UCL undergraduates chosen as Millennium Fellows 2023–24

Run by the Millennium Campus Network (MCN) and United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI), the Millennium Fellowship Scheme is an international leadership development programme through which undergraduate students help to further the SDGs in their communities.

The application process for the Class of 2024 was very competitive. From 52,000+ applicants from 6,000+ campuses across the world, 280+ campuses (just 5%) have been selected to host 4,000+ Millennium Fellows in 2024. We’re proud to also announce that UCL secured the most Millennium Fellows of any UK university for the fourth year running.

The 2023–24 UCL Millennium Fellows are:

• Jiayi Wang
• Gabrielle Shao
• Danqi Tan
• Lincoln Cheng
• Anoushka Jain
• Manon Ring
• Callie Hou
• Junzhe Gu
• Yuqiao Deng
• Heechan Lee
• Madhavi Gerbitz
• Faiqh Bakri
• Yilin Wang
• Edwin To
• Georges Schmitz
• Anna Maria Hadjipanayiotou
• Chun Chow
• Tiffany Osibanjo
• Anjali Raman-Middleton
• Hilary Tang

Edwin To, UCL’s Department of Economics, is working on Project DEI and Social Mobility and addresses SDG 10 (Reduced Inequality). “Our project intends to help those from disadvantaged and diverse backgrounds gain access to fundamental training and a 'foot inside the door' of the most competitive industries such as investment banking, law and consulting.' 

Manon Ring, School of Slavonic and East European Studies (UCL’s Faculty of Arts and humanities), is creating an interactive app for adult learners in England, where one in six adults lack basic literacy and numeracy skills as per the OECD (2012). It will feature a personal AI tutor to provide personal feedback, and offer a professional certificate upon completion, aiming to boost user confidence and facilitating their competitiveness in the job market. This project will address SDG 4 (Quality education).

“Education liberates the intellect and plays a pivotal role in empowering individuals to use their own understanding to make decisions. It helps them nurture a clear sense of self and understand their rights and responsibilities.”

Tiffany Abbam-Osibanjo, UCL History, is working on a roundtable, half day event that will focus on quality of life for women and girls. This will look at health, education, economic power and increasing these three without the risk of violence. Targeting SDG 5 (Gender Equality) in conjunction with SDGs 3 (Good Health and Wellbeing), 4 (Quality Education) and 8 (Decent Work and Growth), she said: 

“Everyone should have a decent quality of life. Many agree with this sentiment but access to key services and vital care is often a challenge to those who need it most. Women and girls make up 50% of our population but are often treated as an afterthought. By prioritising research into preventable women's health relates issues and creating more programmes allowing women to access basic education, we can close the gap in both the developed and developing world giving everyone, irrespective of gender, the chance to live a life of decent quality though education, health and economic power.” 

Simon Knowles, UCL’s Head of Coordination (SDGs) said:

“The repeated success of our students is testament to the importance the student community place on the SDGs and their enthusiasm for addressing them. I congratulate the Fellows on their success and wish them luck with their projects over the coming year. I look forward to seeing how they contribute to achieving the SDGs.”

The selective Fellowship is a semester-long leadership development program that convenes, challenges, and celebrates student leadership to help achieve UN goals. As part of the application process, students propose a project they will undertake during the scheme, which runs annually from August to December.

Successful applicants form cohorts on their campus, meeting throughout their tenure to share best practice on their individual projects or work together on larger initiatives.