During these testing times it’s reassuring to hear about all of the hard work being done by the Churchill Community to both manage and inform about the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as other work and achievements that have taken place. Here’s what has been happening in the last few days.

COVID-19

Head of the Institute of Manufacturing, Professor Tim Minshall, has written about how COVID-19 is proving to be a stress test of the UK manufacturing sector’s ability to support the UK healthcare system in times of crisis.

Statistician Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter appeared on the BBC’s Inside Science programme, discussing why it’s so hard to measure coronavirus fatalities, and also discussed how we may have reached the peak of the virus in the UK.

Social psychologist Dr Sander van der Linden joined CSaP’s Science and Policy Podcast to discuss the psychological aspects of the coronavirus pandemic, exploring topics including the psychological aspects of isolation, why people spread misinformation, and coping with uncertainty.

Economist Professor Diane Coyle joined a discussion on BBC Radio 4’s Fallout programme, looking at how behaviours have changed to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and if these will continue.

Molecular Biologist Dr Sarah Teichmann is a senior author on a new publication looking at which cells might be important for transmission of COVID-19.

IN OTHER NEWS

Physicist Professor Henning Sirringhaus has been awarded a Royal Society Research Professorship.

Materials Scientist Dr Manish Chhowalla has won the Griffith Medal & Prize at the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining 2020 Awards.

The Archives Centre has launched a new competition for 11-16 year olds, asking them to write a short account of their experience in lockdown. They have already received many entries from across the UK, all of which will be added to the archive for the benefit of future researchers.

Over on Twitter, Churchill College won the “Cambridge College World Cup”, a light-hearted poll set up by St Catharine’s Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic student Kit.

We will continue to keep you informed of all of the work being done by the Churchill College Community. If you have any news you would like to share, please get in touch by emailing comms.manager@chu.cam.ac.uk.