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£3m donation funds new research centre at Magdalen College, Oxford

3 November 2010

 The largest single donation in Magdalen College’s 552-year history will fund a new centre to study evolution and human science.

The Calleva Research Centre for Evolution and Human Science has been made possible by a donation of £3m from a Magdalen alumnus and his wife.

The Calleva centre will bridge the humanities and the social, cognitive, and evolutionary sciences to study profound questions about human nature and how it has evolved.

The first Director is Dr Jennifer Lau, Tutorial Fellow in Psychology at Magdalen. The centre will work with academics from across Oxford, especially those departments involved in the human and evolutionary sciences. Its first project will bring together psychologists, anthropologists, zoologists and economists from across the collegiate University to study key questions on how social behaviour develops and changes.

The college system is one of Oxford’s distinctive features: academics and students belong both to a department and to a college. While the departments are subject-specific, the colleges bring together people from all subjects, making them ideal places for interdisciplinary research.

Professor David Clary, President of Magdalen, said: “Since our foundation in 1458, Magdalen has been at the forefront of new research and scholarship. The magnificent donation to set up the Calleva Research Centre on Evolution and Human Science will allow this proud tradition to continue and will drive forward interdisciplinary ideas linking the humanities, social sciences and sciences.”

The Calleva Research Centre was launched at an event last week with a keynote speech by acclaimed author, scientist and Magdalen alumnus Dr Matt Ridley.

Magdalen College is raising funds within the overarching Oxford fundraising campaign, Oxford Thinking, which recently passed the £1bn mark.

  • Dr Jennifer Lau is a Tutorial Fellow at Magdalen College and a University Lecturer in Pscyhology. Dr Lau's research focuses broadly on understanding risk mechanisms contributing to the development of anxiety and depression in childhood and adolescence.
  • Magdalen College is one of the 38 colleges that form a fundamental part of Oxford University and has around 560 students. The College was founded in 1458. Famous alumni include CS Lewis, Ian Hislop, Lawrence of Arabia, Joseph Addison, Lord Florey and Erwin Schrödinger (of Schrödinger’s Cat fame).
  • Oxford Thinking, the Campaign for the University of Oxford, is the largest fundraising campaign in European university history and one of the largest in the world. It has a minimum goal of £1.25bn and has three key aims: supporting students, supporting academic posts and programmes, and supporting buildings and infrastructure. It includes all the colleges, departments, and museums of Oxford University. The Campaign began its ‘quiet phase’ in summer 2004 and £575 million had been raised by its official launch on 28 May 2008. www.campaign.ox.ac.uk

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