The GENERAL BOARD beg leave to report to the University as follows:
1. The General Board have previously reported to the University recommending the establishment of four of the five Herchel Smith Professorships for each of which Dr Smith had bequeathed a sum of £2.863m. Two of these Professorships have been established in fields within the scope of the School of the Physical Sciences, namely Physics and Pure Mathematics, and two within the scope of the School of the Biological Sciences, namely Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry. In this Report the Board propose the establishment of the fifth Professorship, in Molecular Biology, as specified in Dr Smith's Will.
2. The Council of the School of the Biological Sciences have proposed that the new Professorship should be assigned to the new Department that will be formed by the merger of the Departments of Anatomy and Physiology, with effect from 1 January 2006, (see the General Board's Report, Reporter, p. 64). The proposed new Department will present outstanding opportunities for the development of new research in fields building on existing strengths. The proposed establishment of this Professorship, by allowing a new appointment at the forefront of new and innovative fields in biology, will provide senior leadership for these developments. It will not only strengthen the position of the School of Biological Sciences internationally, it will also foster closer collaborative links with medical research being undertaken within the School of Clinical Medicine particularly in the areas of endocrinology, renal physiology, and cardiovascular physiology. Such an appointment will guide teaching at the molecular edge of physiology, which is of particular value for tomorrow's doctors and researchers.
3. For the first election to the Professorship it is proposed that preference should be given to candidates working in the area of integrative biology, which is the study of how gene products integrate into the function of whole tissues and intact organisms. At the pre-clinical level, integrative biology improves our knowledge of the basis of health and disease at molecular and genetic level. The field embraces a combination of approaches from the biological and physical sciences and requires the use of models to both build on, and understand, the complexity of the relevant components. This work will be of great importance to future research in molecular biology involving the coupling of the internal structure of cells with the functions of whole animals, and will thus lead to a deeper understanding of physiological processes in health and disease.
4. Funds have been allocated to enable the creation of a new biomedical research unit in refurbished accommodation in the Physiological Laboratories; the unit will utilize a combination of molecular genetic and physiological techniques to investigate the physiological basis of health and disease. Suitable accommodation for the Professor will therefore be available in the new Department, and the Herchel Smith endowment makes generous provision for support for the work of the Professor. Further support will be available through the provision in Dr Herchel Smith's Will for a programme of three-year postdoctoral Fellowships to be held at Cambridge. The General Board are assured that the Professorship can be expected to attract an excellent field of candidates. The Board have agreed that election to the Professorship should be made by an ad hoc Board of Electors and that, on this first occasion, candidature should be limited to persons whose work falls within the field of integrative biology.
5. The General Board recommend:
I. That a Herchel Smith Professorship of Molecular Biology be established in the University from 1 October 2006, placed in Schedule B of the Statutes, and assigned to the Department of Physiology, Development, and Neuroscience.
II. That regulations for the Herchel Smith Professorship of Molecular Biology, as set out in the Schedule to this Report, be approved.
| 12 October 2005 | ALISON RICHARD, Vice-Chancellor | M. J. DAUNTON | ROGER PARKER |
| JOHN BELL | R. H. FRIEND | JOHN SISSONS | |
| TOM BLUNDELL | RICHARD HUNTER | LAURA WALSH | |
| WILLIAM BROWN | D. W. B. MACDONALD | I. H. WHITE | |
| H. A. CHASE | MELVEENA MCKENDRICK |
Herchel Smith Professor of Molecular Biology. 2006. Physiology, Development, and Neuroscience
1. The sum received from the Trustees of the late Dr Herchel Smith for the establishment of a Professorship in some field or fields in Molecular Biology shall form a fund called the Herchel Smith Molecular Biology Fund.
2. The Fund shall be administered by three Managers appointed by the Council of the School of the Biological Sciences, who shall include the Head of the Department of Physiology, Development, and Neuroscience, who shall be the Chairman, the Herchel Smith Professor of Molecular Biology, and the Chairman of the Council of the School of the Biological Sciences.
3. The first charge on the income of the Fund shall be the stipend, national insurance, pension contributions, and associated indirect costs of the Professor payable by the University.
4. After provision has been made in accordance with Regulation 3, the Fund shall be applied for the support of teaching or research in Molecular Biology in such manner as shall be approved by the General Board on the recommendation of the Managers.
5. Any unexpended income in a financial year may in any subsequent year be expended in accordance with Regulation 4.