News

Yesterday we were delighted to celebrate over ten years of support provided by a local learning centre to young people in Oxford. The centre, operated by the national charity IntoUniversity in collaboration with Christ Church and the University of Oxford, was officially launched in Blackbird Leys in February 2014 and has since supported more than 5,800 young people from the local area through academic support sessions, workshops, mentoring and university visits.

From 8 to 10 April, Christ Church hosted a conference bringing together members of the Queer Kinship Network. The international research group is led by Christ Church Tutor in Modern Languages Professor Charlotte Ross, together with Professor Silvia Antosa of Università per Stranieri di Siena and Professor Paolo Frascà of the University of Toronto. We caught up with Professor Ross to learn more. 

Dr Sarah Birkhoelzer, a DPhil student in Medical Sciences at Christ Church, proudly represented the College at last month’s American College of Cardiology (ACC) Conference – one of the most prestigious international cardiology meetings. Dr Birkhoelzer, who is also a Cardiology Registrar and Clinical Research Fellow at the University of Oxford, presented innovative research into the use of advanced imaging techniques to assess heart function.

London’s Cypriot High Commission recently hosted a panel discussion on the topic of peace-making in Cyprus, filmed by Hellenic TV. Among those scholars on the panel was Christ Church Geography undergraduate Ethan Chandler, who was invited to share the findings of research conducted in Cyprus for his third-year dissertation.

The Trinidadian–Scottish poet Professor Anthony Vahni Capildeo FRSL, a former English student at Christ Church, has been announced as one of eight winners of this year’s Windham-Campbell Prize. Through the prize – one of the world’s most prestigious literary awards – Yale University honours writers from across the globe for their exceptional achievements and promise, giving each $175,000 to support their continued work.

A recent publication in leading science journal Nature Communications offers novel insights into the function of star-like cells – or ‘astrocytes’ – in the brain, and how they govern the function of brain nerve cells. The article is the product of interdisciplinary collaboration between University of Oxford researchers, including two Christ Church academics, Tutor in Medicine Professor Stephanie Cragg and Tutor in Mathematics Professor Kevin McGerty. 

For well over a decade our Head Gardener John James has maintained and enriched our precious green spaces, leading our Gardens Team through a period of change in which sustainability and nature have taken centre stage. His work has brought joy to thousands of students and staff members who have delighted in the beauty of our gardens, and to millions of visitors from across the globe who have wandered and relaxed in Christ Church Meadow over the years. 

After 13 years of service, John has decided that the time is right to retire. Read on for some of his career highlights.

A recording has been released of Christ Church alumnus Charlie Lovell-Jones (2017, Music) performing the work of another alumnus: celebrated composer Sir William Walton (1902–83). The recording features Lovell-Jones as the soloist in Walton's Violin Concerto, joined by the Sinfonia of London and conductor John Wilson. 

The Oxford Torpids is one of two annual series of rowing 'bumps' between University of Oxford colleges: races in which each boat strives to catch up with and bump the boat ahead, while avoiding being caught by a pursuing boat. This year's Torpids took place from 26 February to 1 March and saw teams from every Oxford college speed along a 1,500m stretch of the River Isis. Tom Harris, second-year student of Law at Christ Church and member of our Men's First VIII, describes his experience of the four-day event. 

On 28 February Muslims the world over began observing Ramadan, a month of prayer, fasting and reflection. At Christ Church, we marked the beginning of the holy month with our very first Iftar – an evening meal that breaks the daily fast. The main organiser of the event, fourth-year student of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Mikyle Ossman, tells us more.

Every year Christ Church holds Arts Week, six days of culture and entertainment centred around the work of our very own Fine Art students. A couple of weeks on from Arts Week 2025, undergraduate Arts Rep Neha Jamal tells us what went on this year.  

UK LGBT+ History Month was established in 2005 and has been celebrated each February for the past 20 years, offering a chance to recognise the tremendous contributions of LGBT+ people to all areas of life throughout history. As February 2025 drew to a close, we caught up with our undergraduate LGBTQ+ Representatives Cathryn Head and Vita Bannister to find out how the occasion was marked at Christ Church.

A paper on molecular dynamics by two Christ Church academics has appeared in The Journal of Chemical Physics. The article, concerning the behaviour of microscopic particles in suspensions, is the product of collaboration between Christ Church’s Dr Clare Rees-Zimmerman and Professor Dirk Aarts, together with researchers from the Complutense University of Madrid and Durham University. 

Christ Church is delighted to announce that Professor Jonathan Freeman-Attwood CBE has been elected to an Honorary Studentship. The election recognises his commitment to education and musicianship.

Professor Freeman-Attwood is the 14th Principal of the Royal Academy of Music, a post he has held since 2008.

Not for the first time, doomsday warnings of a cataclysmic asteroid impact that will wipe out life on Earth are circulating the internet. Christ Church's Professor Stephen Smartt, a member of the NASA funded ATLAS project which first spotted Asteroid 2024 YR4, explains the significance of this discovery.

Thanks to the generosity of Majid Boustany, President of the Francis Bacon MB Art Foundation, a new scholarship has been created for graduate students coming to the University of Oxford to study for a masters degree in History of Art and Visual Culture. 

One of the world’s largest privately held collection of letters, photographs, books, illustrations and other materials by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832–98), known internationally under the pen name 'Lewis Carroll', has been donated to Christ Church. The unique collection was gifted by the American businessman, philanthropist, book collector and author–editor Jon A. Lindseth, who also donated historically important works by the English artist, poet, author and musician Edward Lear (1812–88). 

At Christ Church, we began our 500th anniversary year by scouring the latest New Year Honours List for members of our College community. We are delighted to disclose that four of our alumni have made it onto this year’s list. Read on to learn about these remarkable individuals and their celebrated achievements and service. 

The recipients of the 2024 Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant – one of the globe’s most prestigious awards of its type – has been announced, and among the grantees this year is Christ Church alumna, former Junior Research Fellow and former postdoctoral researcher Dr Leah Broad. She and her fellow grantees are recognised by the Whiting Foundation as being ‘in the process of completing a book of deeply researched and imaginatively composed nonfiction,’ each author receiving $40,000 to support their works, which the Whiting Foundation regards as being ‘essential to our culture’.

Xiaolan Deng, a second-year student of Computer Science and Philosophy at Christ Church, has been announced as this year’s winner of the Bernard Williams Essay Prize, awarded by the University of Oxford’s Institute for Ethics in AI. This year, the essay competition’s participants were asked to tackle the complex question: ‘Is AI a threat to human creativity?’

The British Society for Heart Failure has awarded this year’s Early Investigator Award to Christ Church DPhil candidate in Medical Science Dr Sarah Birkhoelzer. Dr Birkhoelzer, who is also a Cardiology Registrar and Clinical Research Fellow at the University of Oxford, has been recognised for her exceptional and innovative research into the crucial, often overlooked role of muscle in cardiovascular health.

On 4 November the University of Oxford’s Department of Chemistry hosted its second-ever Oxford Women in Chemistry (OxWiChem) Day. Among the attendees this year was Christ Church Junior Research Fellow Dr Clare Rees-Zimmerman, who was awarded a prize for the best physical and theoretical chemistry poster.

Alongside his work as Rare Books Librarian at Christ Church, David Stumpp is a committed photographer – so much so that his newly published collection of photographs is the culmination of a decade’s work. The Lunchtime Portraits: Oxford, 2010–2020 offers a 10-year portrait of Oxford through 180 individual photographs of the daily life with which the city teems. 

Ahead of the launch of his book on 20 November, we caught up with David to uncover the story behind this long-term creative project. 

Last month an intrepid team from Christ Church travelled to the other place for this year’s Sports Day with Trinity College, Cambridge. Held annually, the event sees staff from the sibling colleges go head to head in a friendly bid to claim the Sports Day trophy. After last year’s win, did the House keep the cup? Christ Church teammate Jackie Billington has the story. 

From operating on broken bones and treating malaria to managing childbirth, hospitals in rural Africa provide essential services to their local populations. Yet such services are rarely provided by specialist doctors, and resources are typically scarce. This can have severe consequences for patient safety, with the few reports available suggesting that harm to patients is common. How might this situation be remedied?