Prizes awarded to Christ Church Philosophy finalists

Keya read Psychology, Philosophy and Linguistics (PPL), and received a prize for completing the best final-year research project in PPL this year. Reflecting on her studies, she said: ‘I’ve enjoyed being able to study a broad variety of topics ranging from Indian philosophical ethics to neural networks to social neuroscience, which my final-year research project focused on.’ In the lauded project, ‘Learning Others' Changing Preferences in Social Exchange’, Keya used a social trading task to investigate how people learn others’ subjective preferences.

Responding to news of her award, Keya said: ‘I was honoured and definitely surprised! I'm incredibly grateful to everyone who made the project possible, especially my supervisor Fabian Grabenhorst, Tavish Traut, and my friends who heard more than their fair share about social trading this past year!’

Oliver studied Philosophy and Modern Languages (PML) and was awarded the David Gibbs Prize for the strongest performance in the Philosophy papers sat by this year’s cohort of PML finalists. Discussing what he enjoyed during his undergraduate studies, he said: ‘I’ve always been drawn to continental-style thought in philosophy, and I’ve been able to scratch that itch in both sides of my degree – particularly loving studying Heidegger on the philosophy side, and Barthes for a Literature paper. I surprised myself, though, with how much I enjoyed philosophy of social science: a topic which for me allows you to step out of the ivory tower much better than political philosophy, whilst remaining really theoretically interesting.’

Oliver was delighted to receive the 2025 David Gibbs Prize: ‘Philosophy has been a passion of mine for many years, inspired by incredible teachers and tutors, so I’m super grateful to them, and very proud to finish off my academic career with this prize!’

Asked about their post-graduation plans, both Keya and Oliver expressed their desire to continue their studies. Keya hopes to build up a few years of work experience before pursuing a PhD. Oliver, on the other hand, will continue producing his successful podcast, Critical Edge, which he began during his time at Christ Church, and intends to take up a masters degree in France before embarking on a career in journalism. 

The Christ Church community warmly congratulates Keya and Oliver on their achievements, and wishes them every success in their future endeavours.