THE PETER COLLIER MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP

The Peter Collier Memorial Scholarship is awarded to the most outstanding DCET graduate of the year. All recipients have gained First Class Honours, and are continuing their studies as postgraduates; additionally they have all made significant contributions to the development of the Trust, and to their Universities.

Dr Peter Collier was a senior research chemist with Unilever, who had worked with Dick Camplin for many years, and they were good friends. As a young man, he had gained an Exhibition Award at St John’s College Oxford and, with his local authority grant, was paid more to study than his father earned in a year as a decorator; because of this he felt he had a debt of honour to repay to DCET students who had overcome so much to gain their place at University. In 2013 he established the Peter Collier Scholarships awarded to an outstanding graduate who had maximised their time at University and who had gained far more than a First Class degree. 

Peter’s legacy lives on, through the shining example of the Scholars he has rewarded, and through the bequest he left, following his death in 2017, which will ensure that his debt of honour survives him.

Dr Peter Collier 1940-2017

INTRODUCING THE PETER COLLIER SCHOLARS

Curtis Martyn was brought up in a single parent home where his mother had to leave work because of ill health. He was the very first person to be awarded a DCET Scholarship in 2007 and went on to attend the Manchester School of Architecture graduating with a First Class honours degree. Following a graduate internship with Arup Associates, Curtis returned to university to take a double Master’s, passing with distinction and merit. He completed his Chartership to become a RIBA Qualified Architect in 2017 after a decade of study. He currently works as a Freelance Architect and is the founder of a progressive design consultancy.



Lauren Wolfenden (nee Stockton) ‘failed’ her Key Stage 2 tests and was placed in the bottom sets; she was told by one teacher that she would be lucky to be a cleaner. She gained the highest First-Class honours degree from Manchester Metropolitan University; was the British Psychological Society’s undergraduate of the year; became the best Master’s graduate in psychology at Manchester University and has just completed her PhD as The President’s Doctoral Scholar; the university’s highest international award. She is currently working for the NSPCC and Public Health England.

Merveille Mankoto studied at Manchester Metropolitan University and gained a First in International Management. Following this, she undertook operational research at the university before applying for a Mountbatten Institute Scholarship, which resulted in a year’s paid internship on Wall Street with the Union Bank of Switzerland. She has just completed a Master's in International Business at the HULT International Business School in Boston having gained a full scholarship and making the Dean’s list. She has now returned to England and is seeking permanent employment.

Jas Nisic grew up in one of the most deprived areas in the UK and attended a secondary school in special measures. Jas gained a First-Class with Honours in Maths and a Distinction in an MSc in Applied Maths from The University of Manchester. They pursued their life long dream and graduated with a Distinction in an MA in Musical Theatre from the Royal Academy of Music. Jas project managed the Library Peer Network at UoM which has been recognised nationally for its impacts on students from underrepresented backgrounds. They have founded To Bee Productions, a critically acclaimed and multi award nominated theatre company who tells stories through cabaret.

Cy Sutherland grew up in a deprived part of South Manchester and was a secondary carer for his mother. When he began his GCSEs, his school deteriorated into special measures. Despite this, he attained a First Class Honours degree in History and Politics from the University of Liverpool. While at university, he was determined to make the most of the it; he became a newspaper editor and rowed with the Men’s Novice XIII. He is now studying the Graduate Diploma in Law and will commence his training contract in 2020 with Travers Smith.

Aneesah Kamran completed a Nuffield Research Placement in Electron Microscopy during college, and this experience cemented her desire to read Physics at University. She has completed an MPhys Physics degree at the University of Leicester. Following her degree, she completed an Ogden Trust internship at the University of Oxford, where she investigated job transition predictions from a network’s perspective. She is currently undertaking a PhD at Leicester where she is studying magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling at Jupiter. As well as her studies, she is a member of the Women in Physics group and the Equality and Diversity committee, a seminar leader for undergraduate teaching and a writer for the Leicester Physics News Team

Jay Carroll began playing the Piano at age 14 and would practise every day after school until the building was closed. Despite having had no previous musical training he achieved a distinction in his Grade 8 by age 17. His studies were then funded through scholarships and bursaries from Awards for Young Musicians and JRNCM. Jay is the first recipient to have been awarded the Peter Collier Memorial Scholarship while still an undergraduate. He is now entering his 4 th year at The Royal Northern College of Music working towards his Bachelor of Music with Honours Degree and has hopes to continue his studies in Europe at Postgraduate level.

Codie Wood grew up in a single parent, low-income household in Salford, with a mother who was unable to work due to disability. Motivated by a keen interest in mathematics and a desire to have a positive impact on the world, she went on to gain a First Class degree in Mathematics & Statistics from The University of Oxford, where she ranked 7th in her cohort and topped rankings within Mansfield college. She is currently undertaking a PhD at The University of Bristol where she is studying computational statistics and data science, with a particular focus on medical statistics and using data to explore inequalities.

Maisie Palmer grew up in Failsworth, Oldham. After venturing across Greater Manchester to pursue her A-levels at Loreto College, she gained a place at The University of Edinburgh to study Politics. She spent her third year at Sciences Po, Paris as an Erasmus scholar. After graduating with a first class honours degree, Maisie interned at The International Criminal Court and became National Programme Lead for Education at The Roots Programme aged 22. More recently, she has worked as a Consultant at The Social Change Agency. Maisie received the Peter Collier Memorial Award in 2023 following her admission to a Dual Master in Public Policy and Public Administration at Sciences Po, Paris and Columbia University, New York City.