Funding support for local bus services in Oxford faces a “cliff edge” that could lead to further services being axed and a “slow economic recovery” from the pandemic, the city council has warned the government.
The council’s statement claims that the planned withdrawal of pandemic-related Bus Recovery Grant funding, which is due to expire on April 5, may force service providers to cut a large number of available routes, and “would significantly impact bus users and the city’s major employers”.
It also suggested the termination of grant support would undercut efforts to reduce congestion and carbon emissions in Oxford, such as plans to invest in an all-electric fleet of buses under the government’s ZEBRA scheme.
Writing to the government, the council wants “all necessary” financial assistance to be maintained until the end of March 2023, to allow for the recovery of passenger numbers hit by the introduction of Plan B measures in December, which are currently thought to be at only two-thirds of their pre-COVID levels.
Oxford Bus Company has said the funding shortfall may require cuts of up to 30%. This would be on top of previous changes to services in January, which entailed the closure of a number of routes, brought on by a “perfect storm” of the pandemic and difficulties in the recruitment of drivers.
In a letter to the Treasury, Liz Leffman, leader of Oxfordshire County Council, called the scale of potential cuts “unprecedented”, and suggested that not only all of Oxford’s park and ride services, but more than 40 routes, including key services to university hospitals, could also be under threat.
“Local authorities, including Oxfordshire County Council, have worked closely with bus operators over the past two years to support them through the pandemic, in the expectation that the government’s National Bus Strategy would bring forward improvements”, she claimed. “It would be devastating for this hard work to be undone through the removal of support before we hear the outcome of our Bus Service Improvement Plan and future funding for bus services”.
The county council is in the process of a bid to secure £56 million from the government’s £3bn National Bus Strategy (‘Bus Back Better’) funding pot, as part of its Bus Service Improvement plan. The Observer had previously reported, however, that available funding has shrunk to £1.4bn, with the amount of funding bids submitted totalling more than £7bn.
Councillor Tom Hayes, Deputy Leader of Oxford Council and Cabinet Member for Green Transport said: “Bus travel is a crucially important way of getting around the city, and the City Council and Oxford’s major employers are very concerned about dangers posed to the bus network by a cliff edge withdrawal of Government support”.
On November 11, 1975, after thirteen years, two months, and three weeks of fighting, Portugal granted Angola independence. That evening Ludovica Fernandes Mano bricked herself into her apartment, where she remained in isolation for twenty-eight years. These are the real-life events behind José Eduardo Agualusa’s novel Teoria Geral do Esquecimento (A General Theory of Oblivion), published in Portuguese in 2012, and translated into English in 2015.
Though based upon Ludovica’s ten-volume diary (a first-hand account of the experience), Agualusa’s narrative is ‘pure fiction’. Although the novel is not a traditional dystopia, since the place is not imaginary, nor are the events set in the future, much of the story feels dystopian, largely taking place in Ludo’s mind. The novel’s dystopian elements – apocalypse, isolation, and political violence – are both uncomfortable and terrifying. The novel demonstrates how pervasive dystopian ideas have become in writings about the past as well as the future – histories of resistance, isolation, and friendship.
The origins of the dystopian genre can be traced back to Thomas More’s Utopia (1516) where Raphael tells Morus about his travels to island of Utopia in the New World, shaped like a ‘crescent moon’. ‘Utopia’, derived from Greek, simultaneously connotes the ‘good place’ and ‘no place’, suggesting that an ideal society may only exist in philosophies of the mind. This idea is connected to Socrates’s discussion of hypothetical city-states in Plato’s Republic, culminating in the ideal state of Kallipolis. The beginnings of the dystopian genre are linked to ideas of colonialism, conquest, and empire – Raphael’s journey was inspired by early sixteenth-century European voyages to the Americas. Though the island of Utopia is found in the distant and largely unknown provinces of the New World, the society on the island reflects many of the social, religious, and political concerns of sixteenth-century Europe. This is achieved using tools of irony and satire, highly important for another forerunner of the genre, Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’sTravels (1726).
Emerging out of a science fiction context, early twentieth-century writers of dystopia used the genre to deliver oblique social commentary on gender, race, the environment, and political oppression. Although these dystopias are often uncomfortable to read, they are very influential in fuelling political activism. Herland (1915) describes a peaceful society composed entirely of women, threatened by the sexual desire of three male visitors. Silent Spring (1962) greatly influenced the environmental movement and the banning of DDT in the United States (a cancerous insecticide used in agriculture). Costumes inspired by those described in The Handmaid’s Tale (1985) are still used as powerful symbols in pro-choice rallies around the world. The rise of the genre in the twentieth century may be attributed to sociopolitical factors, including factors such as the devastating effects of World War I and II, post-war rebuilding, the Cold War, the rise of the nation-state, developments in technology, and a greater public awareness of the different methods by which governments, totalitarian or otherwise, incarcerate dissenting subjects.
In the cultural moment of the pandemic it may be an attractive idea to compare present society to fictional dystopias. The sense of fear, the limits imposed on people’s rights, the ubiquity of screens, widespread surveillance, the spin tactics of the press, and the hypocrisy of leading political figures are all features of a dystopia. In addition, many governments around the world espouse systemic racism, homophobia, transphobia, and misogyny, implemented by the state through violent means of oppression and violence.
As narratives such as Nineteen-Eighty Four (1949) show, it is sometimes uncertain whether minority groups will overcome their oppressors and found a new social order upon a different set of moral values. The free will and self-determinism of individuals and minority groups is key to overcoming oppressive and violent political structures. In the twenty-first century, dystopias may be seen to empower minority individuals and communities to resist systemic violence.
There is no doubt that, in recent years, dystopias have become more inclusive, with more diverse and intersectional protagonists. The Young Adult series Noughts and Crosses (2001-2021), televised by the BBC in 2020, demonstrates the popularity of more diverse iterations of the genre. In particular, Young Adult dystopias with BAME or LGBTQ+ protagonists provide inspiring role models for young activists looking to undermine discriminatory and marginalizing societal structures. Despite the colonial beginnings of the genre, it has since developed into an inclusive and diverse space for empowerment. One of the reasons we continue to read dystopias is familiarity – the dystopian tropes, settings and narratives are well-known – a post-apocalyptic world, environmentally, politically and/or socially damaged, in which an individual or group attempts to survive and prosper despite the odds that are stacked against them. This narrative of struggle to emancipation/redemption is expected, and therefore offers a degree of comfort to the consumer of dystopia.
At the end of A General Theory of Oblivion, the protagonist Ludo eventually emerges, almost blind, from her twenty-eight-year isolation when Sabalu, a young boy, attempts to burgle her apartment which he presumes to be abandoned. They go on to form a close friendship. In a dream in the final chapter, Ludo imagines she is a little girl on a fictional beach – her personal utopia. The final paragraph is an overwhelmingly positive image of the value and power of human relationships. “The day is born, Ludo. Let’s go”, says Sabalu, “And they went, the two of them, towards the light, laughing and talking, like two people about to head out to sea.” And so, although their vision of the future is often terrifying, at the end of every dystopian narrative lies the comforting possibility of freedom.
Another week, more drama at the Kassam for Oxford United. The men’s team might have slumped to two disappointing defeats and now find themselves out of the playoff places but the women’s side bounced back from cup defeat and the U-18s secured an impressive victory over league leaders Bournemouth.
The week started full of optimism but that certainly took a hit at the Wham stadium under the lights on Tuesday night. The U’s had hoped to bolster their promotion push but a goal from John O’Sullivan on 28 minutes made things difficult before Ethan Hamilton wrapped up the three points for Accrington in added time.
Ahead of the men’s game on Saturday morning, the U-18s won 2-1 against Youth Alliance league leaders Bournemouth. Conditions were extremely tough but it was the Yellows who opened the scoring before half-time. Bournemouth did get back into it with an equalizer after the break but Gatlin O’Donkor slotted home a penalty late on to blow the title race wide open.
More than 10,000 descended on the Kassam for the third time in a row and they saw an electric game. The first half saw Oxford twice take the lead before being pegged back. Things tightened up after the break but Bolton’s Amadou Bakayoko stole three points against the run of play with just a matter of minutes left on the clock.
The women’s side were looking to bounce back from their cup defeat last week and got off to the perfect start three minutes in through Beth Lumsden. That lead would only last ten minutes but Daisy McLachlan headed home from the corner just after the hour mark and the Yellows held on for another three points.
So, the women’s side remains second in the table and now just two points off league leaders Ipswich with a game in hand. They travel to Hounslow on Wednesday night as they look to continue their incredible run of league form. Meanwhile, the men will look to bounce back from their back-to-back defeats when they travel to 14th-placed Charlton.
Match Report: Oxford United 2-3 Bolton Wanderers
A Billy Bodin masterclass wasn’t enough for Oxford United as they slumped to back-to-back defeats in yet another dramatic game at the Kassam that was won in the dying moments by Bolton Wanderers.
The travelling fans sold out their end and were in great voice but Billy Bodin quickly silenced them. He stepped up to take a free kick on the edge of the box and curled in brilliantly at the far post to continue his sensational run of form.
The lead didn’t last long though and after just thirty seconds Declan John, who was mightily impressive all afternoon, found himself with space on the overlap and slotted past Stevens.
Chances continued to present themselves for both sides and Brannagan nearly got himself on the scoresheet yet again but forced a stunning save from Bolton’s debuting goalkeeper James Trafford.
The U’s bounced back on 28 minutes. Sensational free-flowing football saw Billy Bodin receive the ball from Gavin Whyte and work just enough space to get a shot away and catch out the Bolton keeper again, this time finding the bottom-left corner of the net.
This time the Yellows did manage to hold on for six minutes but after more brilliant attacking football the American full-back Marlon Fossey, on loan from Fulham, brought the ball down inside the box and curled a delightful effort past Stevens in the Oxford net. He celebrated his first professional goal in acrobatic style in front of the travelling support.
The sides went in level at half-time and the second half saw a much tighter affair. Oxford dominated but neither side was able to must the open style of the first 45 with breaks in play and yellow cards galore making things difficult.
The U’s had plenty of chances but took none and were made to pay four minutes from time. Bolton hit back on the counter with Fossey down the right and a pin-point cross whipped into the box was swept home by Amadou Bakayoko to steal the three points at the death.
United had scrappy chances late on from a series of corners but couldn’t make the most of them and now find themselves out of the play-off places. They travel to Charlton on Saturday and will look to climb back into the congested race for play-off places in League One.
It’s three P.M. on a grey Tuesday, and Anjali Ramanathan is trying to pose naturally for a photoshoot. As naturally as one can while trying to exude determined but not unapproachable.
“This doesn’t come naturally to me at all, you know.”
The Thames ripples behind us. Rowers slice through the river, our photographer clicks away.
“Actually, let’s not do Christ Church behind us. It’s a bit bait.”
The considerations of a would-be student politician. A student, who, despite being a self-declared introvert, has been thrust to the very top of student politics. President of the Christ Church JCR, prospective candidate for the presidency of the Oxford Union — Ramanathan wants to run things.
Oxford’s seagulls screech. We introduce ourselves. Raised in a first-generation immigrant family in the California suburbs, Ramanathan wasn’t always outgoing. It was music and singing that familiarised her with crowds. School debating soon followed. And activism of course. Not the kind of big, fix-the-world activism; it was the local park. A legacy of redlining, use of the park was the exclusive prerogative of the rich, mostly white, neighbourhood next door. A campaign of protests, speeches and urban art followed. She likes to think that it was the reason the ACLU and NAACP sued the city. The park is now open to all.
With a mind set on a career in law, the transition to Oxford was a natural one. In the US, studying law is only possible after an undergraduate spent doing an unrelated subject. Here, papers in legal theory are available from the start. And the choice of Christ Church? Mostly because of the Law library and what she had read on The Student Room.
Telling these stories, the words tumble out. Upright and taut, her only movements are expressive gestures and the occasional smile. Speaking of her activism and the issues she cares about, she is a confident, practised storyteller. The waterfall is punctuated only by an occasional pause to catch a breath, and a quick glance to ensure that I’m still listening
“I’ve known that I’ve wanted to go into law for a long time. I couldn’t think of anything I wanted to study for four years, other than law.”
We switch topics. The reason for this profile was, after all, the scandals ripping through Christ Church. Her tone changes. The college briefs her on these topics weekly, and the apprehension shows. Wanting to become president of the Christ Church JCR, she claims, was almost an afterthought. With a mom who made her lifelong friends the first day at Uni, Ramanathan says that her priority as a fresher was ensuring she ‘had a social life’. The JCR presidency really only occurred to her in Trinity. A friend from Christ Church, ‘Tati’, got her interested in student politics, both as a platform for change now and for success later. Anjali decided to run definitively only a few weeks before the vote.
The election was never close. Once she won, she became one of the public faces of a college embroiled in the most polarising faculty dispute in recent memory– one which only reached its conclusion last week Friday.
When did she find out, I want to know, how grave things were?
“I sat down after the election with the outgoing president. She told me that I don’t need to make it my business.”
Does it feel like your business?
“Yes.”
Cautiously, she mentions reforms to college governance, aimed at ensuring that all those accused of sexual misconduct are held accountable in the same fashion. She notes that the Dean, with more power than anyone, is held accountable in a way different from any other member of the college. I parry that every investigation held by the college had cleared the dean. What more could they do? She pauses. This is a different Ramanathan. One who has to juggle interest groups, the pressures of a grand college, a critical student body. Apparently, that same JCR executive had to discuss her doing this article. She seems careful, unsure of speaking with the same ease about the opinions of others as she speaks about her own.
“I hope that this isn’t the focus of your profile.”
Image: Cyril Malík
The Union came later. Starting off as Sponsorship and Press officer in MT21, she has seen one of the most meteoric ascents in recent society history. Elected Secretary – one of four officerial positions – after just eight weeks on committee, she is now seen by some as the frontrunner in the race to become president in MT22. But for what? In a university characterised by careerism, it seems a strange place for someone whose background is in activism. Ramanathan disagrees. According to her, the speakers you interview help determine the discourse in Oxford. She seems committed to making the Union more accessible, more relevant, more interesting. In an institution known for its obsession with itself, Ramanathan aims to ensure that its primary goal remains discussion and challenging opinions.
But, even as she expands on the campaign, she stays an enigma. Reservation marks her answers, and occasionally it feels as if she says what she thinks she should be saying. It doesn’t seem like inauthenticity, but perhaps a bit of awkwardness with her chosen extracurricular. There doesn’t seem to be much of the ease or gregarious charm that characterises some of her fellow ‘hacks’. I ask her whether she enjoys hacking; the answer is a harsh ‘no’ and a look that leaves no doubt as to what she thinks of my question.
We’re wrapping up. She speaks of the music she likes to unwind to (Jazz, the live album ‘Ella at Zardi’s), the events she enjoys (Lighting the christmas tree at Christ Church) and her relationship with her slate (‘Bar one, I didn’t meet any through the Union’ — They were friends before they were a team). The confidence returns. I ask about internships, she mentions a summer with the public defender’s office in Santa Clara. What kind of cases did she work on, I wonder?
“Homicide.”
Most lawyers opt for corporate law, where the money is. Few students, and fewer still at Oxford, spend summers working at an office which defends those who cannot afford a defence. This, clearly, is different. She speaks of still being in touch with those she met that summer, and attending a wedding of someone she worked with. I assume a colleague. She corrects me.
“Oh, he was a client.”
This client (respecting confidentiality she calls him ‘our guy’), a young man from a bad neighbourhood, was facing a 25-to-life sentence. I find it hard to hide my surprise. All this stuff about whether or not someone will vote in a Union election suddenly seems very small.
Involved in an altercation with another individual who had been harassing him, ‘our guy’ had hit him on the head with a concrete drainpipe, killing his harasser. Ramanathan’s team claimed self-defence. He was looking at spending the rest of his life in jail. Thanks to the efforts of the public defender’s office he got nine years for manslaughter instead. Before being taken to serve his sentence, ‘our guy’ decided to marry his long-term partner. Thankful for their work, he invited Ramanathan and the rest of the team. It was the celebration of a young couple, and a formative experience for Ramanathan as a young lawyer.
Finally, it seems as if the mask has come off. The many languages she speaks (English, Mandarin, Arabic, Tamil, Japanese), the two months she spent studying in Morocco, the countless hours spent doing vocal training for her jazz singing — she opens up about life beyond the Oxford bubble. It paints the picture of a hardworking, original, different student. It is a far cry from the caution that marked her early conversation.
Undoubtedly, there is some uncertainty in her speaking on governance, an unhappiness when discussing hacking, an awkwardness when she had to balance her opinion with her job. But rather than the artificiality one initially suspects, it suddenly seems grounded in earnestness. Either out of unwillingness or inability, she knows the rules of the glib student politics game, the superficial charm and easy promises, and refuses to play along. Perhaps that’s what makes her so good at it.
We’ve been chatting for a while. By now, both Cyril the photographer and the clouds are long gone. Left behind are a bright Oxford sky and a determined young Indian-American. Anjali Ramanathan wants to fix things. Not the world – at least not for now. Just our little corner of the country, the issues that matter to students.
It’s time to call it a day. She hesitates.
“I hope I didn’t do too badly.”
The considerations of the would-be student politician.
When I showed my friend the dress I was going to wear for the Glitterball (a floor length beige dress covered in rainbow sequins that I bought from a charity shop for £15 for the Year 13 prom that never happened), he said it was gorgeous. His first question, naturally, was: ‘What shoes are you going to wear with it?’. I pointed down at my feet and mumbled something about how I thought I’d just wear these: my clunky platform Chelsea boot docs that I drag along with me in my day-to-day life. His response? ‘Ciara… as your friend, I am not going to let you wear that dress with those shoes.’ I was taken aback. The Glitterball dress code was to wear formal clothes but that feeling ‘most comfortable’ overrides this. My docs couldn’t be more comfortable – so, surely that would be ok?
I have a real problem with heels. I can count the number of times I’ve worn them on one hand and the last time was a Winter Ball in sixth form. I refuse. I say it’s out of principle when asked: heels are designed to alter a woman’s posture; they make it more difficult to run away in danger; they’re meant to make our legs look longer and make us look taller and so more desirable to the male gaze. All of this is true, of course, but it doesn’t change the fact that, if I’m being really honest, I really love the way they look and wish I could just chant ‘beauty is pain’ and get through it. And what I find even more exciting about heels, as with most queer fashion, is they are no longer limited to female-identifying people by any means, and so reclaiming heels as something just simply pretty to look at becomes a whole lot easier because so many people have recently shown how all-inclusive they can be. Not that Elton John and Prince didn’t already make wearing heels so effortlessly cool. I still don’t understand how they, or anyone else, danced in them, though.
So, my reason for not wearing heels (I had to protest this issue to other friends, too) didn’t really stand up. Especially when I got my mum to bring me a selection of her heels from home to try on. My mum, who probably has a decade-spanning record-breaking shoe collection, responded to my message asking this favour with ‘I like a challenge’ and a selection of shoe emojis. I think I made her day. I subsequently spent a whole day in a pair of beautiful silver boots, with the teeniest tiniest heel you’ve ever seen, and I’ve never received more compliments on a pair of shoes, while my toes felt pinched and I toppled a little bit at every step.
The point is: what made the Glitterball so exciting to me was that it wasn’t a stuffy, binary formal attire gig. It wasn’t black tuxedos and patent brogues, ball gowns and staggering shoes and mini bags that literally cannot fit more than a tissue inside (what actually is the point of these?). I am lucky to feel very easily accepted by the external world in my gender expression and in what I wear, but for many people this is not the case because, well, people are very quick to judge, and non-binary conceptions of gender and style are still relatively ‘controversial’, for want of a better word. I really loved that, at Glitterball, you could wear pretty much anything and you wouldn’t have stood out. And there was glitter. Everywhere.
A college ball must be so intimidating to those who feel that a pre-requisite to attendance is to choose the ‘male’ or ‘female’ manifestation of black tie and perfect it. There is really no need for this stress, whatever traditions we’re trying to maintain. Why shouldn’t we wear whatever we want?
I wore my docs. Of course I wore my docs. And, actually, so did half of the people there. Who knew I was being such a queer stereotype? I wore my docs and danced the night away to Sisters of Funk (who are unbearably cool and could form the basis of an article themselves); I danced the night away to the ABBA tribute band; I even danced the night away in Plush, in my docs and my full-length dress (dress: I’m so sorry for putting you through this horrifying experience). I also left the charity shop tag in my dress the whole night – not knowingly, but anything goes at Glitterball, right?
Yes, I recently started going to the gym. No, I did not start going on a ‘new year, new me’ whim. No, I would not recommend it, or at least not for its intended purpose. In very typical fashion I started going to the gym as a means of procrastination, and as a result of slight coercion. The start of this term meant the deadline for my coursework, and the realisation that I might actually have to start doing something for my dissertation. So, as a means of combatting this ‘stress’, or lack of academic motivation, I decided that the gym was the place for me.
For years I have heard people singing its praise. ‘Working out just clears my mind’, ‘you feel so good afterwards’, and my person favourite (if only for the wilful self-deception it must take to say), ‘running is actually really fun when you get into it’, are all examples of the lies I have been told. Nevertheless, I did manage my first trip, and then my second, and even my third – as I write this I am delaying the proposed fourth. I have not learnt that I enjoy the treadmill, I have not learnt that I enjoy the static bike, and I have not learnt to enjoy communal showers (too many school flashbacks with that one). What I have learnt – or more accurately confirmed as this is not a new hobby – is that I do enjoy people-watching.
The gym has been added to my people-watching hotspots. For context, also featured on this list is King’s Cross Station (for that matter any station, I just happen to frequent this most regularly), the airport (literally any airport is a place to witness chaos), and a foreign beach. The latter one only applies to those beaches outside of the UK – the comparison of Brit abroad and local resident is something that cannot but be explored. Since I can’t be on a foreign beach on a Tuesday night, going to the gym will have to suffice and I have noticed the gym provides me with all of my favourite people-watching features. The treadmill is prime for this. While I take my gentle stroll – don’t worry no actual exercise is going on – I have the opportunity to observe those around me. Following my three sessions I have split those who frequent the gym into 4 groups.
The ‘Gym Lad’ – Ok, I know this label has been discussed on many occasions, but I felt it was worth mentioning both as our standard for the gyming populous, and because as I had never been to the gym before, I did not really believe people like this existed. They’re big, they’re bulky, and they wear a surprising amount of clothes. This latter point is worth mentioning when you are in part surrounded by sports bras and leggings, and in part surrounded by men in trackies and jumpers. But, I suppose doing 4 rounds of circuits breaks rather more of a sweat then 5 bench press reps. Overall though the gym lad is not to be feared.
The ‘Gym Hog’ – a subsect of the ‘gym lad’, the ‘gym hog’ is a more fear-inducing presence. In many respects they look and behave like the gym lad; they do minimal reps with big weights and while making an unreasonable amount of noise. The difference between these first two categories is that the ‘gym hog’ is really annoying. They sit hogging a machine, surrounded by dumbbells they aren’t using, and get annoyed whenever someone asks how many sets they have left. Half their time seems to be spent scrolling through gym TikToks on their phones. In short, they are the ultimate selfish gymer.
The ‘Primper’ – These are the people who seem to spend more time checking themselves (or supposedly their ‘form’) out in the mirror. These people live for the floor to ceiling mirrors that encompass the gym, they thrive on the machines stationed in front of the treadmills thus giving them a captive audience, and they excel in the glass ‘studio’ where the world can see them. Apparently, more mincing occurs in the gym than on a runaway, and more fake tan than on ‘TOWIE’.
The ‘Gyming Duo’ – our final category, as I realise my gym musing is possibly less interesting to you than me. This is a duo of which one is super into it, and the other … not so much. Yes, I fall into this latter bracket. This pair are generally together, are generally having a chat, and are generally not doing very much. These are the only people ‘enjoying’ their time in the windowless box of sweaty angst.
I understand that these are pretty broad categories, and of course not everyone will fit into them; you may be the unobnoxious, non Gymshark two piece wearing, solitary gym goer who is just there to work out and vibe. If you are, I am happy for you. I wish I could be motivated to go to the gym alone and actually enjoy it. But unfortunately, I have not found this to be the case. The gym is a new habit I don’t hate – but I’m not sure if I can be anymore complimentary. Saying that, catch me in 5 weeks’ time when I have become addicted, and I might have changed my mind.
In 1966, a prize thoroughbred horse, owned by the Poonawalla family, was bitten by a venomous snake. They sent the horse to the Haffkine Institute, a government funded biomedical laboratory to whom they normally donated their horses once they retired. But due to the scarcity of antivenom, they needed government permission to administer it. It took nearly four days to receive permission but by then the horse succumbed to the venom.
Frustrated with India’s then-cumbersome bureaucracy, Cyrus Poonawalla, the family patriarch, decided to start developing serums from his own horses rather than donate them. With his son, Adar, he founded the Serum Institute of India. Initially, they worked on serums to treat snake bites and tetanus. Soon, however, the company branched out into vaccines.
SII’s current business model is to be a platform company that does not manufacture products of its own. In one direction, it works with pharmaceuticals to help them mass produce their formula, with economies of scale. In another direction it mass produces low-cost and high-efficacy vaccines whose patent protections have already expired.
Today, India is the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer and SII is its driving force. Even before the pandemic the SII had already manufactured more vaccine doses than any other company in the world. As of 2021, SII produces generic versions of vaccines for measles, hepatitis, and tetanus along with other diseases. Approximately 1.5 billion doses annually (excluding COVID-19 vaccines) are exported to over 150 countries worldwide. It is estimated that two out of three children worldwide are vaccinated with SII’s shots.
In May 2020, SII took a gamble to mass produce the Oxford-AstraZeneca adenoviral vector vaccine in human embryonic kidney cells when there was still no clinical data available on its performance. Seven months later, when countries began approving emergency use authorizations for this vaccine, now branded as COVISHIELD, SII had already millions of doses ready to ship. Although this co-developed vaccine has been suspended for use in Europe due to reported side-effects of blood clot formation, the World Health Organization (WHO) still recommends its use, claiming that “benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine outweigh the risks”. SII currently manufactures COVISHIELD for distribution in low-income countries and India, where it accounts for roughly 90% of the inoculations. As of December 2021, SII has produced 1.3 billion doses of COVISHIELD.
In September 2021 SII purchased of a 3.9% stake in Oxford Biomedica, a company specializing in developing gene-based therapies, for $68 million. Oxford Biomedica was a supplier of viral vectors for the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and is also a contract manufacturer of the recent WHO-approved Novavax COVID-19 vaccine candidate. This investment enables Oxford Biomedica to expand its current 45,000 sq ft of GMP manufacturing facilities at its Oxbox site by another 39,000 sq ft dedicated to producing COVID-19 vaccines.
Serum Life Sciences, in December last year, also pledged $66 million to fund the construction of the Poonawalla Vaccines Research Building for Oxford University’s Jenner Institute, which will house over 300 scientists. A university press release described this human capital investment as the “largest ever single gift for vaccines research”.
The Serum Institute of India does for vaccines and biologics what Gutenberg’s printing press did for books. SII’s presence and credibility could also nurture an ecosystem of suppliers and partners to grow with it. We can expect its presence in Oxford to expand, especially given the many spinouts and researchers related to vaccine pipelines that can be its customers someday. Having access to this network could provide SII with a suite of vaccines for different diseases, as it sits ready to scale up for the medical challenges the world faces.
Applying for jobs can be daunting and stressful. Below you can find some bearings, ideas and starting points to help you to navigate this uncertain time. This list is by no means comprehensive, but it includes some useful tips stemming from my experience of applying for scientific jobs in academia and industry.
The golden rule: personalize your application
It is tempting to prepare one CV and cover letter and spam it across all job applications. I get it, there are loads of jobs you want to apply to and writing a different cover letter for each one might seem like a complete waste of time. If you don’t really care about the job, just sending a generic cover letter and CV is understandable. But if you think you might be a good fit for the position and want to increase your chances, the way to make an employer notice you is to personalize both your cover letter and your CV.
How? Let’s begin with your cover letter. To start with, it’s okay to have a generic introduction about your background, but make sure to not repeat line by line what you described in your CV. Instead, address one by one all the job specifications. Most jobs (especially academic) will have a list of essential and desirable job specifications. These can vary from very specific competences like “having a biochemistry degree” or “advanced experience with MATLAB” to very generic statements about “team-working” or “interpersonal abilities”. Make sure you address them all, even the more basic ones, ideally with real world examples. For instance, avoid saying “I am a great team-worker” (that doesn’t prove anything!), but list the aspect of your previous experience that helped you to develop such abilities. An example would be: “during that project I have worked in a team of 5 students and we were successful in… ”, or “during my internship I interacted with hospital patients daily, which was instrumental for developing my communicating skills.”
Now, the tricky part is being able to provide concrete examples without writing a very lengthy cover letter, so be as concise as possible. Usually, one page should be enough to convey the message without boring your future employer, even if I must admit my cover letters always end up being longer than that. After you have written a few cover letters you will find that similar specifications keep coming up, so you don’t actually have to rewrite the entire application from scratch.
At the end of your cover letter insert a paragraph – or at least a sentence – about the company you’re applying to. This is the chance to show off that you have researched the position and institution. Try avoiding generic statements and explain with as much originality as possible why you think this company would be a good fit for you and your future career, and what you could bring to their organisation.
Personalizing your CV might be less straightforward, but the general idea is to highlight the skills and experience that are relevant for the job at hand. This is particularly relevant if you are applying for multiple jobs. For example, if you’re applying to be a research assistant in a wet lab, it makes sense to highlight all your practical experience with molecular biology techniques, but a biomedical writing company will have less interest in knowing that you are great at performing PCR analysis. Make sure your CV reflects that.
Applying at the right time
I wanted to find a job as soon as possible (don’t we all?) and had loads of jobs I was keen on. However, by applying in a random order you might end up sending applications for positions that won’t open for months, and instead miss deadlines that are closing soon. Hence every time you find a job that could be of interest, it is important to check how long they are accepting applications for. There are usually two options:
There is no mention of deadline, or there is a deadline but rolling applications are in place. This is the case for many industry jobs. The employers will check applications only until a suitable candidate is found, so don’t postpone applying!
There is a set expiration date and no mention of how they will be checking applications. This is the case for most jobs in academia. In this case, I would save the ad in a list of “positions to apply later” and prioritize applications to other jobs first. There is no benefit in applying sooner and you won’t hear back until after the expiry date anyways, so no rush in applying.
Brief Interview tips
The application aims to show you meet all the requirements, but the goal is to get an interview. At the interview stage, you need to show that you are the best candidate and highlight what sets you apart from the rest.
Typical questions to keep in mind:
Why should they pick you over the other candidates? Tricky, I know. Spend some time thinking about this in advance!
Why do you want the job? Again, avoid generic answers. For example, you can think about specific features of the positions and how they match your interests and experience. This will also show that you did your homework and that you are familiar with the company.
Random situational questions that start with “Tell me about a time when…” (e.g. a time when you worked in a team, made a mistake, disagreed with your superior, had to overcome a challenge…). Think about some of these situations beforehand as it can be challenging to come up with an answer on the spot. Be as specific as possible and tell a story that is realistic but makes you look good overall. You can think about a few examples from a recent project you worked on and come up with a few answers around it. It’s useful to practice these with a friend!
Lastly, think about some questions you can ask the interviewers. Usually at the end of the interview they will ask you if you have any questions. This is your chance to figure out if the company is a good fit for you (hence you can ask legit questions you might have), but it can also be yet another opportunity to show off your knowledge of the company. Make sure you do not ask something that you could have found out by reading their website.
Apply, apply, apply!
Don’t be afraid of rejection. You will be rejected many times, sometimes even for that one job that you really wanted. But that’s okay, because applications and interviews are a great experience, and after every interview you will be a bit more prepared than before. Also, don’t be scared to shoot high. You want this very ambitious job but you fear you might not be good enough? Let the employers decide, don’t make the decision for them. When doubting if you are qualified or not just apply anyway!
It has been confirmed this week that an Oxford swan had bird flu.
A member of Swan Support, a charity helping sick and injured swans in the Thames Valley area, confirmed that the case was related to a swan at Iffley Lock.
There have been a number of suspected cases of avian flu after several birds, including three swans and a number of geese, were found dead in Port Meadow.
Swan Support added that the case of the dead birds at Port Meadow is still being investigated by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA).
This comes as Oxfordshire County Council has released advice to those living in the local area, warning them to keep away from wild birds and to avoid touching them. The council added that people should keep to footpaths, keep dogs on a lead, not feed wild waterfowl and not touch or pick up dead or sick wild birds.
A spokesperson for Oxfordshire County Council said: “People can also spread the disease on their clothes and shoes”.
Whilst some strains of bird flu can pass to humans, the UK Health Security Agency states that this is extremely rare and usually requires very close contact with the infected bird, therefore concluding that the risk of transmission to humans is a low.
