St John's College

Fast-thinking St John's students will face Oxford in University Challenge, TV's toughest team quiz tournament, on Monday 27 July.

St John’s latest University Challenge squad honed their general knowledge skills in the regular quizzes in the College Bar ahead of filming of the iconic TV show in which they went head-to-head against University College, Oxford.

Team captain Liam Plimmer, a PhD English student, Callum Thomas, PhD student in Zoology, first-year Mathematics undergraduate Aurelia Walker, and PhD Mathematics student Jonathan Watts recorded the episode earlier this year.

Their reserve player is final-year medical student Yusuf Adia and their mascot a toy eagle named Evie – named for the College of St John the Evangelist.

Understandably, the result is a closely guarded secret, so the team wouldn't answer the question: how well did you do? Fresher Aurelia buzzed in with a swift: “No spoilers allowed.”

The episode will air on BBC2 on Monday 27 July at 8.30pm. Viewers can also watch on BBC iPlayer.

We present to you our latest University of Cambridge graduates.

Now this really is St John's.

🎓👏

📸 Geoff Robinson

BOOM! That's a wrap on another academic year.

St John's students know how to throw a party so on Tuesday night a drone and fireworks display illuminated the Cambridge sky as we celebrated the end of Exam (Easter) Term in style at the 7th best party in the world. As featured in The Times today.

📸 Geoff Robinson

Tributes have been paid to a world-renowned St John’s College engineer famed for founding Cambridge University Rugby League Football Club, who has died at the age of 78.

Dr Richard ‘Dick’ Ernest McConnel BE ME DPhil PhD was a Fellow in Engineering and formerly College Lecturer, Supervisor and Director of Studies in Engineering, Director of Studies in Management Studies, Tutor and acting Junior Bursar of St John’s, as well as a University Lecturer in the Department of Engineering.

He died on Saturday 13 June 2026.

Professor Tom Hynes, Emeritus Professor in Mechanical Engineering and Fellow of St John’s, said: “Dick was a greatly valued colleague. As Director of Studies for many years, he was the pillar of Engineering in College.

“His supportive but relaxed and laconic style, together with his wicked sense of humour, made him popular with students, staff and colleagues.”

Dr McConnel’s pioneering research focused on composite steel and concrete structures, lightweight domes and large span roofs.

He is internationally renowned for his expertise in structural mechanics, including for his contribution to the authoritative reference book, 'Space Grid Structures', which covers the geometry, design, and construction of lightweight, three-dimensional frameworks.

Dr McConnel was a prominent figure in College and University sports. The native New Zealander’s arrival at St John’s as a College Lecturer in 1980 was the catalyst for the establishment of Cambridge University Rugby League Football Club.

He was also a keen rower and a former Senior Treasurer of the College's Field Clubs and Cambridge University Hockey Club.

Researchers at the University of Cambridge have developed a new light-emitting system that could eventually improve cancer imaging, smartphone screens and low-energy computing.

The discovery emerged from a collaboration between St John’s physicist Dr Rakesh Arul (pictured) and chemists in the laboratory of Professor Akshay Rao, after they noticed an unexpected effect in molecules attached to microscopic particles containing rare-earth metals.

“We were seeing surprisingly bright emission from states that are normally considered optically dark,” said Dr Arul, Research Fellow.

“In the process of unravelling the mystery, we found that this bright emission came from a normally dark molecular state, the triplet, which is conventionally forbidden from emitting light via the rules of quantum mechanics.”

Researchers say the discovery could improve medical imaging because longer-lasting light signals are easier for scanners to distinguish from surrounding tissue. This could help doctors detect smaller tumours or track biological processes more accurately.

The same principle could also help reduce energy consumption in consumer electronics, which waste significant amounts of power.

A St John's crop biologist who is developing sustainable alternatives to synthetic fertilisers has today been named as a new Fellow of the Royal Society – the UK’s national academy of sciences and the oldest science academy in continuous existence.

Professor Uta Paszkowski FRS is Acting Director of the Crop Science Centre at the University of Cambridge, Head of the Cereal Symbiosis group at the Department of Plant Sciences, and a Fellow of St John’s.

Her research investigates how major cereal crops, such as rice and maize, communicate and exchange nutrients with beneficial soil fungi to enhance agricultural sustainability.

“Our work spans from academic discovery to translational science, with the goal of advancing knowledge,” said Professor Paszkowski, who is a Director of Studies and College Lecturer in Plant Sciences at St John’s.

“It is wonderful and not just a little overwhelming for me and my team to see this level of recognition for our science.”

📸Nathan Pitt © University of Cambridge