About Surrey Black Scholars
The purpose of the Surrey Black Scholars Programme is to provide Black British students with the resources, support and environment necessary to achieve excellence and pursue rich and rewarding careers after graduation. Our sustainable initiatives build a pipeline for all Black students, enhance researchers’ experience and provide a specialised career boost. We are improving our inclusive culture and race equity at Surrey to benefit our whole postgraduate community.
This multicomponent programme comprises:
- Our fully-funded ‘Surrey Black Scholars’ package (summer school, mentoring, placement opportunities, teaching qualifications, tailored career advice)
- An internship scheme for Black undergraduates
- A range of mentoring opportunities from Black, Asian and minority ethnic postgraduate students and academics
- Race equity training and inclusive supervisor training for staff
- Inclusive researcher development training
- External speaker series with Black academics and networking events
Our Black British students are joining a world-class, research-led University at an exciting time. We provide innovative and world-class doctoral training, with an outstanding research environment that connects supervisors, doctoral researchers, and research support staff within a multi-disciplinary approach, making the University of Surrey the ideal place to start a research career.
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Meet the Team
Eden Anin-Adjei, Surrey Black Scholars Race Equity Research Fellow
Eden Anin-Adjei was a Race Equity Research Fellow at the University of Surrey, managing key initiatives within the ‘Surrey Black Scholars’ programme. Alongside this role, she is a PhD student in Government at the University of Essex. Her interdisciplinary research integrates political science and diaspora studies to explore how ethnicity, culture, and religion shape the political behaviour of British African communities in the UK.
Dr. Ruan Elliott, Project Lead
Ruan Elliott is University of Surrey’s Dean of the Doctoral College and Associate Professor in Nutrition within the School of Biosciences. His research interests include nutritional modulation of DNA damage:repair, application of functional genomic techniques in nutrition, defining optimal micronutrient intakes, and modeling homeostatic mechanisms
Nadia Lowe, PMP, Surrey Black Scholar Research Assistant
Nadia Lowe is an Environmental Psychologist and certified Project Management Professional (PMP), recently graduating with a masters from the University of Surrey. Her research interests include human and environmental well-being, change management, cultural immersion, participatory research, and arts-based research methodology.
Dr. Jeremiah Olusola, Surrey Black Scholars Race Equity Research Fellow
Jeremiah Olusola is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, currently at the University of Surrey and formerly at Cardiff Metropolitan University. His research interests surround the sociology of Education, British multiculturalism, race, Islamic epistemology and religious conversion.
Dr. Janet Ramdeo, Senior Research Advisor
Janet Ramdeo is an Associate Professor and experienced teacher educator, having worked in a variety of academic and programme leadership roles in universities across London and Cambridge in the UK. She has also worked to improve inclusive education more broadly, affecting university policy and practices. Janet focuses her research on the lived experiences of minority ethnic groups within educational contexts.
Professor Emily Williams, Original Principal Investigator
Emily Williams is Professor of Diversity, Development and Inclusion within the Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine, King’s College London. Emily is a social epidemiologist whose research has focussed on ethnic health inequalities in long-term conditions and healthcare access, and more recently on ethnic inequalities in educational outcomes. Emily is passionate about addressing educational inequalities in higher education and led the development and implementation of the Melting the Snowy White Peaks and Surrey Black Scholars programmes, aimed at improving representation, experience and outcomes for racially minoritised students and dismantling structural inequalities within higher education.
For any inquiries, please contact SBSLegacy@surrey.ac.uk
