It has been a momentous year for the University, here we remember just some of the major developments which have kept Cambridge in the headlines.

January
Stephen Hawking celebrates 60th birthday

Professor Hawking addressed an audience of distinguished academics from across the world who had gathered in Cambridge to celebrate his 60th birthday.

February
Cambridge changing

The University initiated a major programme to discuss reform of its corporate governance. The programme was launched with the publication of a consultation paper which set out proposals for significant constitutional change.

March
César Milstein, 1927-2002

César Milstein, Nobel Laureate and co-inventor of the hybridoma technique for the production of monoclonal antibodies, sadly died.

April
Celebrating 75 years of the journal Antiquity

The past and present editors of Antiquity celebrated the 75th anniversary of one of the leading journals of archaeology.

May
Can the past inform the present?

Today's policy-makers should take a more long-term perspective on contemporary issues. This is the premise behind History and Policy, a new initiative launched in May by the University of Cambridge History Faculty and the Institute of Contemporary British History at the Institute of Historical Research.

June
The big screen

Researchers launched a major study to assess the benefits of screening for Type 2 diabetes. Type 2 is the most common type of diabetes, and is on the increase, due largely to the rise in obesity and sedentary lifestyles.

July
Gene hunters track the horse

Scientists have shed new light on the origins of the domestic horse. After analysing DNA samples from both ancient and modern horses, researchers have concluded that contemporary horses do not have a single ancestry, but were probably domesticated from several distinct ancestral populations.

August
Costing the earth - environmental economics

Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta, a Fellow of St John's College, was joint winner of the 2002 Volvo Environmental Prize. His co-winner was Karl-Goran Maler, Professor of Economics at the Stockholm School of Economics.

September
Law professor appointed to High Court

Professor Jack Beatson FBA QC, Rouse Ball Professor of English Law at the University of Cambridge, was appointed a Justice of the High Court. Professor Beatson will take up his appointment on 29 April 2003.

October
British scientists share Nobel Prize

Two British scientists, John Sulston and Sydney Brenner, shared the 2002 Nobel prize for medicine. It is the second year in a row that the prize has been awarded for research which began at Cambridge.

November
The fight against cancer

Cambridge scientists believe they have uncovered one of the cancer-causing secrets of the breast cancer gene BRCA2.

December
University elects new Vice-Chancellor

The Regent House, the University's academic community, approved the nomination of Professor Alison Richard, currently Provost of Yale. Professor Richard will take over from Professor Sir Alec Broers on 1 October 2003.


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