Encyclopedia
The
University of Cambridge , located in
Cambridge,
England, is the second-oldest
university in the
English-speaking world.
Early records indicate that the university grew out of an association of scholars in the city of Cambridge, probably formed in 1209 by
scholars escaping from
Oxford after a fight with local townsmen.
The universities of Cambridge and
Oxford are jointly referred to by the portmanteau Oxbridge. In addition to cultural and practical associations as a historic part of
English and later British society, the two universities also have a long
history of rivalry with each other.
Cambridge is a member of the
Russell Group, a network of large, research-led British universities; the
Coimbra Group, an association of leading European universities; the
LERU , and the IARU .
General information
Cambridge is a collegiate university, with its main functions divided between the central departments of the university and a number of
colleges. In general, the departments perform research and provide centralised lectures to students, while the colleges are responsible for the domestic arrangements and welfare of undergraduate students, graduate students, some of the postdocs and some University staff. The colleges also provide most of the small group teaching for undergraduates, referred to as supervisions. The thirty-one colleges 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 .
The current Chancellor of the university is
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. The current Vice-Chancellor is Professor Alison Richard. The office of Chancellor, which is held for life, is mainly symbolic, while the Vice-Chancellor is the real executive chief. The University is governed entirely by its own members, with no outside representation in its governing bodies. Ultimate authority lies with the Regent House, of which all current Cambridge academic staff are members, but most business is carried out by the Council. The Senate consists of all holders of the M.A. degree or higher degrees. It elects the Chancellor; until their abolition in 1950, it elected Members to the
House of Commons for Cambridge University, but otherwise has not had a major role since 1926.
Reputation
According to
UCAS, Cambridge and Oxford are the most academically selective universities in the
United Kingdom - there is a special national admissions process which sets Oxbridge apart from other UK universities.
The university has often topped league tables ranking British universities - for instance, Cambridge was ranked first in the
Sunday Times league table every year between 1997 and 2005. In the most recent UK government Research Assessment Exercise in 2001, Cambridge was ranked first in the country. In 2005, it was reported that Cambridge produces substantially more PhDs per year than any other UK university . In 2006, a Thomson Scientific study showed that Cambridge has the highest research paper output of any UK university, and is also the top research producer in 10 out of 21 major UK research fields analyzed.
International league tables produced in 2005 by
The Times Higher Education Supplement and
Shanghai Jiao Tong University ranked Cambridge third and second in the world respectively. The
THES also ranked Cambridge first in
science, second in
biomedicine, third in the
arts & humanities, sixth in
technology, and eighth in
social sciences. Note that all university rankings are subject to controversy about their methodology, and that the
THES and Jiao Tong tables are the only international rankings available.
Historically, the two universities have produced a significant proportion of Britain’s prominent
scientists, writers and politicians. Affiliates of Cambridge University have won a total of 81 Nobel Prizes , more than any other university in the world and more than any country in the world except the United Kingdom and the
United States. Seventy of these awardees also attended Cambridge as undergraduate or graduate students.
In addition to a long distinguished tradition in the humanities and the arts, the University of Cambridge is especially known for producing prominent scientists and mathematicians. This distinguished list includes
Isaac Newton,
Charles Darwin,
William Harvey,
Paul Dirac,
J. J. Thomson,
Ernest Rutherford,
James Clerk Maxwell,
Francis Crick,
Alan Turing,
Stephen Hawking, and
Fred Sanger.
The university is also closely linked with the development of the high-tech business cluster in and around Cambridge, which forms the area known as Silicon Fen or sometimes the “Cambridge Phenomenon”. In 2004, it was reported that Silicon Fen was the second largest venture capital market in the world, after
Silicon Valley. Estimates reported in February 2006 suggest that there were about 250 active startup companies directly linked with the university, worth around US$6 billion.
Endowment
Cambridge’s endowment was estimated at £3.1 billion in late 2005 and is arguably the highest in Europe. Oxford was possibly ranked second in 2005 with estimates ranging from £2.4bn to £2.9bn , and the
Central European University in
Budapest third with an estimated €400 million in 2005). The share of Cambridge’s endowment directly tied to the university itself exceeds £1 billion. However, Cambridge still relies largely on funding by the UK government. If ranked on a
US university table, Cambridge would rank 6th or 7th , or 4th in the
Ivy League.
History
Early history
Roger of Wendover wrote that Cambridge University could trace its origins to a crime committed in 1209. Although not always a reliable source, the detail given in his contemporaneous writings lends them credence. Two Oxford scholars were convicted of the murder or manslaughter of a woman and were hanged by the town authorities with the assent of the King. In protest at the hanging, the
University of Oxford went into voluntary suspension, and scholars migrated to a number of other locations, including the pre-existing school at Cambridge . These post-graduate researchers from Oxford started Cambridge’s life as a University in 1209. Cambridge’s status as a University is further confirmed by a decree in 1233 from
Pope Gregory IX which awarded the
ius non trahi extra to the
chancellor and universitas of scholars at Cambridge. After Cambridge was recognised by papal bull as a
studium generale by
Pope Nicholas IV in 1290, it became common for researchers from other European
medieval universities to come and visit Cambridge to study or to give lecture courses.
The Colleges
Cambridge’s colleges were originally an incidental feature of the system. No college is as old as the university itself. The colleges were endowed fellowships of scholars. There were also institutions without endowments, called Hostels. The hostels were gradually absorbed by the colleges over the centuries, but they have left some indicators of their time, such as the name of Garrett Hostel Lane.
Hugh Balsham,
Bishop of Ely, founded
Peterhouse in 1284, Cambridge’s first college. Many colleges were founded during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, but colleges continued to be established throughout the centuries to modern times, although there was a gap of 204 years between the founding of
Sidney Sussex in 1596 and
Downing in 1800. The most recent college established is
Robinson, built in the late 1970s.
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. A change in the colleges’ focus occurred in 1536 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”. In response, colleges changed their curricula away from canon law and towards the
classics, the
Bible, and
mathematics.
Mathematics
From the time of
Isaac Newton in the later 17th century until the mid-19th century, the university maintained a strong emphasis on mathematics. Study of this subject was compulsory for graduation, and students were required to take an exam for the Bachelor of Arts degree, the main first degree at Cambridge in both arts and science subjects. This exam is known as a Tripos.
Students awarded first-class honours after completing the mathematics Tripos were named wranglers. The
Cambridge Mathematical Tripos was competitive and helped produce some of the most famous names in British science, including
James Clerk Maxwell,
Lord Kelvin, and
Lord Rayleigh. 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.
Although diversified in 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 mathematics and theoretical physics. Cambridge alumni have won eight Fields Medals and one Abel Prize for mathematics. The University also runs a special Certificate of Advanced Studies in Mathematics course.
Women’s education
Originally all students were male. 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. Although Cambridge did not give degrees to women until this date women were in fact allowed to study courses, sit examinations, and have their results recorded from the nineteenth century onwards. In the twentieth century women could be given a “titular degree”; although they were not denied recognised qualifications, without a full degree they were excluded from the governing of the university. Since students must belong to a college, and since established colleges remained closed to women, women found admissions restricted to colleges established only for women. All of the men’s colleges began to admit women between 1960 and 1988. One women’s college, Girton, also began to admit men, but the other women’s colleges did not follow suit.
In the academic year 2004-5, the university’s student gender ratio, including post-graduates, was male 52%: female 48% .
Research and teaching
Cambridge University has research departments and teaching faculties in most academic disciplines. Cambridge tends to have a slight bias towards
scientific subjects, but it also has a number of strong
humanities and
social science faculties. Academic staff teach the undergraduates in both lectures and personal
supervisions in which a ratio of one teacher to between one and three students is usually maintained. This pedagogical system is often cited as being unique to the Universities of Cambridge and
Oxford — similar practices can be found elsewhere, though not on the Oxbridge scale.
All research and lectures are conducted by University Departments. The colleges are in charge of giving or arranging most supervisions, student accommodation, and funding most extra-curricula activities. During the 1990s Cambridge added a substantial number of new specialist research laboratories on several University sites around the city, and major expansion continues on a number of sites.
See also and Admission
Historically, undergraduate admissions tended to be drawn largely from the fee-paying
public schools. This resulted in a student body predominantly drawn from members of the British social elite.
The admission process changed in the 1960s. Successful applicants are expected to be predicted at least 3 A-grade A-level qualifications relevant to their chosen undergraduate course, or equivalent overseas qualifications. College Fellows also evaluate candidates on unexamined factors such as potential for original thinking and creativity as expressed in extra-curricular activities and at interview . In a few cases, candidates may be offered an unconditional place.
In recent years, admissions tutors in certain subjects have required applicants to sit the more difficult STEP papers in addition to achieving top grades in their A-levels or International Baccalaureate diplomas. For example, Peterhouse requires 1 and 2 or better in STEP as well as A grades at A-levels including A-level Mathematics and Further Mathematics in order to be considered for entry for the Mathematical Tripos. Between one-half and two-thirds of those who apply with the correct grades are given offers of a place.
Public debate in the United Kingdom continues over whether admissions processes at Oxford and Cambridge are entirely merit based and fair, whether enough students from state schools are encouraged to apply to Cambridge, and whether these students succeed in gaining entry. Almost half of all successful applicants come from independent schools. However, the average qualifications for successful applicants from state schools are poorer than the average qualification of successful applicants from private schools. The lack of state school applicants to Cambridge and Oxford has had a negative impact on Oxbridge’s reputation for many years, and the University has encouraged pupils from state schools to apply for Cambridge to help redress the imbalance. Critics counter that excessive government pressure to increase state school admissions constitutes inappropriate social engineering .
Graduate admission is first decided by the faculty or department relating to the applicant’s subject. This effectively guarantees admission to a college .
Sports and other extracurricular activities
Cambridge maintains a long tradition of student participation in sports and recreation.
Rowing is a particularly popular sport at Cambridge, and there are competitions between colleges and against Oxford . There are also Varsity matches against Oxford in many other sports, ranging from
rugby and
cricket, to
chess and tiddlywinks. Athletes representing the university in certain sports entitle them to apply for a
Cambridge Blue at the discretion of the
Blues Committee, consisting of the captains of the thirteen most prestigious sports. There is also the self-described “unashamedly elite”
Hawks’ Club , whose membership is usually restricted to Cambridge Full Blues and Half Blues.
The
Cambridge Union serves as a focus for debating. Drama societies notably include the Amateur Dramatic Club and the comedy club
Footlights, which are known for producing well-known showbusiness personalities. They also host Cambridge Rev - a branch of the charity Revelation Rock-Gospel Choirs. Student newspapers include the long-established
Varsity and its younger rival,
The Cambridge Student. The student-run radio station,
CUR1350, promotes broadcast journalism.
Myths, legends and traditions
There are many popular myths associated with Cambridge University.
One famous myth relates to
Queens’ College’s so-called
Mathematical Bridge . Supposedly constructed by Sir Isaac Newton, it reportedly held itself together without any bolts or screws. Legend has it inquisitive students took it apart and were then unable to reassemble it without bolts. However, the bridge was erected 22 years after Newton’s death. This myth may have arisen from the fact that earlier versions of the bridge used iron pins and screws at the joints, whereas the current bridge uses more visible nuts and bolts.
Another famous myth involves the Clare Bridge of Clare College. Spherical stone ornaments adorn this bridge. One of these has a quarter sphere wedge removed from the back. This is a feature pointed out on almost all tours over the bridge. Legend has it that the bridge’s builder was not paid in full due to the college’s dissatisfaction with its construction. The builder thus took revenge and committed an act of petty vandalism. Though lacking evidence, this legend is commonly accepted.
A discontinued tradition is that of the
wooden spoon, the ‘prize’ awarded to the student with the lowest passing grade in the final examinations of the Mathematical Tripos. The last of these 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 and had an oar blade for a handle. Since 1909, results were published alphabetically within class rather than score order. This made it harder to ascertain who the winner of the spoon was , and so the practice was abandoned.
On the other hand, the legend of the Austin Seven delivery van that ended up on the apex of the Senate House is no myth at all. The
Caius College website recounts in detail how this vehicle “went up in the world”.
Miscellaneous
Building on its reputation for enterprise, science and technology, Cambridge has a partnership with
MIT in the
United States, the Cambridge-MIT Institute.
In 2000,
Bill Gates of
Microsoft donated US$210 million through the
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to endow the Gates Scholarships for students from outside the UK seeking postgraduate study at Cambridge. The
University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory, which taught the world’s first computing course in 1953, is housed in a building partly funded by Gates and named after his grandfather, William Gates.
After the founding of
Harvard College in 1636 at
Newtowne,
Massachusetts, the town adopted the new name of “Cambridge” in 1638 to promote its reputation as an academic centre. The first president , the first benefactor , and the first schoolmaster of Harvard were all Cambridge University alumni, as was the then ruling governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony,
John Winthrop. In 1629, Winthrop had led the signing of the founding document of the city of
Boston, Massachusetts, which was known as the Cambridge Agreement, after the university .
In the Meiji Era , several Japanese students studied at the university..
In
Japan, there is a Cambridge and Oxford Society, a rare example of the name Cambridge coming before Oxford when the two universities are referred to together — traditionally, the order used when referring to both universities is “Oxford and Cambridge”, the order in which they were founded. The probable reason for this inversion is that the Cambridge Club was founded first in Japan, and it also had more members than its Oxford counterpart when they amalgamated in 1905.
The University’s publishing arm, the
Cambridge University Press, is the oldest printer and publisher in the world.
Each
Christmas Eve, BBC television and radio broadcasts The Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols by the
Choir of
King’s College Chapel. This has been a national Christmas tradition since it was first transmitted in 1928.
Colleges
The University of Cambridge currently has 31 colleges, of which three admit only women . The remaining 28 are mixed,
Magdalene being the last all-male college to admit women in 1988. Two colleges admit only
postgraduates , and four more admit mainly mature students or graduate students . The other 25 colleges admit mainly undergraduate students, but also postgraduates following courses of study or research. Although various colleges are traditionally strong in a particular subject, for example
Churchill has a formalized bias towards the
sciences and engineering, the colleges all admit students from just about the whole range of subjects, although some colleges do not take students for a handful of subjects such as
architecture or
history of art. It is noteworthy that costs to students vary considerably from college to college. This may be of increasing significance to potential applicants as Government grants decline in the next few years.
There are several historical colleges which no longer exist, such as
King’s Hall and Michaelhouse which were combined together by
King Henry VIII to establish
Trinity in 1546. Also, Gonville Hall was founded in 1348 and then re-founded in 1557 as
Gonville & Caius.
There are also several theological colleges in Cambridge, that are loosely affiliated with the university through the
Cambridge Theological Federation.
See also the list of Fictional Cambridge Colleges
Selected notable members
See also List of University of Cambridge members , and .
Cambridge University in literature and popular culture
Fiction
- Chaucer’s The Reeve’s Tale takes place at Soler Halle – another name for King’s Hall, which later became part of Trinity College, Cambridge.
- The Glittering Prizes by Frederic Raphael.
- The Longest Journey is a 1999 [i] point-and-click [i] adventure game [i] by Norwegian [i] studio [i] ...
and Maurice by E.M. Forster - Still Life by A. S. Byatt
- Chariots of Fire is a British [i] film released in 1981. ...
, 1981 film - The Masters and The Affair by C. P. Snow
- Porterhouse Blue is a novel written by Tom Sharpe [i], first published in 1974. ...
and its sequel Grantchester Grind feature Porterhouse, a fictional Cambridge College. - Darkness at Pemberley by T. H. White
- All Sorts and Conditions of Men by Sir Walter Besant
Studies in French Poetry [i]....
- High Table, Lower Orders BBC Radio comedy serial broadcast in 2005 and 2006 set in a college with some resemblance to Magdalene
- The medieval murder mysteries of Susanna Gregory
- Avenging Angel, a murder mystery by the philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah
