A MESSAGE of hope for Syria was among the extraordinary stories at the University of Sussex’s winter graduation ceremony. With more than 100 countries represented among the students and hundreds of smartphones snapping selfies on the stage, EMMA YEOMANS met the class of 2015.

More than 1,800 students received degrees and diplomas at the University of Sussex’s graduation ceremony from the chancellor, actor and comedian Sanjeev Bhaskar.

Amid four ceremonies the university also gave honorary degrees to the BBC journalist John Simpson, filmmaker Andrea Arnold, Booker prize-winning novelist Graham Swift and Sussex alumnus Keith Skeoch, the chief executive of Standard Life Investments.

In his speech to the students on Thursday morning, Mr Simpson said: “I have seen a lot of terrible things – massacres and bombings – but that isn’t all there is.

“You cannot go to one of these dreadful scenes of brutality without also finding people who are loving and helpful and who want to do the best thing.

“There is an awful lot of hope and, as you go into the world and take your excellent tuition into the world, there’s a lot of hope for you too.”

After her husband was murdered in Nigeria, Ngozi Adeleye decided to escape the religious riots and violent killings and study in the UK.

She graduated on Thursday with a masters in international economics and is now working as a business analyst in London.

Ngozi, her husband and their young daughter had been living in Kano, Northern Nigeria, where Ngozi worked as a banker.

In 2011 the situation in Kano deteriorated so much that they decided to relocate to Ibadan in the south, and Ngozi and her daughter left while her husband finished up some business dealings.

She said: “I spoke to him late on Friday, December 16, 2011 and by the early hours of December 17 he was dead. Nothing was taken from the house, except his life.”

Although she enjoyed her work as a banker, the trauma of her husband’s death changed her priorities.

She said: “The pain of loss was indescribable and this seemed the best way to deal with it.”

She searched online for places that taught masters degrees in international economics and sold her home, car and stocks to come to Sussex to study.

“I had never heard of Sussex”, she said. “When I saw Sussex, I just felt what a name –success – they sound the same. So I stuck with it.”

Her husband’s murder haunted her during her studies, and she recalls crying in one of her professors’ offices after getting disappointing results in a set of exams.

She said: “I can still recall his exact words. He said: ‘You can still turn this round Ngozi. There are the spring and summer exams.’”

Ngozi did just that, and went on to receive a merit for her degree and won the departmental prize for personal achievement.

Peter Hurley received a PhD in astronomy while battling a life threatening illness, and was inspired to use his work to help others.

As a baby Mr Peter was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, an inherited illness which affected his respiratory and digestive systems.

He said: “Although it wasn’t so bad when I was a child, when I was at university I got a lot worse, but I still finished in time.”

Pete endures regular periods on intravenous antibiotics and must do physiotherapy every day, but refuses to take time off from his research.

He said: “On an average, I spend about three hours a day on treatment and I ended up being admitted to the Royal Brompton Hospital six times during my PhD.

Pete, who grew up in Saltdean, was inspired to study astronomy by his teachers at Longhill High School and a boyhood holiday trip to the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral.

Now he is using his work in statistics to help fellow cystic ibrosis sufferers.

He explained: “Most of my astrophysics is statistics-based – comparing galaxy populations and their star formation rates and associated activity with their active galactic nuclei. “I adapted the algorithms used to match galaxy catalogues at different wavelengths of light and applied it to track CF patients over time, giving researchers a better understanding of how CF patients change over time.”

Elias Sadkni’s experience of the civil war in Syria gives his masters in conflict security and development personal significance.

He was also awarded a scholarship by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to help him study in the UK.

Having graduated he will soon continue humanitarian aid work with the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) in his war-torn homeland.

He said: “My work includes providing food and medical and psychosocial support for internally displaced persons in Syria.

“The project represents a state of hope for the future of Syria.”

Elias wrote his dissertation on civil society and peace building in Syria, looking at how grassroot organisations can help with the peacebuilding process.

His dissertation is dedicated to a man who inspired him – Father Franz Van Der Lugt, a Dutch Jesuit priest who helped those in need in Homs. He was shot twice in the head by a masked gunman in April last year.

Elias hopes to set up his own peace initiative focused on healing the social rifts the war has created, and says his studies at Sussex will help him achieve his goal.

He said: “Without doubt, the experience I got at Sussex helped me conceptualise my vision and to turn it into a concrete project.”

Syria remains a volatile country, with intense sectarian violence but the danger Elias and his colleagues face will not hold him back.

He said: “It was the war and the suffering of my people that helped me discover my passion for working in public affairs.

“I owe my people for what I am today.”

Mihail Garbuzov graduated with a PhD from the School of Life Sciences.

He moved to the UK from Latvia aged 19 and has spent the last seven years at Sussex.

He said: “I chose to study abroad because Latvia was in a poor economic state and the opportunities there are not as good and neither did there seem much prospect for improvement.”

Mihail says he always knew that he wanted to study science and biology caught his interest.

He said: “I liked watching David Attenborough on television.”

He completed his PhD in the Laboratory of Apiculture and Social Insects, and has gone on to work with Brighton and Hove City Council to research insects in parks.

Councillor Pete West, chairman of the environment, transport and sustainability committte at the council, said: “Mihail’s work shows how changing mowing regimes and allowing natural diversity has led to a better landscape.

“We will use the findings in future downland projects and we are pleased he chose to study our existing projects.”

Mihail has enjoyed his time in Sussex and hopes to settle here.

Studying has been child’s play for Merve and Abdulkadir Yilmazcan, whose twin baby girls Elif and Zeynep were regular visitors to the law department.

The couple, from Turkey, juggled parenthood, studies and ill health to graduate with masters of law in international trade law.

Merve said: “The childcare service at Sussex was one of the most important things during our selection process. It enabled us to attend the same programme.”

“The staff were wonderful and they really enjoyed taking care of the babies.”

Despite the childcare service, the couple had very little time to relax.

Merve added: “It was not easy. We planned every assignment and wrote them as early as possible in order to make the deadlines.

“We generally put the twins to bed at around 8.30pm, then studied until 2am.”

On top of this, the family had to rush back to Turkey to sort out medication for Merve to prevent a recurrence of a blood clot on the brain.

However, these obstacles did not hold them back, and having gained their qualifications they now work for the Turkish government as trade experts.

Merve looks forward to an international career. “We will be commercial counsellors, which could be in any country,” she said.