Reports

Report of the General Board on the establishment of a Professorship of Experimental Psychology

The General Board beg leave to report to the University as follows:

1. The Department of Psychology has a long-established history of auditory research, from A. F. Rawdon-Smith and Mark Haggard (the Founding Director of the MRC Institute of Hearing Research), to Brian C. J. Moore, FMedSci, FRS, who currently leads the Department’s Auditory Perception Group.

2. The Auditory Perception Group is at the international forefront in hearing research, and has made fundamental contributions towards understanding basic mechanisms of hearing and applications to ameliorate hearing loss. Under Professor Moore’s leadership, facilities for hearing research in the Department of Psychology have expanded considerably. The Group also interacts with the Department of Physiology, Development, and Neuroscience, the MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, and the Audiology Department at Addenbrooke’s Hospital.

3. Professor Moore will retire from his personal Professorship of Auditory Perception on 30 September 2013, and, in light of the Department’s wish to both maintain its strength and reputation in this field, and make full use of the extensive facilities already established, the Faculty Board of Biology and the Council of the School of the Biological Sciences have proposed the establishment of a single tenure Professorship of Experimental Psychology with a view to attracting a new scientific leader in Hearing Science or a related field.

4. The Council of the School of Biological Sciences has endorsed the Department’s proposal to hold two University Lectureships vacant in order to meet the costs of the Professorship. The General Board have accepted the proposal for the establishment of the Professorship on this basis.

5. The Board are satisfied that an appointment at this level will be likely to attract a strong field of applicants. They are assured that suitable accommodation is available in the Department of Psychology for the Professor, and the Department and the School have undertaken to provide the necessary support and facilities. The Board have agreed that election to the Professorship should be made by an ad hoc Board of Electors and that candidature should be open to all persons whose work falls within the title of the Professorship, with preference being given to the fields of auditory perception and psychophysics.

6. The General Board recommend:

I. That a Professorship of Experimental Psychology be established in the University for one tenure from 1 January 2013, placed in Schedule B of the Statutes, and assigned to the Department of Psychology.

31 October 2012	Philip Allmendinger	Simon Franklin	Rachael Padman
	N. Bampos	C. A. Gilligan	John Rallison
	H. A. Chase	David Good	Amanda Talhat
	Sarah Coakley	Robert Kennicutt
	Martin Daunton	Sadie Jarrett

Report of the General Board on the establishment of a Readership in Comparative Oncology and Genetics

The General Board beg leave to report to the University as follows:

1. Cancer research has recently been granted Strategic Initiative status within the University. The Department of Veterinary Medicine has, for its part, a long-standing international reputation in veterinary oncology, one of the three main areas in which its research is focused. It also supports high quality research in veterinary genetics, with considerable cross-over between the two fields. Major technological advances that continue to lead to massive increases in genome sequence information in many domestic species, coupled with detailed pedigrees in many cases, provide a significant background resource with which to address questions concerning the nature of many diseases. Cancers occur with very different frequencies in different domestic species, and indeed in different breeds among domestic species, and are obvious targets for study via genome-scale approaches. The Department now proposes establishing a Readership to take forward work in this area.

2. The person appointed will be expected to provide leadership in promoting the Department as a centre of excellence that takes a comparative approach to oncology embedded in the genomics resources that are becoming increasingly available. He/she will also be expected to establish strong collaborative links with clinical veterinary oncologists in the Department, making full use of clinical case material. More broadly, excellent opportunities exist within Cambridge for the new Reader to become strongly linked to the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Research Institute and the Sanger Institute, as well as to a range of University institutions in the Schools of Biological Sciences and of Clinical Medicine. High level international links and collaborations are also anticipated.

3. The Council of the School of the Biological Sciences has approved the case made by the Department and recommends the establishment of a single tenure Readership in Comparative Oncology and Genetics in the Department of Veterinary Medicine. The costs of the Readership will be met from funds available to the Department.

4. The General Board have accepted the Council of the School’s proposal for the establishment of this Readership. The criteria for appointment to a Readership through open competition will be identical to those for appointment through the senior academic promotions procedure. The Appointments Committee will be constituted as specified in the Regulations for Readers and Readerships (Statutes and Ordinances, p. 743).

5. The General Board recommend:

I. That a Readership in Comparative Oncology and Genetics be established in the Department of Veterinary Medicine for one tenure with immediate effect.

5 November 2012	L. K. Borysiewicz, Vice-Chancellor	Martin Daunton	Patrick Maxwell
	Philip Allmendinger	Simon Franklin	Sadie Jarrett
	N. Bampos	C. A. Gilligan	Rachael Padman
	H. A. Chase	David Good	John Rallison
	Sarah Coakley	Robert Kennicutt	Amanda Talhat