Trinity is delighted to be among the Cambridge Colleges hosting A Level students taking part in a new scheme launching today – STEM SMART (STEM Subject Mastery and Attainment Raising Tuition). This exciting widening participation initiative will provide enhanced learning, encouragement and mentoring through a 17 month programme, beginning in January 2022. Read.

Students and alumni have spent recent weeks taking on the challenge of appearing on prime time television quiz shows including University Challenge, Brain of Britain and Mastermind. Former TCSU President Ludvig Brekke (2018) led Trinity’s latest University Challenge team in a fantastic first round match against Durham University on 23 August, with a very impressive final score of 190. Ludvig was joined by Hatty Innes (2020), Navonil Neogi (2019), and alumnus Luke Kim (2017), and if you missed the show you can watch it on catch up.

Former University Challenge contestant Lillian Crawford (2016) recently appeared on Brain of Britain, the BBC Radio 4 general knowledge contest, and is due to appear on Mastermind in the autumn, and Jonathan Cairns (2005) was one of the three ‘Data Wizards’ appearing on the BBC2 quiz show Only Connect on 30 August – if you missed the episode you can catch up here. Read.

Trinity’s female Computer Science students are reaching out to encourage more women to study the subject. You can watch Ana Dolinar (2019) and Mina Šekularac (2018) discuss why the subject is so enjoyable and intellectually rewarding on ‘Frank Stajano Explains’ on YouTube, which has been set up by Professor Frank Stajano (e2015), Fellow in Computer Science, to help break down any perceived barriers and encourage more women to pursue a career in the field. Read.

Last month, Trinity was delighted to welcome 24 Year 12 students to the first Summer School in a new partnership with the Brilliant Club. During their time at the College, the students learnt about applying to university, including Cambridge, observed a mock interview, toured Trinity, and met current students and academics.

The Summer School was the first in-person access event hosted by the College for 17 months since the pandemic began, and it is a key element in the Brilliant Club-Trinity College Transition Project, which is designed to support and enable students from backgrounds under-represented at Cambridge to progress to leading universities. Read.

In the latest Q&A in our series with new Trinity Junior Research Fellows, Benjamin Marschall discusses language and mathematics. He will take up his Fellowship in Philosophy in October 2021. Read.

ALUMNI VISITS TO TRINITY

While the College remains closed to the general public, we are delighted that alumni may now visit Trinity’s external spaces.

You do not need to arrange your visit in advance, and you may bring a maximum of four guests. Please show your Trinity Members’ Card at the Porters’ Lodge, and you will be required to take a temperature check on arrival. If you have any questions please contact us.

Self-punting is also now available on production of your Members’ Card – the rule of six applies. Garrett Hostel Lane are offering chauffeur punts for up to six. The punts are accessed from outside the Brewhouse Gate and you will be required to sign in. For further information please contact the Puntman on 01223 338483.

Unfortunately, alumni dining and accommodation remain unavailable. We will let you know when the situation changes, and please do check the website for updates because this may change at short notice.

Congratulations to Professor Sadaf Farooqi (1997) and Professor Sir Stephen O’Rahilly (Fellow of Pembroke), who have been awarded the Royal Society’s Croonian Medal and Lecture 2022 for their seminal discoveries regarding the control of human body weight, resulting in new diagnostics and therapies which improve health. Read.

The Medical Research Cancer Unit team led by Professor Rebecca Fitzgerald (e2002) has discovered that abnormal cells that develop into oesophageal cancer start life as cells of the stomach. Their findings about the origin of pre-cancerous Barrett’s esophagus (BE) were published in Science earlier this month. Read. 

If you missed Professor Fitzgerald’s fascinating Trinity Research Talk ‘Catching Cancer Early: How Long is a Piece of String?’ in August 2020, you can catch up on the website. Watch.

SPORTS NEWS

New CU Boat Club Men’s President

Congratulations to engineering student Charlie Marcus (2018), who has been elected Cambridge University Boat Club’s Men’s President. He is only the third cox to have been chosen to lead the light blues, and you can read about his aims as he takes on the challenges of the role in an interview in the Cambridge Independent. Read.

Henley Royal Regatta 2021

After taking on Tokyo, Imogen Grant (2014) and Emily Craig (University of London) enjoyed success at the Henley Royal Regatta, winning the Stonor Challenge Trophy. You can read a roundup of the five CUBC crews who were entered to race at the Regatta in Varsity. Read.

Congratulations to Puzhong Yao (2004), economics teacher at St Paul’s School London, who has been recognised by the University of Chicago in their Outstanding Educator Awards. Each year, newly admitted students to the University have the opportunity to nominate teachers who go beyond everyday teaching, and who change lives.

10,000 autistic people and their relatives will take part in the UK’s largest study of autism in an ambitious new research project Spectrum 10K, which is led by Cambridge Autism Research Centre (ARC) Director Professor Simon Baron-Cohen (e1995). The ARC, together with the Wellcome Sanger Institute and University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), will study how biological and environmental factors impact on the wellbeing of autistic individuals. Read.

Professor Baron-Cohen explores the links between autism and the capacity for invention in an article on pages 28 to 30 of the latest issue of The Fountain. Read.

EVENTS

Trinity on the Backs

We were delighted to welcome alumni back to College for our two ‘Trinity on the Backs’ events this month. The afternoons were relaxed affairs, with ice cream, strawberries, sack races, giant Jenga and a live jazz band, whose music drifted lazily through Nevile’s Court. The Wren Library was open so that everyone could take in its treasures, and seating beneath the Library enabled alumni and their families to soak up the relaxing atmosphere together. Visit the website to see photos from the afternoons and to read about Mike Gregory (1959) and his wife Nancy, who were celebrating a very special occasion on the day of their return to Trinity.

It was a pleasure to see alumni back in College again after such a long time, and we are looking forward to more live Trinity events – don’t forget to keep an eye on our events pages.

Trinity in Japan – Friday 3 September

Historian and Trinity Honorary Fellow Professor Dominic Lieven will be joining Trinity in Japan for their next meeting coming up on Friday 3 September at 11.15 BST/19.15 Tokyo time, to discuss his new book In the Shadow of the Gods: The Emperor in World History. All Trinity members are welcome to attend and you can register for the event via the website.

ALUMNI BOOKSHELF

• James Morrison (2002) – England’s Cross of Gold: Keynes, Churchill, and the Governance of Economic Beliefs, published by Cornell University Press, 15 September 2021.
• Rachel Murphy (1995) – The Children of China’s Great Migration, published by Cambridge University Press, August 2020. Don’t forget – alumni are entitled to a 20% discount on all Press printed books, in store or online.
• Francis Pryor (1964) – Scenes from Prehistoric Life: One Million Years of Life in the British Isles, published by Head of Zeus, 5 August 2021.

If you have a recent or forthcoming book, blog or article, podcast or production, and you haven’t shared the details with us yet, please get in touch.

A major new exhibition ‘Gold of the Great Steppe’, featuring finds from an ancient civilisation unearthed by Kazakh archaeologists in the last three years, opens at the Fitzwilliam Museum next month and will run from 28 September 2021 to 30 January 2022. In a Guardian article of 9 August, Trinity Fellow and Museum Director Luke Syson (e2019) comments on the rich cultural history of this part of the world. Read.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY – EVENTS OPEN TO ALL ALUMNI

• Online: Trinity in Japan: Professor Dominic Lieven, historian and Trinity Honorary Fellow, Friday 3 September, 11.15 BST/19.15 Tokyo time. REGISTER.
• Trinity: Annual Gathering for alumni who matriculated in 2008, 2009 and 2010, Saturday 11 September from 5pm.
• Trinity: Annual Gathering for alumni who matriculated in 1965, 1966 and 1967, Wednesday 15 September from 2pm.
• Online: Cambridge 2021 Digital Alumni Festival, Friday 24 September to Tuesday 28 September. REGISTER.
• Online Alumni Festival: The Trinity Clock with Dr Hugh Hunt (e1990), Monday 27 September, 18.00. REGISTER.
• Trinity: Remembrance Service, Sunday 14 November. SAVE THE DATE.

We want to hear from you! Do keep us up-to-date with your latest achievements and activities for our Global Alumni News pages in The Fountain and the Alumni Achievements section in the Annual Record. Please send your news, appointments, and publications to: alumni-comms@trin.cam.ac.uk.

Please send your address updates to alumni@trin.cam.ac.uk. To unsubscribe from our monthly newsletter please contact alumni@trin.cam.ac.uk using the subject line: ‘Unsubscribe’. Please note: Your details are held in accordance with our Data Protection Policy. You may change your communication preferences at any time by writing to us at the email address below, and you can opt out of electronic communication with Trinity College by emailing alumni@trin.cam.ac.uk, using the subject line ‘Unsubscribe’.

Header image: Picnicking in the sunshine at Trinity on the Backs, 4 August.