His Majesty The King visits Univ
His Majesty The King visited University College on Friday 10 July. The King was welcomed by Baroness Amos, Master of University College, before meeting the College’s Vice Master and Senior Officers. More

In memoriam: Professor Rudolph (Rudy) Marcus
It is with great sadness that the College has received the news that Professor Rudy Marcus died on 16 July, just five days short of his 103rd birthday. Rudy was elected an Honorary Fellow in 1995, the same year that he received an honorary DSc from the University, and three years after the award of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his pioneering theoretical work on electron transfer.  Read a tribute by Professor Michael Collins and other reflections here.

Baroness Amos in Chatham House exhibition
Baroness Amos LG CH PC, Master of University College, has been featured in an exhibition of portrait photography by Ander McIntyre at the 2026 London Conference at Chatham House. More

Hanging up after a successful Univ Telethon 2026
The Univ Telethon 2026 took place from 22 June to 6 July 2026, shortly after the end of Trinity term. An enthusiastic and hardworking team of 11 student callers made over 7,000 calls during the Telethon, speaking to College members from the 1960s to the 2010s! More

Professor Nancy Cartwright collects BBVA award
Professor Nancy Cartwright, Centenary Visiting Professor in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) at the University of Oxford, collected the BBVA Frontiers of Knowledge Award for Humanities at a special ceremony held in Bilbao on 18 June. More

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

Univ on University Challenge
Congratulations to the team from Univ who triumphed in their first-round match against St John’s College, Cambridge on University Challenge, broadcast on BBC Two on 27 July.

Niyati Sharma in Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia
Recent University College finalist Niyati Sharma (2024, Law) has been listed in the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia for 2026 in recognition of her social impact. More

An inspiring Organic Synthesis summer school
Sofiia-Stefaniia Zhylinska (2024, DPhil Chemistry) attended the Attilio Corbella International School on Organic Synthesis (ISOS) in Gargnano, Italy, supported by the Old Members’ Graduate Conference and Academic Trust Travel Fund. Read Sofiia’s report

A geologist on the slopes in Val Thorens
Elizabeth Gibson (2023, Geology) reports on a trip to Val Thorens, supported by the Old Members Travel Grant. More

Machine learning and AI conference in Brazil
Keyan Miao (2021, DPhil Engineering Science) attended the International Conference on Learning Representations (ICLR) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with generous support from the Old Members’ Trust Graduate Conference and Academic Travel Fund. Read more

Read more Travel Reports.

Profile: Emma Steane
In the latest in our profiles series, we meet Emma Steane, HR Partner at University College. More

Profile: Lauren Dogaer
Meet Dr Lauren Dogaer, Lady Wallis Budge Junior Research Fellow in Egyptology at Univ and creator of the Drunk on History podcast. More

Explore all of our Profiles.

Please note some of these items link to external sites.

Fellows

• Professor Nicholas Halmi, Margaret Candfield Tutorial Fellow in English and Comparative Literature, published the article “Porous Borders/Border Controls” in Litteraria Pragensia, 36 (July 2026). More

• Professor Christopher Pelling,  Honorary and Emeritus Fellow, gave a talk on “Geopolitical banter: can Plutarch’s great men crack a joke?” in a Trends in Classics historiography conference in the Peloponnese.

• Professor Maren Schentuleit, Lady Wallis Budge Fellow and Associate Professor of Egyptology and Coptic Studies, has been appointed Director of the Griffith Institute for the academic year 2026–27.

Stipendiary Lecturers

• Mx Alex Benn, Stipendiary Lecturer in Law, has written a book titled Classism: Discrimination the Law Ignores. The book is the first in-depth analysis of classism and the law. It will be published by Hart in September 2026.

Students

• Charlie Corbett (2024, Philosophy) and Michael Wong (2024, Medicine) are hoping to climb Mount Kilimanjaro this summer. Participants in the University of Oxford’s Kilimanjaro Trek Challenge aim to raise up to £4,970 each for the Amnesty International UK Charitable Trust.

In other news…

• News has only just reached us that Professor Gideon Henderson CBE FRS, Senior Research Fellow at Univ, officially opened the the permanent Carbon Garden at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew on 24 July, 2025, in his role as Chief Scientific Adviser for Defra.