Landmark gift for Oxford’s newest college
In June this year the Reuben Foundation made a landmark £80 million donation in support of Oxford’s newest college, including the establishment of a major new scholarship programme for graduate students and a significant expansion of the Reuben Scholars undergraduate programme.
Reuben College was founded as Parks College in 2019 and is the first new college to be set up at the University in three decades. Situated across a range of buildings on the historic Radcliffe Science Library site, the college will provide a new base for graduate students who are keen to pursue interdisciplinary study and address key challenges of the future. By bringing together academics and students from traditionally different disciplines to work on key themes and real-world issues, the college will foster a culture of innovation while promoting diversity, sustainability and engagement with the public.
Architect's impression of the common room in Reuben College © FJMT
Under the leadership of Professor Lionel Tarassenko, President of Reuben College, the college’s initial research themes are artificial intelligence and machine learning; environmental change; and cellular life, which includes ongoing work in understanding COVID-19 and the current pandemic. The first students will take up their places in October 2021.
As well as providing a substantial endowment for the college, the gift also expands the existing Reuben Scholarship Programme, which was established in 2012 for disadvantaged undergraduate students, and creates new graduate scholarships for students at Reuben College. The Oxford– Reuben Graduate Scholarships will help attract the world’s most talented graduate students to the University.
Commenting on the gift, Professor Louise Richardson, Vice-Chancellor of the University, said: ‘Now, more than ever, our society needs a new generation of highly educated researchers to address the global challenges that transcend national borders. This gift represents a vote of confidence in Oxford, a vote of confidence in the power of research to solve societal problems, and above all, a vote of confidence in the future.’
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