KU nominates student, alumna for Rhodes international scholarships
LAWRENCE — A recent graduate and a current senior at the University of Kansas will compete for prestigious Rhodes Scholarships specifically for international students to pursue graduate study in the United Kingdom.
Recent graduate Aylar Atadurdyyeva has been endorsed for the Rhodes Global Scholarship, and senior Navya Singh has been endorsed for the Rhodes India Scholarship. Both awards provide funding for one to three years of study at the University of Oxford. Regional panels review applications for both programs, and finalists are invited to participate in interviews between September and November.
The Office of Fellowships, a unit of Academic Success, coordinates KU's endorsement process and supports candidates with their applications. Students interested in applying for these awards in future years are encouraged to contact the office by email at fellowships@ku.edu. Depending on other eligibility requirements, students may apply for these awards as graduating seniors or recent graduates.
KU students have previously won 27 Rhodes Scholarships.
Navya Singh is the daughter of Suman and Raju Singh. She is a senior in biochemistry on the pre-medicine track. An international student from Chandigarh, India, Singh’s academic interests include drug development, global health and medicinal chemistry. She plans to focus her graduate studies on the intersection of drug development and public health. At KU, Singh has served as the president of the Association of Indian Students, bringing together more than 200 students for each of the organization’s events. She also served as a student ambassador for the Center for Sexuality & Gender Diversity, where she performed research to write a history of the center while organizing initiatives to increase affordable health care access for queer and trans students. Additional leadership roles include being an honors seminar assistant and ambassador, vice president of Global Jayhawks, director of service for Honors Community Advocates and academic chair for alpha Kappa Delta Phi International Sorority. Singh has also conducted significant research including designing hyaluronic acid-deferoxamine hydrogels for local treatment of bone regeneration and analyzing mating behavior of Drosophila suzukii flies.
Aylar Atadurdyyeva is the daughter of Abdyrahym Atadurdyyev and Bagty Atadurdyyeva. She is a recent graduate in microbiology, global & international studies, political science and Slavic languages & literatures with minors in German studies and psychology. An international student from Turkmenistan, Atadurdyyeva plans a career in global public health to develop health research and apply it through education and policy interventions. Atadurdyyeva's primary interests involve understanding and combating antimicrobial resistance, particularly in Central Asia and other regions in which health outcomes are impaired by social factors like policy and health access. She was selected as a Key into Public Service Scholar by the Phi Beta Kappa Society and has won the RWJ Scholars Award, Mai Anh Do & David Nguyen Foundation Scholarship and Laird Essay Award. In addition, her record of service to KU and the Lawrence community has been widely acknowledged through her work with the KU Homecoming Steering Committee, International Student Association and University Honors Program, for which she served as an ambassador and seminar assistant. Atadurdyyeva was also the executive director of The Big Event and director of finance and partnerships of Student Union Activities. Additionally, she was named the KU Student Employee of the Year as well as the State of Kansas Student Employee of the Year in 2022 for her work in the Office of Graduate Studies. Most recently, Atadurdyyeva was one of two students to receive the KU Class of 1913 award, and she was recognized as the 2023 Outstanding International Woman Student.