Regulations coming into force on April 6 will enable six major libraries to collect, preserve and provide long term access to the increasing proportion of the nation’s cultural and intellectual output that appears in digital form – including blogs, e-books and the entire UK web domain.

From this point forward, the British Library, Cambridge University Library, the National Library of Scotland, the National Library of Wales, the Bodleian Libraries, and Trinity College Library in Dublin will have the right to receive a copy of every UK electronic publication, on the same basis as they have received print publications such as books, magazines and newspapers for several centuries.

The regulations, known as legal deposit, will ensure that ephemeral materials like websites can be collected, preserved forever and made available to future generations of researchers, providing the fullest possible record of life and society in the UK in the 21st century for people 50, 100, even 200 or more years in the future.

Cambridge University Librarian Anne Jarvis said: “I greatly welcome this landmark legislation as it means that Cambridge University Library can collect and preserve the UK's digital publishing output, particularly that which will support current and future research.”

Culture Minister Ed Vaizey MP said: “Legal deposit arrangements remain vitally important.  Preserving and maintaining a record of everything that has been published provides a priceless resource for the researchers of today and the future.

“So it’s right that these long-standing arrangements have now been brought up to date for the 21st century, covering the UK’s digital publications for the first time. The Joint Committee on Legal Deposit has worked very successfully in creating practical policies and processes so that digital content can now be effectively archived and our academic and literary heritage preserved, in whatever form it takes.”

The principle of extending legal deposit beyond print was established with the Legal Deposit Libraries Act of 2003 – the present regulations implement it in practical terms, encompassing electronic publications such as e-journals and e-books, offline (or hand-held) formats like CD-Rom and an initial 4.8 million websites from the UK web domain.

Access to non-print materials, including archived websites, will be offered via on-site reading room facilities at each of the legal deposit libraries. While the initial offering to researchers will be limited in scope, the libraries will gradually increase their capability for managing large-scale deposit, preservation and access over the coming months and years.

By the end of this year, the results of the first live archiving crawl of the UK web domain will be available to researchers, along with tens of thousands of e-journal articles, e-books and other materials.

The regulations were developed by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in conjunction with the Joint Committee on Legal Deposit, which includes representatives from the Legal Deposit Libraries and different sectors of the publishing industry. They establish an agreed approach for the libraries to develop an efficient system for archiving digital publications, while avoiding an unreasonable burden for publishers and protecting the interests of rights-holders.

Angela Mills Wade, Executive Director of the European Publishers Council, Chairman of the UK Publishers Content Forum and Joint Chairman of the Joint Committee on Legal Deposit said: “Capturing our digital heritage for preservation and future research is essential. As publishers were among the first to embrace the opportunities of digital publishing, recognising advantages of dissemination beyond traditional outlets and the potential of technology to drive innovation, we welcome the extension of legal deposit to digital formats and web harvesting.”

Every two years thousands of people travel from towns and villages throughout northern Asia to attend a festival called Altargana that is held in one of three countries – Mongolia, Russia and China. The event is an important landmark in the lives of many of the region’s 0.5 million Buriad (or Buryat) people. For the space of a few days the usual visa regulations are waived and people from a radius of 1,000 miles or more are allowed to pass through national borders to meet and renew their connections as an ethnic group.

YouTube clips of Altargarna feature hauntingly beautiful music played on traditional instruments. But underneath the folk songs and displays of national dress lies a deep sense of trauma felt by a people who have over the past century suffered several eras of persecution and enforced relocation. The stress of being uprooted and separated has left its mark on ethnic identity and further complicated the notions of homeland for semi-nomadic people whose way of life has for centuries focused on the herding of animals across many hundreds of miles of rolling pasture.

The territories that are today home to the Buriad people lie on either side of the easternmost section of the world’s longest border which stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to the Sea of Japan in the east. As a divide separating powerful nations, it has witnessed some of the most radical political upheavals in modern world history: the rise and fall of the Soviet Union, the iron grip of communism in China. Like dozens of other ethnic groups, the Buriads were caught up in the brutality of extreme ideologies and, when they resisted the imposition of changes from the outside, thousands of people were sent to slave labour camps or summarily executed.

This 2,500-mile long border - and its social, economic and political significance to the people who live on either side - is the subject of a major study currently being undertaken by Cambridge University’s Mongolia & Inner Asia Studies Unit (MIASU).  ‘Where Rising Powers meet: China and Russia at their north Asian border’ is directed by the distinguished anthropologist Professor Caroline Humphrey. The team of researchers involved in the project is coordinated by Dr Franck Billé, whose research focuses on urban developments and contrasting forms of modernity in two cities of Heihe (China) and Blagoveshchensk (Russia) that lie opposite each other on the boundary Amur River.

Among the non-British researchers contributing to the project is the anthropologist Dr Sayana Namsaraeva. She was born into a Buriad family in Aginskoye in Siberia, a town that is home to one of the largest Buriad communities. From the age of six she was educated in Moscow, some 5,000 miles away, where her parents were working and returned to her grandparents in Siberia for the long summer holidays. “My grandparents were teachers but they also had a farm. I helped to milk the cows, I learnt how to make hay and I went with the other children to gather berries in the forest,” she says. “In Moscow I attracted attention as the only Asian child at my school. I quickly made friends but it was an early education in ethnic differences and it made me curious about people and how they saw each other.”

Dr Namsaraeva took her first degree in Oriental Studies at the University of St Petersburg and went on to take a PhD at the Institute of Oriental Studies in Moscow, where she began to shift her approach from that of an historian to that of an anthropologist. She later joined the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Germany where her post enabled her to explore through fieldwork  the experiences of Buriad communities within the space of the Russian-Chinese frontier lands and, in particular, piecing together the multi-generational stories of families whose lives reveal just how complex relationships are when political borders mismatch with ethnic boundaries.

She says: “My own experience of living in Russia through the 1990s, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, made me aware of how, in the absence of the state, what really mattered were human relationships and, in particular, kinship ties which enabled people to access vital supplies such as food and gasoline. I also saw how, when the state had failed and salaries were not paid, families became stronger units and three generations would rely on the retirement pensions of the grandparents. It made me think about the bonds that hold groups together and the pressures that pull them apart.”

For the next three years Dr Namsaraeva will be based at MIASU where her life experiences, knowledge of the region, and grasp of Mongolian and Buriad languages (in addition to Chinese, Russian, German and English) will bring an invaluable dimension to the Rising Powers project. Like Dr Billé, she will look at two border cities - Manzhouli in China and Zabaikal’sk in Russia – and will explore the ways in which the communities living and working in these places are forming social, cultural and trade networks.

Although she is proud to describe herself as a Buriad, Dr Namasaeva stresses that her higher education and academic career have in many ways distanced her from her early kinship ties, meaning that her experience as an anthropologist working in the field within the dispersed Buriad communities makes her not so different to other outsiders, while bringing with it an extra sense of emotional involvement. “During my fieldwork I found myself talking to older members of the community who had hidden their pain for decades. I was discovering the recent history of my own people,” she says.

“When people are forcibly displaced from their homeland, there’s a strong desire to go back and reclaim lost lands and, just as importantly, to visit the local places of worship linked to birth and death. However, it’s different for the second and third generations who feel at home where they are born.  Thus Buriads in Russia have become ‘Russified’ and those in China have become ‘Chinesified’. When this process intersected with hostile Russian-Chinese relations, there was ample scope for tension and suspicion – but gradually these differences have become accepted and are even celebrated at festivals such as Altargana.”

One strand of Dr Namasaeva’s recent work has looked at the complex Buriad notion of home, or nutag, with reference to understandings of home within both the kin majority (largest group) of those who stayed in their villages in Siberia and within those people who dispersed, either voluntarily or forcibly, to form diasporas and isolated communities throughout northeast Asia. Nutag is embedded in the traditional Buriad lifestyle of herding animals, in which families migrate between pastures according to the season. The word means grazing land rather than simply dwelling place or settlement. In this sense, nutag has a flexible meaning while being deeply connected to the landscape and its importance in sustaining life. Nutag is also linked to Buriad spirituality of which stone cairns, or oboos, are the physical markers of places were local spirits are invoked in return for good and safe grazing.

Research by Dr Namasaeva illustrates the damage done when borders are sealed in such a way as to cut across ethnic homelands. For several decades, these rigid divides prevented people from making visits not just to their own kin but also journeys to places of worship and places of birth, thus denying them aspects of their lives that they held dearest. She says: “In diaspora tales, the deeply unsettling experience of life in exile is described as life on the ‘wrong side’ and done in the ‘wrong way’: as if they milk cows from the wrong side or saddle and mount horses also from the ‘wrong side’.”

Today a population of around 445,000 Buriads form the largest ethnic minority group in Siberia where most live in the Buryat Republic, a federal subject of Russia. A further 42,000 Buriads live in Mongolia and some 7,000 live in Inner Mongolia (China). The opening of the national borders that for many years separated these people has ushered in a new era of freedom of movement, whether in terms of renewing family ties or pursuing educational and economic opportunities.

The lifting of restrictions has very different resonances across the generations. Older people carry with them a sense of displacement that will undoubtedly have a legacy in the memories of their children. On the other hand, uncertainty about notions of homeland is not so important for the diaspora second generation who did not themselves experience forced relocation.  “Transborder mobility is perceived more as movement between different segments of one large homeland, where everyone is free to return to one’s chosen encampment,” says Dr Namasaeva. “This situation recalls the way things were before borders went up, when nutag was not dissected by lines of separation.”

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

Researchers have identified four genes newly associated with severe childhood obesity. They also found an increased burden of rare structural variations in severely obese children.

The team found that structural variations can delete sections of DNA that help to maintain protein receptors known to be involved in the regulation of weight. These receptors are promising targets for the development of new drugs against obesity.

As one of the major health issues affecting modern societies, obesity has increasingly received public attention. Genes, behavior and environment, all contribute to the development of obesity.

Children with severe obesity are more likely to have a strong genetic contribution. This study has enhanced understanding of how both common and rare variants around specific genes and genetic regions are involved in severe childhood obesity.

“We’ve known for a long time that changes to our genes can increase our risk of obesity. For example, the gene FTO has been unequivocally associated with BMI, obesity and other obesity-related traits,” says Dr Eleanor Wheeler, from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.

“In our study of severely obese children, we found that variations in or near two of the newly associated genes seem to have a comparable or greater effect on obesity than the FTO gene: PRKCH and RMST.”

The team found that different genes can be involved in severe childhood obesity compared to obesity in adults.

Rare genetic changes in one of the newly associated genes, LEPR, are known to cause a severe form of early onset obesity. The team identified a more common variant in this gene, found in 6 per cent of the population, that can increase a person’s risk of obesity.

This finding is an example of where rare and more common variations around the same gene or region can influence the risk of severe obesity.

Some of the children in this study had an increased number of structural variations of their DNA that delete G-protein coupled receptors, important receptors in the regulation of weight. These receptors are key targets for current drug development and may have potential therapeutic implications for obesity.

“Some children will be obese because they have severe mutations, but our research indicates that some may have a combination of severe mutations and milder acting variants that in combination contribute to their obesity,” says Professor Sadaf Farooqi, from Cambridge’s Department of Clinical Biochemistry.

“As we uncover more and more variants and genetic links, we will gain a better basic understanding of obesity, which in turn will open doors to areas of clinically relevant research."

As part of the UK10K project the team are now exploring all the genes of 1000 children with severe obesity in whom a diagnostic mutation has not been found. This work will find new severe mutations that may explain the causes of obesity in other children.

“Our study adds evidence that a range of both rare and common genetic variants are responsible for severe childhood obesity,” says Dr Inȇs Barroso from the Sanger Institute.

“This work brings us a step closer to understanding the biology underlying this severe form of childhood obesity and providing a potential diagnosis to the children and their parents.”

Text supplied by the Wellcome Trust.

2013 is the fifth year that the University has run the Cambridge Series at the Hay Festival, one of the most prestigious literary events in the world. It runs from 23 May to 2 June. 

This year for the first time speakers include alumni such as Chris Blackhurst, editor of The Independent who will speak with Simon Blackburn, professor of philosophy, on the notion of trust, its cultivation and its loss in the light of recent scandals in the press, the police and parliament. 

Writer and alumna Gaby Hinsliff, author of Half a Wife, and sociologist Professor Jacqueline Scott will discuss whether women can ever achieve workplace equality if there is no domestic equality. 

Also for the first time this year there will be talks and interactive sessions aimed at school-aged students. Charlie Gilderdale of the NRICH mathematics project [http://nrich.maths.org] will lead a series of Thinking Mathematically workshops, Renaissance expert Abigail Brundin will talk about the writing of 17th-century girls who were forced into a life of seclusion in convents and Tim Minshall, senior lecturer in technology management, will describe why engineering is exciting, important and fun. 

Other speakers in the Series include Lord Martin Rees, who will speculate on a post-human future; Professor Sir Mark Welland who will discuss the future of nanotechnology; and Alex Jeffrey who will debate justice and recovery in Bosnia with Guardian journalist Ed Vulliamy. 

Professor Barbara Sahakian will talk about her new book Bad moves: when decision-making goes wrong, and how the process of normal decision-making compares to those patterns found in patients with conditions such as severe depression, Alzheimer's and accidental brain damage.  Professor Jonathan Haslam will discuss his forthcoming book on the history of the Russian secret service. It is the only book on the subject to include all the Soviet intelligence organisations, from the Special Service to the GRU [military intelligence] as well as the KGB. 

Other speakers are Professor Sadaf Farooqi on the science of obesity; Professor James Jackson on why vulnerability to earthquakes is so variable; Dame Fiona Reynolds, Master of Emmanuel College, on the role landscape, history and nature play in our sense of Britishness; historian Lucy Delap on the myths of domestic services as portrayed in programmes like Downton Abbey and its modern forms; and

Professor Tony Badger, Master of Clare College, on whether President Obama has learnt the right lessons from FDR's New Deal.  Also at Hay this year, Rachel Polonsky from the department of Slavonic Studies will speak in a panel debate about the first Pushkin House Russian Book Prize which aims to promote public understanding of the Russian-speaking world by encouraging and rewarding the very best non-fiction writing on Russia. Dr Polonsky is one of the judges of the Award. 

Other University of Cambridge speakers at the Festival are Professor Jaideep Prabhu from Judge Business School, Dr Brendan Simms, Dr Robert Macfarlane, Rowan Williams, master of Magdalene College, and the astronomer Simon Mitton.  For full details of talks and times, go to http://www.cam.ac.uk/festivalofideas/2013/03/28/hay-festival/  To book tickets, go to www.hayfestival.com.

They include the first two Scholars from Egypt. Competition for the Scholarships is fierce. The 51 successful candidates were selected from a total pool of 3,500 applicants on the basis of their intellectual ability, leadership capacity, academic fit with Cambridge, and their commitment to improving the lives of others. Departments in Cambridge nominated candidates for the Scholarships and, of these, 100 were interviewed in Cambridge in late March (in person, by Skype or by telephone).

The new Scholars include Egyptian students Nouran Abdelfattah and Maha Shash. Abdelfattah is doing an MPhil in Clinical Science focusing specifically on the field of oncology. Shash will study for a PhD in Sociology at Cambridge and aims to address the gap between rhetoric and reality in social relationships in the new Egypt.

The 51 new Scholars span a broad range of countries, from Taiwan to New Zealand to Peru. Nine Scholars are from Canada, six from the USA, five from Germany, four from South Africa, three from Australian and China and two from Pakistan and Kenya. Bangladesh has its third Gates Cambridge Scholar in Hosna Jahan.

This year's new Scholars include a trained classical singer, an environmental lawyer, a civil engineer, a teacher of peacebuilding in Somalia and a conductor and pianist. They are fairly evenly balanced between Arts and Sciences and between those doing PhDs and those doing one-year postgraduate courses.

The subjects their research covers range from cancer, malaria, climate change mitigation policies and the effect of antiretroviral drugs on the health of HIV positive mothers to the experiences of Mau Mau women detainees and how East London benefit claimants feel about citizenship. 

The 51 Scholars chosen in the International selection round will join 39 new American Gates Cambridge Scholars who were selected after interviews in the USA in February. Fifty of the new intake are women and 40 are men.

Professor Robert Lethbridge, Provost (CEO) of the Gates Cambridge Trust, said: "We are delighted to have awarded Gates Cambridge Scholarships to 51 outstanding individuals from such a wide spread of countries and backgrounds. The Scholars are truly remarkable people and showed at interview that they fit the mission of the Scholarship by their commitment to using their academic skills and leadership capacity to improve the lives of others. We look forward to welcoming all 90 outstanding new Scholars to Cambridge in October and to seeing their future impact as Gates Cambridge Alumni”.

Andrew Gruen, President of the Gates Cambridge Scholar’s Council, said current Scholars are already busy getting ready for their new colleagues and are looking forward to meeting everyone in person.
“Although there are many great things about being a Gates Cambridge Scholar, the community of incredible people is surely the best,” Gruen said.  “No matter the subject, there’s a Scholar who is an authority, and we work hard to build everyone into a group of friends.  As you can imagine, this makes for some pretty excellent lunch conversations – topics like modelling global warming, politics in central Africa, or even translating ancient Hebrew come up all the time.”

More information: http://gatescambridge.org/our-scholars/new-scholars.aspx

As part of the project, the Choir visited a number of schools and centres run by charities, running singing workshops with over 200 children.

The Choir’s visit coincided with the Hindu festival of Holi and so together the singers worked on songs about colour, including Lavender’s Blue and I can sing a rainbow as well as Indian songs including Vande mataram and Sawalee (a song written by the children in one of the centres visited).

Members of the Choir led the children in playful warm-ups and breathing exercises and, whilst attention was paid to singing technique, the focus was on sharing the joy of music between people of different ages and cultures.

At the end of the project, a number of children joined the Choir on the stage of blueFROG in central Mumbai for a concert celebrating the achievements of the previous week.

Joe Walters, Founder and CEO of Songbound, described the project as ‘utterly inspiring and mind-blowing’ and members of the Choir would all agree that the experience was one which will stay with them for the rest of their lives.

Through their own fundraising efforts, including a fun run, cake sales and a fundraising concert, the Choir has also raised enough money to ensure that each of the centres and schools visited during the trip will be able to run a choir for at least the next three years.

The Choir also performed for members of the Cambridge Society of Bombay at the Royal Bombay Yacht Club before travelling to Goa where they gave a concert of Sacred Choral Music for Holy Week to a capacity audience in the Basilica Bom Jesus.

The Choir’s collaboration with Songbound is an ongoing one which seeks to establish a regular programme of cultural exchange between the UK and India. For more information on supporting this exciting project please visit www.jesuscollegechoir.com or contact choir@jesus.cam.ac.uk

Divided into two streams, one for physical sciences and one for biological sciences, lectures and seminars delivered by Cambridge academics took the students beyond their A-Level courses and into the first year Natural Sciences syllabus.

The students also explored some of the University’s specialist museums and collections, including the Cavendish Museum which houses historic apparatus used in some of the Faculty’s most significant discoveries, and in their spare time studied and socialised with each other and with Magdalene science undergraduates and Fellows.

“I applied for a place on the residential so that I could go deeper than my school course,” said Jessica Prince, from Hemel Hempstead. “It’s been brilliant to meet other people who love science – we’ve been asking questions all day."

“We’ve gone far beyond the school syllabus. People here are passionate and want to learn, and to find out things that haven’t been discovered before. It’s just amazing.”

Murray Hawthorne, from Brighton, found the enthusiasm of the Cambridge scientists inspired him. “It’s been good to see how genuine and passionate everyone is, they want to teach you, they love what they do,” he said.

“If you love your subject, this is the place to come. It’s five weeks to my exams, I’m going home to study.”

Current Magdalene Sciences undergraduates played a big part in the Residential’s success, answering questions about their courses, their interviews, and life at Cambridge.

Wahidur Rahman, a second year Physics student, volunteered to take part in the Sciences Residential because a similar event helped give him the confidence to apply to Cambridge as a sixth former.

“The biggest part for me was meeting undergraduates - my preconceptions were shattered when I met actual Cambridge students.  I regularly volunteer on access events so that I can give back.”

“People ask a lot about grades. It’s reassuring for them to know that not everyone here has fantastic grades. They also like to know that it’s not a crazy workload. We’re just normal people!”

Sophie Duffield is in her third year studying Chemical Engineering. “I think it’s really important to show people that Cambridge isn’t like its stereotype,” she said.

“When I was at school it was difficult to find out about Chemical Engineering, so I’m also hoping to encourage potential applicants and answer any questions they have about the course and about student life.”

Dr Richard Roebuck, Sciences Admissions Tutor for Magdalene College, took part in two sessions offering advice on applying to Cambridge.  He answered questions on how to show enthusiasm for your subject in a personal statement; the biggest mistakes made by applicants; and what to expect at an interview.

Becki Nunn, from Bradford, enjoyed the insight into university life and felt that the Residential had boosted her confidence. “On an open day everyone is on their best behaviour – this is different.  I did worry that I might find it intimidating but everyone here is really normal – they just love what they do, and the lecturers don’t mind you asking questions.

“I’m definitely going to apply. I feel that I’ve definitely got a chance. As long as you work hard, it’s not out of reach.”

Rosie Sharkey, Magdalene College’s School Liaison Officer and co-ordinator of the Residentials, said “By living in College, going to lectures and supervisions, and socialising in the evening with each other and with our undergraduate volunteers, we hope that we’ve helped show the participants how much fun they can have studying science at university, and encouraged them to consider applying to Cambridge.”

“It is with deep sadness that the family announces that Professor Sir Robert Edwards, Nobel prizewinner, scientist and co-pioneer of IVF, passed away peacefully in his sleep on 10th April 2013 after a long illness.  He will be greatly missed by family, friends and colleagues.  Please respect the family’s privacy at this sad time.”

A Fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge, Robert Edwards worked for many years in the University Department of Physiology. Just over thirty-five years ago he became famous for the development, with Dr Patrick Steptoe, of the technique of in vitro fertilization, which resulted in the birth of Louise Brown, and more than four million babies since that time.

His work has had an immense impact throughout the world.

The developments for which Edwards and Steptoe were responsible attracted much publicity, some of it, not least from the Vatican, highly critical.

Formal recognition therefore came late, but when it did come, it was decisive, with the award of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 2010 'for the development of in vitro fertilization.' See http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2010/

In 2011, Robert was knighted 'for services to human reproductive biology'.

Professor Martin Johnson, Emeritus Professor of Reproductive Science, University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Christ’s College was, together with Sir Richard Gardner, Bob Edwards’ first Graduate student between 1966 and 1969. He said: “Bob Edwards was a remarkable man who changed the lives of so many people. He was not only a visionary in his science but also in his communication to the wider public about matters scientific in which he was a great pioneer.

“He will be greatly missed by his colleagues, students, his family and all the many people he has helped to have children.”

Mike Macnamee, Chief Executive of Bourn Hall, the IVF clinic that Steptoe and Edwards co-founded, said:

“Bob Edwards is one of our greatest scientists. His inspirational work in the early 60s led to a breakthrough that has enhanced the lives of millions of people worldwide. He is held in great affection by everyone who has worked with him and was treated by him.

"For me personally Bob was a great mentor, colleague and friend.  It was a privilege to work with him and his passing is a great loss to us all."

Robert Geoffrey Edwards was born on the 27th September 1925 and died on 10th April 2013 after a long illness.

Delivering Monash University's annual Richard Larkins Oration to a distinguished audience at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia, he argued that "universities' contribution to the alleviation of poverty, disease and malnutrition is seriously undervalued and misunderstood, including by universities themselves".

"I argue that the advancement of health, wealth and nutrition in low-income countries is, firstly, a wholly legitimate target as well as a major academic challenge for the world's top universities, and secondly that universities are in fact uniquely well placed to make a difference".

He cited universities' strength as "the last great integrators of knowledge" over disciplines from the humanities and social sciences to biomedical sciences, and the relevance of that breadth to the multi-faceted problem of poverty.  "The reason polio is not yet globally eradicated is not because we don't understand how the disease or the vaccine works - the biomedical solution exists... Addressing this problem requires every academic discipline from religious studies to supply chain dynamics and sociology to health services research".

Universities could also act as honest brokers, he said, working with governments, NGOs and the private sector: "universities can knock on doors that are not opened to governments".

Explaining the role of universities in developed countries in building research capacity in less-developed countries, he gave the example of the CAPREx programme, a partnership between Cambridge, Makerere University (Uganda) and the University of Ghana, to reinforce research excellence and resilience in the two African partner institutions: "shortage of PhD-level staff, research-active mentors and internationally competitive research groups is a serious limitation on training the next generation of African researchers", he said.

"Academics do not withdraw into universities to think deep thoughts: they deepen those thoughts by constant engagement with others and with the challenge of real-world problems such as poverty", he said.

Professor Borysiewicz ended by acknowledging that university researchers active in overseas development needed institutional support:  "our academics must believe that the University is itself committed, such that it recognises their activity as core to the mission."

The full text of the Oration is available here.

A video of the Oration is available here.

The Huemul, a species of deer found only in the Latin American region of Patagonia, is bouncing back from the brink of possible extinction as a result of collaboration between conservationists and the Chilean government, says a new study.

By controlling cattle farming and policing to prevent poaching in the Bernardo O’Higgins National Park – a vast “natural Eden” covering 3.5 million hectares – conservation efforts have allowed the deer to return to areas of natural habitat from which it had completely disappeared.

Researchers are hailing the findings as an example of collaborations between local government and scientists leading to real conservation success, and a possible model for future efforts to maintain the extraordinary biodiversity found in this part of Chile.

The study by researchers from Cambridge, the Wildlife Conservation Society and CONAF, the Chilean national forestry commission, is released today in the journal Oryx, published by conservation charity Fauna and Flora International. 

A national symbol that features on the Chilean coat-of-arms, Huemul deer are estimated to have suffered reductions of 99 per cent in size since the 19th century, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

Researchers believe 50 per cent of this decline has come in recent years, with only 2,500 deer now left in the wild.

The Huemul is a naturally tame and approachable animal, which led to it becoming easy prey for hunters, particularly with the arrival of European colonists in the area who would hunt Huemul for meat to feed their dogs.

Recent increases by local farmers in the practice of releasing cattle indiscriminately into national parkland for retrieval later in the year has damaged the habitats of endemic wildlife such as the Huemul, and, coupled with continued hunting of the species, deer populations plummeted.

The joint efforts of conservationists and researchers with government and private initiatives created a small number of field stations in this remote natural paradise on the tip of South America – one of the least populated areas of the world, requiring a boat trip of two days along the region’s stunning fjords to reach. 

This created a base for monitoring endangered species and natural habitats, as well as a team of park rangers enforcing conservation laws that – although they had been in place since the late sixties – had never been policed on the ground.

The impact was almost immediate, within five short years – from 2004 to 2008 – the Huemul population in the national park not only stabilised but also began to increase, with deer coming down from the hostile mountain areas it had sought refuge in and back to the sea-level valleys where it naturally thrives.

“National parks are at the heart of modern conservation, but there has to be an investment in management and protection on the ground. You can’t just have a ‘paper park’, where an area is ring-fenced on a map but physically ignored,” said Cristóbal Briceño, a researcher from Cambridge’s Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, who co-authored the study.

“Our results suggest that synergistic conservation actions, such as cattle removal and poaching control, brought about by increased infrastructure, can lead to the recovery of species such as the threated Huemul.”

For Briceño, the “scattering” of endangered species as habitats are encroached on creates not only external threats, but also extremely limited mating diversity.

This leads to levels of inbreeding that can reach “a critical extent from which there’s no return”, causing susceptibility to disease and increased extinction risk, as with another Chilean mammal that Briceño is researching called Darwin’s Fox – named for the scientific genius that first discovered it – with barely 500 now left in the world. 

The Huemul’s success offers encouragement for Briceño and others in the field: “I think it’s beautiful that this has turned out to be an example of real hope for an endangered species, an example we would like to replicate.”

For more information, please contact fred.lewsey@admin.cam.ac.uk

To coincide with the unveiling of a major new public sculpture on the University’s Sidgwick Site, and a large outdoor work at Churchill College, a free exhibition of large indoor sculptures and drawings by Nigel Hall RA opens at the College on May 4, 2013.

Hall is one of the foremost sculptors of his generation. His preoccupation with space, balance and geometric forms has led him to create some of the most beautiful works of sculpture to have been produced in the UK over the last thirty years.

The exhibition will encompass a selection of sculptures of varying materials; bronze, steel, painted aluminium and MDF, ranging from intimate to grand-scale.

Exhibition Curator Barry Phipps said: “Someone once said that painting is so poetic, while sculpture is more logical and scientific and makes you worry about gravity. In this way, through our collection and exhibitions, Churchill College strives to bring the best works of sculpture into conversation with our world-leading scientific researchers. And through Nigel Hall’s sculptures, within the context of the University, we find an outstanding opportunity to talk.

Accompanying these works are large, lyrical charcoal and gouache drawings, in which the deep, saturated pigments give weight to the lightness of the graceful curvilinear lines. The drawings are impressive in size, but never imposing, achieving a choreographed balance of form and space.

The changing relationships between space and form that occur when walking in landscape is paralleled in his practice, in which both movement and stillness are expressed.

Hall was born in 1943 in Bristol and studied at The Royal College of Art, London, where he later became a tutor. He was Head of MA Sculpture at Chelsea School of Art and a faculty member of the British School in Rome. He is well represented in numerous public collections in the UK and also the USA, Asia, Australia and Europe. These include Tate, London; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; Nationalgalerie, Berlin; Kunsthalle, Zurich and the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Cally Hammond read Literae Humaniores at Oxford and was later a Research Fellow in Classics at Downing College, before undertaking ordination training at Westcott House and graduating again in Theology and Religious Studies.

Dr Hammond teaches the Greek and Latin languages, early Christian history and the history of doctrine, as well as researching in the area of early Christian historiography.

Her translation of The Gallic War by Julius Caesar was published in the Oxford World's Classics series in 1995.

Through SPCK she has subsequently published Passionate Christianity: A journey to the cross (2007), Joyful Christianity: Finding Jesus in the world (2009) and Glorious Christianity: Walking by faith in the life to come (2012).

Dr Hammond is currently working on The Sound of the Liturgy for SPCK and on a new translation of the Confessions of St Augustine for the Loeb Classical Library.

John Mere, who died in 1558, was an Esquire Bedell and also later Registrary of the University, and a member of both King's and Corpus Christi Colleges.

He left property in the Parish of St Benet's, partly to pay for an annual Sermon in his memory and on particular subjects.

Certain University Officers, including the current Registrary and the Esquire Bedells, and also the Vicar and the Clerk of the Parish, still receive a token payment for attending.

Before the service flowers are placed on Mere's tombstone by the Church door and afterwards a small payment is also made to the inhabitants of the Almshouses of St Antony and St Eligius.

The Sermon is preached either by the Vice-Chancellor or a person nominated by the Vice-Chancellor, and by regulation must be preached on the first Tuesday of Full Easter Term.

The modern custom is for Corpus Christi College to suggest someone for appointment and the College has a strong links with St Benet's, where it maintains seats for the Master and Fellows and is the Patron with the right to appoint the Vicar.

The Master traditionally offers hospitality to the Preacher and refreshment to the Congregation after the Sermon.

All are welcome. Members of the University attending should wear their gowns.

Picture Credit: Dan White

Developed in collaboration with one of Germany’s largest banks, the technology devised by Cambridge-based company Cronto is helping protect customers against the threat posed by “Man-in-the-Browser” Trojan malware.

A Trojan horse is a type of malware which, like its namesake, presents itself as a harmless gift in order to persuade users to install it, appearing as a legitimate software program. Once installed, hackers gain access to the computer in order to steal information or harm the system.

The solution developed by Cronto protects against Trojan attacks by using a visual channel to transfer data securely from the bank to the customer. It allows the bank to generate a pattern of coloured dots – a proprietary two-dimensional barcode containing the data which the bank is trying to send to the customer, which is decoded by the customer using Cronto’s mobile application or standalone hardware device. The company’s technology provides a secure “envelope” around the data so that it can be displayed to the customer on a trusted display for verification in any environment over any unsecured channel. The Trojan can see the image being sent by the bank, but cannot change the secure data inside.

Trojan attacks are prevalent and growing. Security firm McAfee identified more than 1.5 million different Trojan malware variations in 2012, with financial services websites a popular target. Trojans are especially dangerous as they control both what the bank receives from the customer and what the customer sees in their browser – a type of attack known as Man-in-the-Browser.

In an example of a Man-in-the-Browser attack, a customer may log on to their account on a real banking website and initiate a transfer to another account. The Trojan will detect this activity and will both increase the amount of the transfer and change the destination account number to that of the fraudster. Once the bank confirms that the transfer has occurred, the malware will change what is displayed to the customer, making them think that their desired transaction has been carried out. Effectively, the malware can freely alter the web page as it is displayed to the customer, and modify the requests sent back to the bank, so neither can detect that the fraud is taking place.

Trojan attacks of this type can cause customers to lose millions: in 2012, a single Trojan attack known as “Eurograbber” was discovered to have illicitly transferred over €36 million from unsuspecting banking customers. “Man-in-the-Browser attacks in combination with social engineering techniques are the most present and active threat to online banking,” says Dr Elena Punskaya, Affiliated University Lecturer in the Department of Engineering and Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer at Cambridge-based company Cronto. “A combination of the malware and social engineering allows fraudsters to build a plausible story in order to initiate and hide the fraudulent payments.”

According to Igor Drokov, Cronto’s CEO, security in the world of online banking has to go beyond identifying who a customer is, whether via a password, the street they grew up on or the name of their pet goldfish.

“That’s not enough,” he says. “To combat the level of sophistication poised by Trojan malware, the bank also needs to verify the action that the customer is trying to perform, whether it’s a purchase, a transfer or a change of address.”

Cronto’s aim was to produce a solution that was easy to use for millions of customers, but robust enough to meet the security challenges faced by banks. Dr Punskaya, a specialist in advanced machine learning algorithms and statistical data analysis, developed a new unique visual symbology optimised for secure, fast and reliable data transfer.

The 2D barcode which the team developed allows the bank to securely transfer a message of over 100 characters that is decoded by the company’s application or hardware device in fractions of a second. The specific features of the image have been developed by testing machine learning algorithms on large datasets of images captured in different conditions.

Using the application or hardware device, the customer scans the image. Providing the security conditions are met, the customer will see the message from their bank, which is typically asking them to confirm the action they are attempting to perform, highlighting any aspects of the transaction which are out of the ordinary. To confirm the transaction, the customer simply uses a six-digit code, generated by the app or device, and enters it into their browser. The code acts as the customer’s signature for this specific instruction, and once received and validated by the bank, completes the transaction.

The technology can be used in any environment and is highly adaptable, as it gives the banks the ability to change the message they wish their customers to see, whether in response to an emerging security threat, or simply to allow the customer to perform a different type of transaction.

Dr Steven Murdoch, a member of the Security Group at the University Computer Laboratory and Cronto’s Chief Security Architect, designed and developed a new transaction signing solution able to withstand both attacks from criminals and the reality of industry.

Working together with banks, in particular Germany’s Commerzbank, Dr Murdoch and the Cronto team implemented a state-of-the-art security protocol that has been adopted by leading banks in Germany and Switzerland, having successfully passed their internal and external security evaluations.

While Cronto is currently focused on the online banking sector, the team also sees commercial possibilities for their technology in e-commerce, peer-to-peer online payments, or any other application where there is a need to create a trusted connection between two parties.

Researchers from the University of Cambridge, the China Disabled Persons’ Federation (CDPF) and the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) met today to launch a new collaborative study into the prevalence of autism in mainland China.

Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC) affect one per cent of the general population in Western countries. However, it is unclear as to whether autism is as prevalent in China. A pilot study conducted by the University of Cambridge’s Autism Research Centre and Cambridge Institute of Public Health suggests that autism in China is currently under-diagnosed and may be in line with Western countries at one per cent. This collaboration will enable Cambridge, CDPF and CUHK to determine whether a one per cent estimate also applies to China.

At the discussions were the University of Cambridge’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Joseph Sung (pictured left) and Director-General of Rehabilitation Department of CDPF Professor Hong You (pictured right).

If it is confirmed that China has the same prevalence rate as Western countries, an astonishing 14 million people could have the condition. The researchers argue that a correct estimate of the number of people affected will enable better care and planning for these individuals.

This collaborative project is led by Dr Sophia Xiang Sun, who recently completed her PhD in Cambridge and has joined CUHK in the School of Public Health and Primary Care. With the funding support from CDPF and CUHK, the project will entail a large epidemiological study involving 250,000 people across 14 cities within 14 provincial regions in mainland China. The aim of the research is to implement the validated techniques from the pilot to whole populations to provide key estimates on the prevalence of ASC, and to build capacity in research and appropriate clinical and social support services in China.

Dr Sophia Xiang Sun said: “This is an important new study. Previous research into the autism spectrum in China has mainly focused on the most severe subtype, childhood autism. That may partly explain the low prevalence previously reported. By adopting standardised study methodology and instruments, we can compare the results with Western countries and obtain a better understanding of the current situation of this condition in China.”

HE+ aims to encourage and prepare talented students to apply for places at top universities.

The Swansea HE+ consortium, which is made up of Gower College Swansea and the City and County’s seven maintained schools with sixth forms, launched in October 2012. 

This was the consortium’s first visit to Cambridge. Students enjoyed college tours, museum visits, subject talks, and free time in Churchill and Fitzwilliam Colleges.

“The chance to talk to the Directors of Studies was great”, said Ysgol Gyfun Gŵyr student Nia Thomas, who hopes to study Chemistry.  “It’s been good to get an experience of what a Cambridge supervision would be like.”

Gowerton Comprehensive School student Elaine Tucker, who is considering Anthropology as one of her university options, enjoyed the insight into student life and the chance to check out the facilities available to Cambridge students. “It feels friendly here,” she commented.

For English Literature hopeful Joseph Lumber, currently studying at Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Bryn Tawe, highlights of the visit included exploring the University’s libraries and museums.  “We’ve walked our feet off exploring Cambridge,” he said. “I’ve seen countless libraries and the Quentin Blake exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum. It’s been good to find out what the place is like.”

History enthusiast Katie Barrowman, currently studying at Gower College Swansea, found inspiration in the College libraries and in Cambridge’s 800-year heritage. “Parts of some colleges are 14th, 15th century. This would be a really great place to study History,” she said.

There’s more to HE+ than a visit to Cambridge. Cambridge academics also travel to consortia around the UK to help deliver extension activities and masterclasses in the different subject streams.

“It was really good when the lecturers came to us,” Katie said. “We looked at History in a different way, comparing the original sources to the articles historians write and thinking about the reasons why they were different.”

Olchfa Comprehensive School student Will Parry finds that the HE+ extension classes are helping him prepare for his AS exams. He’s aiming to study Computer Science at university.  “The HE+ classes have shown me ways to think differently, to think in a more logical way,” he said. “In school, you’re learning for the exam. In HE+, you’re learning because you love the subject.”

Joseph also enjoys the way in which HE+ classes go beyond the core curriculum. “In school we’re reading 19th century literature, like Wuthering Heights or Frankenstein. In HE+ we’ve looked at Chaucer and Shakespeare, and The Mabinogion.”

Students start on the HE+ programme at the beginning of Year 12 to give them a head start in thinking about university options and developing subject skills. “It’s good to have this extra help and feedback about applying.” explained Elaine.

Sam Cooper tutors English Literature to HE+ students and came to help with the residential. “HE+ provides a really important opportunity for students to get together with others of like minds, creating a community of people who can help each other to achieve their aspirations,” she said.

“The residential visit is great because students can stand in a college and really picture themselves here. It’s really important to be physically present.”

Felicity Padley, Gower College Swansea Oxbridge Tutor and Swansea HE+ Consortium Co-ordinator, added: “This residential has been an important intervention at an important time.  We hope it's inspired all the participants to believe they can apply to a top university, whether Cambridge or otherwise, and that they'll now drive forward to do really well in their AS-Level exams.”

The Government’s new Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir Mark Walport, set out his priorities today at the Centre for Science and Policy’s annual conference - his first major public speech since taking office earlier this month. Sir Mark, who takes over the post from Sir John Beddington, was formerly Director of the Wellcome Trust.

Sir Mark highlighted five key themes for scientific advice in Government:

1. Ensuring that scientific knowledge translates to economic growth
2. Strengthening infrastructure resilience for the engineered world of transport, energy, the built environment and telecommunications and also the natural world 
3. Underpinning policy with evidence
4. Harnessing science for emergencies
5. Providing advocacy and leadership for science

Taking the platform after just three weeks in the role, Sir Mark offered an insight into the kinds of challenges that he will be addressing. Citing the Science Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) advice during the Fukushima disaster, Sir Mark also highlighted the often understated role science has to play in diplomacy.  Discussing calls for an EU moratorium on neonicotinoid insecticides to protect pollinators, including bees, Sir Mark highlighted the equivocal nature of the current evidence and balanced this with the need to assess the likely economic impact of withdrawing this class of pesticides. He called on the wider scientific community to collaboratively make the case for Government R&D funding (currently standing at £10 billion) by demonstrating the economic and societal impact of long-term research investment.

Sir Mark Walport said, "The challenges we face are significant and complex – from climate change to cyber-security, poverty to pandemics, food technologies to fracking. Difficult issues need to be viewed through multiple lenses, according to the nature of each specific challenge. Excellent advice on science, engineering, technology and social science is essential for the development and implementation of the best policy in Government. We need to break down barriers and silos by strengthening the linkages between industry, academia and government and using science for the benefit of society. Advice from the Government Office for Science can only be as good as the advice we receive and I am looking forward to working widely and collaboratively to pull in the best.”

Sir Bob Kerslake, Head of the Home Civil Service said, “Science in the Civil Service has a long and illustrious history. From the first Government Chief Scientist, Sir Solly Zuckerman, we have always valued the rigour and analysis that the profession brings to the formulation of evidence. The Civil Service Reform Plan focuses on improving our policymaking and science will play a central role through a combination of the best government knowledge with that of industry and academia.”

Deepening the understanding of how research and policy interrelate and building lasting, productive connections between academia and Whitehall is the primary focus of the Centre for Science and Policy (CSaP). Founded in 2009 at the University of Cambridge, the Centre also provides much needed professional development to researchers in the early stages of their careers, helping them understand the potential policy ramifications of their work and how best to communicate their research findings to policy makers. 

In the last twelve months, CSaP has secured £1.1 million for its research and research-related activities from funding bodies including the ESRC, EPSRC and the European Commission Framework Programme. Over the past year, the total value of the research grants won, of which CSaP’s work forms a part, totalled over £10 million.

Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, Vice Chancellor of the University of Cambridge said, “The Centre for Science and Policy is an important initiative, facilitating access to the University of Cambridge’s world-leading expertise. The benefits of this deeper engagement are manifold: for the researchers who gain a greater understanding of real world challenges, for policy makers who gain access to the latest research findings, and for society which benefits from improved, evidence-based decision-making by government.”

Dr David Cleevely, Founding Director of the Centre for Science and Policy said, “At CSaP, we’ve seen concrete examples of how bringing together policy makers and academic experts has informed policy and legislation. We are investing in establishing these professional connections, and are also building a world-class research base aimed at deepening our understanding of how science and engineering advice gets incorporated into policy. In the past twelve months, CSaP has been part of research projects that have raised over £10 million in funding – an indication of the potential benefit to society of further improving knowledge exchange between government and academia.”

The event today – entitled Future Directions for Scientific Advice in Whitehall - sees the Centre for Science and Policy bring together thought leaders from policy, industry and academia to discuss how government can make more effective use of the UK’s wealth of scientific advice, particularly in the context of the Government’s programme of Civil Service Reform.

A collection of essays entitled Future Directions for Scientific Advice in Whitehall will also be launched today to coincide with CSaP’s annual conference. Future Directions includes essays by Sir John Beddington (former Government Chief Scientific Adviser), Geoff Mulgan (Nesta), and Jill Rutter (Institute for Government) and was co-edited by Robert Doubleday, Executive Director of the Centre for Science and Policy, University of Cambridge and James Wilsdon, Professor of Science and Democracy at the University of Sussex.

Future Directions for Scientific Advice in Whitehall is available for download at: http://www.csap.cam.ac.uk/events/future-directions-scientific-advice-whi...

The Centre for Science and Policy’s second annual conference “Future directions for scientific advice in Whitehall” is sponsored by Royal Society of Chemistry, BAE Systems, BP, Lloyd’s, Thomson Reuters and Afton Chemical.

Professor C.N.R. Rao, Head of the Scientific Advisory Committee to the Prime Minister of India, and a team of distinguished delegates visited the University to attend an EPSRC-funded workshop on Advanced Materials for Energy and Sustainable Manufacturing, held at St John's College.

The workshop was part of a collaboration between teams in Cambridge (led by Prof Sir Richard Friend), Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) and the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bangalore.

It was the final component of a one year “Global Engagement” project supported by the EPSRC, which has supported a number of collaborations between groups in Cambridge (in Physics, Materials Science and Engineering) and groups at the JNCASR and IISc. 

This project built on the many ‘bottom up’ research contacts that have been set up between Cambridge and Bangalore in this broad area of research and it intended to help frame longer-term research objectives that could be developed between Cambridge and Bangalore.

The workshop was opened by Prof Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University, who spoke warmly of the long-standing partnerships Cambridge has with India and specifically with Bangalore, and encouraged building up on the present one year EPSRC project.

Professor C.N.R. Rao thanked the Vice-Chancellor for his support and announced a fellowship scheme from JNCASR which would support two Postdoctoral fellows to visit Cambridge for furthering research under the Global AMES platform.

The workshop consisted of a series of presentations that highlighted the collaborative work that has been performed during this project.

In addition a number of talks, on related topics, were provided by invited guests from both Bangalore and Cambridge, which stimulated considerable scientific debate. 

The future goal is to develop the work and ideas from these interactions into further collaborations in this important area of materials research.

Salmonella is a major cause of human diarrhoeal infections and is frequently acquired from chickens, pigs and cattle, or their products. Around 94 million such infections occur in people worldwide each year, with approximately 50,000 cases in the UK per annum.

In a BBSRC-funded collaboration between the University of Cambridge’s Department of Veterinary Medicine, the University of Edinburgh’s Roslin Institute and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, scientists have studied how Salmonella colonises the intestines of food-producing animals. This is relevant both to the welfare of the animal hosts and to contamination of the food chain and farm environment.

To unravel how Salmonella persists in farm animals, the scientists studied the role of thousands of its genes. Using a novel DNA-sequencing method the team screened 10,000 mutants of Salmonella for their ability to colonise the guts of chickens, pigs and cattle.  This was achieved by using a novel technique based on high-throughput DNA sequencing which enabled the screening of 475 mutants of the bacteria per single animal. In the process, they assigned roles in infection to over 2700 Salmonella genes in each of the farm animal hosts. This has yielded roles for over half the genetic instructions of the bacterium and is by far the most comprehensive survey for any pathogen in its natural hosts to date.

Professor Duncan Maskell at the University of Cambridge said, “We found that hundreds of genes are important for colonisation; this provides vital new data for the design of strategies to control Salmonella in animals and reduce transmission to humans. Our data indicate that Salmonella contains a core set of genes that is important when it infects all three hosts, but that there are smaller sets of genes that are required for infection of each individual host species.”

Professor Mark Stevens at The Roslin Institute added, “We are always trying to develop new ways of reducing the number of animals used in experiments. The methods we applied allowed us to survey the fate of hundreds of bacterial mutants simultaneously in one animal, rather than us having to test them one-by-one. This represents a significant advance in the study of microbial diseases, and can be applied to other pathogens and host animals.”

The team now plans to use the data it has collected to design vaccines or treatments to reduce the burden of salmonellosis in animals and humans.

Francis Crick’s former research partner James Watson and another eminent Nobel Prize winner, Sydney Brenner, will unveil the relief in the archway of the Great Gate at Gonville and Caius.

DNA Day is celebrated annually on 25 April and in this 60th anniversary year will be marked by an afternoon of distinguished lectures, the Francis Crick Memorial Meeting, which is described here and will be streamed live.

To celebrate this, and exactly 100 years at its Downing Street home, the Museum is holding:

Retail Retold: A retailers event on Friday 3 May, inviting local retailers and businesses to the museum to explore the links between their businesses and objects in the museum – some of which were unearthed during the Grand Arcade building works, just yards from the Museum.

A Gala Weekend over the first May Bank Holiday (4-6 May) for families and the wider community to come and explore the museum, and discover a range of unusual and intriguing activities.

Retail Retold

• Local tattooists will view the tattoo combs collected by Captain Cook, whose voyages first brought tattooing to Europe (see photo attached).
• Staff from local dry cleaners will see a Viking ironing board made of whale bone – to smooth their linens on.
• Staff from Bravissimo and Triumph will examine a particularly large-breasted wooden statue.
• Beauticians will be shown the remnants of rouge, still in a Roman make-up pot.

Gala weekend
Visitors will be able to:
• Have a go with a full-size medieval catapult
• See a deer butchered the prehistoric way
• Take their photo in the Edwardian photo booth – the era when the Museum opened on Downing Street a century ago
• Make bunting, enjoy face painting and other crafts
• Enter the Art Fund national photo competition to win an iPad

The museum has one million objects which document two million years of human history, of which under one per cent are on display. Many objects pivot around critical life events: birth, sex, feasting, beauty, ceremonies, illness and death. They tell heartfelt, harrowing and celebratory stories of the human journey through the ages.

By contrast, many objects are mundane: a Viking ironing board, a Roman make-up container (with remnants of rouge), medieval beer jugs, and an implement for Anglo Saxons to clean their ears. 

The museum’s new ground floor Cambridge gallery has been created to display the museum’s unparalleled collection of artefacts from East Anglia. The Museum has one of the most important collections of archaeology and anthropology in the UK. It holds material collected by Captain James Cook and the largest Fijian collection outside Fiji itself. Uniquely comprehensive are its collections from world prehistory, particularly from the Palaeolithic era (2,000,000 to 100,000 years ago).