The Telos Team

Natalia Hildebrand

Co-founder and Co-director

Natalia is the co-founder and co-director of Telos Pathways and a PhD candidate in History at Oxford. She is currently undertaking a fellowship at Yale University. Her research examines Cold War-era ties between the Middle East and Southern Africa. Natalia obtained a Distinction in Oxford’s MPhil in Modern Middle Eastern Studies in 2025 and achieved First Class Honours in her undergraduate studies in International History at the LSE in 2022. She has extensive experience tutoring students in a variety of humanities subjects and preparing them for British and American university applications.

Ju Young Han

Co-founder and Co-director

Ju Young is the co-founder and co-director of Telos Pathways. He graduated with Distinction from the Oxford MPhil in Modern Middle Eastern Studies in 2024 and previously completed his BA in History and Politics at Oxford in 2020. He has declined his PhD offer from Oxford to continue his work in educational consulting. Ju Young has coached over 150 students over the years in a variety of subjects, many of whom have been admitted to Oxbridge or top US universities.

Maurice Hirt

Maurice is a PhD candidate in Politics at University College, Oxford. His research focuses on political economy of the United States. He achieved First Class Honours in BSc in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) at the London School of Economics and a Distinction in the MPhil in European Politics at Oxford. Maurice has served as a Visiting Research Fellow at the Library of Congress. He teaches US Politics, Comparative Political Economy and Comparative Government to undergraduate students at Oxford. He has extensive experience supporting students with essay writing, exam preparation, and university admissions.

Ashkan Hashemipour

Ashkan is a PhD candidate in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at New College, Oxford. His research examines how Iranian revolutionary groups built and were reshaped by their global militant networks. He holds a BA with Honours from the University of Chicago in Political Science and Near Eastern Languages and Civilisations and an MPhil with Distinction from Oxford in Modern Middle Eastern Studies.

Jackie Testamark

Jackie is an Oxford Rhodes scholar and PhD candidate in Art History at Christ Church College, Oxford. Her research explores the relationship between art and empire, with a particular focus on Britain and Italy from 1700–1850. She achieved a Distinction in her Master’s at Oxford in History of Art and Visual Culture, and previously graduated cum laude from Yale University’s Bachelor in Classical Civilisations and History.

Alex O’Shea

Alex is a PhD candidate in Chemistry at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. In his research, Alex develops computational tools to analyse how biological molecules break apart under laser power. He graduated with First Class Honours from his Bachelor’s in Chemistry at King’s College London and holds a Master’s from Oxford in Theoretical and Computational Chemistry.

Suhaas Bhat

Suhaas is an Oxford Rhodes Scholar and a PhD candidate in Physics at Worcester College, Oxford. His research uses machine learning to better understand natural phenomena, particularly in biophysics. Before coming to Oxford, he graduated from Harvard College with high honours in Physics and Social Science. He has taught Master’s students in Computer Science at Worcester College, Oxford. Suhaas has pursued a variety of research activities in his field, including publishing eight peer-reviewed papers, working as a machine learning researcher at a range of organisations, and developing machine learning models for designing novel drugs.

Lisa Klaassen

Lisa is a PhD candidate at the Oxford Internet Institute at St Antony’s College, where she researches the relationship between Artificial Intelligence and national security. She achieved a Distinction in her Oxford MPhil in International Relations and First Class Honours in her BA in English Literature from Cambridge. Alongside her PhD, Lisa works as a Writer and Producer at Amanpour, CNN’s flagship global affairs programme, and is currently leading a defence project with the UK Ministry of Defence and King’s Department of War Studies.

Duarte Amaro

Duarte is a PhD candidate in Politics at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. He researches European political parties and the history of democratisation. Duarte achieved First Class Honours in his undergraduate degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) at Oxford, and graduated summa cum laude from his Master’s degree in Political Science at Sciences Po in Paris. He teaches European Politics to Oxford undergraduate students.

Richard Foster

Richard is a PhD candidate in Politics at Mansfield College, Oxford, where his research focuses on democracy and media systems. He achieved First Class Honours in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at the University of York, before completing an MA in Political Science at the University of British Columbia with an equivalent 4.0 GPA. Richard teaches Introduction to the Theory of Politics, Theory of Politics, and Marx and Marxism to undergraduate students at Oxford. He also delivers seminars on Political Philosophy for the Master of Public Policy programme at the Blavatnik School of Government. He has extensive experience supporting students with essay writing and exam preparation.

Veronika Denner

Veronika completed a BA in Ethics, Politics & Economics at Yale, followed by an MSc in Global Health Science & Epidemiology at the University of Oxford. Her academic work sits at the intersection of women’s health and genetics. For her MSc dissertation, she investigated the shared genetic architecture between iron metabolism and endometriosis. Veronika is currently working as a research assistant in genetic epidemiology at the University of Leicester.

Ned Leadbetter

Ned is a graduate of the Oxford MPhil in Modern Middle Eastern Studies at Wadham College. Prior to Oxford, he graduated with First Class Honours in English Literature from King’s College London and studied Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia. He has been tutoring students in English Literature, History, Theatre Studies, and Creative Writing for three years and has specialised in academic writing, personal statements, and extended research projects. Outside of tutoring, Ned works as a freelance journalist and script reader and continues to study Arabic.

Valentino Gargano

Valentino completed his PhD in Classical Languages and Literature at Balliol College, Oxford. His thesis focused on the interaction and intersection of social hierarchies of gender, class and ethnicity in Greek tragedy. He achieved a Distinction in his Master’s at Oxford in Classical Languages and Literature, and previously graduated with First Class Honours from UCL in Classics.

Adam Butlin

Adam is a PhD candidate in Economics at Balliol College, Oxford and teaches undergraduate macroeconomics at Keble College. He is also a Research Associate at the Centre for Macroeconomics, LSE. His research focuses on sovereign debt, monetary policy, and financial crises and has been featured by major news outlets including the BBC, ITV, the Guardian, and Reuters. He earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Economics from University College London, achieving a First Class and Distinction respectively.

No dull textbooks, worksheets, or box-ticking.

We opt for 1:1 Oxford tutorial-style discussions grounded in:

• Accessible explanations of complex ideas
• Socratic questioning that pushes students to construct their own arguments
• Primary sources and case studies: historical documents, news articles, research papers and science experiments

We hire the brightest Oxbridge and Ivy League graduate students.

Our tutors all possess:

• Outstanding academic records in their undergraduate and postgraduate studies at Oxbridge or Ivy League universities
• Teaching experience, often to Oxbridge undergraduate students
• Emotional intelligence and patience