St John's College News
College lecturer awarded prestigious prize for teaching excellence
"I find the students' enthusiasm inspiring and energising. Their questions often lead me to dig deeper into the subject and I learn new things every time I teach"A St John’s academic has scooped a Pilkington Prize for his exemplary teaching of mathematics. Dr John R. Taylor has been named as one of the 12 winners of the University of Cambridge Pilkington Prizes which are awarded annually by the Vice-Chancellor to people who make a substantial contribution to the teaching programme of a Department, Faculty or the University of Cambridge. …read moreSt John's launches 'Virtual Chapel' during coronavirus pandemic
"The Chapel wants to play its part and ensure that the College community, and all our friends wherever they may be, can have the opportunity to pause together and reflect"St John’s College Chapel will deliver digital services to give people the opportunity to 'pause and reflect together' during the global lockdown. Services are currently suspended at the world-famous Victorian chapel, which celebrated its 150th anniversary last May, to protect the St John's community and visitors during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Chapel team is now going to provide…read moreSenior research 'stars' awarded European Research Council funding
"I am very happy that with this new grant we as UK scientists can continue to play an important part in the vibrant research culture of Europe"'Daring and innovative' senior scientists have been rewarded with €450 million of funding from the European Research Council - and a St John's physicist is amongst the recipients. Professor Mete Atatüre, Director of Studies in Physics and Astrophysics and in Mathematics for Natural Sciences at St John's, is based at Cambridge’s world-renowned Cavendish Laboratory. He…read moreLeo adds strings to his bow with Facebook family concerts
"The real joy of music is making it with other people"St John’s violinist Leo Appel and his musical family are performing weekly Facebook concerts to lift spirits and raise charity funds during the UK coronavirus lockdown. The second year music student is live-streaming the performances at 3pm every Wednesday from his family home in Oxford in the series called 'An Afternoon with the Appels' on his Facebook page. Viewers…read moreCambridge engineers use industrial modelling techniques to help Addenbrooke’s manage COVID-19
"Instead of production lines we’re now looking at hospital wards, and rather than products or raw materials we are examining the flow of patients and supplies"Modelling tools originally designed to improve the efficiency of factories are being used by Cambridge engineers to help Addenbrooke’s Hospital manage the COVID-19 emergency. The work enhances the hospital’s own modelling, and provides insight into how day-to-day activities might be affected by a rise in patient numbers in the coming weeks or months. ‘Discrete event simulations’ have been…read moreHappy birthday Wordsworth! Celebrating one of the world’s greatest poets
Celebrating one of the world’s greatest poets7 April 2020 marks the 250th anniversary of Romantic poet William Wordsworth’s birth. Rebecca Watts, curator of a new Wordsworth exhibition in the Library, reflects on the life of this renowned Johnian. When the seventeen-year-old William Wordsworth arrived in Cambridge in October 1787, he wasn’t exactly bowled over by what he saw. ‘It was a dreary morning when the chaise / Roll’d over the flat…read moreSt John’s social media star shortlisted in law awards
“It’s really exciting to be nominated with somebody I have looked up to on social media for so many years”A St John’s law student with a popular YouTube channel was shortlisted for an award celebrating the best legal social media users of 2020. Second year undergraduate Elena Handtrack has clocked up more than 31,000 YouTube followers for her Cambridge vlog where she offers a glimpse into her busy life as a university law student. Her videos have had more than two million views and cover all…read moreTop maths prize is out of this world
“I feel inspired to work even harder to discover new horizons in mathematics”A prestigious £15,000 maths prize once won by Stephen Hawking has been awarded to two researchers for their impressive work in the field of algebra. The historic Adams Prize is named after John Couch Adams who used maths to predict the existence of the planet Neptune. Couch Adams graduated from St John’s College in 1843 as ‘Senior Wrangler’ – the top mathematics undergraduate at the University…read moreSt John’s launches series of self-isolation blogs
"This is a weird and frightening time to live in. That being said, I hope that these posts serve to provide a sense of comfort in the absurdity"Self-isolation is usually only something our students have to do when they have a deadline. But as social distancing is the key to saving lives during the COVID-19 pandemic, the majority of our undergraduate and postgraduate community left Cambridge to travel back to their family homes. Some have stayed at St John’s and we are committed to looking after them. Do have a look at the …read moreOne of Darwin’s evolution theories finally proved by Cambridge researcher
"We found the evolutionary relationship between mammalian species and subspecies differs depending on their habitat"Scientists have proved one of Charles Darwin’s theories of evolution for the first time – nearly 140 years after his death. Laura van Holstein, a PhD student in Biological Anthropology at St John’s College, University of Cambridge, and lead author of the research published today (March 18) in Proceedings of the Royal Society, discovered mammal subspecies play a more important role in evolution…read more‘Visionary’ professor presented with world's largest education prize
“Thanks to this award, my team and I will be able to undertake new research which I hope will enable us to apply our research to open a new window on the causes of developmental language disorders, and one that will hopefully lead towards remediation"An academic at St John’s College was awarded with the $3.9 million Yidan Prize at a major conference for leading education researchers. Professor Usha Goswami, a Professor of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, Director of the Centre for Neuroscience in Education, and a Fellow of St John’s College, is a global leader in literacy research. She was presented with the prize at The Yidan Prize…read moreCelebrate the end of term with music from Fleabag and Beethoven
Jazz bands, vocal groups, orchestras and choirs perform to bring Lent to a closeMusic composed for Fleabag and big jazz band numbers will entertain audiences at St John's during an eclectic series of concerts to mark the final week of the Lent term. The female a cappella vocal group Aquila will be performing in a special concert on 9 March to mark International Women’s Day. The group, which is directed by Joanna Forbes L’Estrange, will sing a…read moreVictorious Lady Margaret Boat Club finish Head of the River in Lent Bumps
"A huge amount of effort goes into training and preparing for the Bumps and the results are a credit to the crews who have worked incredibly hard"The men’s first boat of St John’s College won the ultimate prize during the Lent Bumps and finished top of the first division known as ‘Head of the River’. Lady Margaret Boat Club (LMBC), the St John’s College boat club, entered five crews into the Lent Bumps – one of the most important fixtures of the Cambridge rowing calendar. The men’s first boat, known as M1, were Head of the River in…read moreCollege computers donated to homeless charity Emmaus
"We have donated three batches of hardware in the last six months, and we will be donating again in the future. It is great to know we are supporting such a good cause.”More than 200 used desktop computers have been donated to Emmaus by St John’s to be recycled and reused by people who use their services. The charity provides a home and ‘meaningful work’ for homeless people. St John’s has also donated printers, monitors, cables, laptops, network switches, and keyboards that were no longer needed. The equipment will be repurposed and sold on at low prices – the…read moreLeading experts talk at student food security conference
"The students should be really proud of all they achieved, bringing together such a wide range of expertise and crafting their own interventions so carefully throughout the conference"How a growing global population can be fed sustainably was explored in a student-led conference designed to bring together innovative thinkers. The free 2020 Lady Margaret Beaufort Intellectual Connections Conference, organised by undergraduate and postgraduate students and titled A Lot On Our Plate: Food Security in the 21st Century took place in the College on 14 February. The event…read moreInside the head of a neuroscientist
"It is a privilege to be part of St John’s, I never tire of hearing about people’s research, meeting students and staff, and going to fascinating talks and incredible concerts"Meet Dr Steve Edgley, neuroscientist and President of St John's. You have been a Fellow of St John’s for more than 30 years. What brought you to the College? I studied for a PhD in Bristol and worked as a postdoc in Sweden before coming to Cambridge as a lecturer in Biological Sciences. In my first year I supervised next door at Magdalene College, but was recruited by St John’s in 1989 to teach…read moreThe race is on for the former soldier raising money for veterans
“I’m from an ex-mining community where the attitude towards education is that people think you are pratting about and need to get a proper job”Postgraduate student Gav Topley talks to Jo Tynan about juggling his London Marathon training regime with his PhD. Gav Topley is entertaining company – he has stories about everything, from his first job as a trainee falconer to being imprisoned in Bangkok for a week. What should have been a quick chat about his marathon training turned into a much livelier conversation about why Gav thinks we…read moreMeet the new JCR Co-Presidents
"It’s great to know that we have the power to make change happen – and to really make a difference"Restructuring the room ballot system, keeping prices low, and deciding on a name for the summer event: these are just some of the aims for the new JCR Co-Presidents, as Louise Hanzlik learns. Choosing the name of this year’s JCR-hosted summer event could cause a rift between the new Co-Presidents. “I think it should just be called the June Event”; “It should be the June Garden Party”; “It’s not…read more‘Brilliant and original’ Dr Gilbert Lewis dies age 81
Gilbert Lewis was a Fellow of St John’s for 47 yearsAnthropologist Dr Gilbert Lewis has died after a short spell in hospital. Dr Lewis, who was a Fellow of St John’s for 47 years, died on 13 January surrounded by his family. Born in 1938, Dr Lewis was a Fellow in Social Anthropology at the College from 1972 to 2020. He studied for a BA in Physiological Sciences at Balliol College Oxford from 1956 to 1960, the University College Hospital London…read moreDiscovery at ‘flower burial’ site could unravel mystery of Neanderthal death rites
"We thought we’d be able to find the locations where they had found Neanderthals in the 1950s, to see if we could date the surrounding sediments - we didn’t expect to find any Neanderthal bones"The first articulated Neanderthal skeleton to come out of the ground for over 20 years has been unearthed at one of the most important sites of mid-20th century archaeology: Shanidar Cave, in the foothills of Iraqi Kurdistan. Researchers say the new find offers an unparalleled opportunity to investigate the “mortuary practices” of this lost species using the latest technologies.…read moreNew adaptation of ‘Polish national poem’ to be performed live at St John’s
"Pan Tadeusz is up there with the Iliad and Paradise Lost and Shakespeare’s plays"An innovative, bilingual performance of one of the great poems of European Romanticism will be hosted at St John’s in February. Thaddeus: Love and Dalliance in Time of War is an adaptation of the 10,000-line epic poem Pan Tadeusz by Adam Mickiewicz, which is often referred to as the ‘Polish national poem’. Set against the backdrop of the Napoleonic conflicts that reshaped Europe in the early…read moreFrom race track to Master’s Lodge: how a retired greyhound brought comfort to Sir Christopher Dobson
"Everyone always wants to say hi to Jimbo and my dad was incredibly proud of him"In his final months, Professor Sir Christopher Dobson was rarely seen without his shadow - Jimbo, the retired racing greyhound. He even accompanied him to the May Ball, graduation, and countless Evensong services. Now the late Master's family features in a new film describing the joy and comfort Jimbo brought to Sir Christopher after he was diagnosed with cancer. Sir Christopher, known as…read moreLivestream of memorial service to honour life of Professor Sir Christopher Dobson
The memorial service will be livestreamed on SaturdayMore than 1000 people will gather at St John’s over the next two days to give thanks for the life and work of Professor Sir Christopher Dobson. Two memorial services will take place to allow as many people as possible to pay their respects to the Master of St John’s who died of cancer on September 8 2019. The first service will take place tomorrow (January 24) and the second will take place…read moreProfessor named as new historical institute advisor
"This means that I will be able to continue to support an Institute that enables the best research and exchanges in the UK on German history and Anglo-German Relations"St John’s Fellow Ulinka Rublack has been appointed as a new member of the German Historical Institute London (GHIL) Academic Advisory Board. A Professor of Early Modern European History, Ulinka researches the social, cultural and religious history of Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries. Her areas of expertise include Reformation history, gender history, material culture, the Holy Roman Empire…read moreFrom opera singer to College Chaplain
"I am super-available, super-non-judgemental, and super-un-shockable."A new Chaplain has been appointed to offer welfare support to students, staff and Fellows at St John’s College. The Rev’d Andrew Hammond was an undergraduate at Clare College, University of Cambridge, and worked in classical music for nearly 20 years, mostly as an opera singer, and later in arts administration. He was ordained in 2007, and has worked in two London parishes and at St Paul’s…read more