Update
CMI opens for business
The Cambridge-MIT Institute (CMI) held its first Board Meeting at the Institute of Materials on 29 June. The Board met to ratify CMI's mission and establish its core objectives. These are to undertake joint educational and research initiatives in order to improve entrepreneurship, productivity and competitiveness in the UK economy.
This will be achieved through four programmes:
Integrated research - focusing on areas that will have a
major impact on the future evolution of technology;
Undergraduate exchange - bringing about
cultural change through student and staff exchanges;
Professional practice - adapting the MIT
model for partnership with industry and National
Competitiveness Network - linking industry
with the enterprise centres of UK universities.
Present at the Board meeting were: Lord Trotman of
Osmotherley, Independent Chairman; Dr David Livesey
(CU) and Professor John Vander Sande (MIT), Executive
Directors; Professor Sir Alec Broers (V-C, CU),
Professor David Newland (Engineering, CU), Professor
Charles Vest (President, MIT) and Professor Larry
Bacow (Chancellor, MIT), Non-executive Directors; and Dr John
Taylor (Director General of Research Councils, Department of Trade
& Industry), Government advisor to the Board.
Photograph: Nigel Luckhurst
Challenge Fund Investment
The University of Cambridge Challenge Fund has made its first investment towards turning "good science into good business". A team from the Department of Chemistry has received an initial investment of £78,000 to detect viruses and bacteria earlier than is possible at the moment, using innovative techniques. This could be widely used in hospitals, research, analytical laboratories and doctors' surgeries.
The research team is led by Dr David Klenerman and includes Dr Christopher Abell, Dr Matt Cooper, Victor Ostanin, Alexander Sleptsov and the Head of Virology, Professor Anthony Minson.
UCF was formed in November 1999, with £4 million to invest in the work of members of the University and the Babraham Institute. It is owned by the University, has already received over 25 proposals and is evaluating over £1.6 million of potential investments. The Fund offers academics applied research funding up to approximately £65,000 to prove a concept and up to a total of £250,000 in projects which could lead to licensing deals, the formation of spin-out businesses, joint ventures or partnerships.
To apply for funding, look at UCF's web site at www.challengefund.cam.ac.uk
Get on your bike!
You've heard of Park and Ride, but are you ready for Park and Cycle? This is the latest in "Green Commuting", being pioneered by the University of Cambridge.
The project is the first of its kind in the country and it will ultimately provide space for 300 cars and secure locker facilities for up to 450 cycles for University staff who want to cycle the last mile to work in the city. It is the latest development on the West Cambridge Site and is due to be completed before Christmas.
Andrew Gordon, West Cambridge Site Development Mangager, said: "Park and Cycle is likely to be particularly popular with employees living beyond reasonable cycling distance of Cambridge and in areas poorly served by public transport."
A website giving information about West Cambridge can be found at http://www.arct.cam.ac.uk/westc
Groundbreaking building
A ground-breaking ceremony was held to mark the start on site of West Cambridge's pioneering Microsoft Research Building. The building, designed by architects RMJM, is due to be completed in September 2001. It is designed to allow top researchers from Microsoft to work alongside computer experts from the University's Computer Laboratory.
Professor Roger Needham will head up the new Microsoft team and he was on hand along with Vice-Chancellor Professor Sir Alec Broers to welcome guests to the ground-breaking event. Plans for the building and a model were on display for guests to view and representatives from Shepherd Construction and RMJM were available to answer questions.
Memorial Lecture
A lecture series set up in memory of one of the Institute of Criminology's most well known probation practitioners and researchers has reached its third year. Bill McWilliams, who died in 1997, wrote a series of definitive articles on the Probation Service and was a staunch advocate of the need for rigorous evaluation of the service.
A group of his relatives, colleagues and friends, set up The Bill McWilliams Memorial Lecture to honour his contribution to the Probation Service and to keep his perspectives at the forefront of thinking in this area. Speakers to date have included Professor Ken Pease and Chief Probation Officer John Harding. This year's lecture was given by Professor Barbara Hudson, of the University of Lancashire. The title was Human Rights, Public Safety and the Probation Service: Defending Justice in the Risk Society.
Bridge Street roadworks
Bridge Street and Magdalene Street are going to be affected by major roadworks between July 2000 and September 2001. Sections of the roads will be closed at certain times during this period.
The first section to be closed will affect access to St John's Street, Trinity Street and the Market Square (and the Old Schools). Work in this section started on 3 July 2000. You can collect a leaflet detailing the work from the Old Schools Reception.
Photo Library update
As a result of a full review of our procedures, the Press & Publications Office aim to convert the Photo Library into a fully digital resource. To undertake this work the Library will, unfortunately, be closed until 2 April 2001.
Summer Schools
Over 230 teenagers from across the United Kingdom have been getting a taste of what it would be like to study at the University by being undergraduates for a week!
During July and August, the pupils have been living in colleges, attending lectures and workshops, talking to current students and enjoying a range of typical student social activities as part of the two Sutton Trust Summer Schools, the Group to Encourage Ethnic Minority Applications (GEEMA) Summer School and the Higher Education Summer School.