Aerosol Particles and Lung Disease the Dynamics of Protein Systems

Spring 2009 Aerosol particles and lung disease The changing face of physical science The dynamics of protein systems Half a century in Lensfield Road As I see it... Former head of department Jeremy Sanders has a new role within the university – he’s now head of the school of physical sciences. He tells Sarah Houlton what the job entails What does the new job involve? research councils, channels a growing year since 2003! It’s hard to have the I am responsible for eight departments, amount of its research funding to areas really big strategic creative chemical which makes up about a fifth of the uni - that it deems to be important, be it cli - ideas now as I don’t spend enough time versity’s activities – chemistry, physics, mate change, energy, health related, or in serious thinking, but when someone earth sciences, material sciences, pure whatever. gives me results I can see the implica - maths, applied maths, astronomy and And the university needs to learn how tions and what the next step should be, geography – plus the Isaac Newton to manage these large research initia - because I can draw on more years of Institute for Mathematical Sciences. The tives in such a way that we retain the experience than I care to admit. And school is the layer between the central classic Cambridge freedom of the indi - there’s still no greater pleasure than sit - university administration and the indi - vidual to discover the unexpected, ting with a few of my group and being vidual departments. In the past, it was quirky, astonishing things that are trans - able to interpret an nmr spectrum better mainly a conduit for communication formational. That’s the big challenge in than they can. and money between the centre and the our local culture. If you look five or 10 departments, but in the past year it’s years into the future, what’s the appro - been given a lot more executive author - priate departmental structure to enable s r ity, so I am officially the budget holder this? And what’s the appropriate man - e for all those departments, which agement structure to enable it to happen d n amounts to about £150m a year. in the best possible way? a S So is it responsible for overseeing There must be other strategic y teaching in those departments? decisions you have to make. m e Since last year, the schools of physical and Oh yes – decisions about buildings – r biological sciences have had joint respon - which departments should move, and e sibility for the natural science tripos, so when, and where, and how it is all J all our teaching now officially reports to funded. So I haven’t escaped from build - me and my biological counterpart. Prev - ing work! But the pleasure is that it’s V iously, teaching within the departments mostly long-term thinking. This is actu - C reported to the university through a ally what heads of department ought to pretty undefined route, but it’s now got a be able to do, but rarely get the time to formal governance structure, and the – spend time with colleagues thinking schools will take strategic charge. strategically about where we want to be There’s a huge education agenda here in five or 10 years and how we go about because in future we will have to ensure it, rather than having to spend one’s there is a better horizontal integration of time, as the head of department undergraduate teaching between the inevitably does, dealing with day-to-day individual subjects in the natural science short-term problems and crises. Born: London; grew up in Hackney and tripos (NST). With geography and And it’s not all management stuff: I’m Wandsworth maths, which are separate but overlap finding it very enjoyable as there’s actu - Status: Wife Louise is a former biologist. wiht NST, there are more and more ally more science in it than you might Their son David is an assistant professor of multidisciplinary courses that need to expect! As head of school I am involved physics in Mexico City, and daughter Deb is a be managed. In addition, there is the 4th in every professorial appointment, so I college administrator in Oxford. year teaching, which is Part III in some am exposed to a wonderful breadth of subjects, an MPhil in others, and in a science from cosmology and astronomy Education: Jeremy spent seven years at few cases it’s also the first year of a PhD. to high energy physics, through geogra - Wandsworth comprehensive school, then In some areas, you can imagine the phy and conservation, nano- and bio - studied chemistry at Imperial College, before same lecture course being used for all materials with, of course, chemistry at moving to Cambridge for a PhD with Dudley three purposes. So it all needs to be ver - the heart of it all. Williams. tically integrated, as well as horizontally Career: After a one-year postdoc in This may soon lead to the formation of Does this give you more time to pharmacology at Stanford in the US, he a graduate school for physical sciences, do chemistry? returned to Cambridge in 1973 and joined which would oversee postgrad education The next few months are rather busy as the academic staff in chemistry as a across the school – admissions, training I am also currently a deupty vice-chan - demonstrator. He’s been here ever since! courses, and all the other non-research cellor, overseeing the university’s 800th Interests: Cooking (he says he solves all his functions. That’s a big job for the school, anniversary celebrations until the end of problems toiling over a hot stove) and music, and I’m ultimately responsible for it, 2009. So at the moment I do very little of the classical variety. although I have a newly appointed direc - teaching – you can’t do everything! But tor of teaching who is responsible for it I do still make time to see people from Did you know? Football is not on Jeremy’s leading the changes. my group almost every day, though they list of talents. He was last seen on a football do have to have appointments as I can’t pitch back in 1971 playing for the Dudley What about research? just drift up to the lab every evening as I Williams group against Alan Battersby’s Increasingly, the role of the school is to used to. I’m seeing as much of my group. ‘Dudley only had a group of 10, so we develop a long-term research strategy, group as I did when I was head of all had to play, as did he, to make up 11,’ he recognising that research funding these chemistry, and I lik to think I’m able to says. ‘I think they would probably have played days tends to come in larger and larger give them more ‘quality’ time. I pub - better with only 10 men – without me!’ aliquots. The government, through the lished more papers last year than in any 2 Chem@Cam Spring 2009 Reluctant reactions Letters Chromic cleaning Dear Editor, Roger Ward’s exhibition, shown in your Autumn 2008 edition, made me (1967-70) feel out of date too! But where was the large yellow mixing bowl of chromic acid whose role was vital in removing ‘intractable tars’ from expensive and often hand-blown glassware? No bench was complete without it. Lab 287 (Steve Quarrie I think) devised the Chromic Frog (a sort of paper boat made of Kleenex) which had to char within half a second for the mixture to be considered adequate. Happy (if rather messy) days. Dr Peter B Baker 9 Kenilworth Road, Ealing, London W5 5PB Out of date? Dear Editor, Well, thank you for reminding me that the work I did at Then and now… We’ve been in Lensfield Road for 50 years, and Cambridge is ‘hugely out-of date’. I spent my first year in the building looks a little different these days. Read more on p9! the chemistry department in Pembroke Street and recall the subsequent move to Lensfield Road as an introduction to the promised land. Intimations of mortality came some years later when I saw apparatus that I had used in my working life in the Science Museum in London. Confirmation of the relevance of your reminder is indi - cated by my favourite page in your admirable journal being on the back. Yours sincerely, Roger Duffett Spit and polish Dear Editor, I think I was among the first wave of undergraduates to move from Pembroke Street – where I had spent my first two years doing practicals – to Lensfield Road where everything was pristine. Benches were cleaned meticulously, I polished on a Saturday morning (as a research student) – something that seemed to be expected! Yours sincerely, Bill Collier Silverdale, 28 Seaton Down Road, Seaton, Devon Cover This newsletter is published three times a year by the University of Cambridge Chemistry Department. Opinions are not necessarily those of the editor, the department, or the university. Editor-in-Chief: Steve Ley Editor: Sarah Houlton Photographers: John Holman, Nathan Pitt, Caroline Hancox Contents Editorial Board: News 4 Brian Crysell, Bill Jones, Jonathan Goodman, Research 7 Rosemary Ley, Jeremy Sanders Glass blower extraordinaire Address: Alumni 11 Phil Gallego in ﬁery action Chem@Cam, Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensﬁeld Road Chat lines 12 Photograph: Cambridge CB2 1EW Nathan Pitt and Caroline Hancox Phone: 01223 763865 Puzzle corner 15 email: [email protected] website: www.ch.cam.ac.uk Chem@Cam Spring 2009 3 News Two chairs filled Matt wins Lilly award… We’ve made two new professorial appointments in the Matt Gaunt has won the Eli Lilly Young past couple of months.

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