Victorian Rhodes Scholarship win for Melbourne neuroscience student

University of Melbourne graduate Kristijan Jovanoski has been awarded this year’s Victorian Rhodes Scholarship to study at the University of Oxford in the 2014 northern academic year.

Mr Jovanoski is currently studying for a Masters of Philosophy degree in Quantum Physics at the University of Melbourne, and gained a Bachelor of Biomedical Science (Honours) in 2012. He hopes to pursue a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Neuroscience at Oxford. 

Mr Jovanoski, who counts Macedonian, Classical Latin, Ancient Greek and French among his languages, has nurtured a fascination for biology and understanding the intricacies of the human body since he was a child, and says visiting Macedonia and meeting elderly members of his extended family who were suffering dementia stirred his passion for exploring ‘minds’.

“The brain may ultimately distinguish our species, but it also feels as though we know more about the distant stars than about what lies within our own minds.  Since the brain only serves as the wellspring of consciousness and identity while an individual is alive, it’s notoriously difficult to unravel its mysteries,” he says.  “As an undergraduate, my first taste of cutting-edge research involved characterising the neuronal control of mouse intestinal contractions and it was staggering to see how much controversy existed on this topic alone.”

In his current research project, Mr Jovanoski is attempting to determine whether the quantum optics underlying nitrogen-treated diamonds can detect the tiny magnetic fields generated by individual brain cells. 

“If this is possible, then it would be a world-first and could open the door to using this technology in the brains of mice and maybe even humans in the long term,” he says.  “As a neuroscientist, I hope to pioneer similar innovations but I would first need to develop a deeper appreciation of the fundamental problems in my field. The Rhodes Scholarship is a wonderful next step in that direction, and I feel both humbled and privileged to have received it.”

Congratulating Mr Jovanoski on the scholarship, Honorary Secretary of the Victorian Rhodes Scholarship Selection Committee Professor James Angus, from the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, at the University of Melbourne, praised all of the applicants for the Scholaship for their strong commitment to engaging young people with the urgent problems facing the world and to making a difference in and beyond Australia.

“The Selection Committee was thoroughly impressed with all of the applicants for this year’s Victorian Rhodes Scholarship, and we commend them for their achievements so far. I’m also encouraged by their belief in their own abilities and those of their peers to address endemic and entrenched problems, whether political, diplomatic or medical.

“I wish them all well as they pursue their dreams and put their educational, professional and community achievements to date to the best use possible.  Kristijan has demonstrated a commitment to his study and a passion for change, and is a deserving recipient of this great opportunity to be stretched and inspired by Oxford’s intellectually stimulating environment.”