Clarendon Chronicle Trinity Term 2019

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THE CLARENDON CHRONICLE VOLUME 8 ISSUE 3 | TRINITY TERM 2019

Volume 8 Issue 3 | Trinity Term 2019

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IN THIS ISSUE 2 3 4-6 7 8-11 12 13-15

A Note from the Editor A Message from the Presidents Tips for Freshers: Advice for Newcomers to Oxford Report on Women's Varsity Cricket Clarendon Garden Party Clarendon Statistics Noticeboard Cover image: Matthias Aengenheyster

A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR To our new scholars, welcome! To our old scholars, welcome back! Welcome to another term filled with both work and fun, to which we as the Clarendon Council hope to contribute to.

First and foremost, congratulations to all our new Scholars joining the Clarendon community this year. We hope you will relish your time in Oxford. To both our new and returning Scholars, we hope your Michaelmas term will be full of interesting people, productive research, and new opportunities.

In this issue, we showcase the highlights of Trinity term, including the Clarendon Garden Ball and a very successful cricket team. We present some answers to the question "Who are Clarendons?". Freshers will find tips and advice for settling into Oxford life, both academic and social. A great read as always is the Noticeboard section, where scholars share academic and extracurricular achievements. I am again struck by the incredible talents that we have in our community.

I wish you all a wonderful start to the academic year.

Yours, Matthias Aengenheyster

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THE CLARENDON CHRONICLE | Newsletter of the Clarendon Scholars’ Association

A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENTS Dear new scholars, I would like to give you the warmest welcome to Oxford and to the Clarendon community. I am the current president of the Clarendon Council, and together with my vice president Alessando I am delighted that you are now part of Clarendon, which has brought us so much more than just funding for my studies.

At first glance it seems that Clarendon scholars do not have much in common. We grew up all over the world, are spread out over all departments and colleges in Oxford and could not have a more diverse range of academic interests. However, after meeting dozens of Clarendons over the past year, I am convinced that there are plenty of similarities between us. We all have broad interests. We are passionate about our research.

We enjoy meeting like-minded people. And, through the Clarendon Scholarship, we get a chance to connect with the brightest of minds from other fields of study, to widen our viewpoints, expand our network, and build valuable friendships. In this way, the Clarendon community is a truly valuable addition to the work at your department and the social life at your college.

As the Clarendon Council, we try to bring the scholars together by organising events that are stimulating in every way possible. This can vary from a lecture on politics to a pub crawl, or from a visit to the opera to watching Eurovision together. We also publish the Clarendon Chronicle, of which you're now reading this year's first edition.

We do not want to work in isolation and highly appreciate input from the scholars. Therefore, please do get in touch if you have an idea for an event to organise, a speaker to invite, or anything else that we all can benefit from. We are also always looking for contributions to the Chronicle, so please do not hesitate to share your writing with our editor-in-chief.

However, for now you can just sit back and enjoy the whole range of events we have organised for you in Freshers' Week. I hope you will meet some of the people that will shape your life in Oxford, like being introduced to the Clarendon community has done for me.

All the best, Serte Donderwinkel Volume 8 Issue 3 | Trinity Term 2019

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TIPS FOR FRESHERS: Advice for newcomers to Oxford What do you wish you had known in your first year?

"Remember that your Bod card should allow you (and usually a few guests) into any college, not just your own. It's definitely worth the time to take a peek!"

people with similar concerns."

"If you're doing long-term fieldwork, start planning early. It can be logistically, administratively, and emotionally taxing. The Social Sciences Division does an excellent series on fieldwork (including one on 'women in the field') that will introduce you to

"You can chill out with horses and go swimming at Port Meadow."

"There is much to Oxford outside the city centre, lovely places in Cowley and Summertown, Tolkien's grave just minutes by bike away!"

How do you survive a grey UK winter?

"Find cosy cafes and libraries. Get as much work done as possible before summer hits."

"Try at-home workout videos to stay active; it gets too dark after work to go for runs IMO. Stay social and plan to see friends after work, it makes it much better."

"Try to do some sports if possible. Nothing better than rowing into a clear winter sunrise."

"Remember a German saying: There is no bad weather, just bad clothes. Waterproofs do wonders when biking in the rain. Good bike lights are crucial!"

Which is your favourite/best-kept-secret cafĂŠ?

"Hardly hidden but I'm a fan of Missing Bean. A nice lesser-known spot is the coffee kart on the river within the Botanical Gardens. Entry is free for students."

"Vine on Cowley road has great coffee and great vibes! I also love Magic Cafe, great coffee and amazing food."

A word from an MSt student: "Oxford goes by really quickly. You imagine it won't... and then suddenly the year is gone!

Savour each moment, especially the crazy ones, and take advantage of all the opportunities that this place will offer you. Clarendon is a wonderful community of people. I think we're a lovely scholarship because from many of the Clarendons I've talked to, we were deeply surprised, humbled, and grateful to be given this incredible opportunity seemingly out of the blue. Make the most of it! Best of luck to you!"

"Barefoot Bakery in Jericho makes wonderful cakes and are a great place to celebrate birthdays etc. with friends. Their incredible salted caramel brownies are also available at the Turl Street Kitchen."

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THE CLARENDON CHRONICLE | Newsletter of the Clarendon Scholars’ Association

Practical tips on transport, freebies and student deals: "Get a bike quickly, it makes everything much easier. Gumtree is very helpful."

"On a bike, you have the same rights as a car (bike paths are for your convenience, you don't have to use them)! Exercise your rights confidently, drivers are used to bikes."

"If your bike needs fixing, contact the Broken Spoke, a bicycle collective. You can also access one-on-one riding lessons through them, and the University will often cover the cost of your first few sessions."

"Always ask if a business offers a student discount – many places do, but don't advertise the fact."

"Your Bod card also gives free access to the Botanical Gardens and the impressive Divinity Schools in the main Bodleian library."

"The University Club on Mansfield Road offers a 5-piece fry-up breakfast for £2.95."

"You can get a 16-25 Railcard (even if you are over 25 – you just count as a 'mature student'!), which gives you a 33% discount on most trains.

This is a great option to see more of the UK, or visit London regularly."

What really helped you to settle in? How did you get involved in Oxford life?

"Spending time with Clarendons and participating in my college's Freshers' Week helped to settle in quickly."

"I met new people rapidly, but making friends was a slow process.

Don't be dismayed if this is you, but equally don't be afraid to seek people out for coffee or a meal. I wish I'd been less afraid! A DPhil in the social sciences/humanities can feel very isolating, but you're not alone."

"Go along to the Freshers' fair event at the Examination schools but brace yourself to be bombarded with extra-curricular activities. It's a careful balance between getting involved and overcommitting, so be wise when signing up!"

"Making friends with my neighbours and people in the community.

It's refreshing to get away from the student perspective and see the bigger picture in life."

"Don't be shy. The great thing about Michaelmas is that there are so many newbies about, and everyone is looking to make friends. If you think someone seems cool, ask them for coffee or a pint – they will probably be pleased – and relieved!"

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Any last thoughts, either practical or profound?

"Make use of all the great free concerts and recitals in Oxford. Most colleges have a recital series during term time, the music faculty has its own recital series and there are many more opportunities to take a break from your studies and listen to some great music."

"Household items are worth the money. A fuzzy rug and the world's largest French press saved me from the winter months!"

"I really can't stress enough the importance of finding friends you can be honest with. Things will not always go as you hoped, and you will need people to vent to when you have had a tough day in the archive or an experiment has gone utterly wrong."

"There's no need to take things too seriously – the desire to have an "Oxford Experience" can sometimes hinder your ability to actually enjoy that experience."

Staring out on three years of mostly self-directed research can be daunting. One Humanities DPhil students offers some tips to help structure your life as a Grad student: •

• • •

• • •

If your department doesn't offer desks, find a place to work consistently. Try out a few different libraries at first, but once you've found one that works for you, stick to it.

Make a routine and keep to it as best you can.

Make checklists – both necessary and unnecessary.

Start applying for research funding early – do a full survey of everything you are eligible for and keep a list of deadlines.

Measure your commitments carefully – don't burn out in Michaelmas.

Schedule something fun for the Easter Vacation to get you through Hilary term.

Remember: you may not know exactly what you're doing in your research, and that is OK. Just keep doing things – this will force you to confront problems and figure them out.

Thank you to all those current scholars who contributed their wisdom to this section.

Images: Matthias Aengenheyster

Clarendon Formal at Merton College in Trinity 2019

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THE CLARENDON CHRONICLE | Newsletter of the Clarendon Scholars’ Association

WOMEN'S VARSITY CRICKET: Clarendon leading Oxford to victory The 2019 cricket season proved to be a very successful one for the women's Blues team and it was an absolute privilege to captain the team again. In April, we had our first ever pre-season tour, travelling to Desert Springs (Spain) to play four cricket matches against men's teams and to train at international level facilities. This prepared us very well for the upcoming season, with some early wins in the British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) competition and in friendly matches (e.g against the Army).

Some of the highlights for the season included beating the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) team by nine wickets at Lord's and beating Cambridge by 200 runs in the One Day Varsity match. The One Day Varsity win was a particularly notable achievement as it was the largest ever recorded winning margin in the history of the women's Varsity match, taking our winning tally to six consecutive One Day Varsity wins. On a personal note, I finished the season as the leading run scorer for the women's Blues, for the second season in a row, with 608 runs at an average of 86.85. I top scored in the One Day Varsity match, with 135 not out and was awarded Joint Player of the Match.

This win is a testament to the girls' hard work, and thanks must be given to all those who have offered their valuable time and help. Particular thanks ought to be given to head coach, Graham Charlesworth, for all his incredible support this year.

It has been a privilege to captain the team to such a convincing win against Cambridge on Saturday.

We've had a very strong season and it was an amazing feeling for everything to come together, in front of such a large and supportive home crowd at the historic Uni Parks. —Vanessa Picker

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The Clarendon On the afternoon of June 16, Clarendon Scholars put on their summer finest and gathered at Folly Bridge for a boat ride and a drink down to the Isis Farmhouse for this year's Garden Ball. The summer weather, the river, venue and garden provided the perfect backdrop for an afternoon of food, drinks and entertainment, followed by bonfire and dancing late until late at night.

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THE CLARENDON CHRONICLE | Newsletter of the Clarendon Scholars’ Association

Garden Ball The organising committee – Laurel Kaye, Paula Rocktaeschel, Lucy Song and Rebekah Wallace – did an outstanding job, and their effort ensured the whole day was a great success. Thanks are also due to our wonderful photographer, Yin Yin Lu (Perrine Wynkel). You can find all her picture at https:// www.facebook.com/Periwynkle

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THE CLARENDON CHRONICLE | Newsletter of the Clarendon Scholars’ Association

Volume 8 Issue 3 | Trinity Term 2019

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CLARENDONS THROUGH THE AGES Who are we?

Every year, we welcome a new generation of scholars to Oxford, and likewise, every year we say farewell to our fellow scholars and friends that have completed their Oxford journey. But who are our scholars? Where do they come from, which subjects do they study?

In the pulished scholars' lists (that are incomplete, and more so for earlier years), 969 scholars are listed between 2002 and 2018. 224 of them studied for masters and 730 for DPhils. Coming from 75 countries from all continents, they joined 40 colleges and halls and studied 289 courses. The college with the most scholars is Balliol, followed by Merton and St. John's, and the most frequent countries of origin have been the US, UK and Canada.

The diversity in subjects is too large to describe, but already the list of the nine most common ones (none more than 27 scholars) speaks for itself.

And so, on the typical Clarendon meet-up, I am sitting surrounded by scholars, all studying completely different things, each coming from a different country. The table might often be that of a formal dinner, every time in a different college – or else a pub, selected by our fabolous Social Secretaries.

And what the numbers do not show is the enormous passion, curiosity and open-mindedness that seems natural to Clarendons.

This enormous diversity is one of the things I like most about Clarendon. One can see why!

—Matthias Aengenheyster Scholars by college and country of origin (countries with more than five recorded scholars)

DPhil in Clinical Medicine

DPhil in Engineering Science

DPhil in History

DPhil in Philosophy

DPhil in Geography and the Environment DPhil in English

DPhil in Computer Science

DPhil in Mathematics

MPhil in Economics

Most frequently named courses in the Clarendon scholars lists

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THE CLARENDON CHRONICLE | Newsletter of the Clarendon Scholars’ Association

NOTICEBOARD:

Clarendon Achievements across the board

Gwen Antell (DPhil in Earth Sciences) won the first place student talk at the 11th North American Paleontological Convention in Riverside, California, in June 2019. Her presentation, titled "Ecological release is undetectable in the sea after global catastrophes throughout Earth history", beat competition from more than 250 other students attending. The talk capped two years of Gwen's research, analysing the geographic distributions of bottom-dwelling marine invertebrates through the last 500 million years. Professors Wolfgang Kiessling (FAU Erlangen), Martin Aberhan (Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin), and Erin Saupe (University of Oxford) were co-authors on the work. The group tested a fundamental idea in ecology known as 'ecological release,' which states that species use more resources after competitors disappear. After an extinction event like the early Jurassic extinction pictured, surviving species would be expected to expand in geographic range size, a trait which reflects cumulative use of resources. Surprisingly, however, species that survived mass extinctions expanded as rarely as did species in background extinction intervals. The study concluded that factors such as habitat availability, rather than competition, have driven the evolutionary and macroecological patterns of marine animals.

Helena Guzik (DPhil in History of Art) was the lead organiser for "Pilgrimage and the Senses", an international, interdisciplinary conference exploring the sensory experience of pilgrimage throughout history and across cultures. The conference took place at the University of Oxford on 7th June 2019 and was sponsored by the History of Art Department, the Centre for Early Modern Studies, the Oxford Pilgrimage Studies Network, The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH), and Camino Pilgrim™ The Confraternity of St. James. Further information, including the full conference programme, is available at www.pilgrimagesenses2019.com.

Keeping with the topic of the senses, Helena also co-organised Talking Sense, an interdisciplinary research group (AY 2018–19) of Oxford doctoral students and early career researchers exploring the senses and material culture. The group consisted of several workshop days—consisting of object handling and thematic discussions of sensory studies scholarship— followed by a series of paired gallery talks at the Ashmolean Museum during Trinity Term 2019. The project was sponsored by the AHRC-TORCH Graduate Fund and was run in partnership with the Ashmolean Museum. Further information, including podcasts of the gallery talks, is available at www.talkingsenseoxford.com.

Ioana Grigoras (DPhil in Clinical Neuroscience) was part of the team of neuroscientists that presented the work of research group Breathe Oxford at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition.

The Breathing with your Brain stand explored the brain's role in perceiving breathlessness and how researchers can use neuroimaging to study the brain areas that are involved in this perception.

Ioana's favourite activity at the stand was the 3D-printed lung and brain model which showed how the lungs inflate and deflate during breathing, while the brain areas that were active during this process would light up. Additionally, musical performances and mindfulness workshops ran several times a day, to illustrate the important role of breathing in art, creativity and tranquility.

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Beata Gafka (Social Secretary, DPhil in Financial Economics) was a member of the Green Templeton's Summer 8s W1 crew.

With four bumps in four days, GTC W1 climbed up to the 8th place in Women's Div 2 (highest ever) and won Blades. These are second blades for GTC's W1 boat this year and they are looking forward to painting the river green next year!

Yinan Cao (DPhil in Experimental Psychology), led a project that unveiled for the first time how our brain uses a "witty" strategy to combine experiences registered in different senses (hearing and vision). The study entitled "Causal Inference in the Multisensory Brain", has been published in the journal Neuron in June 2019. Combining computational models with state-of-the-art neuroimaging techniques, Cao and colleagues were able to identify brain networks that integrate sensory inputs flexibly by filtering out irrelevant information of separate origins. Their findings could also shed light on the cause of conditions characterised by challenges with information processing and integration, such as autism.

Sophia Backhaus, (DPhil in Social Intervention), published several pieces of work on child health with the World Health Organisation. The publications include a piece in the Lancet Child and Adolescent Health and a WHO report on the situation of child and adolescent health in Europe that addresses gaps and achievements of ministries of health in 53 countries. Sophia presented ministries' responses related to child maltreatment and intimate partner violence at an international prevention conference in San Francisco this year. Reducing violence rates against children is a key interest of Sophia's work at the WHO and Oxford. In her research, Sophia focuses on the effectiveness of parenting interventions that promote positive parenting practices and reduce child maltreatment. Specifically, she tries to address which families benefit the most and which the least globally from these interventions. In order to gain a better understanding of the implementation and evaluation of these parenting interventions, Sophia spent two months in Thailand supporting an randomised-controlled trial.

Thomas Kittel (DPhil in English) published the article, "Early modern merchant's marks in medieval English books" in the journal Renaissance Studies (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/rest.12619).

From the early Middle Ages to the seventeenth century merchant's marks were symbols used by merchants and other tradespeople as nonverbal signatures, and in later centuries as emblems or personal device for wealthy individuals and families. This article reveals a previously unexplored history of Tudor merchant's marks entered into medieval manuscript books where they functioned as symbols of professional identity in practices of book ownership and exchange.

Aizuddin Mohamed Anuar (DPhil in Education) recently had his short story titled "Enduring" published in Mekong Review, a quarterly literary journal focusing on literature, politics and culture in Southeast Asia (https://mekongreview.com/enduring). The story was loosely based on his previous professional experience associated with rural education. For his research he performs an ethnographic study of rural young people's STEM education and aspirations for development in his home country Malaysia.

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THE CLARENDON CHRONICLE | Newsletter of the Clarendon Scholars’ Association

NOTICEBOARD:

Clarendon Achievements across the board

Marcella Giobbe (DPhil in Classical Archaeology) won the Fitch Bursary Award 2019-2020, which allows spending three months at the Fitch Laboratory of the British Archaeological School at Athens, a world-leading centre for science-based archaeology. Marcella's project focuses on the study of ancient ceramics from Campania Region (Southern Italy), by using different analytical techniques (ceramic petrography, Scanning Electron Microscopy and chemical analyses).

The Fitch Lab specialises in the analysis of inorganic materials, especially ceramics, providing an exciting research environment together with unique facilities and expertise. Furthermore, as part of the award, Marcella is invited to present her research in a seminar talk at the prestigious British Archaeological School at Athens.

Godofredo Ramizo Jr. (DPhil in Information, Communication and the Social Sciences) had a number of successes recently. Besides presenting his research (platform economies in Southeast Asian megacities) at four major conferences, he was also chosen as the Oxford representative at the Global Young Scientists Summit in Singapore, and won the Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR) Conference Scholarship. His public engagement has led him to CNN and New Naratif, and the Philippine government selected him as a resource person regarding the regulation of the platform economy.

Katherine Krauss (DPhil Classical Languages and Literature) published an article on books and bookshops in the Roman Empire. The article grew out of a seminar taken at Columbia University on the perception of the book in Roman literature, and was subsequently presented at a postgraduate conference on books in the ancient and medieval worlds at the University of Bari before being published in the volume of conference proceedings.

Xuan Wang (DPhil in DPhil in Financial Economics) organised an international academic conference at Oxford in spring 2019. "The Oxford NuCamp�Saïd Macro-finance Conference on Money, Credit, and Financial Stability" was held on the 5th and 6th of April 2019 at Exeter College. Out of over 150 submissions twelve high-quality papers (from macro theory and finance theory to empirical macro-finance studies) were selected, and the event featured speakers from academia, central banks and international Organisations.

In addition, Xuan's non-technical paper titled "Debt Restructuring for the Eurozone" (with Dimitrios Tsomocos) is forthcoming as a book chapter in "The Economics of Monetary Unions. Past Experiences and the Eurozone". The authors consider the creation of a fiscal union in the Eurozone implausible, and argue that debt restructuring can be a close substitute to a fiscal union, leading to welfare improvement in currency unions.

Emma Bluemke (DPhil in Biomedical Imaging) has been heavily involved in the recently launched app "SociAbility" (@sociabilityapp) that builds a crowdsourced database of accessibility information by making it easy to find and share detailed accessibility information for social venues and shops. The award-winning social enterprise is always looking for people to get involved, or just to spread the word.

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Clarendon Scholars' Association 2019 THE CLARENDON CHRONICLE | Newsletter of the Clarendon Scholars’ Association