Abstract
IN Convocation at Oxford on October 7, the Vice-Chancellor announced a scheme for co-operation in academic work which has been discussed by the governing bodies of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. It is proposed to promote legislation to allow students, whether undergraduate or postgraduate, from either university to go to the other for special courses of study and to keep residence while doing so. Facilities available at one of the universities only may thus be made available for common use, and studies of insufficient general interest to make it worth while for each university to have its own department need not be duplicated; it is possible that some existing duplication can be eliminated and the funds thus set free used for urgent needs. At first sight, this proposed innovation seems a great break with the traditions of the older universities; but there is no doubt of its excellence in principle. The college authorities, it is expected, will be less in favour of it than the university, but this is probably all to the good. They will see to it that the proposed freedom to migrate for a term or more will not be abused; that, in fact, only those who will greatly benefit by the change will be encouraged to enjoy it. With respect to facilities for instruction and research in science, it is likely that Oxford students will benefit more than Cambridge from the new proposal, at least at the undergraduate stage. The honours man at Oxford in science has generally but one subject to specialize in and consequently has time to take extra courses elsewhere; at Cambridge he is partly occupied with other subjects: and, of course, at Cambridge facilities for work in science are on a much more generous scale than at Oxford.
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Co-operation between Oxford and Cambridge. Nature 138, 678–679 (1936). https://doi.org/10.1038/138678d0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/138678d0