Review of the year
25 Dec 09
As 2009 was another busy year for the University of Oxford, we’ve taken this opportunity once again to reflect on some of the highlights. With more news stories than ever this year, we haven’t tried to encapsulate the cutting-edge research that has taken place at the University and been reported on these pages, but here’s a roundup of a few of the stories we’ve covered on the news pages in the last 12 months.
To read other stories about the University of Oxford, including research findings, please browse our news archive.
In January Bug Quest returned bigger and better with more than 40 primary schools helping experts at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History find out which creepy crawlies share our habitats.
Science and Innovation Minister Lord Paul Drayson of Kensington visited the University to meet researchers and students, see the latest facilities and unveil the new NMR Spectrometer at the Department of Chemistry.
February saw radio and television presenter Paul Gambaccini giving his lectures as Oxford University’s News International Visiting Professor of Broadcast Media. Author Philip Pullman was among the leading figures announced as getting honorary degrees from the University of Oxford this year.
A new addition to the Oxford skyline was unveiled on the roof of Exeter College - a seven foot tall figure of a man cast in iron by artist Antony Gormley now looks out over Broad Street. And Prime Minister Gordon Brown visited the University to give the Romanes Lecture.
The University received the highest amount of quality research funding of any university from the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, it was announced in March. Oxford's top quality results were reflected in the distribution of funds by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), with Oxford receiving £118.9m for 2009-10, higher than any other university.
It was also announced that the redeveloped New Bodleian library building will be renamed the Weston Library in honour of the £25 million donation from the Garfield Weston Foundation. The University’s rowers won the Boat Race for the second year in a row, holding off a determined Cambridge to clinch the title by three and a half lengths.
In April HRH The Duke of Kent KG was shown some of the latest research on the impact of new technologies and drugs on the brain during a visit to the University’s Department of Pharmacology and Lincoln College.
The Complete University Guide put Oxford University top of its 2010 league table, which it has done for seven out of the last eight years. During the year, Oxford came top of every single national league table.
The Pitt Rivers Museum reopened to the public in May after a star-studded reception attended by guests such as Sir David Attenborough. The museum was closed for ten months to enable the £1.5 million redevelopment.
Four researchers, Professor Andrew Carr, Professor Keith Channon, Professor Kim Nasmyth and Professor Ian Tomlinson, were elected as Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences, recognising their excellence in medical science.
The Guardian’s 2010 University Guide placed Oxford at the top of its league table for the fifth year in a row while three researchers were elected as new Fellows of the Royal Society - Professor Nicholas Harberd, Professor Angela McLean and Professor Richard Passingham. Ruth Padel was elected Professor of Poetry but chose not to take up the position.
In June, five Oxford academics were recognised in the Queen's Birthday Honours list.The University joined Twitter as well as launching its ‘wall of 100 faces’ featuring 100 video ‘bricks’ of students talking about life at Oxford.
A rare painting by the great Venetian painter Titian, The Triumph of Love, was given to the Ashmolean Museum through the Acceptance in Lieu scheme.
Playwright Michael Frayn was announced as the next Cameron Mackintosh Visiting Professor of Contemporary Theatre in July, succeeding actor Kevin Spacey.
Three members of the Mathematical Institute were among the 2009 prizewinners announced by The London Mathematical Society – Professor Roger Heath-Brown, Professor Philip Maini and Dr Cornelia DruĊ£u. Meanwhile the British Academy, the national academy for the humanities and social sciences, elected seven Oxford academics as new Fellows: Professor William Beinart, Professor Robin Briggs, Dr Jean Dunbabin, Professor Malcom Godden, Professor Roger Pearson, Professor Christopher Pelling and Professor David Womersley. Professor Sir Adam Roberts took up the position of British Academy President.
In August the University celebrated one million downloads from its site on iTunes U – a free website featuring more than 500 audio and video podcasts about the University.
Oxford University museums were awarded more than a quarter of a million pounds in September, in the annual awards to UK museums by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)/Wolfson Foundation Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund.
Author Philip Pullman unveiled nine new grotesques, based on children’s designs, for the Bodleian Library. The new stone carvings are based on the drawings of nine children from Oxfordshire following a competition launched by the University.
Rare and unseen manuscript material from war poet Edmund Blunden were reassembled from worldwide collections and made freely accessible in the University’s First World War Poetry Digital Archive.
Professor Terence Cave, an Emeritus fellow at St John’s College, was awarded the Balzan Prize - a prestigious international award - for his research on 'literature since 1500'. And the University held another successful Alumni Weekend.
Professor Andrew Hamilton was formally installed as the 271st Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford in October, succeeding Dr John Hood. He joined the University from Yale, where he was Provost from 2004 until late 2008.
The Campaign for the University of Oxford reached a total of £770 million at that time. And planning permission was granted for the first stage of the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter (ROQ)as well as plans revealed for two of its most significant new buildings for Maths and Humanities.
And the producer of Spooks and Life on Mars, Stephen Garrett was named the new News International Visiting Professor of Broadcast Media.
November saw Ashmolean Museum reopen to great acclaim, with 100 per cent more display space. Designed by award-winning Rick Mather Architects, the Museum also includes Oxford’s first rooftop restaurant. The University received a record number of applications - over 17,000 for undergraduate courses, an increase of 12% on 2008. The vast majority of the increase in applications came from state school students.
And the University’s museums, libraries and archives were awarded the prestigious Queen's Anniversary Prize in recognition of their outstanding quality and their high public benefit.
Finally in December the University announced plans to search for a new Professor of Poetry using an online voting system. And the year ended on a high note when Her Majesty The Queen officially opened the new Ashmolean Museum, which has seen record numbers of visitors since its reopening.