University News
A tribute to Peter Jewell
In early 2025, Peter Jewell, the Honorary Patron and founding donor of The Bill Douglas Cinema Museum, passed away at the age of 90.
Together Peter and his great friend, the renowned filmmaker Bill Douglas, put together an amazing collection of 50,000 artefacts on the history of cinema and the moving image.
After Bill’s death Peter gifted the collection to the University of Exeter to establish the museum because he wanted everyone to share their joy and fascination with moving pictures.
Peter was immensely supportive of Bill’s work as a filmmaker and gave him the emotional strength he needed to navigate the stressful and frustrating world of the film industry. After Bill’s tragically early death in 1991, Peter dedicated much of his life to Bill’s legacy, and he was proud that many new audiences discovered Bill’s films and that his genius and vision was finally appreciated and understood.
Exeter hailed University of the Year for its outstanding support of social mobility
Exeter has been named ‘University of the Year’ at the prestigious national awards programme celebrating outstanding support for social mobility.
The University triumphed at the Social Mobility Awards in London, in recognition of its work across multiple national and regional projects dedicated to championing equal opportunities and improving life outcomes for young people.
These include the Success for All programme, which focuses on widening participation, closing gaps in student outcomes, and building a diverse and inclusive learning environment, and the work undertaken to embed social justice and inclusion at the heart of its strategy, and in its curriculum and teaching.
The award also recognises the University’s leadership of the South West Social Mobility Commission, new educational programmes to develop skills that improve employment opportunities, and engagement with policymakers through its Centre for Social Mobility.
Two leading UK charities support pioneering planetary health science in Cornwall
A University of Exeter, Cornwall team has received two grants totalling £1.45 million to understand and remediate the effects of climate change at a microbiological level.
The funding from the Wolfson Foundation and Garfield Weston Foundation supports the newly established Centre for Microbiology and Planetary Health (CMPH) at the Penryn Campus.
With the rise of climate change, antimicrobial resistance, food insecurity and energy and mineral supply there is greater need to understand and target these issues from a microbiological level. The Centre for Microbiology and Planetary Health will be the first in the world to bring an interdisciplinary approach to Planetary Health based on the study of microbes and the use of innovative microbial technologies to identify solutions.
Paul Ramsbottom, Chief Executive of the Wolfson Foundation, said: “Microbes go largely unnoticed and unappreciated in everyday life, and yet they play a critical role in all kinds of biological and ecological processes – and in fields as diverse as health, soil productivity, carbon storage and decontamination of polluted landscapes and waterways. The University of Exeter is well placed to accelerate research on how best to harness the power of microbes for good, and we are delighted to support the new Centre for Microbiology and Planetary Health procure essential equipment to underpin this effort.”
Sophia Weston, Deputy Chair and Trustee of Garfield Weston Foundation, said: “We believe in supporting a diverse range of charities across the UK. From local community initiatives to large national projects, the common thread is that all our grantees make a real positive difference, improving lives and strengthening communities throughout the country. We are delighted to be supporting the work at the University of Exeter as they work towards finding a solution to some of our greatest global challenges.”
University secures Top 20 status across major ranking
Concerted action to support a ‘greener, healthier and fairer’ future resulted in the University of Exeter being ranked inside the top 15 higher education institutions in the country and named the second most sustainable.
The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2026 – one of the most respected annual league tables in the country – has placed Exeter 14th out of 133 universities in this year’s table. We also increased our standing in the top 20 UK universities in the Guardian University Guide 2026, climbing one place to 17th in the latest guide. Additionally Exeter climbed to 11th place in the Complete University Guide 2026 and this year 20 of Exeter’s disciplines were ranked inside the top ten.
The results mean the University has secured a top 20 place in all three major national university rankings.
We additionally placed 155th globally in the latest QS World University Rankings, and saw a 14-place rise globally placing us among the very best institutions worldwide. Exeter also ranked 23rd nationally.
Transatlantic philanthropy supports diabetes research
Researchers at the University of Exeter have received almost £4 million of funding for their work in understanding type 1 diabetes.
The awards have come from The Leona M and Harry B Helmsley Charitable Trust and are the latest example of the extensive financial support the US-based charity has given to the University over the past decade. To date, the Trust has awarded $10,637,854 (£8 million) for Exeter scientists to investigate the causes of, and treatments for, type 1 diabetes.
This latest funding supports Dr Matt Johnson for his genetic research into discovering new drug targets in type 1 diabetes. Meanwhile, the charity is also supporting the work of Professor Richard Oram to understand type 1 diabetes that presents in infants.
Ben Williams, Program Officer at the Helmsley Charitable Trust, said: “At Helmsley, we are committed to supporting innovative research with the potential to improve the lives of people with or at risk of type 1 diabetes. These projects at University of Exeter hold promise to help advance our understanding of disease mechanisms – which is critical to developing new therapeutics.”
The life and legacy of an ocean giant
The story of a giant whale that died after becoming stranded on a Cornish beach, before being ‘inherited’ by the University of Exeter, has been told in a new BBC podcast.
The podcast, ‘The Whale, Secrets of a Stranding’, picks up the story of the Fin whale after it beached on Parbean Cove in February 2020. Specialists from the British Divers Marine Life Rescue team tried to keep the animal alive, dousing it with water in the hope that it might be refloated during high tide. But the whale, which was later found to be severely malnourished, was too weak to survive.
Some weeks later, the two-tonne head of the whale was given to ecologist Robbie McDonald, then a Professor in the Environment and Sustainability Institute. Professor McDonald saw the research potential in studying its decomposition and so arranged for it to be buried in specially prepared soil in the research field close to the Penryn Campus.
For five years, the whale remained submerged, two metres down, until last April, when she resurfaced once again. Over the course of ten hours, a team used specialist vacuum excavation equipment to remove the soil, with the BBC team filming the operation. Organisms in the soil had, but for one piece of blubber, stripped it clean.
University researchers ranked among the most influential in the world
Twenty Exeter academics, and a further four who are affiliated to the University, were included in the Highly Cited ResearchersTM 2025 list, produced by Clarivate – marking them among the top 1% most influential and respected in the world by citations in their research field.
Now in its 12th year, Highly Cited ResearchersTM recognises those scholars who demonstrate significant influence in their chosen field or fields through the publication of multiple highly cited papers over the last decade.
Professor Lisa Roberts, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Exeter, said: “It is fantastic to see our world-renowned research community represented here in such great numbers and across such a diversity of areas. It is a testament to the global importance, quality and academic impact of the work they, and their colleagues, are undertaking here at the University of Exeter.
“Of course, while recognition is always welcome, it is the desire to tackle some of the most pressing and urgent issues affecting our world that is the force behind this work. From conserving our environment and ecosystems to supporting medical breakthroughs and social wellbeing, the work of our researchers is leading the way towards a greener, healthier and fairer future for everyone.”
