Already making a difference

Here are some of the exciting projects that the donation has made possible.

Student Recruitment

In 2008, the Admissions Office was able to appoint the College's first full-time Schools Liaison Officer, to identify and attract high quality applicants from the Secondary and HE sectors in the UK and abroad. This post is currently held by Anna Coyle, who graduated with a History degree from Murray Edwards College in 2011. She attended a large mixed comprehensive school in Cheshire and is deeply committed to letting those in schools know about the benefits and opportunities that Cambridge offers.

"My role is to encourage gifted women to apply to Murray Edwards College, regardless of school or background. I believe that personal contact with University representatives can provide an invaluable source of information and support for aspiring students and their teachers. I am committed to providing that support and I am proud to represent Murray Edwards College." Anna Coyle (2011), Schools Liaison Officer

If you would like to find out more about the various events hosted by Murray Edwards College, or to invite Anna to visit a school in your area, please get in touch with her on: 01223 769020 or at: slo@murrayedwards.cam.ac.uk

Junior Research Fellowships

Due to the heavy demands on resources as a result of the building works in the Dome, kitchens and Library, the College had to stop offering any new Junior Research Fellowships. The programme was restarted in 2005 thanks to the Edwards' donation. One Stipendiary Research Fellowship is now offered annually, alternating between the Arts and Sciences. These highly sought-after Fellowships offer a rare opportunity for an academic to focus on research at the beginning of their career, and are the seed-corn of the academic world.

"I am an economist with a general interest in food security and in famines in Africa. My research is on Malawi where I travel regularly to conduct micro-level case studies in rural areas." Zoltan Tiba, Research Fellow in African Studies

"I joined Murray Edwards College in October 2008 to pursue a three-year research project on migration between Alsace and Algeria in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. I am particularly interested in settler culture in the colonies and the ways in which the idea of Empire took root on a local level in France, themes which have importance for understanding issues of inclusion and exclusion, citizenship and immigration in Europe today." Alison Carrol, Research Fellow in History

College Teaching Officers' Salaries and Fellows' Travel and Research Grants

Thanks to the additional income provided by this donation, salaries for all permanent College Teaching Officers have been improved and brought in line with the University scale. Funding available for Fellows' Travel and Research Grants has been increased to £500 p.a. for each Fellow. Investing in these important areas enables the College to remain competitive, both within the University and globally with other academic institutions, in recruiting the best teaching staff and providing our students with the best quality of education available.

Murray Edwards College/New Hall is a Registered Charity (Registration No. 1137530).