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Dr Ilia Shumailov and Professor Yarin Gal

Could machine learning models cause their own collapse?

AI systems have shown remarkable advances in recent years, but an article published today in Nature highlights a potential stumbling block on the horizon for them. The paper’s authors, who include Christ Church’s Dr Ilia Shumailov and Professor Yarin Gal, set out how the ‘indiscriminate’ training of Large Language Models such as ChatGPT and Gemini on model-generated data ‘causes irreversible defects in the resulting models’ – giving rise to a phenomenon the researchers term ‘model collapse’. 
Christ Church Upper Library

A rare acquisition from our 17th-century librarian

Christ Church has acquired a rare book from the collection of its former Librarian, the influential scholar Robert Burton (1577–1640), author of The Anatomy of Melancholy. With the help of a generous grant from the Friends of the National Libraries, Christ Church has been able to purchase Burton’s copy of Michael Scot’s 1603 Mensa Philosophica. 

Today’s College Librarian Gabriel Sewell tells us more about Burton and Christ Church’s exciting new acquisition. 
Dr Marc-André Cormier

Isotopes analysis deepens understanding of plants’ responses to a changing climate

For scientists investigating how plants have evolved and responded to a changing climate and environmental stresses of the past, such as ongoing global warming, the study of isotopic signals is a powerful tool. In a new paper published in leading journal Science Advances, Christ Church’s Dr Marc-André Cormier and his co-authors from Zurich deliver fresh insights into the drivers of hydrogen isotope ratios in plant compounds – insights that reveal how plants react to climatic change and which may improve our picture of the environmental conditions of the distant past. We asked Dr Cormier to tell us more. 
A small group of pilgrims walk past a bend in the river Thames

New St Frideswide’s Way Pilgrimage Walk Launches

We are excited to launch a new walking pilgrimage route from Oxford to Reading along the Thames Path named after Oxford’s patron saint. St Frideswide's Way begins at the shrine in the Cathedral, which once brought medieval pilgrims from far and wide to Oxford. The route follows a picturesque 40-mile stretch of the Thames Path, with stops along the way at 24 different churches in Oxfordshire and Berkshire's riverside towns and villages, including Abingdon, Dorchester, Wallingford, Goring and Pangbourne. 
Dr Nicholas Carter inspecting some lichens

Under the lens: a local landmark’s living stone

Something you might have missed on your latest trip to Blenheim Palace is the rich tapestry of lichens that covers the building’s façades and stone features. What implications do these organisms have for the palace as a World Heritage Site and for its conservation? This is the subject of recent research by Dr Nicholas Carter, Lecturer in Physical Geography at Christ Church, and answered in a new report commissioned by the palace.
Professor Yarin Gal

AI ‘hallucination’ research led by Yarin Gal and team appears in Nature

An article by Professor Yarin Gal, Tutor in Computer Science at Christ Church, and members of his Oxford Applied and Theoretical Machine Learning Group (OATML) has been published today in Nature. The research of Professor Gal, Dr Sebastian Farquhar, Jannik Kossen and Lorenz Kuhn proposes a means of predicting when large language model (LLM) systems such as ChatGPT and Gemini are likely to ‘hallucinate’ – that is, invent intuitively plausible but wholly imaginary facts. 
Dr Chenying Liu holding origami

Dr Chenying Liu wins two national prizes for science engagement

Christ Church Lecturer in Engineering Dr Chenying Liu has received two national awards for her outstanding science communication and research. The British Science Association (BSA) has chosen Dr Liu as this year’s British Science Festival Award Lecturer for Engineering, Technology and Industry, and BIG – the UK’s foremost network of STEM communicators – has presented her with the Josh Award for Science and Showmanship. 
Peter Holder sitting at the Christ Church Cathedral organ

Christ Church announces appointment of new Organist

The Governing Body of Christ Church is delighted to announce the appointment of Peter Holder as Organist and Official Student, with effect from the autumn.

Peter has, since 2017, held the position of Sub-Organist at Westminster Abbey, in which role he has played for many major state and royal occasions, including the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II and the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla, broadcast to billions around the world.
Winners of the Tower Poetry Competition 2024 with the judges and the Dean of Christ Church

Winners of the 2024 Tower Poetry Competition announced

Christ Church, University of Oxford is delighted to announce the winners of the 2024 Christopher Tower Poetry Competition, the most lucrative prize for young poets in the UK.

Teenagers between the ages of 16 and 18 reflected on this year’s theme, ‘Mirror', and came up with a vast array of interpretations. 

The judges, Will Harris, Jane Yeh and Mishtooni Bose, were faced with the difficult task of choosing just thirteen poems from over 17500 entries. First prize was £5000, second prize was £3000, third prize was £1500, and there were ten ‘Commended’ awards of £500 each. The total prize money amounted to more than £14,000.
A large group of women ordained in 1994 are gathered wearing albs and stoles, and joined by Bishops Olivia Graham, Steven Croft and Gavin Collins. The first female Dean of Christ Church, Sarah Foot, is also present. They are waving and looking thrilled that women triumphed over discrimination to flourish in spirit and ministry.

Celebrating Thirty Years of Women's Ordination to Priesthood

A special service of celebration took place in the Cathedral last Sunday to mark thirty years since women were first ordained as Church of England Priests in the Diocese of Oxford. While women could be ordained as Deacons from 1987, it was not until later that they were able to become Priests permitted to celebrate sacraments such as Holy Communion. The first ordinations of women in the Diocese of Oxford took place on April 16th and 17th 1994 in Abingdon, High Wycombe, Reading, Banbury, Buckingham and Oxford. The service was led by the Diocese’s first female Bishop, The Rt Revd Olivia Graham, Bishop of Reading; while the first female Dean of Christ Church, The Very Revd Professor Sarah Foot, served as liturgical Deacon. 
A view of the Chancel, with the former chancel organ visible under the arches

New East End Organ Project Begins With Ground Surveys

We are excited to take the first steps of a long-term project to commission a new organ for the Cathedral's East end. The new instrument will be designed to accompany the choir during worship and concerts as a complement to the Rieger organ at the west end, which will continue to be used for congregational singing and solo pieces. The commissioning process will begin next week with floor surveys of the proposed location for the new instrument. Our current chancel organ, rented from charity Pipe Up For Pipe Organs, will be removed to allow this critical work to take place. We are excited to work with our new organist to take the project to its next stages, following their appointment later this year.