Dr Matthieu Palayret is a first-year DPhil Candidate in the Faculty of Theology and Religion, supervised by Professor Frank Griffel. He is a recipient of an Interdisciplinary Oxford-Reuben Graduate Scholarship.
His doctoral research focuses on the 14th-century Mamluk polymath, Ibn al-Durayhim, examining the cross-pollination between his religious, literary, and scientific (cryptology, optics, and mathematics) writings. The project provides an intellectual biography of a scholar-merchant at the Mamluk court, aiming to contribute a wider historical and intellectual perspective to the study of the Islamic world.
Matthieu holds a diverse academic background, which informs his current interdisciplinary work. His prior qualifications include a PhD in Biophysics from the University of Cambridge, a Master of Arts in Islamic Studies from the American University in Cairo (AUC), and a Master of Theology from the University of Fribourg (Switzerland). He is also a Dominican friar (O.P.).
