University of Oxford

"When I decided to take up the offer to study Human Sciences at St Hugh’s College, I was, above all, hedging my bets: Having had a number of interests in biological as well as social issues, I wasn’t going to give up either field. After three years I was eventually swayed towards the natural sciences and I will shortly begin a PhD in evolutionary genomics at Bath University. But I wouldn’t want to have missed the opportunity to encounter the diverse range of styles of thinking which the Human Sciences syllabus has to boast. Academic matters aside, I could hardly have wished for a more socially intimate course where forming friendships across college boundaries was exceptionally easy. "

"Since graduating last summer, I'm now doing a masters course in Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, a favourite migration destination for all human scientist's (including two others from my year, although not on my course). The course has been fun, although I've been missing the breadth and sheer interest factor of human sciences - which helped inspire a 'Human Sciences Book Club' which some other students from my year and I have recently set up, in order to help all of us keep in touch with our multi-disciplinary roots (and with each other). I'm now also in the process of applying for funding for a PhD next year looking at how neighbourhood deprivation, social capital and ethnicity affect children's mental health in Britain..suitably enough, the current grant I'm writing is for the ESRC/MRC interdisciplinary research studentship, in which application I like to think that my human sciences degree will be decisive - after all, who could say no to a humsci?!"

"Since graduating in 1999 I have worked in marketing and communications for a number of clients and agencies. Starting with a small marketing agency called JJ Marketing just outside Oxford I then moved to Red Bull in London heading up their product marketing team in the UK. Interested in how my work experience in marketing and communications could be used to influence social issues (many of which I had come across in Human Sciences). I then moved to work for a grassroots marketing agency that used public and private funds to change the lives of young people through activity programmes ranging from teaching nursery children in areas of deprivation about nature to helping bring ICT teaching to life by setting up a music video film academy. Then in 2006 I started work as Head of Communications for Tomorrow's Company. The organisation is working to create a future for business that makes equal sense to staff, shareholders and society. We are currently working on a major international inquiry involving business and civil society into the role of global business in society. I found Human Sciences opened my eyes to so many areas of interest and it had such a broad scope that I always find myself dipping back into what I learnt and my experiences from the course."

"My first project after Oxford was a Master’s degree in sustainable development at Forum for the Future. During the course, I spent time in local and national government, business, finance, an NGO and a media organisation to find out how different sectors of society can contribute to a more sustainable future. After graduating, I joined Futerra a small communications company that specialises in sustainable development and corporate social responsibility. I am now a director of Futerra, helping to shape the development of the company as it grows and working on a diverse range of communications projects. My current assignments include: communicating one of Shell’s social investment programmes to small businesses; helping a tiny London charity to measure its impact on the habits of teenagers; advising the UK government on how to engage the public on climate change; and hitting the festival circuit with Futerra’s confessional booth for ecological sins. Whatever I’m doing, I find myself drawing on my training as a Human Scientist. The course provided the perfect foundation for me to pursue a career based on doing what I love and making a difference."