St John's College News

  1. Finding my ‘inner red’

    “I would love for someone to read something I’ve written and feel like it was ok to be alive”
    To mark the publication of her second book, Red Gloves, poet and Library Projects Assistant Rebecca Watts tells us about why she started writing poetry, her love of landscape and how she accidentally followed Wordsworth from Cumbria to Cambridge. In normal life people don’t talk about poetry and they don’t think it is especially important – it is not in your life unless you make it be in…read more

  2. ‘We will never forget you’ – Vice-Master tells Class of 2020

    "The road to a Cambridge degree is always challenging and you are the generation that got there in the midst of a global pandemic"
    Hundreds of students should be processing to the Senate House this week to graduate from the University of Cambridge. The global coronavirus pandemic has meant the usual general admission events have been cancelled, and students have been encouraged to graduate in absentia with the promise of a belated celebration at a later date. To mark what would have been the day the 2020 cohort of students…read more

  3. Student scientist spends lockdown finding best way to make effective homemade masks

    “Designing a face mask that optimises filtration and is easy to clean will be a great aid in ensuring as many people as possible are protected”
    Homemade masks should be made from high quality cotton with layers of other textiles underneath to slow the spread of Covid-19 – according to research by an undergraduate at St John’s.  Jago Strong-Wright, Natural Sciences student, has reviewed the efficacy of masks made from material people can find around the house, from vacuum cleaner bags to old lycra leggings and cotton bedsheets. His…read more

  4. Florentine 'spy' uncovered as designer of historic German palace by St John's researcher

    “In a time before the rapid dissemination and easy accessibility of news, strategically placed individuals would have been highly valuable to rulers as a means of finding out what was happening abroad"
    A palace in Germany designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site was designed by a Florentine architect thought to have been a secret informant for the Medici, a powerful Catholic Italian family – according to new research. The Weimar Residenzschloss was originally built at the end of the 10th century and until the 18th century it was the official residence of the Dukes who ruled Saxe-Weimar…read more

  5. Scientists use garden plants to make hydrogen – the world’s ‘most promising’ renewable fuel

    “This sunlight-driven process has the potential to be a low-cost and sustainable way to make hydrogen”
    Researchers have shown that hydrogen can be made using garden plants and river water leading to hopes the green energy source could be manufactured without using fossil fuels. Professor Erwin Reisner, Fellow of St John’s College, University of Cambridge, led a team of researchers who used plants collected from the College gardens and water from the River Cam to produce renewable hydrogen. The…read more

  6. Free menstrual cups offered to St John's students

    “"This project shows College's commitment to improving students’ quality of life and promoting environmentally friendly ways of living.”
    A project to provide free sustainable sanitary products to St John's students has been launched after it received financial backing from the College.  The new scheme aims to provide a sustainable alternative to single-use sanitary products that see 200,000 tonnes of waste go to landfill or end up in waterways every year in the UK alone. It also tries to tackle the issue of…read more

  7. Scientist says lessons learnt during coronavirus pandemic ‘must be applied to climate crisis’

    "Fundamental change is needed and we should not lose sight of that during the coronavirus pandemic and its aftermath"
    The academic in charge of co-ordinating St John’s College’s ambitious new plans to tackle climate change has said the world must not ignore the ‘potentially catastrophic’ threat on the horizon. The College, which is one of the largest Colleges of the University of Cambridge, has released a statement on the climate crisis acknowledging the emergency facing humanity and setting out a plan to…read more

  8. St John’s wins prestigious Gold environmental award

    “It’s very encouraging to see students, staff, and Fellows of St John’s recognising and responding to the climate crisis in diverse and dynamic ways”
    St John’s has scooped a Gold award in the Cambridge Green Challenge for the College’s debut entry. The University of Cambridge named St John’s College as one of the Gold winners of the annual Green Impact Awards. The awards encourage everyone working or studying at the University to take action to reduce their environmental impact and for Colleges, Departments and Faculties to implement a range…read more

  9. Tributes paid to ‘beating heart’ of St John’s

    “Steve was loved and admired by his team and others around him. The College owe him a great deal of gratitude for all his time, dedication and loyalty”
    Moving tributes have been paid to a long-standing member of College staff who has died from cancer at the age of 63. Steve Beeby led the Maintenance department for 15 years as Superintendent of Buildings after he joined the College more than 35 years ago. He met Yazz, his wife of 24 years, at St John’s when she was working as a bedmaker. Last year he retired early and he died peacefully at…read more

  10. New book is published by award-winning St John’s poet

    “If your poem isn’t even attempting to be as worthy of people’s time as a Taylor Swift song, I question your motives"
    A St John’s librarian and award-winning wordsmith is continuing the College’s long poetry tradition with the publication of his second book. The Culture of My Stuff by Dr Adam Crothers, who is the Special Collections Assistant, is published by Carcanet today (28 May 2020) and is a collection of sonnets, prose and political nonsense rhymes. Brexit, Trump, Northern Ireland, Komodo dragons, the…read more

  11. Guitarist Robert launches lockdown YouTube channel

    "It's a cliche but music is a universal language and ain't no lockdown gonna stop it!”
    Musician Robert Jones, one of our College Custodians, has launched a YouTube music channel to beat the lockdown blues. Robert, who has worked at St John’s for three years, is currently a daytime Porter during the pandemic – but by night he swaps his College keys for playing a different kind of key on his guitar. Robert Jones is keeping live music fans entertained during the lockdown. An…read more

  12. Jenni runs virtual marathon to raise money for animal charity

    “Running is good for keeping healthy and I find it a real boost to help me feel a sense of achievement"
    St John's College staff member Jenni Prior is tackling a lockdown feat – or should that be feet? Jenni, who is Executive Assistant to the Director of Education & Senior Tutor Dr Annis May Timpson, is running a virtual marathon fundraiser in aid of the Blue Cross animal charity, to help pets in need.  “Our cat Jasper came from the Blue Cross in Cambridge in 2014 so their work means a…read more

  13. PhD student wins prestigious research grant for US archive trip

    “I’m deeply grateful to St John’s, I owe it a lot”
    A St John’s PhD student who is researching the work of a prolific but little-studied Scottish architect is celebrating after a double dose of good news. Ralph Wade, PhD Candidate in the History of Art, has won a Research Support Grant from the world-renowned Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, a UK educational charity based in London that is part of Yale University, in its competitive…read more

  14. Student shares her battle with depression and anxiety to highlight importance of Mental Health Awareness Week

    “It’s ok not to be ok. But with the St John’s family you are not really alone, even in isolation.”
    “It’s ok not to be ok. But with the St John’s family you are not really alone, even in isolation.” That’s the message from JCR Mental Health Officer Becca Gutteridge during this week’s Mental Health Awareness Week, when the St John’s College community is spread far and wide away from Cambridge during the coronavirus pandemic. “We are still here for you,” said Becca, a second year English…read more

  15. A spine-chilling tale at St John’s

    “As a historian I love the idea of nonlinear time – that somehow, just occasionally, history might fold back on itself, allowing us a glimpse into past centuries”
    The legend of a St John’s student who surrendered his soul to the devil in exchange for the knowledge to pass his exams was the inspiration behind an eerie ghost story.  Art historian Dr Christina J Faraday’s spooky short story The Advent Visitor has been published in Ghosts and Scholars Magazine. Christina, who was an undergraduate and a postgraduate student at St John’s, said: “I don't…read more

  16. International online concert brings centuries-old Chinese music back to life

    “This music could so easily have been lost forever. James Inman just happened to pick up a copy of this tiny flimsy pamphlet in Guangzhou, and gave it to his College Library”
    Performers across the globe are uniting in an online concert to revive the melodies captured in a 250-year-old volume of Chinese music discovered in St John's College Old Library. The special event features a 95-year-old grandmother from Guangzhou (aka Canton), where the now unique woodblock-printed book of 13 musical scores was created in 1770 – 34 years before finding its way to Cambridge in…read more

  17. Everyday Sexism activist and founder of Raspberry Pi elected as Honorary Fellows of St John’s

    “They are people of ideas and intellectual courage"
    Four distinguished people have been named as Honorary Fellows of St John’s College in recognition of their exceptional contributions to their respective fields. Dr Heidi-Ann Doughty, President of the Blood Transfusion Society, Dr Claire Craig, Provost of The Queen’s College, Laura Bates, founder of the Everyday Sexism Project, and Dr Eben Upton, founder of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, have all…read more

  18. Medieval library treasure goes digital

    "This manuscript is a finely written and beautifully illustrated example of early 13th century work"
    A 13th century illuminated manuscript that has been in the archives of St John’s College for nearly 400 years has been digitised so it can reach a new audience.  Detailed images from the early medieval religious text have been published online for the first time in the University of Cambridge Digital Library. The 377-page manuscript is a psalter that belonged to Robert de Lindsay who…read more

  19. St John’s markswoman shoots and scores in inaugural University sports awards

    “The results indisputably make CUSBC the most successful university shooting club in the country”
    Third year St John’s student Cecilia Catuogno-Cal is on a winning streak after helping to break two shooting records and being named in the 'Team of the Year' in the first University of Cambridge Sports Awards. Cecilia is a member of the University’s Small Bore Club (CUSBC) 1st VI, which won first place at the annual British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) Short Range Championships…read more

  20. The Advent Visitor

    " I will give you my soul, if you will teach me learning and wisdom"
    Dr Christina J Faraday has a talent for writing fiction and her short ghost story set at St John's College, The Advent Visitor, has been published in a literary magazine. Here the St John's alumna shares her macabre tale... 'Quis est ille qui venit?' It was to be my first Christmas vacation in college. As soon as term ended, practically overnight the library emptied and the dining…read more

  21. What the history of working motherhood can teach us during a global pandemic

    “It is a story of transformation for mothers but it’s a story of continuity for fathers”
    The coronavirus pandemic has turned the world of home and work upside down, blurring the lines between the workplace and family life. And although we are living through extraordinary times, a groundbreaking new book by St John’s College historian Dr Helen McCarthy reveals home and work life challenges are nothing new for mothers. With the world in lockdown, parents everywhere have been…read more

  22. ‘Exceptional’ St John’s alumni elected to prestigious Royal Society

    “At this time of global crisis, the importance of scientific thinking, and the medicines, technologies and insights it delivers, has never been clearer”
    Three outstanding St John’s scientists are among 62 newly-elected Fellows to join the world-renowned Royal Society. Professor Peter Nellist, Professor John Plane and Professor Nigel Scrutton have been selected to join the 2020 Fellowship for their exceptional contributions to scientific understanding. Their achievements range from pioneering new techniques for atomic-resolution microscopy, to…read more

  23. St John’s scientist leads research to reduce airborne Covid-19 spread in emergency hospitals

    “Our work aims to highlight simple yet effective solutions that are relatively easy to install, implement, service and maintain.”
    Cambridge scientists say low tech changes in makeshift emergency hospitals can reduce the dispersal of airborne Covid-19. Professor Andrew Woods, Fellow of Mathematics at St John’s and Head of the BP Institute, led a study with Professor Alan Short of the Department of Architecture to find ventilation designs and ward configurations to reduce virus dispersal. Emergency wards are being…read more

  24. Architecture student’s work to feature in Imperial War Museum refugee exhibition

    “Having your work exhibited at a major museum is a big deal for anyone – but especially for an undergraduate student”
    Drawings of refugee shelters by a St John’s student will be displayed at the Imperial War Museum in London to help unlock the personal stories of people who have been forced to flee their homes.  Refugees: Forced to Flee, a new exhibition at the Imperial War Museum (IWM), will explore a century of refugee experiences, from Nazi Germany’s persecution of Jews and the Kindertransport, to…read more

  25. St John’s academics nominated in student-led awards for innovative teaching

    "To take good care of the academic development of the students should always be the priority of those involved in education"
    Three academics from St John’s College have been recognised for their teaching talent in annual awards run by the student community. The annual Cambridge University Students’ Union (CUSU) teaching awards are presented in recognition of outstanding lecturers, supervisors, tutors, and Directors of Studies at the University of Cambridge.  Dr Georgina Evans has been nominated in the…read more