Two Cambridge Natural Sciences students, Jeremy Zheng and Phoebe Bintoro, have been awarded national British Society for Plant Pathology (BSPP) prizes for their outstanding achievements in plant pathology.
The annual BSPP awards recognise exceptional undergraduate performance across the UK, with winners chosen through a blind review of university nominations. Participating institutions nominate top students across two categories: the BSPP Prize for Best Undergraduate Research in Plant Pathology and the BSPP Prize for Examination Performance in Plant Pathology.
While Cambridge students have won individual categories in previous years, this marks the first time students from the University of Cambridge have secured both national prizes in the same year.
The BSPP Prize for Examination Performance was awarded to Jeremy (Xiaoyou) Zheng, who studied Part IB Plant and Microbial Sciences last year and achieved exceptionally high marks in both the plant pathology components and his overall Part IB examinations.
The BSPP Prize for Undergraduate Research went to Phoebe Bintoro, who studied Part II Plant Sciences last year and received the highest project mark in the cohort for her dissertation, ‘Semi-discrete modelling of pine wilt disease: vector seasonality, parameter sensitivity, and epidemic control’.
Reacting to the awards, Phoebe Bintoro said: “It is a great honour to be nominated and receive the prize this year. Thank you again for the incredible supervision and support from the Plant Pathology team – and special thanks to Nik Cunniffe and Rachel Russell for their invaluable support throughout the year.”
Jeremy Zheng added: “I’m absolutely delighted to receive this prize and would like to pass on my thanks to everyone involved in the Plant Pathology module teaching.”
Professor Nik Cunniffe commented: “Congratulations again to Phoebe and Jeremy for their excellent performances last year. We are delighted that they have been awarded the overall prize for best performance in their respective categories by the BSPP. While this has happened before in one or the other category, it is the first time that someone from Cambridge has won both. All of us on the Plant Pathology side of teaching are very proud of their achievements.”
Image: (left to right) Jeremy Zheng and Phoebe Bintoro with their BSPP undergraduate awards. © University of Cambridge.