Teaching & Research
Despite the considerable challenges of recent years from the pandemic, the cost-of-living and the energy crisis, we are committed to ensuring we continue to offer future generations of students the same unapparelled opportunities afforded to so many before them. We have raised £994k for teaching and research to do so.
Endowing Academic Fellowships serves the double purpose of securing the future of Oxford’s unique tutorial system, and immediately relieving pressure on College finances whilst income from conferences remains unstable. Our core objectives of teaching, learning and research present ongoing financial challenges. The Oxford tutorial system is of fundamental importance to the success of the students, the Colleges and the University. The intensity of teaching and learning is what sets Oxford apart, but providing that quality is expensive — each year Keble spends £400,000 more on teaching costs than it receives from central University funding, the current endowment and past philanthropy combined.
Alumnus Ivor Keith Whitford (1968 Chemistry) passed away in 2021, leaving a generous legacy of £800,000 towards the teaching of science at Keble, which has been allocated to a new appeal to endow a Tutorial Fellowship in Chemistry. The total cost is £1.1m, leaving just £300,000 left to raise. You can read more about some of the exciting research our Chemistry Fellows are undertaking here.
Fully-funded Tutorial Fellowships enable the College to plan with confidence, and invest in fundraising for undergraduate Bursaries and graduate Scholarships. When teaching is secured, we can focus on ensuring the brightest students, regardless of background, can benefit from this unique teaching model. Keble’s exam results and student research highlights from the last year demonstrate the talent our tutorial system continues to nurture.
Dr Felix Leach
Associate Professor of Engineering Science
Rolls-Royce Fellow, Tutor, and Director of Studies in Engineering Science
“At Keble, teaching and research go hand in hand and it is fantastic to see the outstanding achievements of our students not only in the taught parts of their courses but also in their research. The tutorial system means that our undergraduates are in regular contact with researchers at the cutting-edge and the knowledge and skills they pick up in tutorials go on to have an amazing impact on the world whether through their own research or other avenues.”
From the Senior Tutor, Dr Ali Rogers
Report on teaching, learning and research
I’m delighted to report that this year a record number of undergraduates (142) completed Finals. 59 of them were awarded first class degrees (another record) and, overall, over 93% obtained either a first or a 2.1. Some subjects did particularly well. 8 out of 12 Engineering Science students were awarded firsts, as were 6 of the 11 taking PPE. Firsts were awarded to 5 of the 8 geographers and 4 of the 5 physicists. Keble students were awarded University prizes for the best FHS performance in Computer Science, Archaeology & Anthropology, and Classical Archaeology and Ancient History (CAAH). Students in Biology, History, and Chemistry were also awarded prizes for their FHS performance.
Highlights in student research over the last year include:
Sam White (2016 MEng, DPhil Engineering Science), a researcher in the Thermal Propulsion Systems Research Group, was awarded the SAE International Award for Outstanding Student Paper honouring Phil Myers. This award recognises ‘students who demonstrate outstanding technical expertise through the presentation of a technical paper or engineering project in association with a major SAE meeting, event or student competition’. Sam’s award-winning paper explores the phenomenon of Low Temperature Heat Release (LTHR) in engines. Ultimately, if this behaviour is understood better and harnessed, there is potential for improved engine efficiency, a significant step toward more sustainable automotive technologies.
Keble student Julija Rabcuka (2021 DPhil Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics) works at the Department of Physiology, Anatomy, and Genetics. Her recent research, published in the journal Blood, has challenged notions about oxygen delivery in red blood cells and introduces new insights in the realm of transfusion and transplant medicine.
This year, Keble celebrated the achievements of Aleksander Zagajewski (2018 DPhil Biomedical Imaging). As a doctoral student with the University’s Department of Physics, Aleksander has worked on a research breakthrough that has evolved into a £1 million collaboration between three university departments. The study, conducted under Oxford Martin Programme on Antimicrobial Resistance Testing, focuses on developing a novel and rapid antimicrobial susceptibility test. Researchers displayed a method capable of detecting antibiotic resistance in as little as 30 minutes—a significant leap forward from current gold-standard approaches.