Christ's College

Address:: Christ's College (map)
St. Andrew's Street
Cambridge CB2 3BU
Telephone:: +44 1223 334900
Fax:: +44 1223 334967
Email:: admissions@christs.cam.ac.uk
Website:: http://www.christs.cam.ac.uk/
MCR:: http://www.christs.cam.ac.uk/mcr/
See also:: Institution admissions pages, Graduate Studies Prospectus Entry.

Situated in the centre of the town, Christ's is one of the oldest Cambridge colleges and has some of the most attractive buildings in the city. As a fairly small college (there are approximately 130 graduate students, studying a good mix of arts and sciences) the atmosphere is informal and friendly. Christ's guards its strong academic record fiercely, and fosters an environment of quiet intelligence.

Christ's College Graduate Society generally consists of an eclectic mix of people, but this is especially true of the batch of 2007-08. Numbering 130, the graduate community is made up of students of all ages from every part of the world, with academic interests as diverse as plesiosaurs (Mesozoic aquatic reptiles living at the same time as dinosaurs, but were not dinosaurs), the canal systems in the Nile delta in the pharaonic period, speech recognition and speaker verification, and the development of alternative non-carbon based fuel options. In the past year alone, graduate students have conducted research or presented papers at conferences (with financial assistance from college) around the world, in Japan, Texas and Pittsburgh in the United States, and Antwerp and Portugal in Europe, to name just a few.

The Graduate Society is one of the only ones in Cambridge to run its own bar, which is cheap and lively, specialising in Belgian beers and malt whiskies in particular. The new Graduate Society room has tea and coffee-making facilities and receives daily papers and magazines. There is a widescreen TV with Freeview, multi-region DVD player & VCR, and a piano. There is a graduate Formal Hall every Tuesday, including during most vacations, and regular events which have recently included wine & cheese tastings, a brewery trip, punting, and outings to Oxford, Ely and Norwich. A Garden Party is held every June in the Fellows' Garden, which is widely regarded as the prettiest in Cambridge. There are also frequent visits to other colleges' Formal Halls (free of charge to Christ's graduates), as well as Thanksgiving, Hallowe'en, Christmas, and end-of-year parties.

The Graduate Society's Willy Wonka-themed end of year party offered one-year M. Phil graduates the opportunity to say goodbye to each other, but also enabled the entire graduate community to bid farewell to the room it has inhabited for many, many years. The Graduate Society hired a professional DJ (who is resident at Kambar), offered a chocolate fountain, and gave great prizes to five lucky holders of golden tickets. Partygoers also donated money to charity, ensuring that the total amount of money given to Jimmy's Night Shelter in the academic year exceeded £150. The graduate community once again proved itself in the academic year just ended to be academic, fun going, and charitable by nature.

All members of the Graduate Society also belong to the JCR (Christ's College Student Union, or CCSU), and share their canteen-style Upper Hall. In addition, the college provides graduates with generous travel bursaries for academic and vacation travel, and their own computing facilities, including internet access in study bedrooms and graduate hostels, where possible. Most graduates are accommodated for three years, either in college or in nearby flats and shared houses. Refurbishment of a number of rooms in college may affect provision of accommodation for graduate students in coming years - more information will be added to this page as it becomes available.

Famous alumni of Christ's include Charles Darwin, C.P. Snow (in whose honour a lecture series is held every year), John Milton, and the late Richard Whiteley (in whose honour Countdown is watched every day). All in all, if you're after a sense of tradition tempered by common sense, Christ's is for you.