Our team
A passionate team of volunteers, researchers, students, and professionals — supported by trustees and advisors — working together to widen access to education.
Our people
Researchers, students and professionals from UCL and beyond who design and deliver our teaching, mentoring and outreach.
11 people
Postdoctoral Research Fellow · Francis Crick Institute
Safe is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Francis Crick Institute. Alongside his research, he is actively involved in STEM outreach and widening participation initiatives, and is a co-founder of Bridging the Future.
Research Fellow, London Centre for Nanotechnology
Massimiliano (Max) is a Research Fellow at the London Centre for Nanotechnology working on using diamond to make sensors. He first helped with the summer school.
Social researcher · Science team
Muslihah is a social researcher, working on projects relating to social equalities and education. She is part of the Science team and has been teaching IT lessons.
Biophysics PhD student, LCN
Guillermo is a Biophysics PhD student at the London Centre for Nanotechnology working on immunological synapses and pore-forming protein assembly.
Software Engineer · IT & Web Coordinator
Fakeha is a Software Engineering graduate and website developer with experience in web design, user experience and AI. She supports Bridging the Future as the IT & Web Coordinator, managing and improving the charity’s website, digital presence and technical infrastructure.
Mathematics undergraduate, UCL
Zeynep is a Mathematics undergraduate student at UCL and wants to pursue a career in Audit. Zeynep was part of the summer school in 2022.
Physics undergraduate, UCL
Ceren is a Physics undergraduate student at UCL and wants to pursue a career in interdisciplinary research. Ceren was part of the summer school in 2022 and 2023.
Physics PhD student, LCN & ISIS
Jack is a Physics PhD student in the London Centre for Nanotechnology and ISIS Neutron and Muon Source. His research involves enhancing the memory of computers.
Neuroscience undergraduate, UCL
Safiye is an undergraduate student studying neuroscience at UCL. She first got involved with BTF as a summer school participant in 2022, an experience that played a big part in her journey.
Engineering PhD student · Session coordinator
Kieran is an Engineering PhD student in the London Centre for Nanotechnology working on diamond electronics for environmental sensing. First volunteering during the 2023/24 summer school and mentoring scheme, he is now pleased to be part of the 2024 operations team as the session coordinator.
Engineering PhD student, LCN · Photography & media
Yifang is an Engineering PhD student at the London Centre for Nanotechnology, UCL, where his research focuses on spintronic devices for memory applications. He joined Bridging the Future in 2024 and supports the team through his photography and media work, helping us capture and share the stories behind our programmes.
This year
The coordinating team who ran the 2025 summer school on the ground at UCL.
5 people
Operations team
Jack did his integrated master’s degree at UCL, where he worked on Ionic Liquid Ion Sources. Jack is excited to be a part of the operations team for the 2025 summer school.
Coordinating team
Helena is a Physics undergraduate student studying at UCL and wants to pursue a career in the energy sector. She is excited to join BTF’s coordinating team for the 2025 summer school, eager to help others achieve their aspirations and contribute to their success.
Physics MSc graduate
Jonah is a recent master’s graduate in Physics. In collaboration with UCL he is currently working on a paper that aims to assess the impacts of large language models (LLMs) in physics education and explore potential methods to integrate them into science pedagogy.
Operations team
Sueda holds a bachelor’s degree in English Language and Literature and has work experience in event and brand management, procurement, logistics, and accounting. Having recently relocated to London, she is enthusiastic about getting involved in local community initiatives and making meaningful connections.
Electrical & Electronic Engineering undergraduate, UCL
Zehra is an undergraduate student at UCL, studying Electrical & Electronic Engineering. Her experience at the BTF summer school in 2023 was a turning point that helped her discover what she wanted to study. Now, having found her passion, she’s excited and hopeful to support others who are in the same position she once was.
Governance
Our board holds the charity to its mission and oversees governance, finance and safeguarding.
Chair of Trustees
Nick Nicolaou is an Associate Professor (Teaching) and co-Departmental Undergraduate Tutor for the Department of Physics and Astronomy, UCL. As part of the AMOPP research group at UCL, Nick was awarded his PhD in Physics, studying linear and non-linear excited state dynamics in novel optical chromophores. He then worked as a Research Associate for five years, collaborating with Cancer Research UK, Illumina Inc’ and The National Heart and Lung Institute. In 2013, Nick switched to a teaching focused career within higher education and has since led on a number of widening participation initiatives. He is currently the Departmental Lead for In2Research and is also developing an international scholarship programme with the Department of Physics, University of Liberia.
Trustee
Daniel was born in Albania and moved to the UK as a child and grew up in east London. He went to study Theoretical Physics at UCL graduating in 2015 and then went on to do a PhD in Theoretical Biophysics under the supervision of Prof. Guillaume Charras at UCL and LCN, where he studied the dynamics of cell competition. After graduating from his PhD, Daniel left academia to become a quant at a hedge fund. He has been actively involved in the charity from its inception, organising events, running workshops, classes and more crucially supporting young stars. In his spare time he enjoys playing football and is a massive Man Utd fan.
Trustee
Sara is a financial services professional, currently working at IHS Markit (which is in the process of being merged with S&P Global) within the field of corporate governance advisory. She has a background in journalism and communications, and she has used this experience to assist Bridging the Future with their marketing materials and branding. Sara’s interests include education, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG), and sustainability within the finance and fashion industries.
Treasurer
Jack O’neil is an actuary at the Government Actuary’s Department in London, working on pension scheme valuations and reserving for the NHS resolution fund. He is looking forward to using his financial services experience to assist the charity.
Governance
Advisor to Bridging the Future
Raphaëla Armbruster is the Coordinator of Admissions for UCL’s International Foundation course at pre-undergraduate level, the Undergraduate Preparatory Certificate (UPC). She designed the Bowman Scholarship, which launched in March 2021 and offers two students from forced migration backgrounds a full tuition fee waiver to join the UPC, on either the Sciences and Engineering or the Humanities and Social Sciences pathway and then access UG studies at top UK universities. Since 2016, she has been involved in the Refuge in a Moving World Education network and in several projects at UCL (Pathways to Education for Women Migrants, We Are Movers, Science and English Summer School). She has also worked as an educational mentor for Refugee Education UK. She studied Poetry and Sociolinguistics at the Sorbonne University in France and her postgraduate research focused on the acquisition of bi- and multilingualism in international school contexts.
With thanks
People who have given their time, expertise or support to Bridging the Future along the way.
Should you be on this page? Write to contact@bridgingthefuture.org.
Join us
Undergraduates, postgraduates, PhD students, postdoctoral researchers and educators in STEM or language teaching — we would like to hear from you.
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