downing text 2012_Layout 1 - Downing College - University of ...

DOWNING COLLEGE 2011–2012Stafford Withington was awarded a Visiting Fellowship at All Souls College,Oxford. He spent the Lent and Easter Terms in Oxford, and found the timehighly productive and immensely enjoyable. During the year, he was alsoappointed to a visiting Chair in the Physics Department of Oxford University.Other milestones include the award of a number of major grants for developingadvanced instrumentation for space science. Research projects are underwaywith the European Space Agency, the Space Research Organisation of theNetherlands, the Japanese Space Agency, the Italian Space Agency and NASA.For example, Stafford is currently working with the Dutch and Japanese on amission called SPICA, which aims to place a far-infrared cooled-aperture spacetelescope at Lagrange Point 2. During the year, Stafford published around 20journal and conference papers. He serves on the STFC Project Peer ReviewPanel, which assess the scientific and technical cases of all major astronomy,high energy physics and accelerator physics proposals.Ian James published his latest book, The New French Philosophy (Polity Press), amajor new introduction to contemporary French philosophy, focusing on themost recent developments since post-structuralism and postmodernism. He isalso an invited speaker at Philosophy Night 2012, an all-night event held inLondon in June. Philosophy Night is organized by the Institut Français in orderto promote dialogue between philosophers working within both the Europeanand the Anglo-Saxon traditions and to make ideas accessible to the public.Professor Roberts’ new research project, Rethinking Comparative Syntax, aEuropean Research Council-funded Advanced Grant for €2.5 million, beganon June 11th. So far, three (Senior) Research Associates and two Ph.D. studentshave been brought into the team, with three more Ph.D. students to start inOctober 2012. From October 1st, 2011, he has been Chair of the Faculty ofModern and Medieval Languages. He has also been named President Elect ofthe Societas Linguistica Europaea, the principal international European learnedsociety in Linguistics; he will take up the Presidency for one year fromSeptember 2012.The two highlights of David Feldman’s year both involved the College. InAugust 2011, Becky, David and Jill’s daughter and an Old Member ofNewnham, married John Dalton, an Old Member of Peterhouse, in the HowardBuilding. They and their guests enjoyed a wonderful dinner and dancing in theHall, being superbly looked after by the College’s brilliant staff. Then over fourdays in September, David, as President of the Society of Legal Scholars (thelearned society of legal academics in the UK and Ireland), welcomed about 500188