Library Report

Junior Research Fellows’ Activities

The pandemic has had an impact on all aspects of our activity, including the research of our Junior Research Fellows (JRFs). We have extended the tenure of our existing non-stipendiary JRFs (i.e. those who have a postdoc independently of the College) from the normal two years to three, so we will have 24 JRFs in total for the next two years. We have invited our JRFs to send us reports on their research but we are conscious that these are difficult times, especially for our early career researchers, so we have not added to their burden by chasing everyone for a report. What follows is, therefore, a somewhat more select overview of our JRFs’ research than might normally be covered in the annual report.

Susan Dunning works in Classics, investigating how common (as opposed to Imperial) Romans portrayed themselves or others as gods in funerary monuments and literary contexts. To pursue this, Sarah has been compiling datasets of several hundred examples of such ‘divine associations’ across different media. Susan’s progress has been limited by constraints on travel and reduced access to sources other than those available in the Ashmolean or online. Following discussion with our Ancient History Fellow, Beate Dignas, Susan has expanded the scope of her research to include the Greek practice of ‘heroisation’ and its influence on Roman funerary monuments. Susan delivered a paper at the Ancient History Seminar in Oxford and has actively contributed to College life, including participating in a workshop in which JRFs offered advice to current students about how to get research fellowships. Susan has made a great video entitled ‘Did the Romans Believe in their Gods?’, lodged at Did the Romans believe in their gods? | L.I.S.A. WISSENSCHAFTSPORTAL GERDA HENKEL STIFTUNG (gerda-henkel-stiftung.de).

Ferenc Mózes works in the Radcliffe Department of Medicine, investigating non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). NAFLD can cause serious scarring of the liver (termed advanced fibrosis). There are currently no drugs available to treat NAFLD but there are a number of clinical trials taking place. To assess suitability for participation in trials, patients are currently required to undergo a needle biopsy, which is invasive, carries risks, and has uncertain outcomes. Ferenc is investigating noninvasive alternative assessment options. Liver stiffness can be measured using something called vibration-controlled transient elastography. If this is combined with blood-based markers, the proportion of patients requiring a needle biopsy can be reduced from 33% to 19%. Ferenc’s work is likely to change clinical policy in the diagnosis of patients with advanced fibrosis.

Godelinde Perk examines how female medieval authors reconfigure the liturgy (the Divine Office and the Mass) by way of memoria, the medieval art of memory. Godelinde focuses on six female-authored texts from the Low Countries, German-speaking lands and the British Isles. During lockdown, opportunities to travel have been more limited. Indeed, lockdown has had features in common with the medieval practice of enclosure, in which a nun might confine herself to her cell for religious reasons. Godelinde has been able to call upon the experience and the comparison to produce an article on nuns, fashion and memory. Godelinde is also working on a monograph which will be the first book-length study to consider how theology and literature interplay in the works of Julian of Norwich (1343-1416), the earliest English women writer, most famous for writing ‘All shall be well and all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well’, a remarkable vision for someone who had lived through the black death in her early childhood.

Hussam Hussein works in the Department of Politics and International Relations. His research focuses on analysing possibilities for transboundary resources management in the Jordan and Nile basins. In addition, Hussam has explored how and why transboundary freshwater agreements change over time. Hussam has also conducted research on the political economy of water scarcity in the Middle East, aiming to collect the findings into a manuscript for a book project. Hussam has received a 2021 departmental award for academic research having policy impact and was elected in 2021 to the Board of Trustees of the Arab Council for the Social Sciences. Hussam has been particularly active in College, contributing to the undergraduate admissions interviews for PPE and giving presentations to Somerville students on how to publish in academic journals.

Eoghan Mulholland works in the Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics. Eoghan’s research explores the genetic and cellular architecture of colorectal cancers. To date, research tells us that it isn’t just the genetic defects in the cancer cells that influences how a cancer behaves, but also how the supporting (stromal) and immune cells interact within it. Current understanding is lacking in how these ‘cell conversations’ initiate and develop but using cutting-edge research methodologies we can have the opportunity to ‘eavesdrop’. Eoghan has published several manuscripts over the past year in Journals including Nature Reviews Cancer and Gastroenterology. Eoghan was awarded the Lee Placito Research Fellowship by the University of Oxford in May 2021 which will commence in October for a 3 year period.

Jesus Aguirre Gutierrez works in the Department of Plant Sciences. investigating the impact of a changing environment on the plant functional composition of forests across the tropics. Jesus does this by carrying out field-based assessment collecting plant trait data such as leaf nutrients and morphology (shape) and also using drone remote sensing technology. Back at the office Jesus carries out statistical analysis based on the field collections and plant databases making also use of satellite remote sensing imagery. Over the last year Jesus has been also working with temperate forests in Chile. In collaboration with research partners from Chile, Jesus is working on a project investigating how climate change is affecting the distribution of these forests and which species may be more resilient to further climate changes in the near future. Jesus has published his findings so far in journals such as Remote Sensing in the Environment and Nature Communications.

MCR Report

The 2020/2021 academic year has definitely been a challenging year for us. Our student community had to adapt to new ways of learning and socialising virtually. The Somerville MCR committee has committed to ensure incoming and returning students feel supported and connected during these times.

The welfare and the social team of the MCR worked hard over the summer to draw up plans to support students coming from overseas who had to quarantine, by ensuring that the committee has virtual check-in sessions with quarantining students to support them and help with any needs. The welfare officers (Bahar Kashef Hamadani and Gaurav Dubey) have kindly launched a new initiative, called Friend @ Somerville. This initiative aims at connecting incoming students with a returning student, a friend, who can guide their incoming peer through College and University life and answer any questions about life in Oxford and the UK more generally.

I am proud that in the past year, with immense efforts and hard work from all our committee members, we were able to transform the MCR into a virtual as well as a physical space. Firstly, I have hosted during the past year virtually the MCR Academic Talks. The talks helped showcase MCR members’ research and academic interests in a wide variety of fields such as Psychology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Climate Change, and Classics. This was a great opportunity to connect our members academically within the MCR but also with members of the SCR, who participated as speakers and as audience at the Academic Talks. Secondly, our welfare officers planned and offered Welfare Walks to emphasise the importance of upkeeping physical and mental well-being in a safe manner that complies with social distancing rules and government guidelines. The social secretaries (Caroline Weglinski, Raphael Reinbold, and Kyoungeun Lee) offered virtually a book club, games nights, pub quizzes, chocolate tastings, and magic shows to our graduate students as opportunities to socialise and meet other MCR members.

We are so proud of Somerville’s efforts to become a College of Sanctuary, and happy that our MCR members were able to contribute to Somerville’s amazing effort to show its ongoing commitment to its culture of inclusivity. Special thanks to our minority ethnic group representative, Gabriella Cook Francis, to Charlotte Feingold, Koto Akiyoshi, and all MCR members who supported Somerville’s application.

I would also like to thank all our outgoing members for contributing to our social, academic, and intellectual life in Somerville and all previous and current members of the MCR committee for all their efforts to keep our community connected; also all our wonderful staff members and tutors who have worked tirelessly to make us all feel supported during the last challenging year. We highly appreciate all their efforts. A special thank you to Jan, for going above and beyond to make sure that all students feel safe and can manage as easily as possible in the difficult circumstances. Thank you all so much for being a part of our great community in Somerville.

ASHRAKAT ELSHEHAWY, MCR President

Library Report 2020-21

The Library and Covid-19

The library has existed in a multitude of guises this year – a fully remote service for short periods, mostly remote with a few students and a reduced staff and partially remote with larger numbers of students and a full complement of staff! Services have been adapted as the need has arisen and I would like to pay tribute to Sue, Matthew and Kate who have been both flexible and innovative in their approach to the changing circumstances. We have not been able to resume 24/7 opening so far, with covid cases still rife in the city as I write, but we are hopeful it won’t be too far away! New services to help in the covid-19 crisis included lending books via a Click and Collect set-up, scanning book chapters for individuals, having books sent direct to students homes and setting up, populating, checking and updating online reading lists for tutors as well as general ferreting around for difficult-to-find online resources. As expected, borrowings have been significantly reduced this year as so many reading lists were reconfigured to make use of online resources and many students spent much of the year away from Oxford. So far this year, we’ve made 3,853 loans compared to 2019-20, when we’d made 8,491, and in 2018-19 (the last “normal” year) that figure was 10,874. Although we have continued to add to the collection, there were quite a few periods when staff were furloughed so no purchases were made. The numbers for this year are 1225 purchases compared to 1413 in 2020. As ever we are very grateful to all those who have donated books and papers to the library and a list of our donors can be found at the end of this report. Many thanks to all of you! Social distancing requirements and low student numbers on site meant that much of the library was closed off this year with only the ground floor of the main library in use for two terms. A one-way system was introduced with users entering from the Holtby fire door and exiting through the East level access door. The main doors have remained closed throughout the period. In Trinity term the upper library was opened enabling 22 students to use the library at a time in three sessions throughout the day and evening. Although we were not able to provide a normal library service, students have been very understanding and have consistently provided positive feedback about the services that we have been able to provide.

DR ANNE MANUEL

Archives and Special Collections

Due to the pandemic, no researchers were admitted to the archives during the year so every effort was made to assist with digitised materials and remote viewings via Microsoft teams. The first researchers returned to the archives at the beginning of June 2021 and there are many others waiting to gain access once we are able to accommodate them safely . Email enquiries have continued throughout the year : Special Collections – 33 (43 in 2019/20) and 91 archives enquiries (113 in 2019/20). Thanks to our increasing amount of digitised documents, it was possible to answer a substantial number of email enquiries during the lockdowns, or provide a provisional response until access to the collections was possible once more.

Special Collection accessions and cataloguing

We have been fortunate to receive several interesting additions to the collections including letters written by Agatha Ramm, Margery Fry and Margaret Thatcher, the papers of writer and alumna Mary Crawford Nicholson and an addition to the Philippa Foot papers; a translation of Immanuel Kant’s Critique of Practical Reason by Heinz Cassirer, believed to have been lost.

Over the long vacation we were lucky to have the services of intern Rebecca Keddie who had just completed her history degree at Somerville. She