Rhodes Scholarships for UCT graduates

Off to Oxford: Front, Jessica Auerbach, Bonolo Mathebela and Garikai Nyaruwata, and, back, Bronwyn Tarr and Vitaliy Volonkov are five of UCT's seven Rhodes Scholarships recipients.

Seven UCT graduates have scooped prestigious Rhodes Scholarships, which takes them to Oxford University in the UK to continue their studies in 2009. UCT picked up six of the 10 scholarships awarded to South Africans, with the seventh graduate hailing from Zimbabwe. Winners of the Rhodes scholarships, which cover all living, travel and academic expenses, are:

Jess Aurbach graduated with a Bachelor of Social Sciences (Honours) in anthropology and English, and is the recipient of a South Africa-at-Large Scholarship. She will continue her studies in forced migration in 2009. She says: "There is a real sense of directing Rhodes' legacy towards the strengthening of democracy now, and it's a great privilege to be part of that."

Simon Franklin graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours), and is the recipient of the Bishops Scholarship. He will begin his master's in economics in 2009.

Nicholas Friedman graduated with an LLB and is the recipient of the SACS Scholarship. He is currently working at the Constitutional Court and doing an LLM part-time through UCT. In 2009, he begins his Phd in legal philosophy. "I think that for all people who get the scholarship, it marks the beginning of an exciting career, rather than the culmination of one," he says.

Bonolo Mathibela graduated with a Bachelor of Science in mechatronics engineering, and is the recipient of a South Africa-at-Large Scholarship. She plans to continue her studies in robotics in 2009. She says: "I look forward to using the skills I will acquire, and those that I already have, in order to play my part in building the African continent."

Garikai Nyaruwatya graduated with a Bachelor of Business Science and is the recipient of the Zimbabwe Scholarship. He will begin his MSc in economics in 2009.

Bronwyn Tarr graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in natural zoology and is the recipient of the St Andrew's Scholarship. She begins her master's in environmental change and management in 2009.

Vitaliy Volonkov graduated with a Bachelor of Business Science, and is the recipient of the Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia and Swaziland Scholarship. He will do his MSc in both economics for development and financial economics.