St John's College News
Virtual September Open Days offer a taste of College life for Year 12 students
“It is never too early to start thinking about university”There’s no time like the present for Year 12 students to think about their University application, says the St John’s College Admissions team in the run-up to this month’s Cambridge Open Days. St John’s has combined its September Open Days and Taster Days to create a lively programme of online sessions designed for prospective applicants just entering their first year of sixth form. To get a…read moreUndergraduate named as Millennium Fellow of United Nations
“These 12 undergraduate leaders are demonstrating through scholarship and action how to meaningfully contribute to society with empathy, humility, and inclusion as guiding values”A St John’s undergraduate is one of 12 ‘extraordinary’ Cambridge students chosen for an international leadership programme that works towards United Nations goals. Amy Bottomley has been awarded a Millennium Fellowship by United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) and Millennium Campus Network (MCN), which is designed to help student leaders develop the skills and values they need to work…read moreTalented St John’s student is finalist in Undergraduate of the Year Awards
“Reaching the final is a huge achievement for the 120 or so student finalists, with over 4,500 entries from 140 different universities”A gifted mathematician at St John’s has reached the finals of a top student awards programme that brings together prominent employers and talented undergraduates. Mary Letey, who is about to enter the third year of her Mathematics degree, is a finalist in the ‘Future Chief Financial Officer’ (CFO) category of the TARGETjobs Undergraduate of the Year Awards 2020. Now in its 11th year, the awards…read moreSt John’s professor receives lifetime achievement award for career in educational research
"The John Nisbet Fellowship particularly recognises those whose work has informed the improvement of policy and practice"The St John’s winner of the world’s largest education prize has been given a lifetime achievement award for her outstanding contribution to educational research. Professor Usha Goswami, who is a global leader in literacy research and was awarded with the $3.9 million Yidan Prize in March, has received the John Nisbet Fellowship from the British Educational Research Association (BERA). A…read moreCambridge academics given special engineering awards for transformative Covid-19 work
“Engineering expertise and innovation has been central to the global fight to save lives and protect livelihoods”An ‘exceptional’ team of Cambridge engineers led by a St John’s academic has been specially honoured for its service during the Covid-19 crisis. Professor Duncan McFarlane, from the University Institute for Manufacturing (IfM), is the Covid response coordinator for a group of 37 colleagues and engineering students who together have been awarded the Royal Academy of Engineering President’s…read moreEnd-of-the-world film release marks fresh start for student writer and director
“I wanted to tell this epic story about death, religion, the apocalypse and the end of the world. But I wanted to do it in a comedic way, celebratory of life”A film about the apocalypse has sparked new beginnings for its student creator from St John’s following its release on streaming service Amazon Prime. Jasper Cresdee-Hyde, who has just finished his first year, made the feature-length Tales from the Apocalypse during his 2018-2019 gap year. The Human, Social, and Political Sciences (HSPS) student juggled filmmaking with waiting tables to earn…read moreSt John’s academic wins Royal Society award for outstanding work in computer science
“The Royal Society’s medals and awards celebrate those researchers whose ground-breaking work has helped answer fundamental questions and advance our understanding of the world around us”A world-leading computer scientist from St John’s has been named the winner of a top award by the prestigious Royal Society. Professor Zoubin Ghahramani FRS, Professor of Information Engineering and a Fellow of St John’s, was awarded the Royal Society Milner Award and Lecture 2021 for his ‘fundamental contributions to probabilistic machine learning’. The Royal Society is a Fellowship of…read moreThe Choir of St John’s College release world premiere recording of specially commissioned work by Michael Finnissy
"This is extremely beautiful music - rich, deep, full of colours, emotions and allusions. The music requires time to marinade in the listener’s mind"An album of music inspired by the architecture of the iconic chapel at St John's College will be released by The Choir of St John's in August. The world premiere recording of Michael Finnissy’s Pious Anthems & Voluntaries captures the composition of his nine-part cycle, which was commissioned by the Choir and written over a three-year period. Michael…read moreAward for St John’s sustainability star
“The College’s Gold award and this student leadership award reflect that St John’s is serious about sustainability and the climate emergency”A student environmentalist has jointly won an award in the University of Cambridge’s 2020 Green Impact programme. Jessica Tearney-Pearce scooped the special Student Leadership Award following praise for her ‘exceptional drive and enthusiasm’ in her nomination by Vicky Jeffries, the College’s Maintenance Payments and Utilities Co-ordinator. The pair organised the debut St John’s entry in the…read moreCromwell's 'final' portrait discovered in Henry VIII Bible reveals bid to influence the King
"I’ve looked at the St John’s Great Bible title page very many times and I had no idea that those faces were pasted on later"Illustrations in a Tudor Bible were changed in the 16th century to win Henry VIII’s approval and boost the position of Thomas Cromwell, his right-hand man, according to new research. A copy of the Great Bible of 1539 from St John’s College, University of Cambridge, was analysed by a historian and a heritage scientist whose findings shed new light on Cromwell’s political manoeuvrings and…read moreVice-Master elected as a Fellow of the British Academy
“I am greatly honoured, and genuinely humbled, to have been elected a Fellow”The Vice-Master of St John’s has been elected as a Fellow of the British Academy. Professor Tim Whitmarsh was appointed as Vice-Master of St John's in September 2019 and has led the College as the Covid-19 pandemic affected Cambridge and the rest of the world. The British Academy is the 'voice of the humanities and social sciences'. It is an independent fellowship of world-…read moreVikings had smallpox and may have helped spread the world’s deadliest virus
“By sequencing the earliest-known strain of the killer virus, we have proved for the first time that smallpox existed during the Viking Age”Scientists have discovered extinct strains of smallpox in the teeth of Viking skeletons – proving for the first time that the killer disease plagued humanity for at least 1400 years. Smallpox spread from person to person via infectious droplets, killed around a third of sufferers and left another third permanently scarred or blind. Around 300 million people died from it in the 20th century…read moreEarliest humans stayed at the Americas ‘oldest hotel’ in Mexican cave
“Chiquihuite Cave is the first site that dates the arrival of people to the continent to around 30,000 years ago - 15,000 years earlier than previously thought”A cave in a remote part of Mexico was visited by humans around 30,000 years ago – 15,000 years earlier than people were previously thought to have reached the Americas. Painstaking excavations of Chiquihuite Cave, located in a mountainous area in northern Mexico controlled by drugs cartels, uncovered nearly 2000 stone tools from a small section of the high-altitude cave. Archaeological analysis…read more‘I have come to admire poetry that is generous, wise, unafraid’
“Poetry should be shared in schools – handed out like sweets or marbles”Sasha Dugdale, writer-in-residence at St John’s College, talks poetry, pizza and ‘Pitysad’, the final sequence in Deformations, her newly-published collection of poems. The last major poetry event at St John’s will remain long in Sasha Dugdale’s memory for more reasons than one. ‘Poetry Leap’ featured Cambridge poets Mina Gorji, James Womack, Bhanu Kapil, Maria Stepanova and Scottish poet…read moreTributes paid to ‘unrelentingly kind’ former student who has died
"We will be true to his values as we learn how to live without him"A ‘legendary’ former captain of St John’s Rugby Club has died from a rare cancer age 23. Sam Fitzsimmons died at home in Cheshire, surrounded by his family on 16 May 2020 - less than two years after he was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a cancer that affects bones, or the tissue around bones, in children and young people. His beloved family and friends have paid tribute to the St John’s graduate…read moreUniversity Challenge winner, diversity campaigner, and composer amongst winners of 2020 Larmor Awards
The Larmor Awards recognise ‘intellectual qualifications, moral conduct, or practical activities’Eight exceptional St John’s students have been honoured with Larmor Awards – an annual prize begun in the 1940s to recognise ‘intellectual qualifications, moral conduct, or practical activities’. Named after Sir Joseph Larmor, the 20th-century physicist and mathematician who was both a student and Fellow at St John’s, the awards are usually presented in the Master’s Lodge on the morning of…read moreWorking motherhood research earns St John’s academic a place on shortlist of world’s top thinkers
“In the lockdown, all responsibility for children was thrown back to parents, and the burden was unequally shared – underlining the enduring power of the tropes McCarthy identifies”St John’s Fellow Dr Helen McCarthy has been named in a prestigious list of the world’s 50 top thinkers of 2020. Prospect magazine ‘salutes the scientists, philosophers and writers reshaping our times’ in ‘the world’s top 50 thinkers for the Covid-19 age’. The publication has been producing its ‘intellectual hit parade’ in varying formats since 2014 but this year’s list reflects what Editor Tom…read more‘Incisively intelligent’ Fellow of St John’s dies aged 76
‘His loyal friendship, often extending over decades, enriched countless lives’Historian Dr Peter Linehan, known for his legendary hospitality and loyal friendship, died today. He is survived by his wife Christine and their three children, Gabriel, Frances and Samuel. Born on 11 July 1943, Peter Linehan arrived in Cambridge in 1961 to study History as an undergraduate at St John’s College. He continued to postgraduate study and completed his PhD on ‘Reform…read moreCollege Library wins award for technology excellence
“Users in College are receiving the best provision of library services"St John’s College Library contains thousands of historic books and manuscripts – and it has now been recognised for using technology to provide the best standards of service. The Technology Excellence in Libraries Award (TEiLA) has been granted to the College Library by Book Industry Communication (BIC), the UK book industry’s dedicated independent supply chain organisation. Sponsored by The…read moreOne in five Georgian Londoners had syphilis by their mid-30s, new study suggests
"The majority of young adults living in London 250 years ago contracted an STI at some point in their lives"More than one-fifth of Londoners in the 18th century contracted the sexually transmitted disease syphilis by their 35th birthday, historians have calculated. The same study shows that Georgian Londoners were over twice as likely to be treated for the disease as people living in the much smaller city of Chester at the same time (c.1775), and about 25 times more likely than those living in parts…read moreSt John’s scientist is awarded lifetime honour for her pioneering research
“The new Members have contributed to the success of research in the life sciences in Europe and around the world”Two Fellows of St John's have been awarded membership of the prestigious European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) in recognition of their remarkable scientific achievements. Professor Uta Paszkowski was granted membership in recognition of her remarkable achievements in the life sciences, and Professor Eske Willerslev was honoured for his internationally renowned work in…read moreTake a virtual tour of St John's College
"Choosing a College is always hard, but it is even tougher during a pandemic when you can't visit in person"Thousands of prospective students usually flock to Cambridge during the summer to attend Open Days and academic taster sessions but the global pandemic has meant those events have been cancelled. But you can still get a taste of life at St John's by going on a virtual tour around College with Amy, one of our student ambassadors. read moreDiscover life and study at St John's at our Virtual Open Days
Get a real taste of what it’s like to be a first year student living and studying at our beautiful CollegeAre you in Year 12 and thinking about applying to Cambridge? Join us for our Virtual Open Days this Thursday 2 July and Friday 3 July! Although the Cambridge Open Days have been cancelled so sadly you can’t visit us in person, you can still get a real taste of what it’s like to be a first year student living and studying at our beautiful College by joining us for our fun…read more‘Outstanding’ Babylonian Noah book shortlisted for award
The book opens up new perspectives on Babylonian and Assyrian literatureA book by a Fellow of St John’s that revealed a 3,000-year-old example of ‘fake news’ was nominated for a scholarly publisher’s award. Ea’s Duplicity in the Gilgamesh Flood Story by Dr Martin Worthington was one of three titles shortlisted in the Outstanding Monograph – Humanities and Media Arts category in the Taylor & Francis 2019 Book and Digital Product Awards. Published by…read moreProfessor and Reader promotions for senior St John’s academics
All university promotions take effect from 1 OctoberSix Fellows of St John’s have received academic promotions from the University of Cambridge. Two academics were promoted to Professorships, and four were promoted to Readerships. Dr Michael De Volder, College Lecturer in Engineering at St John’s, has also been promoted to a Professorship. His research interests are nanoparticle manufacturing and assembly. Dr Kristian Franze, Director of…read more