Review of the year 2005

January

DNA researcher becomes a Dame
A Cambridge academic whose groundbreaking research has led to a deeper understanding of DNA became a Dame in the New Year Honours list.

Masterplanning North West Cambridge
A public exhibition was held on Wednesday 12 January to mark the start of the masterplanning process for land to the north-west of Cambridge city centre which has been earmarked for future university-led development.

Macclesfield Psalter saved for the nation
Following the launch last September of a high-profile Art Fund campaign to save the export-stopped Macclesfield Psalter, this remarkable medieval manuscript has been secured for the University of Cambridge's Fitzwilliam Museum.

February

Professor Salje becomes a Chevalier
Professor Ekhard Salje, FRS, Head of the Department of Earth Sciences, was awarded the prestigious Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques at a ceremony.

Shackleton flag arrives in Cambridge
A historic union jack flag has been donated to the Scott Polar Research Institute’s (SPRI) extensive collection of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s artefacts and documents.

Smithsonian honour for Hawking
Stephen Hawking, Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge, received the James Smithson Bicentennial Medal at a ceremony in Washington, D.C.

Michael McCrum 1924 - 2005
Former University of Cambridge Vice-Chancellor Michael McCrum died at the age of 80.

Professor Sir Martin Rees wins Crafoord Prize
Professor Sir Martin Rees, Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics and Master of Trinity College, was awarded the Crafoord Prize 2005 for ‘contributions towards understanding the large-scale structure of the Universe’.

March

East of England Stem Cell Network
A new initiative, bringing together many of the leaders in the field of stem cell research in the Eastern Region was launched in Cambridge.

Launch of the Cambridge bursary scheme
UK undergraduates who study at the University of Cambridge after 2006 will be eligible for bursaries worth up to £9,000 over three years or £12,000 over four years.

New Hall marks its 50th
New Hall formally launched a major fundraising campaign to mark its 50th anniversary at London’s Science Museum.

Cambridge Science Festival 2005
Daleks, Darth Vader and Dr Who characters were roaming the streets of Cambridge on the final day of this year's Cambridge Science Festival, while young children were building hovercrafts and extracting DNA from kiwi!

Oxford win the Boat Race
Oxford put in a magnificent effort on Sunday 27 March, winning the 151st Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race by two lengths.

April

Professor Caroline Humphrey becomes a chevalier
Professor Caroline Humphrey, Head of Social Anthropology at the University of Cambridge, was awarded the prestigious Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques.

Mapping the brain
The Brain Mapping Unit of the University of Cambridge Department of Psychiatry opened a new research laboratory on the city’s Downing Site.

A home for the Girton Collections
Professor Alison Richard, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, opened The Duke Building at Girton College.

Cambridge cricket transformed
Fenner’s, the historic home of Cambridge cricket, has been transformed by a striking new residential building for Hughes Hall, the University’s oldest graduate college.

May

Building opening for Criminology
Britain’s most senior Judge opened a £13.2 million University of Cambridge building ahead of an important public lecture.

Adults’ chance to sample Cambridge
The University of Cambridge offered adults considering returning to education the chance to attend an arts and social sciences summer school giving them a taste of university life.

Three Cambridge colleges celebrate 40 years
Three colleges at the University of Cambridge are celebrating their 40th anniversaries this year.

June

Jane Fonda in conversation
Oscar winner, political activist and fitness guru, there is not much that Jane Fonda has not tackled in her life so far. She shared some of these experiences in a unique ‘conversation’ in Cambridge next week.

Royal visit
Glorious weather accompanied the first visit by Her Majesty The Queen to the University of Cambridge in five years.

Knighthood for Cambridge anthropologist
Anthropologist and historian Professor Jack Goody, a fellow of St John’s College, Cambridge since 1961, received a knighthood in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.

Eight new Fellows of the Royal Society from Cambridge
Five University staff, two members of Microsoft Research Cambridge and a member of the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge are among the 44 new Fellows named by the Royal Society.

Mapping human history
Work to create one of the UK’s finest centres for human evolutionary research reached a critical stage with the ‘topping out’ of a major new facility for the University of Cambridge.

Chancellor’s visit
HRH the Duke of Edinburgh, Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, was at the University to open a new building and confer Honorary Degrees.

Leading the way in electrical engineering
The topping out of a world-class research building at West Cambridge marked a major step for the University.

Sultan of Oman’s gifts
His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, the Sultan of Oman, has bestowed a £2.8 million gift on the University of Cambridge for the permanent establishment of a Professorship of Modern Arabic.

July

Cambridge win in cross-Channel rowing challenge
The excitement of the Boat Race was recaptured in a new challenge to row across the English Channel.

Comparative Genomics
The University of Cambridge Veterinary School has received a £952,000 award from the Wellcome Trust to continue support for the Cambridge Resource Centre for Comparative Genomics.

Cambridge academics elected to British Academy
Three University of Cambridge academics - a lawyer, a geographer and a historian - have been elected fellows of the British Academy at its delayed 103rd Annual General Meeting .

Royal Academy of Engineering elects four Cambridge academics
Four Cambridge academics have been elected to The Royal Academy of Engineering, joining the very highest achievers in UK engineering and technology.

Cambridge Illuminations
A spectacular exhibition of medieval illuminated manuscripts opens at the Fitzwilliam Museum and the Cambridge University Library.

August

Professor appointed to Lords
Professor Sir Martin Rees, Professor of Cosmology and Astrophysics and Master of Trinity College, has been appointed to the House of Lords as one of five new non-party-political peers. The title he will take has yet to be decided.

Churchill Master appointed
The Queen has approved that Sir David Wallace Kt DL PhD FRS FREng be appointed to the Mastership of Churchill College, Cambridge, in succession to Sir John Boyd KCMG.

VC honoured in Madagascar
Professor Alison Richard, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Antananarivo, Madagascar, and appointed an Officier de l'Ordre National by the President of the Republic of Madagascar.

Major grant from the US
Charles ffrench-Constant, Professor of Neurological Genetics and Robin Franklin, Professor of Neuroscience have recently received a $3.8 million grant from the United States National Multiple Sclerosis (MS) society and will be leading an international team in an exploration on how to enhance the body’s myelin repair abilities by focusing on the development and regeneration of the oligodendrocyte.

September

More room at the UL
A six million pound extension to the University Library’s storage facilities came on line this Autumn.

Bridge The Gap
A record 2,400 walkers turned out for this year’s Bridge the Gap walk yesterday, raising at least £40,000 whilst enjoying a leisurely stroll through eight Cambridge Colleges.

Stem cell research powerhouse
The University of Cambridge has recruited Professor Austin Smith to head a new Institute for Stem Cell Biology. The Institute is being created to bring together outstanding researchers with the aim of harnessing stem cell biology for future medical applications.

A new court for Selwyn
A Cambridge college celebrated completion of the first phase of a major expansion with the opening of a building.

Launch of £1 billion fundraising campaign
The University of Cambridge has launched a major global fundraising campaign, aiming to raise £1 billion by 2012. The Cambridge 800th Anniversary Campaign will seek to secure the excellence of Cambridge in the 21st century.

Chinese relations
Two major initiatives to support Chinese students and academics at the University of Cambridge and in China were announced today as the Minister of Education from the People’s Republic of China, Minister Zhou Ji, visited Cambridge on his first official visit to the UK.

October

Public and Private
Professor Alison Richard, Vice-Chancellor, delivered her annual address to the Regent House at the Senate-House on Saturday (1 October).

Partnering Tower Hamlets
A partnership between Clare College, Cambridge and the London Borough of Tower Hamlets to raise the aspirations of students in the area reached the finals of the Lord Mayor of London’s 2005 Dragon Awards.

Finalist in construction industry awards
The University of Cambridge was the only higher education finalist for the Client of the Year category at the Contract Journal Construction Industry Awards at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel.

Celebrating black history
The Centre of African Studies at the University of Cambridge celebrated Black History Month 2005 by facilitating a range of lectures, exhibitions and events across the city.

Two Wolfson celebrations
A lunch marked a double celebration: 50 years ago the Wolfson Foundation was founded; 40 years ago Wolfson College was founded.

Apple Day
The ninth annual Apple Day at the Cambridge University Botanic Garden celebrated local-grown apples with over 30 varieties to taste and buy.

November

Birdlife International
The new offices of Cambridge-based conservation charity Birdlife International was opened by Her Imperial Highness Princess Hisako Takamado of Japan and the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, Professor Alison Richard.

Clinical and research centre reaches m
ilestone
The Elective Care, Genetics and Diabetes Centre, an £85 million development on the Cambridge Bio-Medical Campus at Addenbrooke's which will provide facilities for elective (planned) surgery, and for genetics and diabetes, reached another milestone when a topping out ceremony was held.

Sculpting the origins of life
A sculpture of the double helix structure of DNA was unveiled at Clare College by Professor James Watson, one of the two scientists who first revealed it to the world

Prince of Wales launches CPI programme in USA
The University of Cambridge Programme for Industry (CPI) organised a major Business & the Environment Programme event in San Francisco to coincide with the official visit of TRH The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall to the United States.

New Director at CRASSH
Professor Mary Jacobus, Professor of English at the University of Cambridge, is to take up the post of Director of the Centre of Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH) in January 2006.

Mobile phone-like device to detect cancer and avian flu
Cambridge scientists have received funding to create a cheap, portable device that could detect avian flu and even prevent bioterrorism, using sensors a tenth the size of a grain of salt.

Maths project wins Queen’s Anniversary Prize
The University of Cambridge has been awarded its third Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education. The Millennium Mathematics Project, based at the University of Cambridge, has been awarded the 2005 Prize for Higher and Further Education.

Tampering with the past
£1m grant goes to four university departments working in unprecedented collaboration to uncover how the Victorians tampered with the past and changed history

Ideas to Reality
Celebrating the achievements of University of Cambridge innovators and their commercial partners, Cambridge Enterprise held its third annual Ideas to Reality Celebration on 16 November.

December

Twickenham triumph

Cambridge won their first Varsity Match since 2002 after coming from behind to beat Oxford at Twickenham by 31 points to 16.

New Principal for Westcott House
The Revd Martin Seeley has been appointed the next Principal of Westcott House, Cambridge, one of the Church of England’s leading theological colleges and part of the Cambridge Theological Federation.

Cambridge adopts new IPR policy
The Regent House passed the Council's proposal for a new policy on Intellectual Property Rights.