Rhodes Trust

Schmidt Science Fellows: Growing a lifelong community of interdisciplinary scientists: Building on the success of its Senior Fellows Conference in Chicago in 2023, the Program staged its inaugural Interdisciplinary Science Summit in 2024. In association with the University of Toronto, the event continued its purpose of strengthening bonds between Fellows but included expanded engagement with the broader research and innovation sector. This culminated with a showcase event with guests from science, academic leadership, policy, and industry connected with the mission to advance interdisciplinary science. Identifying and selecting top scientific talent from around the globe: In May 2024, the Program announced its 2024 Schmidt Science Fellows; 32 exceptionally talented early-career researchers representing 17 nationalities nominated by 26 of the world's leading institutions. This year, four new institutions saw nominated candidates selected as Fellows for the first time: Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore; Nanyang Technological University, Singapore; Max Planck Society, Germany; and University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong. , Training and developing science-leaders: A central component of the Fellowship is the commitment to developing leadership and it continued to strengthen and evolve its Science Leadership Program. The 12- month schedule consists of three week-long residential convenings held in some of the world's leading research locations, supported by additional online programming. In 2023/24 convenings were held in Oxford, Northern California and Toronto. Highlights included sessions with two Nobel Prize winners. In association with Times Higher Education, the Program launched a major new initiative in November 2023, the first global Interdisciplinary Science Rankings. This work will showcase the very best practices from institutions across the world and has transformational potential for interdisciplinary science. The first Interdisciplinary Ranking is set to be announced in November 2024 at an Interdisciplinary Science Forum, bringing together the sector to explore how to best encourage interdisciplinary science.

Atlantic Institute: During the year to June 2024, the Institute organized 21 convenings, including several in-person events, in nine countries across five continents. More than 1,000 people attended, 600 in person, of which 406 were Atlantic Fellows, and 400 virtually, of which 374 were Fellows. Other attendees included Rhodes Scholars and representatives from other partnership organizations. At the Global Atlantic Fellows Annual Convening 2023, 169 Fellows and 29 staff gathered from across the programs at Rhodes House. This event includes a welcome ceremony for the newest cohorts of Fellows who completed their Atlantic Fellows program. The Atlantic Institute helps build relationships and strengthen connections between Atlantic Fellows staff at sites worldwide. One of the highlights was convening 100 staff from across the seven programs in Vietnam in March 2024, in Da Nang, a city close to the heart of the late philanthropist and founder of The Atlantic Philanthropies, Chuck Feeney. The Atlantic Institute's focus on Africa is growing, and in Nairobi, Kenya, the Institute hosted the first Atlantic Fellows' 'Africa Regional Convening: Transforming Africa for Collective Prosperity'. The event served as a platform to connect Fellows with partners like the Rhodes Trust, the Africa Oxford Initiative, and the University of Cape Town. The Institute awarded 90 grants totaling more than £860k, which have improved the lives and conditions of people in communities experiencing significant health and social inequalities. The XR Lab ('Extended Reality'), opened by the Institute at Rhodes House, has received over 800 visitors, 199 of which are affiliated to the Rhodes Trust. The Lab has also hosted two residencies, supported XR projects following an open call for proposals from Fellows, and launched an XR loan scheme. This year, visitors to the XR Lab have been able to experience "GAWI," a virtual reality film about the climate crisis, created by Atlantic Fellow Myriam Hernandez with the Raramuri, an Indigenous community from Northern Mexico. 3 Norham Gardens (named "Kopanong' - a Maori word meaning 'gathering place for diverse languages'), hosted multiple residencies and continued to act as a home away from home for the Atlantic Fellows community and partners, including Rhodes, Schmidt Science Fellows, and RISE.

During the year, The Rhodes Trust continued its partnership with The Mandela Rhodes Foundation (MRF). MRF provides young leaders from across the continent with a one- to two-year scholarship to study at Universities in South Africa and to participate in a residential leadership development program. The second cohort of 102 Global Winners from 47 countries attended a 2 week residential programme in London and Oxford from 25th July to 8th August 2023. The delegates enjoyed a comprehensive programme of events including 115 guest speakers and expert talks (many of which were given by Rhodes Scholars and representatives of our partner organisations). The event was supported by 70 staff from 17 countries, including 16 Rhodes Scholars. Following a virtual selection process and a candidate final review taking place over 2 days by the Rise Program Joint Committee, the third cohort of 100 Winners from 43 countries was announced on 4" October 2023. Rise received over 14,000 registrations from 154 countries in the initial selection round.