A philosophical Sofa Chat
For the latest instalment of the College’s Sofa Chat series, we spoke Univ’s Beacon Junior Research Fellows in Philosophy, Dr Jordan Scott and Dr Tareeq Jalloh about their work spanning the philosophy of race, rap music and justice. Read more here.

In Memoriam: William (Bill) L Bernhard
It is with great sadness that the College reports the death of William (Bill) L Bernhard (1956, PPE), Old Member and Foundation Fellow at Univ, who died peacefully at his home in New York on 12 October. Read the College’s full tribute to William Bernhard here.

2017-2020 Gaudy
On 26 September, Old Members who matriculated between 2017 and 2020 were invited back to College for their Gaudy. Ffion Price (2017, History and Politics) has shared a report of the day’s activities and highlights. Read the full event report and view the photo gallery here.

Univ alumni drinks in Vancouver 2026
On 16 September 2026, Old Members and friends of Univ and their guests gathered at the 1927 Lounge at the Rosewood Hotel Georgia in Vancouver for an evening hosted by Dr Jen Mossop Scott (1995, Physiology). Read more about this event and view the photo gallery here.

Welcome letters from the presidents 2026
The College’s current JCR and WCR presidents, Amelia Sinclair (PPE, 2025) and Gabriel Pereira (2024, Engineering), shared their welcome letters to students. Read their welcome letters here.

Fireside chat in San Francisco 2026
On 10 September, members of the College community and their guests attended an engaging fireside chat with Baroness Amos and Kevin Hartz (1992, History) followed by a cocktail reception. John McHugh (2023, Politics) kindly provided a report of the event. Read the event report and view the photo gallery here.

Los Angeles Drinks Reception 2026
On 6 September, Douglas Yoder (1986, PPE) hosted a drinks reception and piano recital for members of the College community and their guests. Hannah Roberts (2011, PPE) shared a report of the event. Read the event report and view the photo gallery here.

Student Vloggers 2026/2026
The Development, Communications and Alumni Relations Office at Univ is recruiting student vloggers for 2026/27. Current students have been invited to apply to become a student vlogger for the College, where they will have the opportunity to create original video content and share their experience of Univ and Oxford. Find out more about becoming a student vlogger here.

Mitchell Building lift shortlisted for OPT Award
University College’s Mitchell Building lift, which was completed earlier this year, has been shortlisted for an Oxford Preservation Trust (OPT) Award 2026 within the Adaptive Re-use category . The OPT Awards celebrate excellence in design, historic conservation and sustainability across Oxford. You can read more about the OPT Awards nomination here.

Read all of Univ’s College news or explore Univ’s Treasures.

PhD visit to Harvard University
Carlos Gonzales Perez (2021, DPhil Economics) visited Harvard University between March and June to advance his doctoral research, strengthen collaborations with leading researchers in econometrics, and engage with the academic environment at Harvard and MIT. Carlos has written a report about his trip, which was funded by a Research Training Grant. Read Carlos’ travel report here.

Medical Elective in Sri Lanka and Nepal
Anna Kelliher (2020, Medicine) completed a medical elective in Sri Lanka and Nepal, where she gained experience in obstetrics and general surgery as well as insights into healthcare delivery in low-resource settings. Anna has shared an account of her trip, which was funded by the Radcliffe Travelling Fellowship. Read Anna’s medical elective travel report here.

Read more Travel Reports.

2026 Intercollegiate Golf Competition
On 2 October 2026, Univ’s alumni golf team enjoyed a day of competitive golf and won the 2026 Hennessy Cup at Studley Wood Golf Club. Read more about the golf competition here.

Read all of Univ’s Alumni news.

Profile: Solomon Jalang
Solomon Jalang (2025, Biochemistry) recently completed his MSc in Pharmacology at Univ. His ambition is to build on innovative research and lead the growth of pharmaceutical manufacturing in Africa. Solomon shared his highlights and reflections from his time at the College. Read Solomon’s full profile here.

Profile: Zagham Farhan
Zagham Farhan (2023, History and Politics) was elected to the post of Oxford Student Union (SU) President for Undergraduates 2026/27. Zagham also met his partner Richanne at Univ, and they recently got married. Read Zagham’s full profile here.

Explore all of our Profiles.

Witchcraft at Univ
Learn about one of the treasures of the Browne Library at Univ, A compleat history of magick, sorcery and witchcraft by Richard Boulton (Browne N.2.9). Published in 1715, this book is a mixture of explanations about the ‘most authentick and best attested relations of magicians, sorcerers, witches, apparitions, spectres, ghosts, dæmons, and other preternatural appearances’ and attempts to prove the existence of the supernatural through philosophical arguments and evidence from witch trials. Read more here.

Read more about Univ’s Treasures.

Please note that some of these items link to external sites.

Fellows

• Baroness Amos, Master of University College, will discuss foreign policy, development, social justice and inclusion with Helen Mountfield on 20 November 2026 at Mansfield College, Oxford as part of their Public Talks series. Find out more about this event here.

• Dr Natalya Benkhaled-Vince, Sanderson Tutorial Fellow in Modern History and Associate Professor of Modern History at Oxford University, has organised – with Patricia Clavin, Anna Ross and Matt Myers – a series of Modern European History Seminars at the new Schwarzman Centre in Oxford. See more details about upcoming Modern European History Seminars here.

• Professor Ruth Chang, Professor of Jurisprudence and Professorial Fellow at Univ, hosted a workshop on David Enoch’s book manuscript “Liberalism: A Battle Cry” on 16 October at the College, with commentary by Rae Langton, Mona Simion, Matt Sleat and Helen Ghosh.

• Dr David Eichert, Univ’s Departmental Lecturer in International Relations, organised a book talk titled “African Women in Law: A Comparative Perspective” with Professor J. Jarpa Dawuni (Howard University) which took place on 13 October 2026 and was hosted by the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights (GLMR) at Mansfield College, Oxford.

• Professor Catherine Holmes, Univ A.D.M. Cox Old Members’ Tutorial Fellow in Medieval History, spoke on “Byzantium: A Kinetic Commonwealth” on 26 October at All Souls College, Oxford, as part of the Medieval History Research Seminar series.

• Professor Trevor Sharp, Univ Radcliffe Medical Fellow in Neuroscience, is to host “Psychedelic drug action: cell types and circuits” on 1 December 2026 in the David Smith Lecture Theatre in the Department of Pharmacology, with guest speaker Professor Alex Kwan. Find out more about this event here.

• Professor Sophie Smith, Univ Tutorial Fellow in Political Theory, is to lead a Workshop on Gender and Global Intellectual History with Dr Alice Baldock (Okinaga JRF in Japanese Studies at Wadham College) at All Souls College, Oxford, on 17 November 2026, as part of the Global Intellectual History Seminar series. Find out more about this event here.

Old Members

• Professor Charlotte Deane OBE (1993, Chemistry), Professor of Structural Bioinformatics at the Department of Statistics, was featured on the BBC Radio 4 programme The Artificial Human: Can AI be my new lab partner? on 7 October. During the programme, Professor Deane discussed how AI has changed the way she works in drug discovery and how technology could take us further. You can listen to the programme here.

• Dr John Godwin (1973, Classics) was awarded second prize in the Antigone Competition for Classical Philology 2026 where he prepared an edition of Ward’s Empedocles. You can read more about the competition here.

• Dr Will Scotton has been awarded the prestigious UK Dementia Trials Network (UKDTN) Clinical Trials Fellowship. The fellowship will support him in developing expertise in delivering early-phase dementia trials, laying the foundations for a dedicated programme within the NIHR Birmingham Clinical Research Facility (CRF). Read more here.

• Daniel Tate (2021, International Relations) published a piece titled “Manifesting a Diplomacy of Ubuntu: Linking South Africa’s foreign policy with its domestic energy Transition” through the Oxford Climate Alumni Network (OxCan). You can read the full piece here.

• William Whitehead (1990, Music) appeared on BBC Radio 3’s Early Music Show on 25 October to talk about his recent recording of the music of John Lugge. You can listen to the show here.