Seven Questions with Ana Cuteanu

The programme is completely free and all undergraduates and postgraduate taught students are eligible. This year it’s running from 28 May to 7 June – registration will open in Term 2.

If you have questions about registration or your eligibility to take part in the Programme, please email globalcitizenshipprogramme@ucl.ac.uk
Find out more and register for this year’s programme now.

What are you studying, why are you interested in this subject and what do you plan to do in the future?

I am a second-year Arts and Sciences student interested in interdisciplinary issues such as global health and development. In the future, I hope to work for governmental, intra-governmental or non-governmental organisations to help with issues of poverty, inequality, poor access to education or healthcare!

What is the most interesting thing you’ve done, seen or got involved with while at UCL?

The most interesting thing by far was during the UCL Global Citizenship Programme when I saw a presentation given by a pharmacologist from Oxford University about his time volunteering in West Africa during the 2014 Ebola Outbreak. Seeing pictures of his time there and hearing about his first-hand experience of handling a healthcare crisis provided me with a deeper understanding of the realities of epidemics and how the World Health Organization coordinates crisis responses.

Have you discovered any hidden gems during your time at UCL?

Not a hidden gem, but I have recently realised that the UCL Science Library Café offers a good compromise between a deafeningly quiet library space and a much-too-busy and overcrowded actual London café, so I definitely recommend it.

Give us your top three things to do/see/go to in London?

Picnic on top of Primrose Hill or Hampstead Heath, brunch at Neil's Yard and visit Kew Gardens.

If you were Provost for the day what one thing would you do?

I’m not sure if this falls within the scope of the role, but if £140,000 hadn’t already been secured in mental health funding I would have looked into getting better support for the mental health services here at UCL. Now that this money has been secured, I would look into developing more undergraduate research opportunities in all faculties! 

Who inspires you and why?

Professor Uta Frith from the UCL Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, because she was the first woman at UCL to receive both a Fellow of the Royal Society and a Fellow of the British Academy, as well as being the first UCL psychologist to receive a DBE.

What would it surprise people to know about you?

I'm going to be relocating to Tokyo for my year abroad next year!

Which strand of the UCL Global Citizenship did you complete in 2018?

Outbreak! Infectious Diseases (Global Health)