social mobility, and policy interventions to reduce socio-economic disparities in education and the labour market. She is an ONS Accredited Researcher, proficient in analysing large longitudinal datasets. Her PhD research focused on intergenerational income mobility in England, exploring the impacts of educational achievement, bursaries, and the COVID-19 pandemic on social mobility.

Academic Profile

My research focuses on contemporary political philosophy in the analytic tradition. I have also worked on moral philosophy, the philosophy of education and medieval political theory.

Paul Weithman is the Glynn Family Honors Professor of Philosophy at Notre Dame, the university from which he received his B.A. in 1981. He earned his Ph.D. at Harvard, where he wrote his dissertation under John Rawls and Judith Shklar. He joined the Notre Dame faculty in 1991. Professor Weithman chaired the Philosophy Department between 2001 and 2007 and currently directs the interdisciplinary minor in Philosophy, Politics and Economics. He serves on the editorial boards of the JOURNAL OF RELIGIOUS ETHICS, THE REVIEW OF POLITICS and POLITICS, PHILOSOPHY AND ECONOMICS. He is a member of the international advisory board of PHILOSOPHY AND PUBLIC ISSUES and is an honorary member of the Brazilian Society for Legal Philosophy. Professor Weithman has won several awards for his teaching. His book RELIGION AND THE OBLIGATIONS OF CITIZENSHIP (Cambridge, 2002), won the annual book award from the North American Society for Social Philosophy. His WHY POLITICAL LIBERALISM (Oxford, 2010) won the David and Elaine Spitz Prize for the best book on liberal democratic theory published in its year. In 2015, Cambridge University Press published a collection of his papers under the title RAWLS, POLITICAL LIBERALISM AND REASONABLE FAITH.

Academic Profile

Awards & Recognitions 

• National Humanities Center Residential Fellowship, 2000
• Annual Book Award from the North American Society for Social Philosophy, 2003
• David and Elaine K. Spitz Prize for the best work of liberal and democratic theory published in 2010
• NEH Grant to host a conference, "A Theory of Justice at Fifty", 2021

My research interests are broadly in areas of EdgeAI, Serverless Computing, Cloud/Edge Computing, Network Resource Orchestration, In-network Computing, Distributed System and IoTs.

Chen is a postdoctoral researcher with the System Research Group, Department of Computer Science and Technology, University of Cambridge. In SRG, Chen works on the EDGELESS project with Professor Richard Mortier, exploring the opportunities for efficient virtualization in small edge devices for serverless computing. Chen is also a Senior Member at St Edmunds College.

Prior to that, Chen received his PhD in Computer Science from Loughborough Univeristy (LU), UK with a full scholarship. Chen received his BEng from Xidian University, Xi’an, China. His research interests are broadly in areas of Serverless Computing, Cloud/Edge Computing, Network Resource Orchestration, In-network Computing, Distributed System and IoTs. His latest work focuses on resource orchestration in serverless edge computing, aiming to optimize the overall performance for the system, including latency, energy consumption and system cost. Chen has extensive experience collaborating with industries such as Siemens, Infineon, EMS-UK, National Physical Lab and many others.

Also, Chen is actively serving as a TPC member and reviewer for many conferences and journals such as ICDCS 2024, IFIP NPC 2024, IEEE MSN 2023, IEEE TSC, Computer Networks, JNCA and etc. Chen also holds an Associate Fellowship of Higher Education Academy.

My research interests lie in health law and ethics, particularly informed consent, doctor-patient relationship, and reproductive ethics widely considered.

Dr Milo is Lecturer in Law at the School of Law, University of Sheffield, where she leads the Health Law Research Group. Before joining Sheffield, she was College Assistant Professor and Fellow in Law at Robinson College-University of Cambridge, and previously Lecturer at the University of Exeter Law School. She holds a PhD in Health Law from Durham Law School; a MA in Bioethics and Medical Law (St Mary’s University-Twickenham); an integrated MA in Law (University of Siena, Italy); and a Diploma in Legal Studies (University of Oxford).

Academic Profile

Fran Baker Kurdi leads Social Impact & Innovation at Arm, a world-leading semiconductor and software design company. Her award-winning work focuses on extending the benefits of technology to the people and areas not currently prioritised in technology development. Working with impact partners on worldwide programmes, from social entrepreneurs to global organisations, Fran drives an impact strategy delivering inclusive innovation where technology can play a role. Fran has a MSt from the University of Cambridge in AI Ethics & Society, receiving a distinction for her work focusing on the sustainability of AI.

In 2020, Fran was selected as the United Nations Global Compact SDG Pioneer UK winner, and in 2022 was selected as one of twenty Global Fellows through the League of Intrapreneurs. In 2024, Fran was a finalist in the Everywoman in technology ‘Tech for Good’ award and has been recognised on the ‘100 Brilliant Women in AI ethics’ list.

I am deeply interested in light-matter interactions, particularly in tiny semiconductors known as Quantum Dots (QDs), which possess intriguing properties for lighting technologies such as LEDs, lasers, and quantum light sources.

Javad completed his undergraduate studies in Chemistry at the University of Tehran, where he undertook a research project under the supervision of Prof. Mohammad Reza Ganjali. He then pursued a PhD at the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) and the University of Genoa, focusing on semiconducting nanocrystals and their optoelectronic properties. Following his PhD, Javad joined the Hyperion ERC project led by Prof. Sam Stranks at the Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, where he researched quantum-confined perovskite nanoplatelets for lighting technologies, including LEDs and quantum lighting, from 2018 to 2022. After completing his postdoctoral research in September 2022, he stepped away from intensive research roles and accepted a position as the EPSRC Programme Grant Manager in the Department of Physics at the University of Cambridge. Although he initially intended to take a brief break of about a year, his plans were disrupted in October 2023, when he tragically lost his mother in an accident. This profound loss had a significant emotional impact, leaving him unable to re-enter the research sector immediately.

Recently, Javad began teaching energy materials courses to MPhil students in the Department of Materials and Physics at the University of Cambridge. He also took on a part-time lecturing role at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge. In 2019, he joined St Edmund’s College, University of Cambridge, initially as a PDRA, and later as a Tutor and Bye-Fellow, providing pastoral support to approximately 40 students each term. He has also delivered several public lectures on his research, making it more accessible to a wider audience and contributing to broader societal benefits. Additionally, Javad is the director of ShamsLab, a consultancy specialising in energy, energy materials, nanotechnology, and quantum technologies, with a focus on tackling the pressing challenges within the energy sector.

At the college, aside from engaging in intellectual discussions with peers and providing pastoral support to students in their academic lives, Javad is keen to explore his interest in understanding the nature of light - something beyond the ripples of the electromagnetic field. This work bridges his expertise with his religion, which to some extent aligns with the philosophy of Ishraq. Inspired by Georges Lemaître, he believes St Edmund’s College is the ideal place to contemplate the connection between science and religion.

Academic Profile

Angela is a former BBC News Editor and Journalism instructor; She has also taught crisis handling at the Institute of Development in Lausanne. Angela now drafts honours nominations and makes podcasts through her business, Cambridge Podcasts. She is a graduate of Lucy Cavendish College.

Angela also volunteers for the NSPCC Schools Service and teaches English as a foreign language to refugees. She enjoys cycling, Ceroc and qi gong.

Her husband Chris is the 16th Master of St Edmund’s College

Alain Tschudin is Professor of Peace Studies and Director of the International Centre of Nonviolence at the Durban University of Technology, South Africa. Prior to this he was Lead Consultant for the United Nations Office of the Special Adviser on Africa on the nexus approach to peace, development, human rights and humanitarian aid to fast-track the implementation of the SDGs in Africa. Alain served as Executive Director of a pan-African NGO dedicated to governance (2015-2020), during which time he was appointed as a Professor in the WITS School of Governance. He has deployed as a humanitarian in emergency coordination with UNICEF in conflict zones in Africa and the Middle-East and was Programme Coordinator for Conflict Transformation and Peace Studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (2011-2014).

Alain has worked extensively with governmental, NGO and multilateral organisations on a range of themes: the social integration and economic participation of immigrants and ethnic minorities using ICT for the European Commission, child protection and migration with Save the Children International, and on xenophobia and refugee trauma. Alain has published diversely, most recently on Africa’s first Nobel Peace Prize winner, Chief Albert Luthuli, on climate action and planetary integrity, public participation for sustainable local peace, and on inter-cultural understanding between partners confronting violent extremisms. He has edited a volume on Gandhian principles Gandhi Now (2020) and a trilogy entitled Extremisms in Africa (2018-2020).

Prof. Tschudin holds a Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Natal, South Africa, completed as a Commonwealth Scholar at the University of Liverpool, an M.Phil. in Theology and Religious Studies and a Ph.D. in Divinity from the University of Cambridge, where he also served as a Swiss Academy Research Fellow. He has been a Visiting Fellow in the Centre on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding at the Graduate Institute in Geneva, Switzerland and was recently appointed as a Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for the Study of the Afterlife of Violence and the Reparative Quest at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. Since his election in 2022, Alain has served in a voluntary capacity as President of the Association Montessori Internationale, the global educational NGO founded by Dr Maria Montessori in 1929.

Lizzie Henderson is Co-Director of The Faraday Institute’s Youth and Schools Programme. Through workshops, books, resources, and educational research Lizzie and the team work to enable young people and their influencers to confidently explore big questions – specifically those regarding science-faith interactions.

Lizzie holds a degree in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge, specialising in Evolutionary and Behavioural Biology, Geology and the History and Philosophy of Science. She has long held a strong interest in the communication and public understanding of the interactions of science and faith and has worked with children and young people in a variety of contexts for many years.

Lizzie has been building the Faraday Institute’s Youth and Schools Programme since 2013 and has seen many thousands of students respond enthusiastically to the combination of hands-on science with honest, dynamic and thought-provoking discussion about science, faith and their interactions. She also consults and advises on several collaborative projects working to develop new, inter-disciplinary approaches to education.

Dr. Elif Çetin is an Associate Professor of International Relations and a Faculty member at the Department of International Relations, Yaşar University (Izmir, Turkey). Additionally, she is a Research Associate at the Von Hügel Institute, St Edmund’s College, University of Cambridge. Since September 2023, she has been the Head of the UNESCO Chair on International Migration at Yaşar University, which is the first and only UNESCO Chair in Turkey that specifically focuses on migration.

Dr. Çetin holds a Ph.D. from the Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Cambridge. She was a visiting scholar at the EUI (Florence) and the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS) (Oxford). Her research interests include politicisation of immigration, political discourse formation, and development of immigration control policies in Europe and beyond. Her publications focus on different dimensions of migration management and control policies.