Celebrating Success: Duncan Laurie

This is the fourth article in our 2019 news series celebrating high performing Pembroke undergraduate students and recent alumni in their examinations.

Duncan Laurie (MMath Mathematics, 2015) recently completed his fourth year at Pembroke achieving a first-class degree and coming top in his course. We caught up with him to congratulate him on his recent success. Here he talks about studying Maths at Pembroke and how he took advantage of our fully-funded Rokos Awards for research internships, which subsequently went on to inspire his fourth year dissertation.

"I’ve absolutely loved studying Maths at Pembroke. There is a wonderful sense of community among students and tutors alike, which has been incredibly important over the course of my degree and helped make these last four years so fun!

Following a strong mathematical foundation in the first two years, students are able to choose all their 3rd and 4th year modules. I decided on a split between pure maths and probability, resulting in a personalised course that always felt fresh and interesting.

Last summer I completed a Rokos internship on lambda rings with Damian Rössler, a Pembroke Maths Fellow. Getting stuck into a topic outside of an exam-driven context greatly influenced my decision to do a 4th year dissertation and gave me invaluable experience in writing a (hopefully!) comprehensible paper! The summer project definitely spurred me on going into my final year - I highly recommend doing one.

I think the key to performing at your best is a healthy work-life balance, and Pembroke provides countless opportunities to get involved in college life and have fun with your friends – this is a fantastic place to be!"