St John's College News
Student cancer survivor urges funding bodies to guarantee PhD candidates right to sick leave
Most PhD students receive a stipend, rather than a salary, as part of their research funding. Although this system has advantages, they often have very little right to sick leave.More than 400 academics have backed a student’s campaign to guaranteed PhD students the right to sick leave if they fall seriously ill. The initiative has also attracted support from Cancer Research UK. Claudia Pama, a 29-year-old graduate student who is studying at St John’s College, Cambridge, was diagnosed with cancer part-way through her PhD in 2015. Her experience highlighted the fact that…read moreSamson comes to St. John’s
Audiences will be taken to the very heart of the story of Samson, first as it is narrated in the Bible, and then in a tragic drama by John MiltonPublished: 06/02/2018 Later this month one the Bible’s most sensational tales will be performed in a new and powerful double bill at St John’s College. Audiences will be taken to the very heart of the story of Samson, first as it is narrated in the Bible, and then in a tragic drama by John Milton. Experienced actors will perform the live readings in Ancient Greek and English, while English…read moreSt John’s undergraduate’s opera to take centre stage
St John’s undergraduate’s opera to take centre stagePublished: 21/01/2018 Charlotte Eves, third year undergraduate at St John’s, will be bringing a reworked version of a Russian opera with her brand new score to the stage this month. Charlotte, currently in her third year at the College, has written new music to the abstract Russian Futurist opera Victory Over the Sun. Charlotte will be bringing the epic work back to life with her…read moreProfessor Sir Peter Ratcliffe to give this year’s Linacre Lecture
Professor Sir Peter Ratcliffe to give this year’s Linacre LecturePublished: 11/01/2018 The annual Linacre Lecture will take place at St John’s College on 12 February and will be given by Professor Sir Peter Ratcliffe. This year’s Linacre Lecture will be presented by Professor Sir Peter Ratcliffe FRS and is entitled ‘Elucidation of hypoxia signalling pathways: implications for medicine’. Professor Ratcliffe studied Medicine at Gonville & Caius College,…read moreGift Aid: a history of giving at St John’s College
Gift Aid: a history of giving at St John’s CollegePublished on 16/01/2018 A new exhibition opening today in the St John's College Archive Centre offers a fascinating insight into some of the College’s early charitable activities. The exhibition entitled ‘Gift Aid: a history of giving at St John’s College’ offers insights into two projects the College was involved with: the Bread and Broth Charity and the College Mission. It displays College…read moreProfessor Graeme Barker wins Field Discovery Award for archaeological research
Professor Graeme Barker wins Field Discovery Award for archaeological researchPublished on 15/01/2018 Professor Graeme Barker, a Fellow of St John’s College, has received international recognition for his work on the ways in which people have shaped the rainforests of Island Southeast Asia through human history. In an award ceremony at the Shanghai Archaeology Forum last December, Prof Barker received a prestigious Field Discovery Award for his research…read moreDr Andrew Arsan wins Philip Leverhulme Prize
Dr Andrew Arsan wins Philip Leverhulme PrizePublished: 15/01/2018 Dr Andrew Arsan, Fellow at St John’s College, has won a 2017 Philip Leverhulme Prize. The Leverhulme Trust has just announced the winners of the 2017 Philip Leverhulme Prize, and Dr Arsan, Director of Studies in History at St John’s, is one of five Cambridge researchers among this year's winners. The Philip Leverhulme Prizes recognise the achievements of outstanding…read moreHave a Hack-Free New Year
Have a Hack-Free New YearPublished on 12/01/2018 This January the IT Helpdesk will be assisting all St John’s students and staff to protect against computer viruses and vulnerabilities by providing free checks and fixes for their laptops and smart devices. All students and staff are invited to have a Hack-Free New Year by taking any new hardware they acquired over the Christmas period to the IT Helpdesk in the…read moreDr Jenny Zhang to set up independent research group investigating renewable energy generation by biofilms
Dr Jenny Zhang to set up independent research group investigating renewable energy generation by biofilmsPublished: 18/01/2018 Dr Jenny Zhang, Research Associate at St John’s College, has been awarded a BBSRC David Phillips Fellowship which will provide funding for five years, enabling Dr Zhang to start her own independent research group at the Department of Chemistry. Dr Zhang intends to use the Fellowship to investigate the productivity of photosynthetic biofilms and their capacity…read moreDr Edward Donald James: 1926 – 2017
Dr Edward Donald James: 1926 – 2017Published: 09/01/2018 Image: Dr Edward James Dr Edward Donald James, Fellow of St John’s College and former University Lecturer in French, has died at the age of 91. Dr James Lectured in French at the University of Cambridge for almost 40 years and taught many generations of Modern Language students at St John’s College. His research focused on French intellectual history, and his…read morePaul Muldoon to read at St John’s College
Paul Muldoon to read at St John’s CollegePublished: 05/01/2018 The Pullitzer Prize-winning poet, Paul Muldoon, will be reading a selection of his work at St John’s College on 26 January, at 5.30pm. This event is free, and open to all. Muldoon is the author of twelve major collections of poetry, including One Thousand Things Worth Knowing (2015), Maggot (2010), Horse Latitudes (2006), and Moy Sand and Gravel (2002). He has also…read moreSt John's Netball team takes top spot in College league table
St John's Netball team takes top spot in College league tablePublished: 05/01/2018 Image: The team celebrating their success at the Netball Christmas dinner After a victorious first term, St John’s College Netball team have maintained their top spot in the College league table. The Netball team are unbeaten after their first seven matches, and successfully hold onto first place in the league, which St John’s won last year. The term started with an 18…read moreDirect genetic evidence of founding population reveals story of first Native Americans
"The sequenced genetic data gave us enormous potential in terms of answering questions relating to the early peopling of the Americas"Published: 03/01/2018 Direct genetic traces of the earliest Native Americans have been identified for the first time in a new study led by St John's College Fellow, Eske Willerslev. The genetic evidence suggests that people may have entered the continent in a single migratory wave, perhaps arriving more than 20,000 years ago. The data, which came from archaeological finds in Alaska, also…read moreCalf’s foot jelly and a tankard of ale? Welcome to the 18th century Starbucks
“Coffee houses were important social centres during the 18th century, but relatively few assemblages of archaeological evidence have been recovered and this is the first time that we have been able to study one in such depth”Customers today may settle for a flat white and a cinnamon swirl, but at coffee shops 250 years ago, many also expected ale, wine, and possibly a spot of calf’s foot jelly, a new study has shown. Following its identification during an archaeological survey, researchers are publishing complete details of the most significant collection of artefacts from an early coffee shop ever recovered in the…read moreMemorial Service - Dr Alan Smith
Memorial Service - Dr Alan SmithPublished: 15/12/2017 A Memorial Service for Dr Alan Smith, MA, PhD, Fellow of St John’s College, Cambridge and Emeritus University Reader in Geology, who died on 13 August 2017, aged 80, will be held in St John’s College Chapel on Saturday 10 February at 12 noon. Back to College Newsread moreWinners of Staff Photography Competition announced
Winners of Staff Photography Competition announcedPublished: 15/12/2017 Image: Louise Hanzlik's winning entry Louise Hanzlik, Web & Media Officer in the Communications Office, won first prize in the second St John’s Staff Photography Competition. Claire Watkins, Assistant to the Fellows’ Steward in the Master's and President's Office, took the award for second place. The competition was open to all members of staff, and this year’s…read moreCritical toxic species behind Parkinson’s Disease glimpsed at work for the first time
"It is a common property of oligomers that they can damage brain cells once they bind to the surface. It is a bit like if you put a piece of extremely hot metal on to a plastic surface. In a fairly short space of time it will burn through"Published: 14/12/2017 Researchers have glimpsed how the toxic protein clusters that are associated with Parkinson’s Disease disrupt the membranes of healthy brain cells, creating defects in the cell walls and eventually causing a series of events that induce neuronal death. The study examined what are known as toxic oligomers, clusters of protein molecules that emerge when individual…read moreGraduate workshop exploring early modern fashion to take place at St John’s
Graduate workshop exploring early modern fashion to take place at St John’sPublished: 05/12/2017 A one-day graduate workshop examining courtly culture and early modern fashion will be taking place at St John’s next year, and researchers are invited to contribute. A workshop, entitled Fashioning the Early Modern Courtier, will take place at the Old Divinity School on 16 May. It will explore how clothing contributed courtly culture and rituals as well as…read moreFive undergraduates tell us about what the St John's Studentships mean to them
"I don't have to worry about financial constraints and can focus on my studies and other areas"Published: 28/11/2017 To mark Giving Tuesday on 28 November, we spoke to some of our undergraduates who, with the generous support of alumni and other donors, have benefited from College Studentships. In this short film, five current students explain what the Studentships scheme has meant to them and how it helped them to study at Cambridge. Studentships help to cover the living costs of…read more‘Helpers at the nest’ may allow mother birds to lay smaller eggs
"It is at least possible that the females of certain cooperatively breeding species may be able to adapt their reproductive decisions to changes in the social environment by reducing investment in current broods to prioritise future survival"Cooperatively breeding birds and fish may have evolved the adaptive ability to reduce the size of their eggs when helpers are available to lighten the parental load, a new study suggests. The findings indicate that in some species, the social environment According to the research from the University of Cambridge, females in species such as the sociable weaver, superb fairy-wren and…read moreCould the squirrel trade with Scandinavia have contributed to England’s medieval leprosy outbreak?
Researchers suggest that an explanation for the prevalence of leprosy in and around East Anglia may be found in medieval trade, possibly in fur, which would have included that of squirrels – an animal known to carry the disease.Published: 25/10/2017 Genetic analysis of a pre-Norman skull unearthed in a garden in Hoxne, Suffolk, has added to a growing body of evidence that East Anglia may have been the epicentre of an epidemic of leprosy that spread through medieval England. A strain of the disease may have been brought to East Anglia’s coast line through contact with Scandinavia via Anglo-Saxon movement or possibly the…read moreHinsley Memorial Lecture 2017 to be given by Professor Nigel Biggar
Hinsley Memorial Lecture 2017 to be given by Professor Nigel BiggarPublished: 25/10/2017 The 17th Hinsley Memorial Lecture, held at St John’s, is to be given by Professor Nigel Biggar, Reguis Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology at Oxford University. The lecture, which will take place on Thursday 9 November, is entitled ‘After Iraq: When to Go to War?’ The lecture questions under which circumstances Britain should go to war after the Iraq conflict…read moreMythical beasts and supernatural beings go on display at St John’s
Mythical beasts and supernatural beings go on display at St John’sA witchcraft treatise published in the initial stages of the European Witch Craze; sworn testimony as to the real existence of sea serpents; and Elizabethan woodcut illustrations showing werewolves and unicorns as part of the natural world: With Halloween around the corner, St John’s is putting the mythical beasts and supernatural beings from its Special Collections on display as part of the…read moreStudents raise record amounts for College projects in this year’s Telethon
Students raise record amounts for College projects in this year’s TelethonStudents of St John’s have raised more funds than ever before during this year’s Telethon, with alumni from around the world contributing to the success of the College’s most recent campaign. The College’s 10th and most successful Telethon to date saw 13 current students, ranging from first-year undergraduates to final-year PhD candidates, getting in touch with the College’s alumni community…read moreThe Festival of Ideas at St John’s
The Festival of Ideas at St John’sSt John’s College is once again the main venue partner for this year’s Cambridge Festival of Ideas, a two week celebration of the arts, humanities and social sciences featuring an array of top speakers. All events are free and open to the public.Many events from this year’s programme will be taking place at the College, including many of the festival’s main discussions and lectures. They cover…read more