From a pool of 8,000 international candidates, only 95 were chosen for the 2025 Gates Cambridge Scholarship, and among them is Niño Jan Pol Dosdos, a Filipino student studying in Toronto.
“I’m still absorbing the news,” Dosdos shares. “For one, I am the first in the family to earn a university degree and now a Gates Cambridge Scholar.”
This full scholarship to pursue graduate studies at the University of Cambridge will support Dosdos as he works towards his master’s degree in Philosophy and Anthropological Research. The nine-month program could have cost him nearly £55,000, which is almost CAD 100,000.
“In my Gates Cambridge interview, they asked me what was something unique about me, and I told them, my work in the community preceded my academic pursuits,” Dosdos says.
Niño Jan Pol Dosdos is seen doing cultural work in the Phillippines in this undated photo. (Submitted Photo)
The scholarship is known for its very competitive acceptance rate – around one percent – and it’s awarded to people who show outstanding intellectual ability, leadership potential, and a commitment to making positive changes with their education.
Dosdos spent several years as both a student and youth leader back home in the Philippines before moving to Canada as an international student in 2021. Since then, he has been actively involved with Indigenous groups from his hometown of Zamboanga del Sur as well as rural areas.
“Working on projects like disaster response and mental health… that inspired me to study anthropology because anthropology looks at what it means to be human-how differences shape us-and how we can create safer spaces for all kinds of people,” he explains.
Dosdos didn’t plan on going straight into graduate school after finishing his double major in Anthropology and Public Policy at the University of Toronto.
Unlike many international students who aim for permanent residency here in Canada, he isn’t focused on staying long-term since he wants to build an academic career instead.
“I have to accept the fact that I will not be positioned in the same place forever,” he says.
Dosdos is only the sixth Filipino ever awarded this Gates scholarship since it began back in 2000-and this year’s sole Filipino recipient. He’ll begin his studies overseas this October.
