DARWIN COLLEGE

Darwin is the oldest and largest postgraduate-only College in Cambridge. ?We were also the first College to admit both men and women as students and fellows.? Founded in 1964 in the family home of Charles Darwin’s son and grandson we are now one of the larger Colleges with around 700 postgraduate students studying everything from Anglo-Saxon to Zoology.

Darwin is a very special and diverse community where students and fellows mix easily in our quiet Study Centre, our busy Dining Hall and the exuberant DarBar.? Situated centrally, close to many of the University departments (and on a convenient bus route to those further away), Darwinians delight in our peaceful hidden gardens as well as our two islands in the Cam.

DARWIN COLLEGE BOAT CLUB

The boat club has recently?celebrated its “50th” year and?goes from strength to strength.

DARWIN COLLEGE LECTURE SERIES:?

MYSTERIES OF MODERN PHYSICS BY SEAN CARROLL

One of the great intellectual achievements of the twentieth century was the theory of quantum mechanics, according to which observational results can only be predicted probabilistically rather than with certainty. Yet, after decades in which the theory has been successfully used on an everyday basis, most physicists would agree that we still don’t truly understand what it means. I will talk about the source of this puzzlement, and explain why an increasing number of physicists are led to an apparently astonishing conclusion: that the world we experience is constantly branching into different versions, representing the different possible outcome of quantum measurements. This could have important consequences for quantum gravity and the emergence of spacetime.

Sean Carroll is a theoretical physicist at the California Institute of Technology, and an External Professor at the Santa Fe Institute. He is the host of the weekly Mindscape podcast. He is the author of several books, most recently Something Deeply Hidden: Quantum Worlds and the Emergence of Spacetime.

DARWIN COLLEGE LECTURE SERIES:

GAMES ANIMALS PLAY BY NICK DAVIES

In the final paragraph of The Origin of Species, Charles Darwin leaves us with the vision of Nature as an “entangled bank”, where individuals struggle to survive and reproduce in a world of competitors, predators and parasites. In this lecture, I shall explore the games animals play in these struggles. Some are behavioural games, resulting in an extraordinary mix of cooperation and conflict in animal families, where sexual partners and parents and their offspring sometimes help one another, but sometimes cheat. Some are games played over evolutionary time, where strategies escalate over the generations between competitors, and between enemies and their victims, leading to extremes, not only in weaponry and cruelty, but in ornamentation and beauty, too. I shall illustrate these themes especially with examples of mating games in birds and evolutionary arms races between cuckoos and their hosts, to show how the rules of the games can be unravelled by a combination of bird watching and field experiments.

Nick Davies is Professor of Behavioural Ecology at the University of Cambridge, and a Fellow of Pembroke College. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society and in 2015 he gave the Croonian Lecture. His book “Cuckoo – Cheating by Nature” was published recently by Bloomsbury.

In the second term of each academic year, since 1986, Darwin College has organised a series of eight public lectures, built around a single theme, with a multi-disciplinary approach. To view further lectures from the collection, visit the?Darwin College Lecture Series YouTube channel.

DARWIN- “A YEAR IN THE LIFE”

ACCOMMODATION AND FACILITIES AT DARWIN

Accommodation?

The College aims to offer all new students the chance of living in College accommodation during their first year. All members undertaking a course that continues beyond one year (e.g. PhD) may make an application for accommodation beyond their first year, but availability is limited.

A?wide range of type of accommodation is offered, with options that should suit most budgets including : single room with shared facilities, single en suite room with shared kitchen, one person flat, two person / family flat, studio.

We currently have 282 College rooms on or near the main College site, a further 32 rooms and 12 Studios situated at St Edmunds’ College a short distance away, and 24 self-contained flats consisting of 15 one-bed flats and 9 couples/family flats located close to the main College. Once you have been made an offer to be a full-time student at Darwin, you will be invited to submit your preferences for accommodation based on Price, Location and Facilities. These enable us to try to match you with the most suitable property for your time at Darwin, however the overriding consideration is to offer some form of college accommodation to the maximum number of members.

Darwin has a number of rooms located in several different buildings which can be accessible for those with medical needs or for disabled students. Rooms with modifications for those with physical disabilities are located on the ground floor and may be en suite or have shared facilities. There is currently no step-free accommodation on the main College site, but a major lift project is planned for 2020. Requests to bring a registered Emotional Support Animal (ESA) onto University and/or College property will not normally be granted but will be considered on a case by case basis.

Other Facilities

The Main College site is the location for most communal facilities. The buildings date back as far as the late eighteenth century, and surround an idyllic garden with river frontage and two private Islands. Inside, there is a common room, a student bar, a dining hall, facilities for music practise, a library and study centre, seminar rooms as well as services such as the Porters Lodge. Students have access to a wide-range of sports clubs including rowing, football and basketball, and can use the college-owned punts, kayaks and canoes which are moored on the river in the gardens. The social hub of the college is the bar, one of the last in Cambridge to be run by the students – a wide range of events, promotions and entertainment is provided throughout the year, including an annual May Ball.

WHAT MAKES A DARWINIAN?

Ryan Prestil, DCSA President 2019-20, shares his thoughts

In my years as a PhD student at Darwin, I’ve found that there is far more to being a Darwinian than just studying here (although that is a prerequisite). Students here come from around the world and from every walk of life, and yet there are some striking similarities that newcomers always notice. The first is that we’re easy to talk to—we’re all passionate about something, we all have an interesting story to tell, and we all have a wide enough breadth of knowledge that the conversation is never dull.

We also go hard in all we do, from playing on one of the many college sports teams (who knew croquet can be just as intense as rowing!?), to spending late nights in the lab or writing, to similarly late nights debating philosophy or politics at DarBar, our (in)famous college bar. The heart of the college’s social life, there is truly no better place to unwind than DarBar. You can always count on finding a game of pool or table tennis plus weekly art and board game nights; not to mention there are always familiar faces and the best prices in town (￡1.20 for a pint every Monday!). But more than that too; we look out for one another, whether that be picking each other up after an experiment goes awry or by getting each other home after a night out.

No matter how busy we get, we also take the time to stop and smell the flowers—often literally. In the Darwin gardens, there’s seldom a day in which something isn’t in bloom, and it’s easy to forget how close we are to city center when our little bend of the river is so quiet and our air is so fragrant. It’s truly heaven to enjoy a coffee (or a full platter of brunch) on the lawn on a sunny day and watch the punts glide by. There are also plenty of opportunities to stay active, like the weekly salsa lessons, yoga classes, college kayaks, and many more.

Finally, Darwinians cherish our lack of hierarchy. Fellows and students can have conversations as equals, and the administration always includes students in their decision-making—something I’ve experienced first-hand as the President of the Darwin College Students’ Association. We’re lucky to have one of the largest student communities in Cambridge, and that makes us able to provide funds for our many clubs and societies, organise BBQs and parties, and provide welfare support for students.

Above all, we’re proud to have made Darwin more than just our college—it’s our home. If you’re a prospective student, just ask yourself if you’d like to be a part of a community of interesting, motivated, and amicable people. If the answer is yes, I’m sure you’ll fit right in.

THREE THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT DARWIN!

Bee hives:? The College has its own bees and the honey provided is used in the College kitchens.

Allottment:? If you fancy growing your own vegetables then this is the place.

Derek Scott Sports Quiz:?Named after our current Head Porter this event??is held each October in the darBar with a trophy for the winner.