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Report of the General Board on the establishment of Professorships of Linguistics, Psychology in the Social Sciences, and Plant Ecology

The GENERAL BOARD beg leave to report to the University as follows:

1. The Report of the Council on the financial position of the Chest, recommending allocations for 1999-2000 (Reporter, p. 638) made provision to set aside the sum of £1.3m to fund proleptic appointments in advance of the next Research Assessment Exercise in 2001. This non-recurrent allocation enables a limited number of offices to be established with effect from 1 October 2000, in anticipation of vacancies which will occur through normal retirement not later than 30 September 2002. Following their consideration of detailed cases submitted by the Councils of the Schools, the General Board have agreed to recommend the establishment of three Professorships, as proposed in this Report; the Board have also agreed to establish sixteen other offices, to be advertised at the alternative levels of University Lecturer or University Assistant Lecturer.

2. Professorship of Linguistics

In 1980 a single-tenure Professorship of Linguistics was established in the University, and by Grace 1 of 27 February 1980 Professor P. H. Matthews was appointed to the Professorship. In 1993, in connection with their consideration of long-term strategic issues, the General Board's Review Committee for the Department of Linguistics recommended that the Professorship of Linguistics should be permanently established in the Department with effect from the date of Professor Matthews's retirement. The introduction of a Linguistics Tripos, in accordance with the recommendations of the Review Committee's Report, has reinforced the need for continuity of strong intellectual leadership in the Department, both to encourage further development of the subject and to support its general research culture. Furthermore, the Department of Linguistics is the only major Department within the Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages (except for the Department of Other Languages) without a permanently established Professorship. Professor Matthews is due to retire on 30 September 2001, and the Faculty Board of Modern and Medieval Languages have recommended to the General Board that a Professorship of Linguistics should be established in the Department, with effect from 1 October 2000, permanently replacing the University Lectureship which will be released from abeyance on his retirement.

3. Professorship of Psychology in the Social Sciences

At present there is only one permanently established Professorship, in the field of sociology, in the Department of Social and Political Sciences. In their 1998 Report, the General Board's Review Committee for the Faculty recommended, as part of their consideration of the Faculty's medium-term strategic plan, that two further Professorships should be established, one in each of the remaining constituent disciplines of the Faculty, namely psychology and politics. The Faculty Board of Social and Political Sciences accepted this recommendation; they have advised the General Board that an appointment at this level in the field of psychology would not only provide the requisite leadership in research but would also give added strength and coherence to the Faculty's submission for the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise. In addition to building up a substantial research programme in either social or developmental psychology, the person appointed would be expected to contribute to the teaching in psychology, both at undergraduate level and for the M.Phil. course in Social and Developmental Psychology. The Faculty Board of Social and Political Sciences have now proposed that a Professorship of Psychology in the Social Sciences should be established from 1 October 2000, permanently replacing an Assistant Directorship of Research that will be released from abeyance on 1 October 2001 on the retirement of Dr R. M. Blackburn from his Readership.

4. Professorship of Plant Ecology

The Department of Plant Sciences has a strong tradition of research and teaching in plant ecology, which is a major area of plant sciences. Although the Department has been responsible for a number of major advances in the subject, its strength in this area has been weakened in recent years. This position will be exacerbated by the retirement on 30 September 2002 of Dr P. J. Grubb from his Readership in Ecology. Given the comparatively small size of the Department, the increasing demand for well-trained plant ecologists to tackle serious and emerging problems such as deforestation, species and habitat loss, climate change, and the environmental impact of genetically modified crops, and the significant undergraduate demand for ecological courses in all three years of the Natural Sciences Tripos, the Head of the Department has proposed that the University Lectureship that will be released from abeyance on Dr Grubb's retirement should be permanently replaced by a Professorship of Plant Ecology. The holder of the Professorship would provide long-term leadership in plant ecology, and would strengthen the Department's position in leading new developments in molecular biology and functional genomics, both of which will enhance the Department's prospects of a higher rating in the Research Assessment Exercise. The Department have advised the General Board that a senior appointment to investigate key issues in plant ecology would strengthen the quality and the critical mass of ecological research. The person appointed would also be expected to enhance cohesiveness in the Department by strengthening links between various research areas, and also to build contacts with other groups within the University, such as those in functional genomics and biological conservation.

5. These proposals have the support of the Councils of the relevant Schools, and funding has been identified in each case to meet the additional recurrent cost of the Professorship. The General Board have accordingly agreed to support the proposals for the establishment of these Professorships; if the recommendations of this Report are approved, they will suppress the offices identified above when they become vacant on the retirement of Professor Matthews, Dr Blackburn, and Dr Grubb. The Board are assured that these appointments at the professorial level will be likely to attract strong fields of well-qualified candidates.

6. The General Board accordingly propose that a Professorship of Linguistics, a Professorship of Psychology in the Social Sciences, and a Professor- ship of Plant Ecology should be established in the University from 1 October 2000 and assigned to the Departments of Linguistics, Social and Political Sciences, and Plant Sciences respectively. They have agreed in each case to concur in the view of the Faculty Board concerned that elections to the Professorship should be made by an ad hoc Board of Electors and that candidature for each Professorship should be open without limitation or preference to all candidates whose work falls within the general title of the particular office.

7. The General Board recommend:

I. That a Professorship of Linguistics be established from 1 October 2000, placed in Schedule B of the Statutes, and assigned to the Department of Linguistics.

II. That a Professorship of Psychology in the Social Sciences be established from 1 October 2000, placed in Schedule B of the Statutes, and assigned to the Department of Social and Political Sciences.

III. That a Professorship of Plant Ecology be established in the University from 1 October 2000, placed in Schedule B of the Statutes, and assigned to the Department of Plant Sciences.

21 July 1999

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Cambridge University Reporter, 28 July 1999
Copyright © 1999 The Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Cambridge.