Two Pakistan winners headed to Oxford
Pakistan has two new Rhodes Scholars for the 2027 intake. Hafsa Qureshi, studying at COMSATS University Islamabad, and Rafia Imran, from the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), will take up postgraduate places at the University of Oxford.
Qureshi aims to work in Genomic Medicine—research that links DNA and health—while Imran plans Social Data Science, which uses data methods on social questions. Both are due in Oxford in October 2027, when they will sit alongside more than a hundred peers drawn from many countries under the same fellowship.
How competitive the Pakistan round was
Candidates came from campuses inside Pakistan and from overseas. Interest surged: submissions for this cycle more than doubled compared with the previous year, and fewer than one percent of applicants were chosen. That puts the national Rhodes pathway among the hardest funded routes to graduate study available here.
A shortlist of ten reached face-to-face interviews. Those finalists represented Adelphi University, Bard College, COMSATS, LUMS and Quaid-i-Azam University. The panel mixed senior academics with leaders from other professions and assessed them after an earlier paper-based filter.
What the national secretary said
Prof Ali Cheema, who serves as National Secretary for Rhodes Scholarships in Pakistan, praised both the calibre and the spread of this year’s field. He called the jump in applications a good sign of ambition among young Pakistanis, and said the harder task now is making sure able students from every kind of campus and background can still enter the contest.
The Rhodes award funds advanced study at Oxford and links scholars into a worldwide network that emphasises public contribution after graduation. For these two winners, the next steps are programme enrolment and arrival in Britain in autumn 2027.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Do Pakistani students ne Oxford ke liye Rhodes Scholarship jeet li hai. Hafsa Qureshi Genomic Medicine parhein gi aur Rafia Imran Social Data Science. Is saal applications bohot barh gaye, lekin 100 mein se ek se kam select hue. October 2027 mein woh Oxford jaayein gi.
