University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge is the second-oldest in the English-speaking world, after Oxford University. It is situated in the city of Cambridge, England. According to legend, the university was founded in 1209 by scholars escaping from Oxford after a fight with locals there.

Cambridge has produced more Nobel prize laureates than any other university in the world, having 80 associated with it, about 70 of whom were students there. [1] It regularly leads league tables ranking British universities, and a recent, although disputed, league table by the Times Higher Education Supplement rated Cambridge sixth in the world overall and first in the world for science.

The universities of Oxford and Cambridge, often referred to together as Oxbridge, vie to be seen as the strongest overall university in the UK (see Oxbridge rivalry). Historically, they have produced a significant proportion of Britain's prominent scientists, writers and politicians.

General information

, Gonville & Caius College and the University Church (Great St. Mary's) from King's Parade
The thirty-one colleges of the university are technically institutions independent of the university itself and enjoy considerable autonomy. For example, colleges decide which students they are to admit, and appoint their own fellows (senior members). They are responsible for the domestic arrangements and welfare of students and for small group teaching, referred to at the university as supervisionss.

Cambridge is a member of the Russell Group of Universities, a network of large, research-led British universities; the Coimbra Group, an association of leading European universities; and the LERU, League of European Research Universities.

The current Chancellor of the university is HRH The Duke of Edinburgh. The current Vice-Chancellor is Professor Alison Richard.

History

The first college to be founded was Peterhouse, established in 1284 by Hugh Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Many of the colleges were founded during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, but colleges continued to be established throughout the centuries that followed, right up to modern times. The most recent college to be established is Robinson, which was built in the late 1970s. In 2004, there were newspaper reports that Cambridge was planning on expanding its student numbers by adding three new colleges, but this has been denied by the university. A full list of colleges is given below.

In medieval times, colleges were founded so that their students would pray for the souls of the founders. For that reason, they were often associated with chapels or abbeys. However, in 1536, in conjunction with the dissolution of the monasteries, King Henry VIII ordered the university to disband its Faculty of Canon Law and to stop teaching "scholastic philosophy." This led to a change in the focus of the colleges' curricula — away from canon law and towards the classics, the Bible, and mathematics.
(left) and King's College Chapel (centre), seen from The Backs
A Cambridge exam for the Bachelor of Arts degree, the main first degree at Cambridge in both arts and science subjects, is known as a Tripos. Although the university now offers courses in a large number of subjects, it had a particularly strong emphasis on mathematics until the early 19th century, and study of this subject was compulsory for graduation. Students awarded first-class honours after completing the maths course were named wranglers. The mathematics Tripos was extremely competitive and helped produce some of the most famous names in British science, including Lord Kelvin, George Gabriel Stokes, and James Clerk Maxwell. However, some famous students, such as G. H. Hardy disliked the system, feeling that people were too interested in accumulating marks in exams and not interested in the subject itself. Despite diversifying its research and teaching interests, Cambridge today maintains its strength in mathematics. The Isaac Newton Institute, part of the university, is widely regarded as the UK's national research institute for maths and theoretical physics.

The first colleges for women were Girton College in 1869 and Newnham College in 1872. The first women students were examined in 1882 but attempts to make women full members of the university did not succeed until 1947, 20 years later than at Oxford.

Of the current 31 colleges, 28 are mixed, while three admit women only (Lucy Cavendish, New Hall and Newnham). Three colleges admit graduate students only (Clare Hall, Darwin and Wolfson).

Admission

Undergraduate admission to Cambridge colleges used to depend on knowledge of Latin and Ancient Greek, subjects taught principally in Britain at fee-paying schools, called public schools. This tended to mean that students came predominantly from members of the British social elite. Since the 1960s, the admission process has changed, and aspiring students are now expected to have the best, or nearly the best, possible qualifications at A-level relevant to the undergraduate course and to impress college fellows at interview. In addition, in recent years admissions tutors in certain technical subjects, for example mathematics, have required applicants to sit the more difficult STEP papers in addition to achieving top grades in their A-levels. However, there is still considerable public debate in Britain over whether admissions processes at Oxford and Cambridge are entirely meritocratic and fair, and whether enough students from state schools succeed in gaining entry. Almost 50% of the successful applicants come from public schools, but the average qualifications for these successful applicants are higher than for successful applicants from state schools.

Graduate admission is by the faculty or department in the first instance — following this, admission to a college (not necessarily the applicant's top choice) is guaranteed. The availability of good-value graduate accommodation varies between the colleges, so applicants are advised to choose their college carefully.

Sports and recreation

There is a long tradition at Cambridge of student participation in sports and recreational pursuits. Rowing is a particularly popular sport and there are competitions between colleges (notably the bumps races) and against Oxford (the Boat Race). There are also Varsity Matches against Oxford in many other sports, including rugby, cricket, chess and tiddlywinks. Representing the university in certain sports entitles the athlete to apply for a blue at the discretion of a Blues Committee consisting of the captains of the thirteen most prestigious sports. [1] The Cambridge Union is a focus for politics and debating. There are many drama societies, notably including the Amateur Dramatic Club (ADC) and the comedy club Footlights. Student newspapers include the long-established Varsity and its younger rival The Cambridge Student.

Legends and myths

over the river Cam (at Queens' College)
There are also a number of myths associated with Cambridge University and its history, some of which should be taken less seriously than others.

One famous myth relates to Queens' College Mathematical Bridge (pictured at right), which was supposedly designed by Sir Isaac Newton to hold itself together without any bolts or screws. It was also supposedly taken apart by inquisitive students who were then unable to reassemble it. The story is false, as the bridge was actually erected 22 years after Newton's death. It is thought that this myth arises from the fact that earlier versions of the bridge used iron pins and screws at the joints, whereas the current bridge uses nuts and bolts, which are more visible.

A true legend is that of the wooden spoon, which was the 'prize' awarded to the student with the lowest passing grade in the final examinations of the Mathematical Tripos. The last of many spoons was awarded in 1909 to Cuthbert Lempriere Holthouse, an oarsman of the Lady Margaret Boat Club of St John's College. It was over one metre in length, with a blade for a handle. From 1910 results were published alphabetically within class as opposed to score order, which made it harder to ascertain who the winner of the spoon was (unless there was only one person in the third class), and so reluctantly the practice was abandoned.

More recently, the legend of the Austin Seven delivery van which "went up in the world" is recounted in detail on the Caius College website. [1]

Miscellaneous

New Court and Chapel seen from The Backs

Cambridge has a partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (see the Cambridge-MIT Institute). The university is closely linked with the high-technology businesses in the Cambridge area (see Silicon Fen). The university and the Cambridge area have also been financially supported by several prominent figures in the technology world, including Gordon Moore of Intel Corporation and Bill Gates of Microsoft. In 2000, Gates set up the Gates Scholarships to help students from outside the UK study at Cambridge.

After Cambridge was recognised as a Studium Generale in the 13th century it became common for researchers from other European medieval universities to come and visit Cambridge to study or to give lecture courses.

In the Meiji Era (1868-1912) several Japanese students studied at the University. See here for details. In Japan, there is a Cambridge and Oxford Society[1], a rare example of the name Cambridge coming before Oxford — traditionally, the order used when referring to both universities is "Oxford and Cambridge", even though "C" precedes "O" in the Latin alphabet. The probable reason for the inversion is that the Cambridge Club was founded first in Japan, and also it had more members than its Oxford counterpart when they amalgamated in 1905.

Colleges

, Gonville and Caius and Clare College towards King's College Chapel, seen from St Johns College chapel. On the left, just in front of Kings College chapel, is the University Senate House

This list does not include several historical colleges which no longer exist. Some examples of these are:

King's Hall (which was founded in 1317)

Gonville Hall (founded in 1348 and re-founded in 1557 as Gonville & Caius)

Michaelhouse (which King Henry VIII combined with King's Hall to make Trinity in 1546).

Cambridge University in literature

Fiction

Porterhouse Blue and its sequel Grantchester Grind, features the fictional Porterhouse College.

The Glittering Prizes by Frederic Raphael.

Chariots of Fire, 1981 film

Doctor Who episode Shada written by Douglas Adams

Douglas Adams' Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency

Darkness at Pemberley by T. H. White

The Masters, C.P. Snow (unnamed fictional college but very similar to his alma mater, Christ's)

All Sorts and Conditions of Men by Sir Walter Besant

For the sake of Elena by Elizabeth George.

See also the list of Fictional Cambridge Colleges

Non-fiction

A concise history of the University of Cambridge, by Elisabeth Leedham-Green, Cambridge University Press, 1996, ISBN 0521439787, ISBN 9780521439787

A history of the University of Cambridge, by Christopher N.L. Brooke, Cambridge University Press (4 volumes) ISBN 0521328829, ISBN 052135059X, ISBN 0521350603, ISBN 052134350X

Bedders, bulldogs and bedells: a Cambridge glossary, by Frank Stubbings, Cambridge 1995 ISBN 0521479789

Japanese Students at Cambridge University in the Meiji Era, 1868-1912: Pioneers for the Modernization of Japan [1], by Noboru Koyama, translated by Ian Ruxton [1], Lulu Press, September 2004, ISBN 1411612566). This book includes information about the wooden spoon and the university in the 19th century as well as the Japanese students.

Teaching and Learning in 19th century Cambridge, by J. Smith and C. Stray (ed.), Boydell Press, 2001 ISBN 0851157831

The Architectural History of the University of Cambridge and of the Colleges of Cambridge and Eton, Robert Willis, Edited by John Willis Clark, 1988. Three volume set, Cambridge University Press ISBN 0521358515

The Cambridge Apostles: A History of Cambridge University's Elite Intellectual Secret Society, by Richard Deacon, Cassell, 1985, ISBN 0947728139