̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge - Vice-Chancellor

Complete clean sweep for Cambridge at ̽��ֱ��Boat Race 2025

hcf38 — Sun, 13 Apr 2025 15:34:14 +0000

Thousands of spectators lined the banks of the River Thames on 13 April to witness a dramatic afternoon of action, with millions more following live on the BBC.

Cambridge Women secured their eighth consecutive win in the 79th Women’s Boat Race, extending their overall record to 49 victories to Oxford’s 30. ̽��ֱ��Men’s crew, too, were victorious in defending their title in the 170th edition of the event, notching up their 88th win, with Oxford sitting on 81.

Goldie, the Cambridge Men’s Reserve Crew, won the Men’s Reserve Race, while Blondie, the Cambridge Women’s Reserve Crew, won the Women’s Reserve Race. And the day before, the 2025 Lightweight Boat Race also saw two wins for Cambridge.

Cambridge’s Claire Collins said it was an incredible feeling to win the race.

“This is so cool, it’s really an incredible honour to share this with the whole club,” she said.

̽��ֱ��Women’s Race was stopped initially after an oar clash, but Umpire Sir Matthew Pinsent allowed the race to resume after a restart. Claire said that the crew had prepared for eventualities such as a restart and so were able to lean on their training when it happened.

“I had total confidence in the crew to regroup. Our focus was to get back on pace and get going as soon as possible and that’s what we did.”

For Cambridge Men’s President Luca Ferraro, it was his final Boat Roat campaign, having raced in the Blue Boat for the last three years, winning the last two.

He said: “It was a great race. ̽��ֱ��guys really stepped up. That’s something that our Coach Rob Baker said to us before we went out there, that each of us had to step up individually and come together and play our part in what we were about to do. I couldn’t be prouder of the guys, they really delivered today.”

Professor Deborah Prentice, Vice-Chancellor of the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, congratulated all the crews following the wins.

“I am in awe of these students and what they have achieved, and what Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� Boat Club has been able to create,” she said.

“These students are out in the early hours of the morning training and then trying to make it to 9am lectures. It’s so inspiring. And a complete clean sweep – this was an incredibly impressive showing by Cambridge, I am so proud of them.”

̽��ֱ��Cambridge Blue Boats featured student athletes drawn from Christ’s College, Downing College, Emmanuel College, Gonville & Caius, Hughes Hall, Jesus College, Pembroke College, Peterhouse, St Edmund’s, and St John’s.

Cambridge is celebrating a complete clean sweep at ̽��ֱ��Boat Race 2025, with victories in all 4 openweight races and also both lightweight races.

Row360

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright © ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

Yes

With investment, universities can drive growth - Vice-Chancellor

hcf38 — Wed, 16 Oct 2024 07:54:37 +0000

It is Nobel prize-giving season and last week alumni of Cambridge ̽��ֱ�� were awarded four of them for their brilliant work. In a leading article last week, ̽��ֱ��Times pointed out that if it were a country, Cambridge’s total of 125 would place it third for Nobel laureates behind only the UK and the US. This is a tribute to outstanding work which changes lives.

As an American who took over the role of vice-chancellor a little over a year ago, I am struck by how often the value of world-class research universities — to our economy, and to society and our daily lives — is underestimated here in Britain. Two of the top five in the world are British and in higher education terms this country punches well above its weight. This week we will announce a huge new investment in transformative research focused on a common foe: cancer. It will bring global benefits.

Our world-class, research-intensive universities are national assets. They can be genuine drivers of economic growth. Cambridge research contributes a staggering £30 billion to the UK economy each year. By contrast, no single US university plays such a national role.

And yet some UK research universities are in a precarious financial state. They are vital to their local and regional communities, as well as to Britain as a whole. They need more than just recognition if they are to drive future sustainable growth: they need investment, yes, but also support to innovate so they can continue to break new research frontiers and to serve their communities.

In Cambridge, we plan to launch an innovation hub that attracts and hosts the best researchers from around the world, plus entrepreneurs, funders and philanthropists. Under one roof, ideas will be driven forward, before they are spun out. ̽��ֱ��US and France have successfully pointed the way in these hothouses for innovation, in Boston and Paris. ̽��ֱ��UK must catch up — and fast.

With the budget looming, even — or perhaps especially — in tough times, the government must see our research universities as key allies and partners in its mission to drive economic growth. They are one of the main advantages this country enjoys in the global race for economic success.

At the start of a new academic year, thousands of students and researchers have arrived in Cambridge and at other British universities. We should invest in our world-class institutions and their contributions to tackling society’s greatest challenges so that in the decades to come we will have more Nobel laureates to celebrate.

This article first appeared in ̽��ֱ��Times on 14 October 2024.

Professor Deborah Prentice, Vice-Chancellor of the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, writes in ̽��ֱ��Times about how universities can drive UK growth - but they need more than just recognition.

Yes

Is Democracy Dying?

fymj2 — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 11:22:18 +0000

2024 is the year of elections. A record number of elections will take place, with half the adult population of the world – some two billion people – having the chance to vote. Is this a milestone to be celebrated in our democratic history or are we at a crossroads where the fate of liberal democracy hangs in the balance?

Against a backdrop of polarising populist movements, the erosion of trust in traditional institutions and a decline of democratic norms, we asked: is democracy dying? Is the election of populists an expression of democracy or a breakdown of democracy? How resilient are our democratic institutions in the face of unprecedented challenges? Is the tension between liberal and democracy ultimately too great to resolve?

We addressed these questions in our second Vice-Chancellor’s Dialogues, hosted by Vice-Chancellor Professor Deborah Prentice on 24 April 2024.

Our speakers

David Goodhart, founding editor of Prospect magazine and Head of the Demography, Immigration and Integration unit at the think tank Policy Exchange. He is the author of ̽��ֱ��Road to Somewhere: ̽��ֱ��Populist Revolt and the Future of Politics.
Nabila Ramdani, award-winning journalist, broadcaster and academic. She is the author of Fixing France: How to Repair a Broken Republic.
Helen Thompson, Professor of Political Economy at the ̽��ֱ��. She is author of Disorder: Hard Times in the 21st Century.

̽��ֱ��discussion was chaired by Roger Mosey, Master of Selwyn College and former Editorial Director of the BBC.

̽��ֱ��Vice-Chancellor’s Dialogues

There are two purposes to these events. ̽��ֱ��first is to establish whether there is any common ground between people who may seem to be far apart. If we are to make progress in legislation or in understanding the world we live in, we need to identify where we agree as well as where we disagree. ̽��ֱ��second is to ensure discussions involve the widest range of viewpoints – that nothing, within the law, is taboo and that freedom of speech and of thought, and of academic debate, is upheld.

Watch our first event on whether assisted dying is compassionate, or dangerous for society >

On 24 April 2024, the second Vice-Chancellor’s Dialogues event grappled with the question: 'Is Democracy Dying?' ̽��ֱ��event is part of a series of dialogues about some of the most difficult issues of our time.

Cambridge Vice-Chancellor's Dialogues: Is democracy dying?

Marking International Women’s Day at the Cambridge Festival

zs332 — Fri, 08 Mar 2024 09:21:59 +0000

From pre-eclampsia and its lasting impact on women’s health to inequitable distribution of domestic and caring labour in different-sex couples to an in-conversation with the Vice Chancellor: the Cambridge Festival counts a host of prominent female speakers in its programme.

Message from the Vice-Chancellor

Anonymous — Thu, 12 Oct 2023 13:49:28 +0000

As a ̽��ֱ��, over recent days we have been focused on our people, offering support and help where it is needed. On Tuesday I wrote to students, staff and alumni who signed an open letter. We have reached out to Jewish and Palestinian groups and have had the opportunity to meet with student representatives from these groups. We will continue to engage with them and with other members of the Jewish and Palestinian communities at Cambridge going forward.

Many of us are affected in direct and indirect ways by this conflict. This is a time for mutual care and support in our community, looking after each other, and helping those around us who are upset or fearful.

We are grateful to those who have already shared their own experiences and feelings in light of terrible events, and we encourage all of those affected by the events in Israel, Gaza, and the wider Middle East to look to the ̽��ֱ�� community for support. We stand with them in solidarity.

You can find sources of support at this time using the link below.

Yours,

Professor Deborah Prentice, Vice-Chancellor

Read the Vice-Chancellor's update at a ̽��ֱ�� all staff meeting on 25 October

Sources of support

See sources of support for those affected by recent events in Israel, Gaza and the Middle East >

Following recent appalling events in Israel and Gaza, we are deeply saddened by the loss of innocent lives in Israel, the impact of the escalating violence in Gaza, and the fate of hostages. We share the concerns of our students and staff over the fear and uncertainty faced by their loved ones in Israel and Palestine.

̽��ֱ��Old Schools, ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge.

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright © ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – as here, on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

Yes

Vice-Chancellor warns of 'brain drain' sparked by EU row, during annual Kate Pretty Lecture

Anonymous — Thu, 09 Jun 2022 10:23:20 +0000

In a lecture at Homerton College, Cambridge, he warned that senior academics would be tempted to take jobs abroad unless the impasse over allowing British researchers access to EU funds is broken.

Professor Toope said the failure of the UK Government and the EU to reach agreement over Horizon Europe, the prestigious EU funding mechanism, was already having an impact at Cambridge.

“It has taken a few years, but our concerns – about the loss of connectivity, the loss of researcher mobility, the loss of research funding – are now coming to pass,” he said in the annual Kate Pretty Lecture.

“Earlier this year we were celebrating Cambridge colleagues winning more European Research Council grants than peers at any other UK institution.

“Yet two weeks ago a Cambridge astrophysicist had to step down from the leadership of a pan-European project because the UK’s association with the Horizon Europe network has not been ratified.

“And we learned only last week that European funding has now dried up, too, for Cambridge’s Comparative Cognition Laboratory, raising the likelihood of its closure in July.

“Great Britain – and Cambridge in particular – have long been a magnet for some of the world’s finest minds. But for the first time there is the very real and hugely worrying prospect of a brain drain, as colleagues with large European collaborations and significant European grants talk about leaving the UK. ̽��ֱ��UK – we are frequently told – is a ‘Science Superpower’. I worry that, if we’re not careful, we may sleepwalk in the opposite direction."

Professor Toope said the UK and the EU needed to move fast to prevent inflicting serious damage on world-leading academic research.

“Hopes for the UK’s association to the Horizon Europe framework programme are fading fast. But I remain hopeful that the UK Government and our European partners will recognise how much our scientific communities need each other.

“And I remain hopeful that we can still agree on some mechanism to ensure that UK researchers can continue to contribute leadership and expertise to European collaborations."

Professor Toope said that Cambridge remained a “proudly global institution” with strong international representation among its students, staff and alumni. Cambridge academics carried out research with major impact on people’s lives on every continent and in dozens of different countries.

Read the Vice-Chancellor's speech - ̽��ֱ�� matters? ̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge in an increasingly complex world.

Professor Stephen J Toope, Vice-Chancellor of the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge, has expressed fears that a continued stand-off between the UK and EU will lead to a “brain drain”.

It has taken a few years, but our concerns – about the loss of connectivity, the loss of researcher mobility, the loss of research funding – are now coming to pass.

Professor Stephen J Toope, Vice-Chancellor

̽��ֱ��text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright © ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – as here, on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

Yes

Vice-Chancellor gives evidence to ̽��ֱ��Times Education Commission

Anonymous — Fri, 13 May 2022 08:22:44 +0000

Professor Toope’s evidence focused on the higher education sector’s role in raising attainment in schools and sixth-form colleges, widening participation, and exploring different approaches to university examinations and assessment.

His submission to the inquiry, particularly around widening participation, generated discussion in the media and saw some commentators suggest the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge is discriminating against pupils from independent and grammar schools. This suggestion misrepresented the Vice-Chancellor’s comments. Professor Toope's response was published by the Telegraph:

“ ̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge does not and would not discriminate against pupils from any type of school and does not use any quotas when making admissions decisions.

“Universities like Cambridge have been challenged by successive governments to reflect wider society by drawing students from all backgrounds. Unlike our great independent and grammar schools, many comprehensives have no tradition of sending pupils to places like Cambridge with the result that many of their pupils never consider applying. It is those pupils that the country’s leading universities are now trying to reach.

“This does mean that a greater number of applicants from a wider range of backgrounds will be considered for broadly the same number of places. But the most high achieving pupils from independent and grammar schools will still find a welcome at Cambridge, along with those from the comprehensive sector.”

During his submission to the inquiry, the Vice-Chancellor focused on the work universities are doing to share best practice to raise attainment and aspirations in schools.

Professor Toope cited the ̽��ֱ��’s recently launched Cambridge Foundation Year and STEM SMART programmes as examples of how Cambridge is working to reach talented but educationally disadvantaged students who might not otherwise consider applying to Cambridge, or other top universities. He also highlighted the huge success of more established Cambridge outreach programmes like NRICH and Isaac Physics, as well as Cambridge’s pioneering efforts to widen participation in postgraduate education - including a collaboration with colleagues at Oxford, using a grant from the Office for Students, to develop new admissions practices and systems to help transform selection processes.

New approaches to assessment at Cambridge were also discussed by Professor Toope. ̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge has world-leading pedagogical expertise and all decisions are based on delivering the most effective examinations. Along with other universities, some of our examinations - where the primary aim is to assess a student’s analytical, critical and problem solving skills - are now 'open book' and completed online. When detailed knowledge retention or mathematical skills are being tested, we continue to use the traditional format of in-person exams. We are in the first year of a three-year trial and data from ongoing evaluation will ensure standards remain as high as they always have been.

̽��ֱ��Vice-Chancellor, Professor Stephen J Toope, this month gave evidence to ̽��ֱ��Times Education Commission, which was set up in May 2021 to examine the future of education following the COVID-19 crisis, declining social mobility, advances in technology, and the changing nature of work.

Universities like Cambridge have been challenged by successive governments to reflect wider society by drawing students from all backgrounds.

Professor Stephen J Toope, Vice-Chancellor

Yes

Professor Stephen J Toope to lead global research organisation

Anonymous — Thu, 05 May 2022 14:00:08 +0000

Based in Toronto, and working across national and disciplinary boundaries, CIFAR brings together some of the world’s best researchers to address the most pressing and complex issues facing individuals and societies.

Under Professor Toope’s leadership at Cambridge, sustainability and widening student access have been key areas of focus for the ̽��ֱ��, with several new and exciting research and teaching initiatives launched. These include the ambitious climate initiative Cambridge Zero, and the creation of the landmark Cambridge Foundation Year. Professor Toope has also led the university sector in pushing towards a carbon-neutral endowment fund, and has overseen remarkable progress on a £500 million Student Support Initiative. During his tenure, the "Dear World... Yours, Cambridge" fundraising campaign for the collegiate ̽��ֱ�� surpassed its £2 billion target. He has guided the ̽��ֱ�� through a global pandemic and into a programme of recovery that will help build the Cambridge of the future.

Professor Toope said: “CIFAR is an extraordinary organisation, and I am honoured to be offered this opportunity to lead it. While I look forward to this new challenge, I am immensely proud of what we as a university community have achieved in a remarkable five years. ̽��ֱ�� ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge is without question a force for good in the world. It has been a great privilege to work with so many gifted people carrying out such extraordinary work.”

Professor Toope will take on the new role from 1 November 2022. ̽��ֱ��process to recruit a new Vice-Chancellor is under way.

Professor Stephen J Toope will become the next President and CEO of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) after completing his five-year term of office as Vice-Chancellor at the ̽��ֱ�� of Cambridge.

While I look forward to this new challenge, I am immensely proud of what we as a university community have achieved in a remarkable five years.

Professor Stephen J Toope, Vice-Chancellor

Professor Stephen J Toope

Yes