Linus Schumacher - Natural Sciences (Physical)

Linus went to school in Münster, Germany and did his A-levels (Abitur) in Further Maths, English, Physics and History. While applying to Universities abroad, he took some courses at the local University in Biology and Physics, but soon decided that Natural Sciences at Cambridge would be a better match for his interdisciplinary interests.

‘In my first year, I started off studying physics and physiology together with the most advanced maths option that the Natural Sciences Tripos provided, for which I received great encouragement and support of the Directors of Studies at St John's. Whilst the mock exams halfway through my first year did not look promising, I managed firsts in the end and continued to read double physics and maths while dropping in on some of the neurobiology lectures. I concentrated on physics in my third and fourth years, but kept up my interest in biology through various summer research internships, some of which were made possible through the support at St John's, such as the excellent exchange scheme that allowed me to spend a summer at the California Institute of Technology.

Outside the curriculum, I was involved in the College's film society, the University's Physics society and even started some acting in my final year.

I am now doing a PhD in Mathematical Biology in Oxford and I hope to stay in academia afterwards. Being at a different college now, I appreciate all the more how well run and supportive St John's was as a college, not just financially.'

- Linus Schumacher, 2013