21.11.24
Tuesday 19 September 2023
The start of the new academic year is traditionally a time when St Catharine’s welcomes new students and Fellows as members of the College community. This year St Catharine’s is delighted to welcome over 250 new students, and to announce the admission of an Honorary Fellow, two Official Fellows and a Junior Research Fellow.
Student admissions
St Catharine’s is looking forward to the arrival of 133 new undergraduate students by the start of October. Students from state schools make up 80.4% of UK undergraduates admitted this year (the University’s current target is to reach 69.1% by 2024–25).
In addition, approximately 120 postgraduate students are expected to be admitted to St Catharine’s this year (against our annual target of 105). It is typical for postgraduate courses to start at different times of the year, although most are due to start this month.
Dr Holly Canuto (2020), Senior Tutor at St Catharine’s, said:
“I am pleased to welcome our newest students to St Catharine’s and look forward to meeting many of them as the new academic year gets underway. Everyone at St Catharine’s is committed to helping our students realise their full academic potential and making sure they have all the support they need to make the most of their time with us.”
Matriculation, the ceremonial admission of students to the College, is scheduled for 2 October for postgraduate students and 3 October for undergraduate students.
Meet a few of our newest students
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Pippa Lloyd from Bolton will be starting her undergraduate degree in Economics |
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Aman Akram from Barking will be starting his undergraduate degree in Economics after participating in the STEM SMART programme last year. |
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Dien Min Loong from Malaysia will be studying for an MPhil in World History |
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Kirsten Burgess from South Africa will be starting her PhD in Chemistry |
Admissions to the Fellowship
An admission ceremony will be held in the Chapel on 1 October for four newly-elected Fellows who have not been formally admitted to the College on an earlier occasion. This year is particularly special because the ceremony will begin with the induction of Sir John Benger (1979, English), officially marking the start of his term as the 40th Master of St Catharine’s.
The Master and the Official and Professorial Fellows of St Catharine’s serve as trustees and are members of the College’s Governing Body. Governing Body may confer Honorary Fellowships on individuals who have achieved at a very high level in their field, and offers Junior Research Fellows to support individuals who have recently completed their PhD or who are close to completion (who need not have studied at St Catharine’s).
Professor Katharine Dell (1996), who as President of St Catharine’s will preside over the first part of the ceremony on 1 October, commented:
“It is an honour to play my part in this important milestone in the College’s 550-year history as we induct Sir John as our new Master. In the first part of the ceremony on 1 October, I will be representing Governing Body and officially give him the authority to fulfil his responsibilities. There will then be a – hopefully solemn and swift – version of musical chairs as I recuse myself and his first act as Master will be the admission of our newest Fellows, shortly followed by undergraduate and postgraduate matriculations.”
The Rt Hon Lord Justice Horner (1975, Law) was called to the Bar in 1979, where he had a wide and varied practice with a particular interest in commercial disputes, Chancery and professional negligence cases and personal injury litigation. He was appointed a Q.C. in 1996, a High Court judge in 2012 and a Lord Justice of Appeal for Northern Ireland in 2022. He has been President of the Lands Tribunal (from 2015-2022), Visitor at the University of Ulster, Chairman of the Judges’ Council, Chairman of Northern Ireland sub-committee of European Network of Councils for the Judiciary and a Coroner appointed to hear legacy Inquests arising out of the Troubles.
He explained, “Almost half a century has passed since I arrived as a callow youth at St Catharine’s to be interviewed by Gus Caesar, Sir John Baker and Dickie Gooderson. The three short years that followed had a profound effect on my life – I enjoyed the very best of tuition. This provided the sure and sound foundations for my career in the law. I also met my future wife, Karin, and I made lifelong friends. I have every reason to be grateful to Catz. Becoming an honorary fellow of my College will be a highlight not just of my legal career but also of my life.”
Dr Pablo Olmos has been elected an Official Fellow and will join the College’s Governing Body. He received his PhD in Economics from Yale University, specialising in Economic Development and Econometrics, and where he also served as a Teaching Fellow. His research studies the relationship between time allocation, income and economic development. Another current research interest is understanding the effects of reducing working hours on both the wellbeing of workers and the productivity of firms. Prior to joining St Catharine’s, he was a Senior Associate at Charles River Associates, where he worked for five years delivering world-class consultancy services in relation to many of the most high-profile competition cases in recent years.
He said, “I am thrilled to be joining St Catharine's as a Teaching and Research Fellow in Economics. While the last five years working in economic consulting were really stimulating, I have been missing the opportunity to reflect deeply about economic issues that academia enables. Joining St Catharine's Fellowship feels like a fantastic opportunity to resume and progress my academic career.”
Dr Doriane Zerka has also been elected an Official Fellow and will likewise join the Governing Body. She completed her first degree in German and Hispanic Studies (European Studies) at Queen Mary, University of London and her MPhil in European Literature and Culture at the University of Cambridge. After receiving her PhD in German and Hispanic Studies from King’s College London in 2019, she worked as Lecturer in German at Queen Mary, University of London. Between 2020 and 2023, she held a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship at the University of Cambridge. She works broadly on medieval literature from the German-speaking and Iberian worlds through a comparative, transcultural and transtemporal lens.
She commented, “During my time as postdoctoral associate, I was able to get a glimpse of the warmth of the community at St Catharine’s, the brilliance of its students and the diversity of its Fellowship. I am absolutely delighted to have the opportunity to strengthen my ties with St Catharine’s and participate actively in College life as a Fellow.”
Dr Jan Huertas will be the College’s newest Junior Research Fellow. He previously completed a BSc in Human Biology and an MSc in Bioinformatics for Health Sciences at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, Spain. He then moved to the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine, in Münster, Germany, where he was awarded his PhD in Theoretical Chemistry. In 2021, he joined Professor Rosana Collepardo-Guevara’s group at the University’s Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, and is currently using multiscale molecular dynamics to study the regulation of chromatin function and structure.
He added, “Being a JRF at St Catharine's gives me the opportunity to get involved with the Cambridge community at all levels, to teach some of the next generation of scientists and to learn from the diverse, multidisciplinary experts that are already Fellows here. I'm really looking forward to being a part of the Catz community!”
