It was to be a wonderfully dutiful RCS Mathematician who topped the nominations for the prestigious 2025 ‘RCSA Prize‘, and we couldn’t be more pleased.
At a brief ceremony outside the Faculty Building on Commemoration Day, Professor Richard Craster, Dean of RCS (or Dean of FoNS if you want to be terribly modern), Mike Munroe, President of the RCSA, and Oscar Farrell, Secretary of the RCSA, shared the officiating duties and presented Ariff Jazlan Johan from Mathematics with his framed certificate and with a cheque for £300.
The occasion is captured in the photograph above and you can see our prize winner, Ariff Jazlan Johan, sandwiched between Mike Munroe, President of the RCSA, and Professor Richard Craster, Dean of the RCS.
Our members will recall that the RCSA Prize was instigated in 1997 and is awarded annually at Commemoration Day to a student “who has excelled academically and made a great all-round contribution to the College“ and Ariff certainly fits the requirements. To give you a flavour, here are a few quotes and paraphrased extracts from his award citations…..
“Ariff has been an exceptional undergraduate Mathematics student. Since joining the maths degree programme in October 2022 he has excelled in all aspects of his Mathematics studies.”
Described as “an outstanding student“, Ariff attained consistently high first class marks across a broad range of modules. Most remarkably, he obtained a mark of 95% for his year three independent research project, demonstrating his aptitude for independent work.
But it is Ariff’s contribution to the Maths community of Imperial that really catches the eye. Right from the off, in his first year, Ariff made his mark by being elected as the Year 1 Academic Representative. His performance in this role was so impressive that it set the stage that in his second year, Ariff was elected the Department Academic Representative—an extraordinary accomplishment given that students from all years, including fourth-year peers, voted for him.
As chair of the Departmental Student-Staff Committee (SSC), Ariff displayed outstanding leadership. He managed meetings efficiently, ensuring productive discussion and clear action points earning high praise from both students and staff. In his third year, Ariff transitioned to another high-impact role as the department’s Wellbeing Representative, further showcasing his commitment to supporting the student community.
Those headline roles are just the start. If you also remember Arrif’s contribution to MathsSoc via the Mathematics Directed Reading Programme, his energy as a Peer Tutor, his involvement over two years with the Warwick-Imperial Mathematics Conference (the list really does go on and on). So we just tip our hat in admiration and offer many congratulations to Ariff Jazlan Johan, our exceedingly worthy 2025 winner of the RCSA Prize.
(if you like these prizes and the other forms of support we offer to our students, why not help us do more? Consider making a donation to the RCSA Trust here. With no staff and no building costs you can be assured that every penny of your donation will be gratefully received and faithfully applied to assist the students of the Royal College of Science).
You could donate any amount you wish, but why not donate £100 right now?