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Cambridge researchers learn lessons from recent storm surge

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The wet and windy weather that has battered Britain’s coasts this winter has brought misery to many, but for researchers at the University at Cambridge the storm damage is providing vital data that could help improve future flood warnings and emergency planning.

On 5 December 2013, coastal communities along the North Norfolk coast were threatened by a significant storm surge – the result of low atmospheric pressure (which causes sea level to rise) combined with high winds pushing up the sea surface as they blow water towards the coast.

According to Dr Tom Spencer of the Department of Geography’s Cambridge Coastal Research Unit: “The southern North Sea is very vulnerable to storm surges because of  its shallow water, and winds blowing from north to south funnel the sea into the narrowing basin near the Straits of Dover.”

Predicting the impact of storm surges on coastal areas like North Norfolk, which is lined with barrier islands and gravel spits – and cut by tidal inlets bordered by mudflats and saltmarshes, is challenging. To find out how these features affected the water levels and waves that hit the area’s coastal settlements during the storm, the team from Cambridge and Birkbeck, University of London took to the road.

Immediately after the surge, they travelled the 45km between Holme-next-the-Sea and Salthouse measuring maximum water levels with a satellite-based survey system able to resolve positions and heights to an accuracy of less than 50mm and often less than 20mm. “We looked for debris lines, erosion marks on earthen banks and floodlines on buildings – or in some cases car windscreens,” Dr Spencer explained.

They found that maximum surge heights here differed by almost 2m, depending on whether the site was exposed or sheltered, differences much larger than previously thought. “At some sites this was the critical difference between a business or a home being flooded or not,” said Dr Spencer. If these results can be incorporated into surge models and flood forecasts, they could help improve early warning systems and evacuation planning.”

The December 2013 event that Dr Spencer studied came almost exactly 60 years after the disastrous storm that hit the region in 1953, claiming more than 2,000 lives around the southern North Sea  – the largest death toll from flooding in Europe for 100 years. 

“Looking at the atmospheric pressure charts, the 2013 and the 1953 events look similar: both were characterised by a deep low pressure system that came down the long axis of the North Sea. But while the 2013 storm was short-lived, producing waves of around 3.8m offshore from North Norfolk, in 1953 gale force winds blew for several days ahead of the surge, producing waves probably close to 8m high off eastern England,” he says.

Like the 2013 event, the 1953 storm arrived under cover of darkness. But unlike 2013, it hit over the weekend, with devastating results.

“Most people in the UK and The Netherlands were asleep in bed when floodwaters broke into their houses, many of which were single storey chalets and bungalows. Some people managed to get onto their roofs but, with the storm still raging, they died from exposure or slid into the sea,” he said. “In The Netherlands, where over 1,800 lives were lost, the radio ceased transmitting at midnight on the Saturday and although warnings were issued by telegram, these arrived at offices that were shut over the weekend.”

Much was learned from the 1953 storm: coastal defences were heightened and strengthened, and there have been major advances in storm surge forecasting and emergency planning. But, as Dr Spencer’s results show, there are still lessons to be learned from today’s floods that could help prevent tomorrow’s victims.

The team’s initial assessment is published in Nature.

For researchers at the University at Cambridge, recent storm damage is providing vital data that could help improve future flood warnings and emergency planning

These results could help improve early warning systems and evacuation planning
Tom Spencer
Stranded boat at Blakeney after storm surge

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VetCam 2014 course opens for applications

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The two-day residential course is designed to give Year 12 students an insight into studying veterinary medicine in general, and also to show the unique benefits of the Cambridge course through a mixture of practical demonstrations, lectures, tours of pre-clinical departments and the Queen’s Veterinary School Hospital.

Attendees stay overnight at Queens’ College for a taste of life as a Cambridge undergraduate. 

Georgia, who attended VetCam in 2012 and is now at Pembroke College studying veterinary medicine, said "I heard about VetCam through my sixth form. The bursary place I was given made it possible for me to go without worrying about the cost.

"The two days I spent in Cambridge were really informative. Overall, I learnt a lot about the course and the university as a whole and having this knowledge definitely helped me when it came to applying.

"I applied to Cambridge several months later and now I'm just starting my second term here! Going to VetCam was a really positive experience as it gave me a great insight into life as a vet student here and I haven't looked back since.”

Applications need to be made by the student’s school or college.

For more details, please contact Katheryn Ayres.

Thanks to continued funding from the University’s Widening Participation Project Fund, a number of bursaries are available to help students from under-represented groups cover the cost of the course.

Going to VetCam was a really positive experience as it gave me a great insight into life as a vet student here and I haven't looked back since.
Georgia, VetCam 2012 participant now in her first year at Cambridge.

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The Revd Dr Jeremy Morris elected new Master of Trinity Hall, Cambridge

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Dr Morris is currently Dean, Fellow, and Director of Studies in Theology at King’s College, Cambridge.  He has already been a Fellow of Trinity Hall, as he held the position of Dean at the College from 2001-2010.

After studying Modern History at Balliol College, Oxford, he worked in management consultancy and university management before reading Theology at Clare College, Cambridge.  He trained for the Anglican ordained ministry at Westcott House and became curate at St Mary's, Battersea, before returning to Cambridge in 1996, as Director of Studies and then Vice-Principal of Westcott House.

Dr Morris is a Senior Associate of the Cambridge Theological Federation, an Affiliated Lecturer at the Faculty of Divinity, Cambridge University, and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.  Amongst his Church of England commitments, he is deputy chair of the Church of England’s Faith and Order Commission, and Director of the Archbishop’s Examination in Theology. 

Commenting on his election Dr Morris said: “I'm delighted and deeply honoured to have been invited to serve Trinity Hall as its next Master, and look forward to reacquainting myself not only with the current students, Fellows, and staff, but also of course the wider College community.”

Current Master, Professor Martin Daunton, who has been in the role for ten years, stated, 'I am delighted by the election of Jeremy Morris as my successor.  We worked together closely during his time as Dean, and he knows the college as well as we know him.  I am sure that he will continue to build upon the successes of Trinity Hall, and to bring his own distinctive character to the role of Master.  Both myself and Claire wish Jeremy and Alex much happiness as they move into the Lodge and become, once more, part of the community of Trinity Hall.'

Trinity Hall is the fifth oldest College of the University of Cambridge.  It was founded in 1350 by Bishop Bateman of Norwich to promote the study of canon and civil law.  It is now a community of around 800 students, academics and staff, as well as over 8,000 alumni.

For more information about Dr Morris see: http://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/research/fellows/jeremy-morris.html

For information about Trinity Hall see: http://www.trinhall.cam.ac.uk

The Revd Dr Jeremy Morris MA DPhil FRHistS has been elected to succeed Professor Martin Daunton as the 44th Master of Trinity Hall.  Dr Morris will take up his role in October 2014.

I am sure that he will continue to build upon the successes of Trinity Hall, and to bring his own distinctive character to the role of Master.
Professor Martin Daunton

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Reel students

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The video diaries have been published today on the University’s YouTube channel.

“The idea of the whole project was to show that you don't have to be a toff or Einstein to get into Cambridge,” explains Dr Martin. “You just need a passion and a vision - as well as good A-level results.”

“It’s not Hollywood. These 4 films are about real students – but before they became students (and just a little bit after).

“They all end up at Cambridge but they start in very different locations. Maria is in Leeds, Elspeth in Gateshead. Chris comes from Hoddesdon in Hertfordshire and Matt from Witney near Oxford.

“The films are video-diaries, providing an authentic glimpse into their everyday lives – cooking, jogging, working out at the gym, reading, going to church, lifeguarding, a holiday in Spain – as they prepare to begin their studies. 

“We hope that sixth formers thinking of applying to Cambridge from the UK and beyond may discover that these students are not so radically unlike them.”

Dr Martin introduces the diarists:-

  • Maria. Not only does she give a very heartfelt account of how she came to apply to Cambridge, but we see her practising her emergency resuscitation lifeguarding technique (on a dummy). It’s her younger sister playing the saxophone and walking with her in the woods, and there are cameo appearances by both Mum and Dad.
  • Chris. He is determined to get in shape at the gym (while also reading one of the books on his reading list). Poignant return to his old school, where he collects a prize.  Conversation with best friend at the pub, worthy of Samuel Beckett.
  • Matt. Strong soundtrack. Matt himself is playing the piano, but there is another sequence shot (slightly illicitly) in Spain of a flamenco singer. The only film with a brief glimpse of the Mediterranean. A lot of split-screen.  One very cool mirror shot.
  • Elspeth. She faithfully collects all the books on the reading list. But having looked up the eighteenth-century classic, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, on Wikipedia, she expresses the view that ‘400 pages of love letters’ sounds rather ‘soppy’. Her new life at Cambridge begins with ‘a nice cup of tea’. That is her brother playing the organ in church.

"The editor and technical genius behind these films is Norman Lomax of Moving Content. All films were shot using an Apple iPod Touch," added Dr Martin.

Four first year undergraduates in the Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages have been taking part in a video diary project led by Dr Andy Martin.

You don't have to be a toff or Einstein to get into Cambridge.
Dr Andy Martin

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From ASBOs to IPNAs: how begging might become an official nuisance

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I got to know David in Shoreditch, East London, two years ago. He was 42 and had by that time been on and off the street for almost a decade. Not only does he have an intimate knowledge of what life on the street feels like, but he also knows what it’s like to do time in prison. When I met him the other day he told me: ‘I just came out again. They gave me an ASBO a while ago and then they caught me begging next to the station. They shut me away for six weeks and now I’m back where I was before. I mean, I have to do it. There’s nowhere else to go.’

As a doctoral student in social anthropology I’m working with people living on the streets of London, Cambridge and Paris. I have sat on the pavement with them watching uncountable legs walk past; I’ve spent hours in the parks and gardens of Shoreditch trying to ignore the cold. I’ve watched them struggling to make money as darkness falls and passers-by avert their gaze. Most of the 20 people I got to know on the street begged; others sold homeless magazines, like the Big Issue or Nervemeter; others again were on the streets only briefly to buy drugs. All of them told me about their lives, their routes into homelessness, and the problems that led them to the street. Some told me elaborate stories, but most were conscious of their own mistakes and failures.

David begs close to Shoreditch High Street station at least five days a week. He sits next to the exit of the station catching people as they rush in and out. He uses his voice as a tool to attract attention – no sign, no dog, no magazines. David has his regulars, people who frequently give him money, food and a few warm words. But, on a daily basis, he faces the risk of being taken into custody on the grounds of breaching his ASBO. But perhaps not for much longer: the legislation allowing easy and quick charges is being rethought with Parliament currently debating a bill that will replace the ASBO (Anti-Social Behaviour Order) with the IPNA (Injunction to Prevent Nuisance and Annoyance).

The IPNA is addressing the sort of behaviour that homeless people regularly exhibit: shouting, begging, public drinking, spitting, dropping litter. Unlike ASBOs, IPNAs will not result in a criminal record if they are violated but they can impose obligations. Under an IPNA, David might face requirements or prohibitions that aim to tackle the apparent causes of his ‘misbehaviour’. These conditions could include substance abuse treatments or a ban from begging in public. Whether enough resources – spaces in rehab clinics and the like – are available to meet these requirements is an unanswered question.

Set up by Tony Blair's Labour government in 1998 as the Crime and Disorder Act (CDA) and its supplement (the 2003 Anti-social Behaviour Act), ASBOs were supposed to be an efficient means of crime prevention. In conjunction with the 1824 Vagrancy Act and its 2003 follow-up, the Criminal Justice Act, aggressive begging among other activities was tackled with a whole nexus of laws. These laws established a framework that appeared to be well able to ‘take a stand against anti-social behaviour’. But with ASBO breaching rates of up to 75%, it was quickly clear that the impact of the legislation was limited. Discussions about a reform of the framework have pervaded ever since – but will the effectiveness change with the new IPNAs?

I’ve had many lengthy conversations with David. He has been a heroin addict for almost as long as he has been on the street. He has seen it all; he’s been to rehab-programmes, spent months in temporary hostels, visited numerous day centres, drug-addiction consultations and mental health clinics. He has been to prison four times in the last year alone. After each and every one of the treatments and custodial sentences, he has returned to the street. For food, and to fund his drug habit, David depends on the money he makes from begging.

The IPNA proposals are fuzzy: as they currently stand, they make the further stigmatisation and ‘criminalisation’ of an already marginalised part of society even easier. Under the new bill, a civil order would not depend on ‘harassment, alarm or distress’, as it was with ASBOs. The mere likelihood of future ‘nuisance and annoyance’ would be sufficient for an order. People like David are always‘potentially creating a nuisance’; they are thus under constant threat of accruing an IPNA. David Cameron, local councils and the police are under pressure to demonstrate that they are doing something about ‘aggressive beggars’. On top of this, the popular press has made the public wary of an imagined threat posed by new migrants coming in from Romania and Bulgaria. At least for now the House of Lords has stopped the law.

There is a strong argument to be made that everyone has a fundamental right to the city. It is alarming that there might be a default procedure that bans activities of ‘questionable nature’ perceived to be ‘detrimental to the quality of life’ in an area. Public space in the city is in danger of becoming exclusively a privatised place for transportation, commerce and consumption. This affects everyone – not just people living on the street.

People who beg are a particularly easy target for the law. Their lives on the streets make them exposed; they have nowhere to hide and are unlikely to have the necessary cash to jump into a cab and make a dash for home after an excessive night out. Whether aggressive street fundraising as employed by charities, for instance, will be targeted under the terms of the IPNA is a different question (read one response: ‘complete nonsense’). It seems likely, however, that people living on the street – the ones that are now also dealing with ASBOs – are those who will be singled out by the change in legislation.

David as well as many of the other people on the street I have spoken to might be heroin addicts – but are they more aggressive than the hard-drinking rabble crawling through Shoreditch every weekend? How often have people asking for money been aggressive towards you? 

In all the time I spent with people on the street in East London, I did not witness even a hint of physical aggression towards passers-by. The only times that I saw David and others getting angry were when they felt belittled by their fellow human beings. When you look up at people walking by and they don’t even look down when you address them, the pavement suddenly becomes unbearably cold and you barely exist.These were the moments when David sometimes looked up a second time and shouted: “Manners ain’t cost nothing."   

Johannes Lenhard can be contacted on jfl37@cam.ac.uk and you can follow him on Twitter at @acjf37


 

 

Johannes Lenhard, a PhD candidate in Social Anthropology, discusses his experience of researching the lives of people who beg and considers how they may be affected by new legislation. 

Public space in the city is in danger of becoming exclusively a privatised place for transportation, commerce and consumption. This affects everyone – not just people living on the street.
Johannes Lenhard
Three faces of London - St Paul's, Millenium Bridge and a homeless man

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Stairways to heaven and other places

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Students of architecture visiting Dr James Campbell’s rooms in Queens’ College, Cambridge, tramp up a steep winding flight of wooden stairs constructed in the 18th century and arrive on a narrow landing where they knock on the door marked with his name.  The staircase they ascend and descend is typical of many in the older colleges at Oxford and Cambridge, uncarpeted and scuffed smooth by generations of undergraduate feet. Its timber treads and risers were made over two centuries ago by skilled carpenters or joiners specialising in the art. Repaired countless times over the centuries, how much original timber remains is anyone’s guess.

Campbell is passionate about the history of architecture and teaches courses on building construction, conservation and architectural history.  He is a prolific writer and champion of increasing the understanding of the buildings around us. With historic building expert Michael Tutton, he is co-editor of Staircases: History, Repair and Conservation (Routledge 2014). Its editors describe the book as a practical companion to a curiously-neglected aspect of building design. In a single volume comprising contributions by ten  experts in a range of fields, it covers the story of staircases, ways to describe and date them, the ergonomics of their design, the construction of their component parts today and in the past, as well as methods of conserving them as a vital part of the narrative of a building.

“Ever since we started to construct buildings on more than one level, we have needed some kind of steps to take us up and down between storeys. Many early staircases were constructed on the exterior of the buildings they served. Later they were incorporated into the interiors of buildings.  In many cases they are central to the impact of architecture: stairs do much more for a building than simply take us from one floor to another. Like doorways and windows, they convey messages about the status and function of the environments that they are part of,” said Campbell.

“The development of stairs, from the steps hewn into rock surfaces and ladders used to access sleeping lofts in medieval dwellings to the elegant classical designs of Palladian architecture, reflects the emergence of new technologies, shifts in fashion, and changes in the ways in which we inhabit buildings. We spotted a gap for what we hope is a useful reference book for professionals working in architecture and architectural conservation wanting to understand both what they were looking at and how they might set about designing better new staircases or repairing old ones.”

Staircases is a celebration of man’s ingenious use of shapes and materials.  In putting stairways centre stage, the book’s 100-plus images reveal stairs in all their glory.  The grandest stairs sweep and soar; the most dramatic defy gravity in their use of cantilevered structures to create an illusion of floating in space.  Many medieval and Renaissance staircases are spiral or helical, favoured as sturdy structures economical in their use of space. Viewed from above or below, some take the shape of snail shells or ammonites; others are as playful as twists of sparkling barley sugar.

Examples of steps and stairs abound in the classical world where they contribute the sense of theatre vital to buildings constructed for ceremonial and faith purposes. Some of the world’s great pyramids are stepped structures on a giant scale. Flights of steps found set into the ground in the Nile basin had quite another purpose. Known as Nilometers, these stairs are a neat way of monitoring the depth of the water table as it rises, or falls, step by step. Built more than 3,000 years ago, they helped to predict the arrival of the annual floods so vital to the fertility of the land and the production of food.

Some of the oldest staircases in Northern Europe are found on the windswept islands of Orkney and Shetland. At the Iron Age complex known as Mine Howe at Tankerness on Orkney, the purpose of the stone stairs that descend deep below ground is unknown but it is possible that they represent a symbolic entrance to the underworld. The presence of stone stairways at dozens of other sites across the Scottish Isles and Scottish mainland points to a flourishing early tradition in stair-building using massive stone blocks.

Jumping to the 12th century and travelling thousands of miles eastwards, the Jam minaret in Western Afghanistan is a 600-foot tower with at its centre a helical stair built in brick around a central pillar – all made in large flat bricks with stunning skill.  When the intrepid traveller Freya Starke visited the Jam minaret in the 1970s she described it as ‘alone and perfect’. In 2002 it became the first site in Afghanistan to receive UNESCO World Heritage status and there are efforts to protect it from threats of flood and erosion. 

Also exquisitely beautiful is the main staircase of Albrechtsburg Castle in Meissen, Germany, designed by the architect Arnold of Westphalia in the late 15th century: it displays a mastery of form and material that amazes engineers today. “This structure - with its flights of alternating concave and convex steps and its skeletal handrails - demonstrates beautifully how staircases have offered architects and craftsmen the opportunity to show off their skills and imagination, often with breath-taking effect,” said Campbell.

The development of iron staircases from late 18th century onwards opened the door to ever more elaborate and fanciful designs which feature in many public buildings, adding to the grandeur of entrances to opera houses, hotels and banks. Among the most fabulous is the staircase of the main post office in Mexico City – the Palacio de Corrios – a building constructed with a steel frame robust enough to withstand earthquakes. A magnificent example of cast iron and bronze work, its staircase was designed by the building’s Italian-born architect and engineer, Adamo Boari (1863-1928).  

For the non-architect, one of the appeals of this book is the rich language of staircases, deeply rooted in the technologies and craftsmanship of the past. We learn, for example, that banisters are more properly called balusters and come in a fabulous array of shapes and sizes. A balustrade is a series of balusters with a handrail. The word newel is used for the central drum/pier of a spiral stair or for the leading/end post of a balustrade. Nosings are the leading edge of a tread which overhangs the riser below. A soffit is the underside of a stair flight. Winders are the triangular steps used to change the direction of a flight of steps where there is no landing. 

Asked to nominate two notable staircases among the many examples in and around Cambridge, Campbell cites the dramatic cantilevering stairs in the Law Faculty (designed by Norman Foster in the early 1990s) as “perhaps the most exhilarating in Cambridge, though possibly not in a good way” and the massive marble staircase in the main entrance hall of the Fitzwilliam Museum as “an example of a space where architecture and staircase are perfectly integrated and where the staircase is the focus of the design”.

Staircases: History, Repair and Conservation is published by Routledge, 2014. Editors: James WP Campbell and Michael Tutton. Managing editor: Jill Pearce.

For more information about this story contact Alexandra Buxton, Office of Communications, University of Cambridge, amb206@admin.cam.ac.uk 01223 761673.

Inset images: Mine How, Tankerness, Orkney (Michael Tutton); Monument to the Great Fire (Ping Gong), Palacio de Correos, Mexico City (Michael Tutton)

We go up and down them all the time – but seldom do we think about their historical development as elements of architecture. Staircases: History, Repair and Conservation, co-edited by architectural historian Dr James Campbell, places a neglected topic at centre stage. 

Like doorways and windows, stairs convey messages about the status and function of the environments that they are part of.
James Campbell
Cathedral Stair at Wells

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Gaia-ESO data show Milky Way may have formed ‘inside-out’, and provide new insight into Galactic evolution

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A breakthrough using data from the Gaia-ESO project has provided evidence backing up theoretically-predicted divisions in the chemical composition of the stars that make up the Milky Way’s disc – the vast collection of giant gas clouds and billions of stars that give our Galaxy its ‘flying saucer’ shape.

By tracking fast-produced elements, specifically magnesium in this study, astronomers can determine how rapidly different parts of the Milky Way were formed. The research suggests the inner regions of the Galaxy assembled faster than the outer regions, which took much longer time to form, supporting ideas that our Galaxy grew from the inside-out.

Using data from the 8-m VLT in Chile, one of the world’s largest telescopes, an international team of astronomers took detailed observations of stars with a wide range of ages and locations in the Galactic disc to accurately determine their ‘metallicity’: the amount of chemical elements in a star other than hydrogen and helium, the two elements most stars are made from.

Immediately after the Big Bang, the Universe consisted almost entirely of hydrogen and helium, with levels of “contaminant metals” growing over time. Consequently, older stars have fewer elements in their make-up - so have lower metallicity.

"The different chemical elements of which stars - and we - are made are created at different rates - some in massive stars which live fast and die young, and others in sun-like stars with more sedate multi-billion-year lifetimes,” said Professor Gerry Gilmore, lead investigator on the Gaia-ESO Project.

Click right-hand image to enlarge.

Massive stars, which have short lives and die as ‘core-collapse supernovae’, produce huge amounts of magnesium during their explosive death throes. This catastrophic event can form a neutron star or a black hole, and even trigger the formation of new stars. 

The team have shown that older, ‘metal-poor’ stars inside the Solar Circle – the orbit of our Sun around the centre of the Milky Way, which takes roughly 250 million years to complete – are far more likely to have high levels of magnesium. The higher level of the element inside the Solar Circle suggests this area contained more stars that “lived fast and die young” in the past.

The stars that lie in the outer regions of the Galactic disc - outside the Solar Circle - are predominantly younger, both ‘metal-rich’ and ‘metal-poor’, and have surprisingly low magnesium levels compared to their metallicity.

This discovery signifies important differences in stellar evolution across the Milky Way disc, with very efficient and short star formation times occurring inside the Solar Circle; whereas, outside the Sun’s orbit, star formation took much longer.

“We have been able to shed new light on the timescale of chemical enrichment across the Milky Way disc, showing that outer regions of the disc take a much longer time to form,” said Maria Bergemann from Cambridge’s Institute of Astronomy, who led the study.

“This supports theoretical models for the formation of disc galaxies in the context of Cold Dark Matter cosmology, which predict that galaxy discs grow inside-out.”

The findings offer new insights into the assembly history of our Galaxy, and are the part of the first wave of new observations from the Gaia-ESO survey, the ground-based extension to the Gaia space mission - launched by the European Space Agency at the end of last year - and the first large-scale survey conducted on one the world's largest telescopes: the 8-m VLT in Paranal, Chile.

The study is published online today through the astronomical database Astro-ph, and has been submitted to the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics.

The new research also sheds further light on another much debated “double structure” in the Milky Way’s disc – the so-called ‘thin’ and ‘thick’ discs.

“The thin disc hosts spiral arms, young stars, giant molecular clouds – all objects which are young, at least in the context of the Galaxy,” explains Aldo Serenelli from the Institute of Space Sciences (Barcelona), a co-author of the study. “But astronomers have long suspected there is another disc, which is thicker, shorter and older. This thick disc hosts many old stars that have low metallicity.”

During the latest research, the team found that:

• Stars in the young, ‘thin’ disc aged between 0 – 8 billion years all have a similar degree of metallicity, regardless of age in that range, with many of them considered ‘metal-rich’.
• There is a “steep decline” in metallicity for stars aged over 9 billion years, typical of the ‘thick’ disc, with no detectable ‘metal-rich’ stars found at all over this age.
• But stars of different ages and metallicity can be found in both discs.

“From what we now know, the Galaxy is not an ‘either-or’ system. You can find stars of different ages and metal content everywhere!” said Bergemann. “There is no clear separation between the thin and thick disc. The proportion of stars with different properties is not the same in both discs - that’s how we know these two discs probably exist – but they could have very different origins.”

Added Gilmore: “This study provides exciting new evidence that the inner parts of the Milky Way's thick disc formed much more rapidly than did the thin disc stars, which dominate near our Solar neighbourhood.”

In theory, say astronomers, the thick disc - first proposed by Gilmore 30 years ago - could have emerged in a variety of ways, from massive gravitational instabilities to consuming satellite galaxies in its formative years. “The Milky Way has cannibalised many small galaxies during its formation. Now, with the Gaia-ESO Survey, we can study the detailed tracers of these events, essentially dissecting the belly of the beast,” said Greg Ruchti, a researcher at Lund Observatory in Sweden, who co-leads the project.

With upcoming releases from Gaia-ESO, an even better handle on the age-metallicity relation and the structure of the Galactic disc is expected, say the team. In a couple of years, these data will be complemented by positions and kinematics provided by the Gaia satellite and together will revolutionise the field of Galactic astronomy.

Research on first data release from Gaia-ESO project suggests the Milky Way formed by expanding out from the centre, and reveals new insights into the way our Galaxy was assembled.

We have been able to shed new light on the timescale of chemical enrichment across the Milky Way disc, showing that outer regions of the disc take a much longer time to form
Maria Bergemann
Milky Way Over Crater Lake

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Cambridge in Davos

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Professor Lord Martin Rees (Institute of Astronomy), Professor Julian Dowdeswell (Scott Polar Research Institute) and Professor Jon Hutton (UNEP-WCMC 
and Hughes Hall) will deliver an IdeasLab presentation at the World Economic Forum in Davos on 24 January. Together, they will explore the technological and policy innovations that will help us adapt to a climate-changed world. 

IdeasLabs are quick-fire visual presentations followed by workgroup discussion, and have proved a successful format for engaging various communities in academic thinking.

As a collaborator in research at Imperial College London, Professor Barbara Sahakian of the Cambridge Department of Psychiatry will also give a presentation, on cognitive stimulation and the ethical implications of drugs to enhance brain function.

The World Economic Forum is an independent international organisation engaging business, political, academic and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas; this year’s theme is The Reshaping of the World: Consequences for Society, Politics and Business.

The Forum will provide an opportunity for the Cambridge researchers to engage with decision-makers in business, NGOs and in public policy, and to highlight new ideas from Cambridge in responding to global challenges. Apart from the Annual Meeting, several Cambridge academics contribute to the World Economic Forum year-round, as members of Global Agenda Councils.

The Vice-Chancellor said “Cambridge academics are working in partnership with many organisations to help global society address some of the thorniest questions. I look forward to a productive engagement with Annual Meeting participants from every sector.”

http://www.cam.ac.uk/ideas-insight-and-innovation

A delegation of Cambridge academics, led by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, is attending the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, this week.

Cambridge academics are working in partnership with many organisations to help global society address some of the thorniest questions.
Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz

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Cambridge Enterprise announces 2013 results

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The University seed funds, which support new companies based on Cambridge research, saw their biggest-ever return this year, according to annual results from Cambridge Enterprise, the University’s commercialisation arm.

The return of nearly £7.7 million, which will be used to support future Cambridge spin-out companies, resulted from the sale of biotechnology company BlueGnome to US-based genetic analysis company Illumina for $95 million. The total return to the seed funds will rise to £10.7 million in 2014, once milestone payments are met. BlueGnome, which specialises in improving IVF success rates, was founded by Cambridge graduate Nick Haan in 2002 with funding from Cambridge Enterprise.

The revitalisation of the University seed funds means that Cambridge Enterprise can now support more companies each year, and for longer in their development. In addition, the launch of Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC), a £50 million investment business backed by the University, ARM, City institutions Lansdowne and Invesco and others, and a second successful year for the University of Cambridge Enterprise Fund (UCEF) means that Cambridge Enterprise has the financial resources to support new businesses from start-up all the way to exit. Last year, Cambridge Enterprise invested a record £2.27 million in University spin-outs, more than triple the amount invested in 2011/12.

“Too often, promising young companies fail to reach their full potential because the financial resources to help them get there simply don’t exist,” said Dr Tony Raven, Chief Executive of Cambridge Enterprise. “But with the launch of CIC, the extraordinary realisation from the sale of BlueGnome and UCEF, the University can now support its spin-outs better and for much longer than we could before.”

One of the most promising companies in the Cambridge Enterprise portfolio is XO1, which secured $11 million in funding this year in order to develop ichorcumab, a revolutionary new anticoagulant drug for thrombosis, a condition which causes heart attacks and strokes. Ichorcumab has the potential to treat thrombosis without causing bleeding, which is considered the ‘holy grail’ in this area of research.

Potential new therapies are also being developed through a new programme of open innovation taking place at Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst (SBC), and coordinated by Cambridge Enterprise, in order to accelerate the process of drug discovery. There are now three University research teams in place at SBC, who are developing potential new therapies for chronic pain, MS and animal allergies. By giving University researchers access to the drug development expertise of industry, it is hoped that this programme will serve as a model for collaboration between other universities and the private sector.

Consultancy activity continued to be an area of major growth for Cambridge Enterprise over the past year, with a 22% increase in the number of signed contracts, worth collectively £4 million, over 2011/12. Some of the largest of these contracts were carried out by researchers in the arts, humanities and social sciences, a reflection of the value that all areas of Cambridge research have in the marketplace.

Technology licensing, the core of Cambridge Enterprise’s business, had another successful year with 109 licences completed. Total sales of quantum modelling software CASTEP passed $30 million, and Alemtuzumab, formerly known as Campath, was approved for treatment of multiple sclerosis in the European Union. Although Alemtuzumab, now known as Lemtrada, faces an uncertain future in the United States, it has been one of the University’s biggest success stories over the past two decades.

For the year ended 31 July 2013, total income from licensing, consultancy and equity transactions was £16.6 million. Of this amount, £15 million was or will be distributed to academics and departments, or returned to the University seed funds. The team completed 109 licences, signed £4 million in consultancy contracts, and made ten investments totalling £2.27 million.

The biggest-ever return to the University seed funds was the highlight of another successful year for the University’s commercialisation arm.

The University can now support its spin-outs better and for much longer than we could before
Tony Raven
Microscope/Micrograph of MEMS Micro-heating element with integrated CMOS electronic driver and temperature sensing circuits

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The war that changed everything and nothing: a series of public talks

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It was all supposed to be over in a matter of weeks. That’s what the men who marched off to war in the summer of 1914 said to themselves. That’s what the relatives who waved them off believed. The reality that unfolded was grimmer than anyone predicted: by Christmas massive armies were locked in a conflict that lasted for four long years. An estimated nine million lives were lost, and more than 20 million people were wounded, in what became known as the Great War.

In a series of three public lectures at Cambridge University during the first week of February, the eminent historian and author Margaret MacMillan will look at the political, social and economic context in which the First World War erupted with such devastating consequences. She will consider, in particular, contemporary thinking about war, how governments planned for military confrontation, and how the nature of conflict in Europe changed radically in the hundred years leading up to the declaration of war in July 1914.

The lectures are: European Society and War (3 February), Thinking about War before 1914 (4 February), and Planning War before 1914 (6 February).  Open to all and free of charge, with no need to book, the lectures start at 5pm and will be held in Cambridge University’s Law Faculty. There will be a concluding symposium (7 February) in which MacMillan will respond to points raised by invited historians and a public audience. This event is also free and open to all, but requires advance registration at www.crassh.cam.ac.uk.

MacMillan is a Professor of International History at the University of Oxford, where she is also Warden of St Antony’s College. Born and brought up in Canada, she has a distinguished career in academia spanning both sides of the Atlantic. She is author of Women of the Raj; Peacemakers: The Paris Conference of 1919and Its Attempt to End War; Seize the Hour: When Nixon Met Mao; and The Uses and Abuses of History.  Her most recent book is The War That Ended Peace.

She is talking at Cambridge University as the Humanitas Visiting Professor in War Studies for 2014, a position hosted by CRASSH (Centre for the Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities) as part of its role in bringing scholars and practitioners together from across disciplinary and institutional boundaries, to bring new insights to bear on the major questions of the day.

MacMillan’s lectures represent a chance to hear first-hand from an historian who urges us to look beyond the commemorations planned for the next four years and look again at views of war and how these have shifted with time. In an article written for the Financial Times last month, she warned against the temptation of viewing the First World War through the narrow prism of the battles that have become iconic whether in terms of catastrophic loss of life or triumphant victory.

In the 100 years since the start of the First World War, the narratives teased out of it have been told and retold – in poetry and literature, films and television dramas – and our views correspondingly shaped. As MacMillan wrote: “We should be aware that views of the war have changed dramatically over time and those who experienced it directly often saw it in ways that we would find astounding. Memories and remembrances are more plastic that we like to think, changing over time and under the influence of current preoccupations.“

MacMillan’s strength lies in her determination to revisit the past and challenge accepted views and glib assumptions. Today the prevailing view of the First World War is that it never should have happened – that it achieved nothing at huge cost to those involved. But people living in Europe at the time thought they were fighting, and sacrificing their lives, for a just cause.  As MacMillan asserts: “It is condescending and wrong to think that they were hoodwinked. British soldiers felt that they were fighting for their country and its values; French, German and Russian soldiers felt much the same.”

Her insistence on academic rigour, and her ability to communicate her subject to a wide audience, has led to many invitations to speak to the media and, in particular, to contribute to the debate about the teaching of history in schools.

Humanitas is a series of Visiting Professorships at Oxford and Cambridge intended to bring leading practitioners and scholars to both universities to address major themes in the arts, social sciences and humanities. Created by Lord Weidenfeld, the programme is managed and funded by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue with the support of a series of generous benefactors, and co-ordinated in Cambridge by CRASSH. The Humanitas Visiting Professorship in War Studies 2014 has been made possible by the generous support of Sir Ronald Grierson.

Inset image: Margaret MacMillan by Rob Judges.

For more information on this story contact Alexandra Buxton, Office of Communications, University of Cambridge, amb206@admin.cam.ac.uk 01223 761673


 

 

 

To mark the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War, the acclaimed historian and author Margaret MacMillan will give a series of public lectures exploring the context in which international tensions led to a mobilisation of forces.

 

Gassed by John Singer Sargent

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This is My Cambridge

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“My Cambridge” is the latest in the University’s series of films tackling myths about Cambridge and promoting the unique features of undergraduate life at the collegiate University.

The film features three current Cambridge students, who share their stories in their own words.

Bryn, 22, from Bethesda, took his A Levels at Ysgol Tryfan. He is now in the final year of his engineering degree.

“I am passionate about widening participation in Cambridge,” Bryn said. “I hope that sharing my experience will help people understand what it’s really like here.”

Since arriving at Cambridge Bryn has worked as a mentor and a student ambassador in order to inspire and encourage other state school students to apply.

“I come from a very rural area, where the idea of Cambridge seemed remote,” Bryn said.  “I hope the film will give students an insight into what it’s really like applying and then being at Cambridge, so that they’ll be ready to look more into the possibility of Cambridge as a University choice.”

Rachel Lister, Head of Student Recruitment and Information for the University of Cambridge, said: “We have received very positive feedback on the films we have produced to date, and are delighted to add My Cambridge to our portfolio. 

"Contra did a fantastic job with Cambridge in Numbers, which secured an IVCA Gold Award last year, so we are pleased to have worked with them again on this partner film."

“We hope that it will help to reassure prospective students that applying to and studying at the University of Cambridge is a positive experience enjoyed by students from a diverse range of backgrounds across the UK”

The film can be watched on YouTube and Vimeo.

 

Final year engineering student Bryn Pickering, from Bangor, is one of the stars of “My Cambridge,” a new film designed to show potential applicants what life here is really like.

I hope that sharing my experience will help people understand what it’s really like here.
Bryn Pickering, Engineering student

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Holographic diagnostics

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Responsive holograms that change colour in the presence of certain compounds are being developed into portable medical tests and devices, which could be used to monitor conditions such as diabetes, cardiac function, infections, electrolyte or hormone imbalance easily and inexpensively.

The ‘smart’ holograms can be used to test blood, breath, urine, saliva or tear fluid for a wide range of compounds, such as glucose, alcohol, hormones, drugs, or bacteria. When one of these compounds is present, the hologram changes colour, potentially making the monitoring of various conditions as simple as checking the colour of the hologram against a colour gradient. Clinical trials of the holographic sensors to monitor glucose levels and urinary tract infections in diabetic patients are currently underway at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, part of Cambridge University Hospitals.

The interdisciplinary project by researchers from the University of Cambridge uses a highly absorbent material known as a hydrogel, similar to contact lenses, impregnated with tiny particles of silver. Using a single laser pulse, the silver nanoparticles are formed into three-dimensional holograms of predetermined shapes in a fraction of a second.

When in the presence of certain compounds, the hydrogels either shrink or swell, causing the colour of the hologram to change to any other colour in the entire visible spectrum, the first time that this has been achieved in any hydrogel-based sensor.

A major advantage of the technology is that the holograms can be constructed in a fraction of a second, making the technology highly suitable for mass production. Details of the holographic sensors were recently published in the journal Advanced Optical Materials.

“Currently, a lot of medical testing is performed on large, expensive equipment,” said Ali Yetisen, a PhD student in the Department of Chemical Engineering & Biotechnology, who led the research. “While these sorts of inexpensive, portable tests aren’t meant to replace a doctor, holograms could enable people to easily monitor their own health, and could be useful for early diagnosis, which is critical for so many conditions.”

The holographic sensors produced by the Cambridge team are much faster, easier and cheaper to produce than current technologies – it is estimated that a single sensor would cost just ten pence to make, which would make it particularly useful in the developing world, where the costs of current glucose tests can be prohibitive. The entire sensing process is reversible, and the same sensor may be reused many times, after which it may be easily disposed of.

In addition to the clinical tests currently underway at Addenbrooke’s against current state-of-the-art glucose monitoring technology, the researchers are developing a prototype smartphone-based test suitable for both clinical and home testing of diabetes and clinically relevant conditions.

“In addition to medical applications, the holographic technology also has potential uses in security applications, such as the detection of counterfeit medicine, which is thought to cause hundreds of thousands of deaths each year,” said Dr Fernando da Cruz Vasconcellos, Post-Doctoral Researcher in Professor Chris Lowe's group and a co-author of this study.

For more information on this story, contact Sarah Collins on sarah.collins@admin.cam.ac.uk

‘Smart’ holograms, which are currently being tested to monitor diabetes, and could be used to monitor a wide range of medical and environmental conditions in future, have been developed by researchers.

While these sorts of inexpensive, portable tests aren’t meant to replace a doctor, holograms could enable people to easily monitor their own health.
Ali Yetisen
Holographic paper macro

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Conquering a continent: How the French language circulated in Britain and medieval Europe

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An important manuscript of the Lancelot-Grail, it lay forgotten and unopened for five centuries until its rediscovery in North Yorkshire and its sale in 1944. Detailing the search for the Holy Grail, it goes on public display for the first time alongside the only existing fragment of an episode from the earliest-known version of the Tristan and Isolde legend. Also on display is an early example of the kind of guide familiar to thousands of today’s holiday-makers: a French phrasebook.

A free exhibition, The Moving Word: French Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge, looks at the enormous cultural and historic impact of the French language upon life in England, Europe, the Middle East and beyond at a time when French – like Latin before it and English today – was the global language of culture, commerce and politics.

The exhibition, curated by Bill Burgwinkle and Nicola Morato, is part of a wider AHRC-funded research project (http://www.medievalfrancophone.ac.uk) looking at the question of how knowledge travelled in manuscript form through the continent and into the Eastern Mediterranean world, freely crossing linguistic and cultural boundaries at a time when France was a much smaller political entity than it is today.

Burgwinkle, Professor of Medieval French and Occitan Literature at Cambridge, said: “French may have been brought to England by the Normans in 1066 but it was already here well before then as a language of knowledge and commerce. It served as the mother tongue of every English king for almost 400 years, from William the Conqueror to Richard II, and it was still in use as a language of royalty, politics and literature until the Tudor period, when we see Henry VIII writing love letters in French to Anne Boleyn.

“Cambridge University is home to one of the world’s finest collections of medieval manuscripts of this kind. This exhibition not only gives us a chance to display the Library’s treasures, but also reminds us how the French language has enriched our cultural past and left us with a legacy that continues to be felt in 21st century Britain.

“Medieval texts like the ones we have on display became the basis of European literature. The idea that post-classical Western literature really begins with the Renaissance is completely false. It begins right here, among the very manuscripts and fragments in this exhibition. People may not realise it, but many of the earliest and most beautiful versions of  the legends of Arthur, Lancelot and the Round Table were written in French; The Moving Word is a celebration of a period sometimes unfairly written out of literary history.”

The early phrasebook, a guide to French conversation for travellers, is the Manières de language (1396). Composed in Bury St Edmunds and one of four in existence, it provides a series of dialogues for those travelling in France that inform readers how to trade with merchants, haggle over prices, secure an inn for the night, stop a child crying, speak endearingly to your lover or insult them. It also has instructions for singing the ‘most gracious and amorous’ love song in the world.

Elsewhere, perhaps some of the most impressive exhibits on display are huge medieval manuscripts that acted as compendiums of knowledge. One such example is a multilingual encyclopaedia from the 1300s featuring more than fifty texts of historical, cosmographical, literary and devotional interest. A heavily decorated volume, it is unusual for its thickness, and deals with, among other subjects, the roundness of the Earth and the force of gravity – centuries before Newton defined its laws.

In contrast, the fragment of Thomas d’Angleterre’s Roman de Tristan (Tristan and Iseut) may appear small in comparison, but its size belies its importance to the Cambridge collections.  Thomas’s Tristan romance is the oldest known surviving version of the tragic love story. His work formed the basis of Gottfried von Strassburg’s German Tristan romance of the 13th century, which in turn provided the chief source for Wagner’s famous opera Tristan und Isolde. The fragment on display, detailing King Marc’s discovery of his wife Iseut and nephew Tristan sleeping together in a wood, is the sole witness of this scene from Thomas’s text to survive into the present.

The Moving Word: French Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge runs from January 22 to April 17, 2014, in the Milstein Exhibition Centre, Monday–Friday 09.00–18.00, Saturday 09.00–16.30 Sunday closed. Admission free. For further information, see https://exhibitions.lib.cam.ac.uk.

A 13th-century manuscript of Arthurian legend once owned by the Knights Templar is one of the star attractions of a new exhibition opening today at Cambridge University Library.

The idea that post-classical Western literature really begins with the Renaissance is completely false. It begins right here, among the very manuscripts and fragments in this exhibition.
Bill Burgwinkle
Image from a 14th century manuscript of the Romance of the rose, one of the best-known texts of the Middle Ages

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Professor Ebdon visits Lucy Cavendish to exchange ideas with staff and students

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Professor Ebdon’s visit involved meeting some of the students and academic staff to discuss access to higher education, and finding out more about the pioneering work the College is doing to help women achieve their academic ambitions.

OFFA is an independent public body which helps safeguard and promote fair access to higher education, and Professor Ebdon, Director since September 2012, shared his views on the importance of making higher education accessible to all with academic staff and students from the college.

Lucy Cavendish has a diverse student body: at least a third of its first-time undergraduates arrive with Access Diplomas and comparable qualifications, rather than A-levels, and a similar proportion are eligible for Cambridge Bursaries.

As a college for students aged over twenty-one and over, it accepts women from a wide range of backgrounds and Professor Ebdon met several undergraduates who had not followed the ‘traditional’ route in higher education – Becky worked as a pastry chef before coming to study here and Gemma who was previously a volunteer editor and contributor to 'Homeless Diamonds' - a magazine written by people housed in St Mungo's homeless hostels in Central London.

Of his visit Professor Ebdon said: "It was a pleasure to hear at first-hand about the excellent work being done at Lucy Cavendish, and to meet the students whose lives are being changed by higher education.

"I was particularly interested to meet Gemma and Becky and talk with them about how they followed non-traditional pathways to come here. It is an essential aspect of fair access that people who’ve been out of education for a while, including those who may not have formal academic qualifications or who’ve followed vocational routes, are supported to reach their potential.

"Everyone who has the ability and motivation to go to higher education should have equal opportunity to do so, whatever their background”.

Following his lunch Professor Ebdon was taken on a tour of the College grounds to hear about the College’s unique history and plans for future developments to support women in education.

Director of Admissions for the College, Dr Emily Tomlinson, says: “Lucy Cavendish was founded by women determined to challenge the exclusivity of Cambridge, and today's students are the living proof that individuals from all backgrounds can study at the highest level. It has been our pleasure and privilege to welcome Professor Ebdon, who has done so much to ensure that universities, across the country, open their doors a little bit wider.”

  • Photographs of Professor Ebdon's visit to the College are available here.

Director of the Office for Fair Access to Higher Education (OFFA) Professor Les Ebdon, yesterday visited Lucy Cavendish College, part of the University of Cambridge, and the only women's college in Europe for students aged twenty-one and over.

Today's students are the living proof that individuals from all backgrounds can study at the highest level.
Dr Emily Tomlinson, Director of Admissions, Lucy Cavendish College
Professor Ebdon and Lucy Cavendish students

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Kettle's Yard New Music Series 2014

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The eclectic and wide ranging music series has been programmed by Richard Causton in his first year as Kettle’s Yard New Music Associate. Lecturer in Composition in the Faculty of Music, Causton has been described  as “one of the finest of the new generation of British composers”, The Guardian. His inspirational programme explores themes of lineage, with several performances of works by teachers and their students. In the first concert on 26 January, the highly acclaimed Chroma Ensemble perform Causton’s award winning Phoenix (2006), alongside works by one of his Italian teachers, Franco Donatoni, and a newly commissioned piece by one of Causton’s students, Andrew Thomas. The series also celebrates Italian 20th century music, and the works of Jeremy Dale Roberts, one of the unsung heroes of British New Music.

The second concert on 16 February, a memorial to Michael Harrison, Director of Kettle’s Yard from 1992 to 2011, presents new works by every one of the composers he appointed whilst Director -  an extraordinary homage to his legacy and a chance to hear world premiers by composers including John Woolrich, Richard Baker and Kenneth Hesketh.  Kettle’s Yard is delighted that the works will be performed by Anton Lukoszevieze, cello (a former New Music Associate) and Mark Knoop, piano.

On March 2 , Jeremy Dale Roberts’ Oggetti for piano (an homage to the Italian artist Giorgio Morandi) is presented alongside music by Morandi’s contemporary Luigi Dallapiccola and Dallapiccola’s pupil Edwin Roxburgh.  The Kreutzer String Quartet (with cellist Bridget MacRae) will also be performing a vibrant string quartet by Dale Roberts on 25 May, which draws its inspiration from the art of Edvard Munch along with Virginia Woolf, Marina Tsvetayeva and Janaceks.

Further new commissions are showcased in the fourth concert on 27 April, in which University third year music student Kate Honey’s substantial new work will be performed by Peter Sheppard Skaerved, violin and Roderick Chadwick, piano (kindly supported by the PRS for Music Foundation).

The series also presents works outside the classical mainstream including the electronic music pioneer Trevor Wishart, with a selection of his electroacoustic works on 11 May. The programme closes with a final concert on 15 June, featuring Errollyn Wallen,  a composer who is “not afraid to take risks in her music” (International Record Review), who will perform a selection of her own compositions. Wallen, MBE, was recently the recipient of an Ivor Novello Award.

To see the full programme and to book tickets: http://www.kettlesyard.co.uk/music/newmusic/

On Sunday 26 January Kettle’s Yard plays host to a dynamic programme of new Italian music to mark the start of its 2014 New Music series.

Richard Causton‘s Phoenix uses idiosyncratic techniques (slow-motion trills and tremolando, for example), to paint a vivid picture
Allan Kozinn, New York Times
Chroma Ensemble

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Near error-free wireless detection made possible

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The accuracy and range of radio frequency identification (RFID) systems, which are used in everything from passports to luggage tracking, could be vastly improved thanks to a new system developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge.

The vastly increased range and accuracy of the system opens up a wide range of potential monitoring applications, including support for the sick and elderly, real-time environmental monitoring in areas prone to natural disasters, or paying for goods without the need for conventional checkouts.

The new system improves the accuracy of passive (battery-less) RFID tag detection from roughly 50 per cent to near 100 per cent, and increases the reliable detection range from two to three metres to approximately 20 metres. The results are outlined in the journal IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation.

RFID is a widely-used wireless sensing technology which uses radio waves to identify an object in the form of a serial number. The technology is used for applications such as baggage handling in airports, access badges, inventory control and document tracking.

RFID systems are comprised of a reader and a tag, and unlike conventional bar codes, the reader does not need to be in line of sight with the tag in order to detect it, meaning that tags can be embedded inside an object, and that many tags can be detected at once. Additionally, the tags require no internal energy source or maintenance, as they get their power from the radio waves interrogating them.

“Conventional passive UHF RFID systems typically offer a lower useful read range than this new solution, as well as lower detection reliability,” said Dr Sithamparanathan Sabesan of the Centre for Photonic Systems in the Department of Engineering. “Tag detection accuracy usually degrades at a distance of about two to three metres, and interrogating signals can be cancelled due to reflections, leading to dead spots within the radio environment.”

Several other methods of improving passive RFID coverage have been developed, but they do not address the issues of dead spots.

However, by using a distributed antenna system (DAS) of the type commonly used to improve wireless communications within a building, Dr Sabesan and Dr Michael Crisp, along with Professors Richard Penty and Ian White, were able achieve a massive increase in RFID range and accuracy.

By multicasting the RFID signals over a number of transmitting antennas, the researchers were able to dynamically move the dead spots to achieve an effectively error-free system. Using four transmitting and receiving antenna pairs, the team were able to reduce the number of dead spots in the system from nearly 50 per cent to zero per cent over a 20 by 15 metre area.

In addition, the new system requires fewer antennas than current technologies. In most of the RFID systems currently in use, the best way to ensure an accurate reading of the tags is to shorten the distance between the antennas and the tags, meaning that many antennas are required to achieve an acceptable accuracy rate. Even so, it is impossible to achieve completely accurate detection. But by using a DAS RFID system to move the location of dead spots away from the tag, an accurate read becomes possible without the need for additional antennas.

The team is currently working to add location functionality to the RFID DAS system which would allow users to see not only which zone a tagged item was located in, but also approximately where it was within that space.

The system, recognised by the award of the 2011 UK RAEng/ERA Innovation Prize, is being commercialised by the Cambridge team. This will allow organisations to inexpensively and effectively monitor RFID tagged items over large areas.

The research was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Boeing.

For more information, contact Sarah Collins on sarah.collins@admin.cam.ac.uk

A new long-range wireless tag detection system, with potential applications in health care, environmental protection and goods tracking, can pinpoint items with near 100 per cent accuracy over a much wider range than current systems.

Conventional systems typically offer a lower useful read range than this new solution, as well as lower detection reliability
Sithamparanathan Sabesan
Warehouse

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11,000-year-old living dog cancer reveals its secrets

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Scientists have sequenced the genome of the world’s oldest continuously surviving cancer, a transmissible genital cancer that affects dogs.

This cancer, which causes grotesque genital tumours in dogs around the world, first arose in a single dog that lived about 11,000 years ago. The cancer survived after the death of this dog by the transfer of its cancer cells to other dogs during mating.

The genome of this 11,000-year-old cancer carries about two million mutations – many more mutations than are found in most human cancers, the majority of which have between 1,000 and 5,000 mutations. The team used one type of mutation, known to accumulate steadily over time as a “molecular clock”, to estimate that the cancer first arose 11,000 years ago.

“The genome of this remarkable long-lived cancer has demonstrated that, given the right conditions, cancers can continue to survive for more than 10,000 years despite the accumulation of millions of mutations,” said Dr Elizabeth Murchison from Cambridge’s Department of Veterinary Medicine and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, who is lead author on the study, published today in the journal Science.

The genome of the transmissible dog cancer still harbours the genetic variants of the individual dog that first gave rise to the cancer 11,000 years ago. Analysis of these genetic variants revealed that this dog may have resembled an Alaskan Malamute or Husky. It probably had a short, straight coat that was coloured either grey/brown or black. Its genetic sequence could not determine if this dog was a male or a female, but did indicate that it was a relatively inbred individual.

“We do not know why this particular individual gave rise to a transmissible cancer,” said Murchison, “But it is fascinating to look back in time and reconstruct the identity of this ancient dog whose genome is still alive today in the cells of the cancer that it spawned.”

Transmissible dog cancer is a common disease found in dogs around the world today. The genome sequence has helped scientists to further understand how this disease has spread.

“The patterns of genetic variants in tumours from different continents suggested that the cancer existed in one isolated population of dogs for most of its history,” says Dr Murchison. “It spread around the world within the last 500 years, possibly carried by dogs accompanying seafarers on their global explorations during the dawn of the age of exploration.”

Transmissible cancers are extremely rare in nature. Cancers, in humans and animals, arise when a single cell in the body acquires mutations that cause it to produce more copies of itself. Cancer cells often spread to different parts of the body in a process known as metastasis.

However, it is very rare for cancer cells to leave the bodies of their original hosts and to spread to other individuals. Apart from the dog transmissible cancer, the only other known naturally occurring transmissible cancer is an aggressive transmissible facial cancer in Tasmanian devils that is spread by biting.

“The genome of the transmissible dog cancer will help us to understand the processes that allow cancers to become transmissible,” said Professor Sir Mike Stratton, senior author and Director of the Sanger Institute.

“Although transmissible cancers are very rare, we should be prepared in case such a disease emerged in humans or other animals. Furthermore, studying the evolution of this ancient cancer can help us to understand factors driving cancer evolution more generally.”

Inset image: Elizabeth Murchison and Andrea Strakova, University of Cambridge and Genome Research Limited

Genome of longest-living cancer reveals its origin and evolution.

It is fascinating to look back in time and reconstruct the identity of this ancient dog whose genome is still alive today in the cells of the cancer that it spawned
Elizabeth Murchison
Non svegliare il can che dorme

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Official opening for new University research unit on Cambridge Biomedical Campus

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The Unit is based at the Wellcome Trust-MRC Institute for Metabolic Science (IMS) on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus.

It is part of a £24 million investment by the two medical research funders into obesity research on the Cambridge site.

Obesity and its metabolic consequences are major and growing threats to public health.

The aim of the MRC Metabolic Diseases Unit (MDU) is to improve understanding of the mechanisms responsible for obesity and related metabolic diseases with the eventual goal of developing interventions to prevent and treat them.

The MDU provides direct support for high-quality programmes of research that aim to improve understanding of the basic mechanisms responsible for obesity and related metabolic diseases.  It also provides key core facilities to support a wide group of investigators based at the University of Cambridge Metabolic Research Laboratories (MRL) and other world-leading centres in the Cambridge area.

The new unit, the Metabolic Diseases Unit is the first MRC university unit to be developed from scratch.

Professor Steve O’Rahilly, Co-Director of the IMS and Director of the MDU said:

“This joint initiative from the MRC and the Wellcome Trust will provide exciting new opportunities to better understand the fundamental causes of diseases such as obesity and diabetes and translate that knowledge into improved therapies.”

Professor Sir John Savill, Chief Executive of the MRC said:

“Obesity is one of the biggest challenges facing the future health of the developed world and understanding the causes and consequences of this condition are a major research priority.  This additional investment from us and the Wellcome Trust reflects the quality of research undertaken by the University of Cambridge and lays the foundations for taking basic scientific discoveries right through to clinical advances.”

Dr Jeremy Farrar, Director of the Wellcome Trust, said:

“The Wellcome Trust is very happy to be partnering with the MRC and the University of Cambridge in an ambitious joint venture that will unite experts in basic science, population science and experimental medicine to create a world-leading centre for metabolic research.”

Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, said:

“Obesity has become an urgent public health issue as research continues to reveal its detrimental effects. With obesity doubling between 1980 and 2008 – a span of less than 30 years – investing in obesity research has never been more critical and the University is delighted with the support of the MRC and the Wellcome Trust.”

Inset image: Professor Sir Steve O’Rahilly (Director, MRC Metabolic Diseases Unit; Co-Director, IMS), Professor Nick Wareham (Director, MRC Epidemiology Unit; Co-Director, IMS), Professor Sir John Savill (Chief Executive MRC), Dr Jeremy Farrar (Director, Wellcome Trust)

A £10.8m new university research facility, the MRC Metabolic Disease Unit was officially and jointly opened today by the Chief Executive of the Medical Research Council, Professor Sir John Savill, and Director of the Wellcome Trust, Dr Jeremy Farrar.

Investing in obesity research has never been more critical and the University is delighted with the support of the MRC and the Wellcome Trust
Leszek Borysiewicz
Sugar Heart

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St Edmund’s College elects The Hon. Matthew Bullock as its new Master

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Mr Bullock has a long connection with Cambridge and the University, where he read History at Peterhouse. He was a member of the University’s Audit Committee from 1999–2012.

He was a founding member of the Judge Business School Advisory Board and its longest serving member (1985–2002), and Chairman of the Advisory Board for the ESRC Centre for Business Research.

He has recently served as a Non-Executive Director and Chairman of the Audit and Business Development Committees of the Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
(Addenbrooke’s).

In 2013, he was appointed Chairman of Transforming Pathology Partnership, a joint venture between six NHS trusts in East Anglia to combine their pathology services into a single organisation.

In the earlier part of his career, whilst at Barclays he was heavily involved in the Cambridge Phenomenon.

Mr Bullock was a member of the UK Cabinet Advisory Committee on Applied Research and Development during the mid 1980s.

His experience in the technology sector resulted in his appointment as Chairman of TAP Biosystems plc (1999–2012).

Mr Bullock is a 1596 Foundation Fellow of Sidney Sussex College and also a Trustee of Cambridge Past Present and Future. 

Matthew Bullock has had a long and successful career in the financial sector, joining Barclays Bank in 1974, where he rose to become Regional Director in Leeds and Director of Risk Management and Group Senior Executive.

Prior to leaving the Barclays Group in 1998, he held a senior position at BZW/Barclays Capital.

From 1998–2011 he was Group Chief Executive of the Norwich & Peterborough Building Society. During this time he was Chairman of the Building Societies Association.

He is a graduate of the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers.

Mr Bullock was previously on the Governing Body of the University of Leeds and the Council of Imperial College, London. He is currently Chairman of the
International House Trust, a language-school charity based in London.

Mr Bullock is married with two daughters and a son and lives just south of Cambridge in the village of Great Chesterford.

Commenting on his election, Mr Bullock said: “I am delighted and honoured to have been elected to serve as Master of St Edmund’s College. I look forward to working
with the Fellows, staff, students, and the wider College community, in taking the College forward through its next stage of development.”

The current Master, Professor Paul Luzio said: “I congratulate the Fellowship on theelection of Matthew Bullock as the next Master, and I am certain that he will provide the College with the leadership required for its future growth, whilst at the same time maintaining its historic values of friendship and collegiality.”

St Edmund’s College is one of the graduate colleges within the University of Cambridge, admitting students as graduates and mature undergraduates. Founded in 1896, it has a diverse membership, with over two thirds of its student body from overseas. It has grown rapidly in the last two decades, and currently has 450 students and 50 Fellows.

It is the only modern College within the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge with a Catholic heritage, which is maintained through its Chapel and Dean, who is a Roman Catholic priest. The College is the home of the Von Hügel Institute, which undertakes research on the relationship between religion and society, and the Faraday Institute of Science and Religion.

The Hon. Matthew Bullock has been elected as Master of St Edmund’s College. He will take up office in October 2014 and succeeds Professor Paul Luzio, who has been Master since 2004.

I am certain that he will provide the College with the leadership required for its future growth, whilst at the same time maintaining its historic values of friendship and collegiality.
Professor Paul Luzio

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Generation blame: how age affects our views of anti-social behaviour

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A study of interpretations of anti-social behaviour (ASB) found a significant gap between the views of different age groups - with older people more likely than younger people to interpret public behaviour as anti-social, particularly when associated with young people. 

More than 80% of adults thought swearing in a public place was ASB compared with less than 43% of young people, and more than 60% of adults listed cycling or skateboarding on the street compared with less than 8% of young people.

40% of adults saw young people hanging around as ASB compared with 9% of teenagers.

Lead researcher Dr Susie Hulley, from Cambridge’s Institute of Criminology, compared views of teenagers at a secondary school with those of adult residents in the same part of Greater London, and believes that perceptions of risk may influence adults’ views of young people.

“It is notable – and worrying - that young people’s presence in public places, regardless of their behaviour, was considered to be an ASB by four in ten adults,” said Hulley. “The information that adults have about young people, for example from their negative portrayal in the media, often defines them in terms of the threat that they allegedly pose to adults.”

In making a direct comparison between younger teenagers’ perceptions about particular (so-called) anti-social behaviours with those of adults - as both groups completed the same questionnaire - the research was the first of its kind, and could offer valuable pointers to policy-makers looking to foster more cohesive communities during a time when the generation gap appears to be widening, says the study’s author.

“In the context of increasing distances between generations, between ‘them’ and ‘us’, efforts should be focused on improving social connectedness by bringing adults and young people together so that adults can get a better understanding of young people and their behaviour,” said Hulley.

“For example, previous research shows that young people gather in public places, which adults use, to feel safe and that adults often don’t know the local young people, whose behaviour they are interpreting and who they perceive as a risk.”

The research, carried out while Hulley was studying at University College London, is published online today in the Journal of Crime Prevention and Community Safety.

Hulley compared the views of 185 teenagers (aged 11-15) at a Greater London comprehensive school in 2006 with those of over 200 adult residents in the same area, in order to establish whether there are significant age-related differences. The questionnaire listed 18 different behaviours (from ‘assaulting a police officer’ to ‘young people hanging around in streets/parks’) and set out a series of vignettes to capture the views of the two groups. 

The results showed that a wide variety of behaviours were identified as anti-social.  Acts defined as ASB ranged from serious crimes to everyday behaviours such as gathering in groups and playing football in the street. 

The majority of adults and young people agreed that murder, assault, burglary and shoplifting were anti-social behaviours. These were the only behaviours that were interpreted as ASB by at least 93% of adults and young people, with no significant differences between the groups. 

At the lower end of the spectrum there was no such consensus, with adults significantly more likely to interpret all other behaviours presented to them as anti-social when compared with young people, including: young people hanging around; dropping litter and chewing gum; swearing in a public place; dumping rubbish or waste; scratching names or comments on bus windows; spray painting on walls; illegal parking.

In comparing the responses to the vignettes contained in the questionnaire, Hulley found that, not only did the age of the person defining the behaviour affect interpretations, but so did the age of those perceived to be the ‘perpetrators’ and the ‘victims’ of particular behaviours. 

A group of young people blocking the pavement were more likely to be said to be behaving anti-socially than a group of middle aged women with pushchairs who were also blocking the pavement by both adults and young people. Still, more adults than teenagers identified the young people as anti-social. 

A group of girls shouting insults at an elderly lady were defined as ASB by all adults and all but five young people, but only 60% of adults and 76% of young people defined an elderly man shouting insults at a group of teenage boys as anti-social.  In conversation, adult participants surmised that the boys must have provoked the elderly man and some commented that he was ‘brave’ to confront them.

“The results of the study show that, in practice, the identification of behaviour as anti-social involved an interpretative process that is not based simply on the behaviour itself but on the age of those involved,” said Hulley.

“My research confirms that young people are particularly likely to be labelled perpetrators of ASB - especially by adult observers - and are less likely to be recognised as victims of ASB.”

Research reveals disconnect between what adults and young people interpret as anti-social behaviour (ASB), as 40% of adults see young people gathering in public as ASB. Study is the first to directly compare teenage perceptions of ASB with those of adults.

The information that adults have about young people, for example from their negative portrayal in the media, often defines them in terms of the threat that they allegedly pose to adults
Susie Hulley
Mods & Rockers 1960s - 1970s

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