2022 Rhodes Scholar and Burgmann alumnus | Max Kirkby

What led me to ANU and Burgmann

I had not thought about attending the ANU prior to being awarded a Tuckwell Scholarship in 2018. The community that this scholarship fostered and the educational opportunities it provided made me make the move to Canberra. ANU was also an attractive candidate because it gave me the option of gaining ‘intersectional experience’. That is, the PhB program allowed me to take projects and subjects across multiple diverse fields, such as mathematics, molecular biology and neuroscience, all whilst maintaining a regular degree schedule.

My decision to come to Burgmann was primarily based on the word of several ex-residents, who spoke highly of the College culture. I had a tour in July 2018 and did not really have another preference. It was certainly a decision that I have never looked back from.

About my ANU and Burgmann experiences

I studied a Bachelor of Philosophy (Science) (Honours), also known as the PhB, at the ANU. The research-intensive focus of this degree and the subject breadth that it allowed were the main benefits. Both were highly influential in allowing me to pursue diverse research projects in areas such as innate immunity, synthetic peptide design, retinal degeneration and frontotemporal dementia.

As I will continue to repeat, and is similar at Burgmann, it is the people of the ANU that have made my experience here so enjoyable. As Australia’s National university, it attracts students from all around Australia, and it has been transformational to interact with and learn from these people every day.

I am acutely aware that it is the people that made my Burgmann experience so special. I am particularly thankful for the diverse friendships that I have been able to build across year levels and domains, which complemented my university experience and provided a fantastic social outlet outside of study.

I have viewed my Burgmann journey as an accumulation of scattered experiences that have had a profound impact on my personal and social development. From ISO Sport to various College-wide events, the environment fostered at Burgmann was incredibly beneficial for an undergraduate moving from interstate.

If there was one experience, it would have to be the Doomadgee Burgmann Community Partnership, which ignited my passion for First Nations health and illustrated how far we still have to go with Indigenous affairs in this country. This transformational experience was a highlight of my time at Burgmann, and I could not recommend it enough to other students.

What helped get me here

I wouldn’t have been in this position had it not been for the support network that has helped me along the way. Above all my family, but also the incredibly strong friendships that I have been lucky to gain from the Tuckwell program and Burgmann College. There are too many to thank properly, but a special thank you to fellow Tuckwells and Burgmann ex-residents Charlie O’Neill, Grace Underhill, Ellie Randall and Laura Ferguson for all they have done and continue to put up with.

Plans for the future

I am planning to study a DPhil in clinical neurosciences at Oxford. Specifically, I am interested in the neural networks that govern our processing of different types of information and how these may break down in neurodegenerative disease.

My career goal is to solve a multitude of neurodegenerative diseases and find a cure for these pathologies. Although I hope that my research will go a long way to achieving this, I realise that this goal is too big to solve on my own. In the future, I am looking at running a diverse research team/institute that spans multiple disciplines, and that will work synergistically to tackle this enormous problem facing Australia and the rest of the world.

Congratulations, Max! We are thrilled for you and wish you every success for the future.