THE MAGAZINE FOR THE STAFF OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
Lent Term 2014
200 million years BC (Before Comics)
Giving old fossils mass appeal Behind the scenes at the new sports centre page 6
Latin’s not dead: it’s alive and well at Cambridge page 10
Lent Term 2014 | UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE NEWSLETTER | 1
SNAPSHOT CONTENTS Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction
Tunnel vision: Researchers and PhD students have transformed a disused part of London’s underground into a ‘smart tunnel’. By installing innovative monitoring devices into the 100-year-old tunnel, which is directly above a huge new tunnel being dug by Crossrail, the team from the Cambridge Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction will be able to monitor stress levels in real time and see how they change during the excavation.
Cambridge treasures on tour: Eight of the University’s museums have sent a selection of their most treasured objects – including Inuit sculptures and the sole surviving egg that Darwin collected on the Beagle voyage – to London. The exhibition at Two Temple Place, Discoveries: Art, Science and Exploration, is the first time gems from Cambridge’s collections have been brought together under one roof. Runs to 27 April 2014.
THE MAGAZIN
E FOR THE
STAFF OF
THE UNIVERS
ITY OF CAMBRID
2-5 News round-up
10-11 Know your University From encouraging the youngest learners, to standardising terminology at the highest levels, Latin has made it through 3,000 years of history and continues to play an important role in the University today. 12 People 13 Small adverts 14-15 Prizes, awards and honours Front cover illustration: Isaac Lenkiewicz
NEWSLETTER
wellcome images
LENT TERM
Behind the at the new scenes Latin’s not centre page sports it’s alive dead: 6 and well at Camb ridge
8-9 Cover feature
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GE
Giving old fossils mas s appeal
6-7 Behind the scenes Whether you’re ardent about athletics or a lover of Latin-inspired Zumba, the new Cambridge Sports Centre is helping staff, students, alumni and the local community raise their game.
Tower of Babel: Five works by Stanley Spencer, one of the most important British painters of the 20th century, have joined the Fitzwilliam Museum. One of the paintings – Making columns for the Tower of Babel (right) was a study for a proposed – but unrealised – project for the University Library. They have been acquired for the nation in lieu of inheritance tax and allocated to the Fitzwilliam. The paintings are on display in Gallery 1.
Wellcome Images: From January 2014, all historical images out of copyright and held by Wellcome Images are being made freely available under the Creative Commons Attribution licence. The collection of more than 100,000 images – from paintings and etchings to early photography and advertisements – represents thousands of years of visual culture. Treasures include medieval manuscripts and anatomical drawings. Find out more at wellcomeimages.org
Cover Passionate about popularising science, not to mention dinosaurs and comics, 200 millio Dr Nick Crumpton has (Before Con years BC mics) combined all three into a new activity book for children. For his story – in graphic detail – turn to page 8.
The Newsletter is published for the staff of the University of Cambridge and is produced by the Office of External Affairs and Communications. If you have a story, or ideas for other ways we can improve the Newsletter, please get in touch. Tel: (3)32300 or email newsletter@admin.cam.ac.uk. Suggestions for articles for the next edition should reach the Editor by 29 March. Managing Editor: Andrew Aldridge Editor: Becky Allen Design: www.creative-warehouse.co.uk Printers: Labute Printers Contributors: Andrew Aldridge, Becky Allen, Jacqueline Bilton, Nick Crumpton.
Newsletter online
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WHAT’S NEW
Your comments and contributions are always welcome. Please send them to the Editor at newsletter@admin.cam.ac.uk The deadline for the next issue is 29 March.
Creating mentally inclusive communities ‘Embracing distress as part of everyday life’ is the provocative title of this year’s annual disability lecture. In her lecture, Dr Rachel Perkins will argue that to create mentally inclusive communities, we need to learn lessons from the broader disability rights movement. A clinical psychologist, Perkins worked in NHS mental health services for 30 years. She lives and works with a long-term mental health condition. In 2010 she was voted Mind Champion of the Year and awarded an OBE for services to mental health. Speaking to the Newsletter Perkins said: “We tend to believe the answer to mental health challenges is treatment and therapy. While I am not against treatment and therapy, they are only a small part of living with – and moving beyond – mental health problems.” Instead, she says we should tackle social and interpersonal barriers in
the same way as physical barriers. “We accommodate those who have problems navigating the physical world with ramps and hearing loops, and we need the same approach for people with mental health challenges – the mental health equivalent of a ramp,” she said. At work, this means “lots of boring practicalities” as well as embracing distress as part of everyday life. “It’s not rocket science. For managers, lots of it is simple stuff: a buddy, someone to talk to, a bit of extra supervision,” Perkins explained. “We need to embrace distress – in most of our communities we do the stiff upper lip thing like it’s going out of style. Tears and anger are human, but they are seen as unusual at work, something to put into the realms of therapy. Our work processes should cope with these fluctuations in people’s lives.” This spring, the University will be
Dr Rachel Perkins will give this year’s annual disability lecture
promoting a new wellbeing agenda. Led by HR business manager Sarah Botcherby, the agenda – which will bring together a wide range of new and existing services and support for staff – is being developed by the University Counselling Service, Personal & Professional Development, Occupational Health, Health & Safety
Office, staff reps and trade unions. The 11th annual disability lecture – ‘Creating mentally inclusive communities: embracing distress as part of everyday life’ – is at 5.30pm on Thursday, 20 March in the Palmerston Room, St John’s College. To book, visit www.training.cam.ac.uk/cppd/ event/1059959
New PVC for Education Professor Graham Virgo has been appointed Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education. He will take up the position in October 2014. The Pro-Vice Chancellors support the work of the Vice-Chancellor, providing academic leadership to the University and work with senior administrators to help develop strategy and policy. Professor Virgo is Professor of English Private Law in the Faculty of Law, and has been a Fellow of Downing since 1989. He was Senior Tutor at the college between 2003 and 2013, and has also served as Director of Studies in Law. In 2002, he received a Pilkington Prize for excellence in teaching. One of the most significant responsibilities of the Pro-ViceChancellor for Education is oversight of the implementation of education policies across the University, as
well as developing new strategies and responding to external policy initiatives. “Having been educated at Cambridge and taught and researched here for nearly 25 years, I recognise the profound importance of undergraduate education at Cambridge, both nationally and internationally, to which both the colleges, through admissions and the supervision system, and faculties and departments, make a significant contribution,” Virgo added. “Graduate education is of equal significance to the collegiate University, and I will seek to identify mechanisms for more efficient and collaborative use of existing resources and, where possible, to identify new resources to ensure that the best students are able to come to Cambridge to pursue their graduate studies.”
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Lent Term 2014 | UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE NEWSLETTER | 3 UC Delivered Catering 98x107.indd 1
20/12/2013 11:29
WHAT’S NEW New f ilm on Cambridge’s Chilean connections
Hora Chilena was made with a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund
Forty years ago, thousands fled Chile following the brutal military coup. Around 100 Chilean families settled in Cambridge. Now, a new film tells the story of those who came – and those who helped them. Made by local film maker Kip Loades, with Camila Iturra and Lautaro Vargas, both children of Chilean exiles, Hora Chilena (Chilean Time) examines a little known part of
Cambridge’s cultural history. According to Iturra: “We hope that by documenting the experiences of both the Chileans who settled here and the British people who made this possible, we are able to provide a human perspective on the debate about UK immigration.” At the time of the 1973 coup Dr Leo Castillo was a lecturer at Santiago’s Catholic University: “I was
expelled along with a handful of left Blue Stockings’ author, Jessicaand Swale politically affiliated people we found ourselves in a sort of limbo.” Castillo came to Cambridge in 1975 to do a PhD. “Everything was so new, it was extraordinary. People were so good and civilised after Chile – it was almost a miracle,” he said. “A lot of people gave me help, advice and support. I had a very warm welcome from the University.” One of the organisers of the refugee support operation was Dr David Lehmann. Now a reader in social science, Lehmann arrived in Cambridge soon after the coup: “It was utterly traumatic, because although people might have thought the military might take power and overthrow Allende, they couldn’t imagine such ferocious repression.” People from across Cambridge, including University and college staff, trade unionists and teachers, opened their hearts as well as their homes to the Chileans. “It was this
extraordinary moment,” Lehmann explained, “where all sorts of people somehow rallied round this cause.” Fran Malarée, Development Director at Clare College was two years old when she left Chile with her parents. “We were under house arrest, and we couldn’t leave,” she said. “One way to get out was to take courses, so my mother applied to do a master’s degree in Bradford.” As a result, Malarée prizes education – something invaluable in her role at Clare. “The only reason I’m here in this position is because I had amazing opportunities to study, opportunities that in other societies people wouldn’t get,” she said. “It’s why I am so passionate about the transformative function of education.”
Find out more You can see Hora Chilena at 6pm on 28 April at Downing, www.horachilena.co.uk
In brief
Murray Edwards makes Tweeting bird box
➔ Structures and patterns is the theme for the 2014 Cambridge Science Festival, which this year celebrates its 20th birthday with more than 250 events. Meet the creators of the Raspberry Pi and learn how to use it to make music. Have a go at the Museum of Technology’s ten-minute chimney challenge and discover how Nick Crumpton – star of our cover feature and author of Triassic Terrors – answers the question: what’s the point of palaeontology? And as the city gears up for the Tour de France, find out how the bicycle – Cambridge’s favourite mode of transport – got its spokes and the science behind British Cycling’s recent success. From 10 to 23 March, more details at www.cam. ac.uk/science-festival
Staff at Murray Edwards are installing a bird box with a difference in the college grounds this spring. The new avian accommodation – around four-times the size of a traditional bird box – features a camera, infra-red detectors, temperature sensor and light detector – all controlled by the Cambridgecreated Raspberry Pi computer. Made by the college maintenance department, the new bird box is being installed in a beech tree outside the office of Murray Edwards’ IT manager Andy Semark, who encountered a similar idea on the BBC Springwatch blog. “I’m no birder,” he told the Newsletter, “but this involves me writing code, and I like writing code. Everybody should be able to write code.”
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The new, high-tech bird box isn’t Semark’s first brush with the Raspberry Pi, which he discovered at a Cambridge IT managers’ conference nine months before the computer was released. “Since then I’ve done a bit of robotics, and used it as a media streamer, but I’ve never done anything serious with it. This is a bit more innovative.” Aimed at the college’s community of blue tits, if a family moves into the new hightech accommodation the code Semark has written will give an insight into the impact of local weather on the small birds’ comings and goings. “Hopefully we’ll get some photos and pick up the
birds’ activity – what time of day the birds are active and whether their activity is linked to light and temperature,” he said. “Do tits have an extra hour in bed when it’s a really miserable day, for example?” The photos and weather data captured by the new bird box will be posted on Murray Edwards’ Facebook page and other social media. “I wondered about Tweeting,” Semark added, “so we’ll hook it up to a Twitter feed and Tweet when there’s some bird activity.” Find out more about the Raspberry Pi at the Cambridge Science Festival – events 181 and 229 – www.cam. ac.uk/sciencefestival
WHAT’S NEW
Your comments and contributions are always welcome. Please send them to the Editor at newsletter@admin.cam.ac.uk The deadline for the next issue is 29 March.
Cambridge gears up for the Tour de France “A day like no other,” is how Neil Jones of Cambridge City Council describes 7 July 2014, the day the 101st edition of the Tour de France comes to Cambridge. More than 1,200 volunteers have signed up to be Tour Makers for stage 3 of the race, which starts on Parker’s Piece. Coming after two wins by British riders – Bradley Wiggins in 2012 and Chris Froome in 2013 – plus the success of British Cycling at the London 2012 Olympics, the route from Cambridge to London is expected to attract 100,000 spectators. In January the City Council announced that a three-month Velo Festival will run from May to September. “There are three strands to the TdF in Cambridge: people coming out to see it and having a great time,
making sure businesses can function, and the legacy. Some of what comes out of the Velo Festival is related to legacy,” Jones explained. “Cambridge has cycling in its DNA so when you take the biggest sporting event in the world and bring it to a city that’s already embracing cycling, it can only do further good.” The 2011 Census supports Cambridge’s claim to be the UK’s capital of cycling. Figures show that 32 per cent of those in employment cycle to work in Cambridge, by far the highest percentage in the UK and almost double that of Oxford. “It will be great in terms of tourism, great in terms of profile and great for residents. It’s going to be a day like no other. That has many meanings – it’ll be a day of celebration but it’s also going to be disruptive. You don’t put the TdF in Cambridge without
disruption, particularly not on a Monday morning,” said Jones. According to Edmund Bradbury, president of Cambridge University Cycling Club: “Cycling not only makes sense in light of environmental awareness, health and cost; it is also a fantastic sport – accessible to all ages
and abilities. We hope that the success of Le Tour this year in Cambridge, as well as the cycling events and festivals linked to it this year will help encourage the interest and investment to turn Cambridge into a centre for cycling in the East of England.”
Employee Recognition Awards celebrate success Staff, partners and colleagues from across the Unified Administrative Service gathered to celebrate individual and team successes at the second UAS Employee Recognition Awards. The event, held last December in the Combination Room of the Old Schools, brought together people from a range of divisions. The awards started with a speech from the Vice-Chancellor, who thanked everyone for their hard work and service to the University. The Registrary, Dr Jonathan Nicholls, read citations of individual and team winners. The four categories, and their winners, were: ‘We deliver an effective and high-quality service’ – Heather Smith (Pensions Section); the Graduate Admissions Team (Academic Division) ‘We collaborate and work in
partnership’ – Vivien Hodges (E&D team); the CRUK/MRC transfer team (various divisions) ‘We are open, responsive and innovative’ – Jamie Brittain (Estate Management); Public Engagement Team (External Affairs and Communications) ‘We respect others and value diversity’ – Martin Vinnell (Health and Safety Division); Cambridge Africa Partnership for Research Excellence team (Research Operations Office). The UAS Employee Recognition scheme is an annual event.
Find out more More information about the UAS Employee Recognition Scheme, including pictures of the event, can be found at www.admin.cam.ac.uk/camonly/recognition/ Lent Term 2014 | UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE NEWSLETTER | 5
behind the scenes From Jacobs Ladders and wattbikes to a plyometric track and medicine ball wall, Cambridge’s new Sports Centre is full of the latest equipment. Its staff are among the best trained in the country. But what about the pool? Becky Allen finds out
Cambridge raises the bar Centre is for: “We’re not here as an elite sporting establishment only interested in those students who are going to play for the University, or higher performance athletes. We’re here to help everybody at a level that is appropriate to their needs.” The ethos is reflected in the classes on offer – from circuits and spinning to yoga and Zumba – with plenty to attract first-time users who fancy dipping a toe in the water. “First and foremost, the Sports Centre understands that one size doesn’t fit all. If you look at the range of classes, you have different intensities as well as a range of activities,” Lemons says. “A couple of sessions and you should be getting into the swing of it – and getting some benefit.”
Sport for all This ‘sport for all’ message is writ large on the building itself. At the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Paralympic Games, Professor Stephen Hawking told the audience: “We are all different, there is no such thing as a standard or run-ofthe-mill human being, but we share the same human spirit. What is important is that we have the ability to create. This creativity can take many forms, from physical achievement to theoretical physics. However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at.” Lemons was so struck by the message, he got permission to use extracts of the speech on the glass walls of the fitness suite. “Stephen Hawking hasn’t visited the Sports Centre yet, but we’ve invited him and I hope he’ll be able to come and see the place soon,” he says.
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photographs: chris loades
First impressions count, and on a dark winter evening at the nether reaches of West Cambridge, the warm glow of the Sports Centre is a welcome sight. Oranges and reds radiate from the high glass entrance hall, and arcs of light illuminate the curved roof. Upstairs a Zumba class is in full flow, downstairs the fitness suite buzzes. It’s precisely the impression Sports Centre director Tony Lemons wanted to create. “My objective was that when you stand on the path and look at the Sports Centre – no matter when it is – you should be able to see into the building, see activity going on and think: that’s interesting, I’d like to do that,” he says. After delivering the £16m project to the University in July 2013, Lemons and his team embarked on another challenge: attracting staff, students and community users to the centre – and dispelling a few myths along the way. Because if you mention the Sports Centre to people, it isn’t long before some suggest it’s a bit too far from the centre of Cambridge, it’s a bit too expensive, it’s mainly for elite athletes and – of course – there’s no pool. Only the latter, Lemons points out, is true. “We’re spending a lot of time and effort trying to inform staff of a number of things. One is that this facility is really very close to the centre of the city. It’s only an easy eight minutes by bike, and it’s not difficult to get to,” he says. “If I could offer this place for free, I would, but it’s a really fantastic deal for staff because of the salary sacrifice scheme. They’ll not find a more cost-effective facility.” Lemons is even more emphatic on who the Sports
But what about the pool? Phase two of the Sports Centre will be an indoor tennis facility that Lemons is confident can be delivered: “We have a local club that’s very successful, and who want indoor facilities, and the Lawn Tennis Association is very keen to help us.” Phase three would see construction of a 50m swimming pool. “It’s a really interesting project. There’s no facility more family-friendly than a swimming pool, and it’s probably one that most people in the University would really like to see,” he explains. “But financially, it will
“Creativity can take many forms, from physical achievement to theoretical physics”
not wash its own face. It will need the University to make a decision, if it’s to go ahead, that it will fund it.”
Fit for purpose Among the early adopters – staff, students and Cambridge residents already using the Sports Centre – praise for the place is fulsome. Thirty-five clubs are already using the main sports hall, as are local schools and community competitions. The fitness suite is full of innovative equipment, including ski ergs and a treadmill for visually impaired
users. But for Fitness Manager Tristan Coles, it’s the strength and conditioning room that stands out. Having worked for the University for the past 10 years, Coles says the Sports Centre is a massive change from Fenner’s: “The biggest difference is the strength and conditioning room. In one sense it’s a very simple room: it’s just space with very basic equipment. Things have changed a lot in sport, but the exercises that were good 10 or 20 years ago are still good now: they’re your basic compound exercises such as squats, dead lifts, presses; it’s just a question of helping people to do them correctly. That’s where the highly qualified staff come into it.” Like elsewhere at the University, staff at the Sports Centre are leaders in their field. “Our strength lies in our staff,” he says. “We have a team of highly qualified fitness instructors and that’s where we stand out from the typical leisure facility. We try and stay up to date with research, read a lot of literature. We’re here to help people get the most from their training.” Two University clubs already getting the most from the new facilities are Eton Fives and the Trampoline Club. Previously isolated, both clubs can now train with the rest of the Cambridge sporting community. The roof of the sports hall has been designed to support a rig, an invaluable training aid for trampolinists, and new national-standard trampolines mean Cambridge can host national-level competitions for the first time. According to Trampoline Club president Andrew Aistrup: “We have some of the best university facilities in the UK now, and that should raise standards. But it’s never been about the top end. These trampolines are suitable for all abilities. We’ve always been a community club – with people doing stunt training or circus training as well as members of the public – because it’s the kind of sport that’s easy to get into. You can just come along and have fun.” The same is true of fives. Since the demolition of the Portugal Place courts in 1995, Cambridge has had just one Eton Fives court (at Magdalene College) and nowhere to play Rugby Fives. “The court at Magdalene kept the game going, but it’s right at the back of the college, it’s outside and although it’s got a roof it leaks,” explains men’s captain Robert Wilson. Thanks to fundraising by fives fans, six new courts – three Rugby and three
Main picture: Trampoline training takes off Above top: From shooting hoops to overhead squats Below: Fitness assistant Alex Fox
sports centre essentials pening hours: O Mon-Fri 06:30– 22:00 Sat-Sun 08:00– 20:00 l Staff membership costs from £250 a year, or pay as you go for classes l Off Charles Babbage Road, West Cambridge l
Find out more www.sport.cam. ac.uk/facilities/ CambridgeSports Centre/index.html
Eton – have been built in the Sports Centre. “It’s a huge transformation, having three courts with heating and lighting,” Wilson says. “And it’s very exciting, because Eton Fives courts hardly ever get built in a public sports centre.” Recreating a small slice of Eton architecture – including ledges, steps and a buttress – in a modern sports centre might seem strange but once courts are in place, it’s a widely accessible sport. “It suffers from lack of public knowledge,” he explains, “but all you need is a glove and ball, and you don’t need to be particularly strong or athletic. I enjoy it because it makes you think.” Showcasing fives in the Sports Centre will raise standards and grow the game, both in the University and the local community. A city club has already been formed, something that would previously have been unthinkable, and there are new student members. According to Wilson: “I had people coming up to me at Freshers’ Fair saying they’d seen the courts at the new sports centre and wanted to have a go.” If enough want to have a go, at whatever sport or whatever level, Lemons will be happy. “Success is when the place is absolutely humming with people. We already have 35 university clubs blockbooking the main sports hall, but I’d like to see another 1,500–2,000 members in the fitness suite,” he says. “When people start knocking on my door and saying Tony, we really need a second sports hall here, then we’re getting to the point where a university like this should be.”
Cover Feature
Triassic terrors!
Illustration: ISAAC LENKIEWICZ
Seeking solace during the darkest days of his PhD, Cambridge zoologist Nick Crumpton teamed up with artist Isaac Lenkiewisz to create a book designed to inspire the next generation of palaeontologists. Here’s their story – in graphic form
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Know your University
PHOTOGRAPHS: CHRIS LOADES
‘Hinc lucem et pocula sacra’
‘From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge’, the University motto proclaims. But why is it written in an ancient language few can understand? Far from being a remnant of our past, Latin is alive and well, as Jacqueline Bilton discovers
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A schoolboy’s jaw drops open. He has just realised that homosexuality is nothing new. The class has read a love poem written by a man, for another man. The poem is 3,000 years old. And it’s in Latin. “The sense of perspective children can gain from the writings of the Romans gives them the tools to cope with the world a little more calmly,” says Will Griffiths, Director of the Cambridge Schools Classics Project. “They see that in some ways, very little has changed for a very long time.” This ancient language, often described as ‘dead’, still plays an important role in the modern world. Across the University, Latin is not only living but also, in some fields, still evolving. The use of Latin in official University ceremonies, from graduations to the
conferral of honorary degrees, is a direct connection to the earliest practices of the University. When the Universitas Cantabrigiensis was founded in 1209, Latin was the common language of academia across Europe. “Most people in the audience these days don’t understand Latin,” says Nicola Hardy, Senior Esquire Bedell. “But it’s part of us holding onto our heritage and preserving an ancient tradition.” The University’s Statutes and Ordinances set out the exact Latin wording to be used in presenting candidates for degrees, and – apart from minor changes to accommodate advances such as the admission of women to the University and the addition of new degrees – the basic language has remained the same for hundreds of years.
Preserved by monks and scholars since the fall of the Roman Empire, the use of Latin by the educated elite continued well into the 18th century when it was finally replaced by native languages. It is only as recently as the 1960s that the language was dropped as an entry requirement by the University. As a result, the number of students taking Latin at school plummeted. “There was a realisation that students weren’t studying Latin because they were enjoying it, but because they had to,” explains Griffiths. Set up in 1966, the project’s creators were aware that many other subjects applied more directly to the modern world, but they saw great value in being able to read the Latin written by the Romans. Their idea was to teach the language in a cultural context, in a way that motivated and engaged students. The resulting Cambridge Latin Course has become the most successful and comprehensive Latin course available, and the coursebooks have sold more than four million copies worldwide. According to Griffiths: “The aim isn’t to learn Latin for the sake of learning Latin.” Instead, he argues that using Latin to understand another culture helps students understand themselves, gain a new perspective, and learn to think more critically.
Main picture and above top: Past meets present at the Museum of Classical Archaeology Above: Latin lives at the Botanic Gardens
Democratising Latin The course uses a character-led, storybased approach to develop students’ ability to read Latin and appreciate Roman civilisation. An interactive website and DVD provide video dramatisations and activities, and the project team engages directly with learners through video-teaching, allowing schools without Latin teachers to offer the course. Over the past decade, the project – managed through the Faculty of Education – has helped double the number of UK secondary schools offering Latin at Key Stage 3 to around 1,200, all in the state sector. “We didn’t set out to focus on the state sector when we contacted schools, but the independent schools that wanted to offer Latin were already doing so,” Griffiths explains. “This is about democratising access. Whether a student is going to Eton or a local comprehensive school, if they want to learn Latin, they should have the opportunity. And it should be a positive experience.” Many of the schools that use the Cambridge Latin course are in challenging socio-economic areas such
“Whether a student is going to Eton or a local comprehensive school, if they want to learn Latin, they should have the opportunity”
as the London boroughs of Barking and Dagenham, where the project has also introduced English retellings of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey to primary schools. The response, says Griffiths, has been powerful: “Students who were school refusers started going in on the day of the class. Boys who hadn’t been keen readers were getting so engaged with the storyline that they wanted to read more.” Those who choose to continue their studies to the highest level might look to Philip Hardie, Professor of Latin in the University’s Faculty of Classics, for inspiration. A specialist in Latin literature, he writes about ancient Roman authors, and studies the way in which Renaissance writers such as Shakespeare drew on these texts in their poetry and plays. “Greece and Rome were major civilisations that left a lot of literature, monuments and documents that are of intrinsic interest. Authors like Virgil and Ovid wrote great, highly complex texts that I find endlessly fascinating,” he says. “Western European culture is largely based on Greek and Roman culture in all kinds of ways, and if you don’t have an awareness of these roots you are cut off from a large part of your identity.” Latin was not only widely present in the literature of the 15th to 17th centuries but was also the international language of science. Physicist Sir Isaac Newton wrote much of his work, including Principia Mathematica, in Latin. Had he written in English, Newton could not have been assured a readership on the Continent: Latin was the instrument of mutual understanding. In 1735, Swedish scientist Carl Linnaeus published, in Latin, a system for naming biological organisms that is the foundation of the taxonomic system still used today. Visitors to the University’s Botanic Garden will see botanical Latin names on every plant label, showing its genus and species, in addition to its common English name. Latin provides a concise means of describing the characteristics of the plants, and helps to distinguish down to species level. Enabling the scientific classification of plants and animals, the use of Latin also ensures the correct identification of organisms around the world, preventing the confusion of local common names differing from region to region. Christine Bartram, Chief Technician at the University’s Herbarium, relies on Latin names and descriptions to understand the plants she is looking at. “If I was using just English names, I’d have bluebells
from England, Scotland, Spain and Australia. But the Latin names show that these are four different species, and can tell me whether or not they are related. Botanical Latin is very different from classic Latin”, she explains. “The Romans probably wouldn’t be able to understand it.” New Latin names are devised for every new species of plant and animal discovered. In many cases the name is a ‘latinised’ version of a place name, or the name of the discoverer. Danumphora fosteri, for example, is a new species of insect – a small fly – discovered recently in the rainforest of Southeast Asia by the Zoology Department’s Professor William Foster. In law, too, Latin helps ensure precision of meaning, and undergraduates start learning Latin legal terms as soon as they join the Faculty of Law. According to David Ibbetson, Regius Professor of Civil Law: “Latin is particularly useful when you’re dealing with an international audience. Even though different legal systems may have built up their own terminology in their own language, when we use Latin we’re all pretty much certain we’re talking about the same thing.” Despite much Latin terminology being phased out of legal practice, there are places where Roman law is firmly embedded and Latin is used instinctively by lawyers. “We use Latin in cases where if you were to translate it into English it would sound ridiculous, or completely misrepresent what the phrase actually means,” he says. “The Latin words have become technical terms that aren’t weighed down by baggage associated with the meaning of the words.” The term Actus reus, for example, translates literally as ‘the guilty act’. Whereas the English words might be deemed to refer to a specific aspect of a crime, the Latin term is understood to encompass the whole situation surrounding it. Similarly, a literal translation of the University’s motto ‘Hinc lucem et pocula sacra’ is ‘from here, light and sacred draughts’. While our founding scholars may have suffered all manner of draughts, the phrase actually means ‘from this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.’ From encouraging the youngest learners, to standardising terminology at the highest levels, the words of the Romans have made it through 3,000 years of history to play an important role in our lives today.
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people Clare, Churchill, Homerton and Hughes Hall welcome new Heads of House
In brief ➔ADD Dr Pauline ONE (unless Rose we hasreinstate been appointed cuts at start?)
Professor of International Education. She joins the Faculty of Education from UNESCO and was previously a reader in international education at the University of Sussex. Her research interests include educational inequality, gender and poverty; national and international education policies and practices for reaching the marginalised; the role of the state and non-state providers in education and the financing and governance of education. ➔ Professor Zoe Kourtzi has been appointed Professor of Experimental Psychology. She joins the Department of Psychology from the University of Birmingham’s Cognitive Neuroimaging Lab. Her research focuses on understanding the links between brain structure, neural function and behaviour, and in particular on the role of learning and experience in enabling humans of all ages to translate sensory experience into adaptive behaviours. ➔ Dr Griff Rollefson has joined the Faculty of Music as lecturer in popular music. He is working on a book on European hip hop and the politics of postcoloniality, which examines how minority youth in London, Berlin and Paris use hip hop’s musical politics in the struggle for equality through difference.
the excellent work carried out under Professor Tony Badger’s leadership in meeting the numerous challenges facing the college in the future, especially in ensuring that the college remains accessible to students of all social backgrounds.” Hughes Hall has announced that Dr Anthony Freeling will be its 15th President. He takes over from Sarah Squire. A City Fellow of Hughes Hall since 2008, Freeling read Mathematics and completed his PhD at Cambridge before spending 18 years at McKinsey & Company. “Hughes Hall has a number of distinctive strengths on which it can build, particularly in research and teaching oriented towards the professional world, and we have a strong team in place at the college with whom I shall work closely to take the college forward,” Freeling said. Professor Geoff Ward returned to Cambridge – where he read English at Clare College in the 1970s – as Principal of Homerton in October 2013. An expert in American literature, he joined Homerton from Royal Holloway, University of London where he was Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Vice Principal. “My goal,” said Ward, “is to encourage the academic achievements of both students and academics at Homerton – which are already considerable – to even greater heights.”
Stem cell professor
New Vet School Head
Information Services
Robin Franklin moved from the Cambridge Veterinary School to the School of Clinical Medicine in January following his appointment as Professor of Stem Cell Medicine. His research focuses on remyelination and a key part of his new role will be as head of translational science for the Wellcome Trust-MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute. Director of the Stem Cell Institute, Austin Smith, said: “His research is a great example of how to go from a fundamental discovery in regenerative biology to a potential treatment for a disabling disease. I am looking forward greatly to working with Robin to establish the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute as a world-leader.”
Professor James Wood is the new Head of the department of Veterinary Medicine. An infectious disease epidemiologist, Wood has worked in the department since 2005. He takes over from Professor Duncan Maskell, who has become Head of the School of Biological Sciences. “The department has a justifiably fantastic reputation. My main initial focus will be to maintain the ongoing progress made here in recent years,” said Wood. “We also need to work harder to tell the world how great the veterinary teaching here is. The current major developments in the hospital pose challenges on a day-to-day basis and everyone is working hard to overcome them.”
Martin Bellamy joins the University in March as director of the newly formed Information Services Division. “Setting up the new University Information Services organisation presents a unique opportunity to build a strong, unified team and to deliver excellent user-led services,” he said. Before his arrival in Cambridge Bellamy was director of change and ICT for the National Offender Management Service, an agency of the Ministry of Justice, which operates prison and probation services in England and Wales. He was programme director for the G Cloud in the Cabinet Office, and has also worked in the NHS, Reuters and BT.
Charlotte sankey
Following the arrival of Professor Geoff Ward at Homerton College as its new Principal, October 2014 will see new Heads of House at Churchill, Clare and Hughes Hall. Professor Dame Athene Donald takes over from Professor Sir David Wallace as Master of Churchill College. A student at Cambridge, Dame Athene returned to the University from Cornell University in 1983 to work in the Cavendish Laboratory, becoming Professor of Experimental Physics in 1988. The University’s first Gender Equality Champion, Dame Athene is director of WiSETI, the University’s Women in Science, Engineering and Technology Initiative. “The college occupies a unique place in collegiate Cambridge, with an incredibly strong academic reputation, a vibrant community and oversight of a remarkable archives collection. It will be my challenge and privilege to help to ensure the college’s continuing success,” she said. Lord Grabiner will succeed Professor Tony Badger as Master of Clare College. Lord Grabiner was called to the Bar in 1969, he became a QC in 1981, is a Deputy High Court judge in the Chancery Division and Commercial Court, and was made a life peer in 1999. According to Lord Grabiner: “I aim to continue
12 | Lent Term 2014 | UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE NEWSLETTER
advertisements Advertising on this page is open to University staff. The cost is £15 for a single insertion or £75 for six insertions. The deadline for the next issue is 29 March 2014. Please send your copy – no longer than 70 words – to the Editor at newsletter@admin.cam.ac.uk HOUSES TO RENT (UK) ➔ Butley, Suffolk Comfortable, spacious, well equipped cottage with piano in Butley, Suffolk. Available for Aldeburgh Festival, weekends and short breaks throughout the year. Close to Orford, Sutton Hoo, Snape and Minsmere. Sleeps up to eight. Call Miranda on (01223) 357035 or email info@butleycottage.co.uk. More information at www. butleycottage.co.uk. ➔ Cornwall Traditional granite cottage in peaceful countryside between St Ives and Penzance. Sleeps five in three bedrooms, with comfortable sitting room, kitchen-breakfast room and bathroom. Sunny garden and off-road parking. Close to beaches and coves, coastal path, sub-tropical gardens, historic properties. Email Penny on pb29@cam.ac.uk or phone (01638) 507192. Details and photos at www.tinminerscottage.co.uk. ➔ North Yorkshire coast Comfortable, Georgian house available for holiday lets in Robin Hood’s Bay. Large garden, sea views, central heating and private parking. Sleeps 9+ but special rates for couples and small parties. On the ground floor there is a kitchen, dining room and sitting room. On the first floor there are three bedrooms (one en-suite), family bathroom and a further sitting room. There are two further bedrooms and a bathroom on the second floor. For further information contact Val Everton on 07592 590727 or val.everton@yahoo.co.uk. HOUSES TO RENT (OVERSEAS) ➔ Algarve, Portugal Spacious, family owned apartment, sleeps up to five in idyllic village. Private patio and roof terrace with shared pools. Picturesque beach five minutes walk. Restaurants within village. Tennis, golf, water parks and shopping close by. Faro airport 45 minutes. Stunning and quiet location. Short and long breaks. Email Helen.floto@gmail. com, phone 01954 267291 or visit www.holiday-home-rentals.co.uk (property 4995). ➔ Amalfi Coast, Italy Small B&B in peaceful, traffic-free mountain village above Positano. Ideal for those seeking a quiet mountain retreat with modern conveniences. All rooms ensuite with panoramic sea views of the Amalfi coast. Situated on famous Sentiero degli Dei (Footpath of the Gods). English speaking host.
Double room and breakfast from 65 euros per night. Easyjet flights to Naples from Stansted. Phone Penny Marrone on 01954 210681. Further information and photos at http://ninobb.moonfruit.com. ➔ Carry le Rouet, France Large, comfortable flat in famous Côte Bleue resort of Carry-le-Rouet, close to the Camargue, Marseilles and all Provençal places of interest such as Arles, Avignon, Aix-enProvence and St Rémy-de-Provence. Seafront, beach and coves within 100 metres. Excellent for swimming, snorkelling, scuba diving, sailing, walking and cycling. Twenty minutes from Marseilles airport and 30 minutes from Marseilles TGV station. Sleeps six. Private parking. WIFI network. Contact Anita Ogier on ao10001@cam.ac.uk. ➔ Dolomites, Italy Charming, small hotel in Italian Dolomites, a short drive to Cortina and two hours from Venice. Only 12 double rooms, with fabulous views and off the beaten track. Ideal for walking enthusiasts, botanists, painters, lovers of the simple pleasures of life. Also great skiing – 100km of pistes with ski lift just down the road. Delicious meals cooked by the owner, Carola. Good wine. English, French and Italian spoken. Looking forward to having you to stay at Hotel Cà del Bosco. Phone: 0039 0437 521258. Email:info@hotelcadebosco.it. Web: www.hotelcadelbosco.it. ➔ Hydra, Greece Historic 1810 mansion lovingly restored by family of original owners and converted into a beautiful boutique hotel. Located on a car-free island opposite the Peloponnese and only 200 metres from the port (where sea taxis to beaches and coves can be taken). Cafes and restaurants a short walk away, although the house is situated in a quiet area with courtyards, garden and veranda with lovely views. High-quality suites/rooms with authentic furnishings. Jacuzzi/ internet available. Email info@ cotommatae.gr or visit www. cotommatae.gr/en-us/home/ cotommatae-hydra. ➔ Languedoc countryside Historic village house in beautiful Languedoc countryside, with spring-fed lake, river swimming, walks, Cathar castles, markets and vineyards close by. Stylishly renovated, with panoramic views of Corbières hills from roof terrace; use of garden. Sleeps four or five with two bedrooms, bathroom and ensuite; state-of-the-art kitchen; separate dining and living rooms.
40 minutes from Carcassonne airport. Car essential. Available now for short (€550-€750) and long lets. Email maisondelacamp@gmail.com for more information or visit www.corbiereshouse.com/index. php/contact. ➔ Puissalicon, Languedoc, France Explore mountains, sea, domaines, properties and unwind. Beautiful bed and breakfast accommodation available all year in a 17th century circulade village house with a tower. The independently accessed apartment sleeps two people comfortably. Nearest airports are Beziers (30 minutes), Montpellier (60 minutes), Carcassonne (90 minutes). For more information visit www.lapetitetour.co.uk. ➔ North Portugal House for rent in Afife (Viana do Castelo), a quiet and picturesque locality. Five minutes by car to one of the most beautiful beaches in the region. Two storeys with four double bedrooms, two doublesofas beds, three bathrooms, swimming pool, pool table, tennis table and BBQ. For further details email novoc@babraham.ac.uk. ➔ Nice, France Quiet apartment near the Promenade des Anglais and city centre. It is in the ‘Musicians’ area’ on the fourth floor, accessed by lift. Sleeps two, with living room, bedroom with double bed, separate, fully equipped kitchen, modern bathroom, separate w/c, small balconies front and back. Price per week, including linen, £350 October to March, £400 April, May, September, £450 June to August. Contact Robin Spence on rjs2@cam.ac.uk or 07808932943. ➔ Provence, France Le Mazet des Cypres is a beautifully restored stone farmhouse that sleeps eight with spectacular views of Mont Ventoux and the Vaucluse hills. Surrounded by vineyards in a quiet location the house has four bedrooms, three bath/ shower rooms and an 11‑metre by five-metre swimming pool. Close by are the ancient and picturesque cities of Avignon, Orange, Aixen-Provence, Nimes and Arles. Email Sarah Banbery at sjb258@ emma.cam.ac.uk or visit www. lemazetdescypres.co.uk. ➔ Slovakia Timber cottage deep in unspoilt forests, a good place for walking holidays, bird watching and fishing. The peaks within three miles are higher than Snowdon or Table Mountain. Walk for miles above an altitude of 1,000m along the long-
distance European walking trails E3 and E8. Hiking maps provided in the cottage. Cottage sleeps four to six people with prices between £350 and £450 per week. Phone 01844 339754 or visit www.SlovakiaHolidays.org. SERVICES ➔ Lovely food, sensible prices The University Social Club (USC) in Mill Lane is the ideal place for lunch and to unwind after work. It boasts real ales, delicious, affordable food at lunchtime, and snooker, pool, darts and table tennis. The club has function and meeting rooms available for hire, and is open to all University staff, students and affiliates. The USC is open from 12 to 2pm and 5pm until 10.30pm Monday to Friday. Various dancing classes (salsa, tango and ceroc) are held most week nights. For further information phone 38090 or email enquiries@socialclub.cam.ac.uk. ➔ Bottisham Garage Friendly, independent garage servicing all makes and models of car. MOT tests, diagnostics, brakes and tyres all catered for. Free courtesy car by arrangement. 10 per cent discount on labour to University card holders when mentioned at time of booking. Free MoT test last Thursday of every month. Phone 01223 811666 for appointments. ➔ Wine tasting Cambridgeshire Wine School runs wine tasting evenings and courses in central Cambridge. We do not sell wine (we choose from local retailers) and our courses and events are suitable for everyone – from the beginner to the enthusiast. We hold single evenings focusing on particular regions of the world, an eight-week ‘world tour’ (save £30) and Saturday courses (including two-course lunch and champagne). We also arrange events for private groups. Book online at www. CambridgeshireWineSchool.com. VOLUNTEERS ➔ Balik Arts Balik Arts is looking for Cambridgebased volunteers to expand its activities. Good communication and writing skills are required. The main tasks are rewriting the website content and assisting with fundraising and/or social enterprise development. We, in turn, offer inhouse and external training and the possibility of foreign travel. For more information email info@balikarts. org.uk, log on to our website at
www.balikarts.org.uk or visit our Facebook page: www.facebook. com/balikarts ➔ Cambridge Science Festival Cambridge Science Festival takes place from 10 to 23 March this year, exploring the wonderful science taking place in Cambridge. The Public Engagement team is looking for volunteer stewards to help members of the public find their way to talks, debates and hands-on activities. Volunteering is a great way to be part of the festival and also hear fascinating talks by leading scientists. If you could offer a few hours of your time, please contact us at csf@admin.cam.ac.uk. ➔ Coton Countryside Reserve Cambridge Past, Present & Future, the local charity that champions enjoyment of green spaces and sustainable development of the city, is looking for people to help out at the Coton Countryside Reserve. Volunteers help shape and maintain the reserve, with assistance conducting wildlife surveys, practical conservation tasks and research on the history and archaeology of the site of particularly high importance. To find out more about volunteering, call (01223) 243830 or visit cambridgeppf.org/volunteering. shtml. ➔ Help with professional skills Cambridgeshire ProHelp has relaunched for professionals committed to making a difference in their local community by providing free advice and expertise. Expertise from marketing and business planning, to architecture and law is sought. Volunteering can be a great way to develop skills while benefiting the community. If you are interested in finding out more, please visit www.bitc.org.uk/east_ of_england/programmes/prohelp/ OTHER NOTICES ➔ Private vocal tuition I am a classically trained soprano with several years experience in teaching music. I teach vocal students of all levels, music theory and dictation/solfege. All lessons held at my studio in the King’s Hedges area of Cambridge. Beginners welcome. Contact Bonnie Cooper at bmcambs@gmail.com or bonniecoopersoprano.com to enquire about lesson availability and rates.
Lent Term 2014 | UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE NEWSLETTER | 13
prizes, awards and honours New Year Honours Professor Ash Amin, Professor Juliet Compston, Professor David Neal and Baroness Onora O’Neill are among those who have been given honours in this year’s New Year Honours list. Economic geographer Professor Ash Amin has been awarded a CBE for his services to social science. Amin is known for his work on the economy as a cultural entity, the geographies of modern living and globalisation as an everyday process. Recently he has focused on cultures of calamity, the contemporary urban condition, and the rights of the poor, looking into urban cohesion and racial integration. Emeritus Professor of Bone Medicine Juliet Compston has been awarded an OBE for her services to the treatment of osteoporosis. For more than three decades her work has focused on the pathophysiology and treatment of osteoporosis, and has helped develop treatment guidelines. Reacting to the news, she said: “It was a lovely surprise to get the award, but as always other people are involved and nobody does all the work on their own. I’d like to thank all my colleagues that have helped me developing the guidelines and all the patients that have been part of the research.” Professor of Surgical Oncology David Neal has
been awarded a CBE for his services to surgery. An expert in prostate cancer and complex testicular cancer, he is part of a team at Addenbrooke’s Hospital conducting robotic prostatectomies. Neal said he was “honoured and delighted” by the Professor David Neal news. “Working with people with cancer is extremely inspiring because of their courage in dealing with this difficult disease and because they are determined to help us with our research to improve things for those who come after.” Baroness Onora O’Neill of Bengarve, Professor Emeritus and former Principal of Newnham College, has been made a Companion of Honour for her services to philosophy and public policy. Widely recognised as one of Britain’s leading moral and political philosophers, her research has focused particularly on questions of international justice, the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, and bioethics. Do you have an award that you would like publicising in the Newsletter? Email details to newsletter@ admin.cam.ac.uk
Other awards ➔ Professors Graeme Barker and Martin Jones (McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research), Professor Iain Fenlon of the Faculty of Music and Professor Colin Taylor of the Department of Pharmacology, have been elected members of Academia Europaea. ➔ The first Barbara McClintock prize for plant genetics and genome studies, awarded by the Maize Genetics Executive Committee, has been won by Professor Sir David Baulcombe (Department of Plant Sciences). ➔ Professor Mary Beard (Faculty of Classics) has been awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of St Andrews. ➔ The University Association of Contemporary European Studies’ Best Book Prize has gone to Dr Christopher Bickerton of the Department of Politics and International Studies for his book European integration: from nation-states to member states. ➔ Dr Ioannis Brilakis of the Department of Engineering has been awarded the American Society of Civil Engineers’ Collingwood Prize. ➔ 2013 Philip Leverhulme Prizes have been awarded to Dr Haider Butt and
Dr Damian Crowther
Professor Michael Green
Professor Valerie Gibson
14 | Lent Term 2014 | UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE NEWSLETTER
Dr Jane Fruehwirth of the Faculty of Economics, and Dr David Nally of the Department of Geography. ➔ Matthew Carter of Emmanuel College was named Chef of the Year in the 2013 University of Cambridge Culinary Competition. Runner-up was the University Centre’s Vladimir Durik, while the catering team at Clare College carried off the Stewards’ Cup. ➔ A book by Professor Chris Clark (Faculty of History) – The sleepwalkers: how Europe went to war in 1914 – was runner-up for the 2013 Cundill Prize in Historical Literature. ➔ Professor James Crawford of the Faculty of Law has been awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Amsterdam. ➔ Dr Damian Crowther (Department of Genetics) and colleagues have won the 2013 Carpe Diem Life Science Award for the best start-up in the University of Cambridge’s Entrepreneurs Business Creation Competition. Their company, Floceleris, is developing a presymptomatic test that will be used to find new drugs to inhibit disease progression in Alzheimer’s patients. ➔ Described by the doctors’ trade union the BMA as a ‘joy to use’ the Atlas of epidemic Britain: a twentieth century – written by Professor Andy
Cliff (Department of Geography) and Professor Matthew Smallman-Raynor of the University of Nottingham – was the BMA Medical Book of the Year 2013. ➔ Professor Nicholas Cook (Faculty of Music) and Professor Sheilagh Ogilvie (Faculty of Economics) have been awarded British Academy Wolfson Professorships. The awards fund replacement teaching plus research expenses for three years. Cook’s project will focus on the role of music in the construction and negotiation of relationships and identities among individuals and groups, while Ogilvie’s project will look at human capital as a central component of long-term economic development across three centuries (1600-1900). ➔ The Royal Academy of Engineering has nominated Professor Dame Ann Dowling (Department of Engineering) as its first female president, a role she will take up for five years in September this year. According to Dame Ann: “I am honoured to be nominated for election as President of the UK’s national academy of engineering at a crucial time when it is generally acknowledged that many more engineers will be required to help the country benefit from the knowledge economy of the future.” ➔ Professor David Farrington (Institute of Criminology) has won the American Society of Criminology’s 2013 Freda Adler Distinguished Scholar Award. ➔ The 2013 WISE Leader Award – which recognises a champion of female talent in science, technology, engineering or mathematics – has been won by Professor Valerie Gibson of the Department of Physics. ➔ The $3m Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics has been jointly awarded to Professor Michael Green (Department of Mathematics and Theoretical Physics) and John H. Schwarz of the California Institute of Technology. According to Green: “I feel really fortunate to have been able to contribute, along with many others, to developments in string theory, which has provided such an inspiring succession of novel insights into fundamental physics and mathematics.” ➔ Professor Claire Hughes (Centre for Family Research) has won a British Psychological Society Book Prize for her monograph Social understanding and social lives: from toddlerhood through to the transition to school. ➔ Dr Lydia Hamlett (Department of History of Art) has been awarded a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship. Her
research will focus on mural painting in Britain in the long 17th century. ➔ PhD student Irit Katz (Department of Architecture) has won a new award – the James Morris prize – from the Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain. ➔ Professor Rae Langton of the Faculty of Philosophy has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. ➔ Professor John Loughlin (Department of Politics and International Studies) has been elected a Fellow of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts. ➔ The Institution of Civil Engineers has awarded its President’s Medal to Professor Robert Mair and the T K Hsieh Award to Professor Gopal Madabhushi (Department of Engineering). ➔ Dr Alexander Marr of the Department of History of Art has been elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. ➔ Professor Brian Moore, Dr Brian Glasberg, Dr Tom Baer and Dr Michael Stone of the Department of Psychology have been awarded Chairman’s Awards for outstanding contributions to hearing research and training by the British Society of Audiology. Professor Moore
has also received a special award from the Association of Independent Hearing Healthcare Professionals for outstanding services to audiology. ➔ Naomi Moris, a PhD student in the Department of Genetics, has won the graphic non-fiction section of the 2013 EuroStemCell stem cell writing competition for 2013. Her entry, Getting the ball rolling, explains in graphic form how researchers use stem cells to answer fundamental scientific questions. ➔ Dr Andrew Preston (Faculty of History) has won the UK Political Studies Association’s Richard E. Neustadt Book Prize for his book Sword of the spirit, shield of faith: religion in American war and diplomacy. He was presented with the award at the US Embassy in November. ➔ Causation, chance, and the rational significance of supernatural evidence by Professor Hugh Price of the Centre for Science and Policy was named one of the 10 best papers of the year by the Philosophers’ Annual. ➔ Dr James Russell of the Department of Psychology’s paper Why do young children hide by closing their eyes? has won the Editor’s Choice Award by the Journal
Dr Christopher Bickerton
Dr Lydia Hamlett
of Cognition and Development. ➔ Professor Simon Schaffer (Department of History and Philosophy of Science) has been awarded the Sarton Medal, the History of Science Society’s highest honour. The citation for the medal, awarded annually since 1955, describes Schaffer as ‘a dedicated and inspirational teacher’. ➔ PhD student Sertaç Sehlikoglu (Department of Archaeology and Anthropology) has won the American Anthropological Association’s 2013 photographic competition. ➔ Professor Lawrence Sherman of the Institute of Criminology has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Social Science from the University of Stockholm. ➔ The International Society for Stem Cell Research’s most prestigious prize, the McEwen Award for Innovation, is this year awarded to Professor Azim Surani of the Gurdon Institute. ➔ Professor Dame Jean Thomas of the Department of Biochemistry is the new president of the Society of Biology. ➔ Dr Dorothy Thompson (Faculty of Classics) has been awarded an honorary D.Litt. by the University of Liverpool.
Professor Valerie Gibson
22,000 ebooks
Access today via your library catalogue or ebooks.cambridge.org Initial trial access until 30/4/14. Popular titles will become available in perpetuity.
Lent Term 2014 | UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE NEWSLETTER | 15
the pitt building ‌ a conference centre of distinction in central Cambridge
P University discounts available P Videoconferencing suites now open P Meeting rooms to hire by the hour P Extensively and purposefully refurbished P Flexible conference and meeting room facilities accommodating 2 to 250 people
P Syndicate rooms seating 10 to 15 delegates P Year-round availability P Complimentary WiFi access throughout P Tailored and creative food service
For further information please contact: The Events Office The Pitt Building Trumpington Street Cambridge CB2 1RP Telephone: (01223) 330807 Email: pittbuilding@cambridge.org
16 | Lent Term 2014 | UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE NEWSLETTER
www.cambridge.org/pittbuilding