Oxford University’s medical sciences division has received a massive boost after being presented with a £750,000 government grant.

On 2nd August, David Willetts, minister for Universities and Science, announced at the British business embassy that Oxford University would be receiving the joint largest grant alongside the University of Dundee.

Along with a number of other grants ranging from £360,000-£750,000 for a selection of universities nationwide, Willetts believes that these grants will “drive growth and benefit patients. 

Announced by the Prime Minister David Cameron in December 2011 this ‘Confidence in Concept’ award forms part of the £180m programme for the government’s Life Sciences Strategy, known as the ‘Biomedical Catalyst’.

Managed by the Medical Research Council (MRC), the award is funding around 150 projects across 14 UK universities. With the aim of aiding new discoveries in laboratories transform into clinical development and testing, the grant has been welcomed by the University.

Professor Rodney Phillips, associate head of the medical sciences division at the University stated, “We are delighted to receive this large grant from the MRC. Oxford has one of the largest clinical trial portfolios in the UK…But it is not always easy for researchers to get the funding they need to see if their novel research could have promise as a new treatment for patients.”

Dr Wendy Ewart, deputy chief executive of the MRC, claims that, “The MRC’s Confidence in Concept awards will empower leading UK universities to respond quickly to emerging translational opportunities as they arise… helping to bridge the gap between discovery and development.”

The grant is only a small part of the government’s ‘Biomedical Catalyst’ funding which also includes awards by the Technology Strategy Board for eighteen small and medium sized businesses to explore the commercial opportunity that this new research could create.

David Willets argues that, “The Biomedical Catalyst will help bridge the so-called ‘valley of death’ that exists between when a bright new idea is developed in the laboratory and the point when a new drug or technology can be invested in by the market.”

The funding is under the control of the University and could be put towards a large number of projects including tests to aid the design of flu vaccines and the study of compounds to block enzymes related to the development of tumours.

Big names from the world of arts, culture and academia have lined up to support the Bodleian Libraries’ fundraising campaign to make the first collected edition of Shakespeare’s plays available online.

The campaign, Sprint for Shakespeare, was launched last week, and aims to raise £20,000 by public appeal in order to make the 1623 collection of plays, also known as the First Folio, obtainable online. With almost 1000 pages to digitise, the Sprint for Shakespeare target of £20,000 averages at £20 per page.

Once the project is completed, the volume will be available online in digital format at http://shakespeare.bodleian.ox.ac.uk, and will be accessible to anyone free of charge. Campaign leaders hope the website will become “a dynamic forum to celebrate Shakespeare” and “prepare for Oxford’s celebrations of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death in 2016”.

The First Folio included 36 of Shakespeare’s plays, published posthumously in an ambitious publishing project led by his fellow actors John Heminge and Henry Condell, many of which had not previously been published. Without it, there would have been no record of many of his most celebrated works, including Macbeth, Twelfth Night, and Measure for Measure. The Bodelian Libraries’ assert that “Quite simply, Shakespeare’s reputation in subsequent ages depends on this collection of his work.”

The launch of the campaign has received much notable support. Actress Vanessa Redgrave commented, “I am very happy to help the Bodleian Libraries raise funds so that the First Folio of Shakespeare’s plays may be read and studied online; this will be a wonderful achievement.”

Stephen Fry has too publicly shared his enthusiasm for the project, noting, “First Folio as a phrase sounds so distant from our everyday lives, but this priceless and extraordinary collection of plays turned the world upside down (or should that be the right way up?) every bit as much as Newton was to do nearly 60 or so years later.

“The works of Shakespeare, now as much as ever, tell us what it is to be alive. The ambiguity, doubt, puzzlement, pain, madness and hilarity of existence had never been expressed so well and to this day never has. To bring the First Folio, the great authoritative publication, to everyone in the world via digitisation is as noble and magnificent a project as can be imagined and I whole-heartedly support the Bodleian and all those endorsing this marvellous enterprise.”

Sir Peter Hall, Founder of the Royal Shakespeare Company, added, “The digitization of the Bodleian copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio is a project of huge importance.  It will provide an unrivalled opportunity for textual study not only for actors, directors and other theatre practitioners and their academic colleagues, but also for audiences whose love of the plays has remained undiminished over the centuries.”

Dr Sarah Thomas, Bodley’s Librarian said: ‘The Bodleian copy of the First Folio has a special place in the Library’s history.  Its pages are not only evidence of Shakespeare’s literary genius but are also a testimony of how the Bodleian built its collections over time.”

Shakespeare specialist Professor Jonathan Bate of Worcester College has also expressed his support for the campaign, calling the First Folio “the most important secular book in the history of the western world”.

He continued, “Every copy is a treasure of huge importance and, fascinatingly, because of the printing process in Shakespeare’s time, every copy has its own unique characteristics. There was a time when only advanced scholars, and people able to travel to the great libraries, had the opportunity to view the key copies of the Folio, but now the Internet has the capacity to make them available to everyone — the digitization of the Bodleian copy, with its strange and eventful history, is a great project.’

English third-year Hattie Soper added, “I think the endeavour is very worthwhile and the digitised First Folio will become a much-loved resource. As a facsimile it’s all the more precious because it’s relatively hard to come across Shakespeare’s plays in the original language. The vast majority of editions are modern translations, making the project particularly fresh and exciting.”

The colleges, including Christ Church, Merton, Lincoln, Jesus, University and St Catherine’s, say that the tax is unlawful and would take money away from academic purposes and maintenance of college buildings.

The levy, which could cost colleges millions of pounds, increases the cost of new student accommodation by introducing a charge of £140 per square metre and an additional five per cent administration charge. This could potentially affect students through rent increases on university accommodation, or decreases in the availability of university student housing.

Wilf Stephenson, treasurer of Oriel, and a member of the Estate Bursars’ committee, said “We support the need for affordable housing in Oxford, but we believe the application of a levy to student accommodation is misdirected. When applied to the Oxford colleges, draft Policy HP6 seeks to impose an unjustified tax on education and research.”

According to the colleges involved, the levy “would take money away from our mission of delivering excellence in education and research.”

University spokesman Maria Coyle told the Oxford Mail that the colleges were seeking a dialogue with the council about the Housing and Sites Plan. “Their submission concludes that the additional levy, otherwise known as the affordable housing contribution, is not consistent with the city council’s core strategy adopted in March 2011.”

“They also argue that the levy is not set out in the core strategy, nor was there any debate on this matter during the core preparation process.”

Colin Cook, City Council board member for city development, told Cherwell that, “The council made some changes to the wording of this policy which were submitted to the Inspector last week. We hope these changes address the concerns of the University and the Colleges.”

“There will be an opportunity for the University and Colleges to make any points they wish to make before the Inspector at the inquiry in September and the Inspector will then decide if any further consultation on the proposed changes is required.”

Oxford Brookes say that the policy is unjustified, and would lead to higher student rental fees, disadvantaging those with lower financial resources. In their submission to the council’s consultation they argue that “The contribution towards affordable housing also cannot be justified where provision is made on a site that is already in student accommodation as there is no impact on the local housing market.”

The city council has also been criticised this week for failing to enforce a cap on the number of students living in private rented accommodation in Oxford. Its flagship policy prevents Oxford University and Oxford Brookes from moving into new buildings until there are less than 3,000 students living in city homes.

However, earlier this month Oxford University moved into new buildings in Radcliffe House in the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, despite a reported 3,250 Oxford students living out in residential accommodation in Oxford.