Warmest congratulations to Minja Axelsson, who has been awarded the first Clare Hall Doctoral Prize Studentship. The studentship was newly established to provide follow-on funding for students who have submitted their PhD thesis to progress in publishing peer-reviewed papers, or the production of a monograph based on their thesis, for a duration of six months. It is open to any subject area, and Minja’s proposal was selected as the strongest of an exciting batch of eminently awardable applications.

Minja has recently submitted her PhD thesis, “Robotic Mental Well-being Coaches: Design and Deployment”. This work has examined the design of robotic well-being coaches, together with users and professional coaches, as well as investigated their deployment at a workplace in Cambridge. The work aims to contribute toward the future design and deployment of robots that could help promote our well-being. 

The Clare Hall Doctoral Prize Studentship will enable me to continue drafting and submitting publications that have arisen out of this work, as well as from my work at MIT as a visiting student. The Studentship will play a key role in helping me further build my academic career and prepare for future career stages, and I’m very grateful for that! This wonderful opportunity reflects my experience of Clare Hall, where the college is a warm and encouraging environment for students, supporting us in our ambitions and academic journey.

-Minja Axelsson

The next round of the Clare Hall Doctoral Prize Studentship will be open to applications in April, and details will be posted in due course.