SRI Gonville & Caius College Gala Feast

From Glasgow to Cambridge:
SRI's Gonville & Caius College Cambridge Fundraising Gala Feast

 

LOCATION & EVENT DETAILS

Monday, March 22, 2027      6:30 PM   

Attire: Black Tie

Ticket per person: $275  |  £210
Ticket purchases are limited to four (4) tickets per person. If you would like to purchase additional tickets, please contact the SRI Office at info@sri-online.org for assistance and availability. Ticket availability is limited to 180 places. Once all tickets are sold, no additional tickets will be released.

Gonville & Caius College
University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England

Founded in 1348 by the physician Dr John Caius, Gonville & Caius—universally known in Cambridge simply as “Caius” (pronounced “Keys”)—has stood at the heart of the University for nearly seven centuries. Its beautiful Old Courts occupy a remarkable setting in the historic centre of Cambridge, beside Senate House and only steps from King’s College and the River Cam. The College is famous for its symbolic Gates of Humility, Virtue and Honour, which represent the journey of a Cambridge scholar from arrival at the University to graduation.

Few colleges can claim a richer heritage of medicine, science and discovery. Caius has been associated with an extraordinary 15 Nobel Laureates and with some of the most influential scientific figures of the modern era. They include Francis Crick, co-discoverer of the structure of DNA; Sir James Chadwick, discoverer of the neutron; Sir Howard Florey, whose work helped transform penicillin into a life-saving treatment; and Sir Peter Ratcliffe, awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize for discoveries revealing how cells sense and adapt to oxygen. The College was also the academic home for more than half a century of Professor Stephen Hawking, one of the most celebrated theoretical physicists of our time, as well as John Venn, whose famous diagrams are recognized throughout the world, and William Harvey, whose discovery of the circulation of the blood transformed our understanding of human physiology.

 It is within this extraordinary setting that our Gala evening will begin, with a private concert in the Chapel of Gonville & Caius College. Completed by 1393, and with a claim to being the oldest purpose-built College chapel in Cambridge still in use, the Chapel has been a place of worship, music and reflection for more than 630 years. Its remarkable interior brings together successive chapters of Cambridge history, from its medieval origins and magnificent seventeenth-century wooden ceiling to the spectacular nineteenth-century apse created by the architect Alfred Waterhouse.

The east end is adorned with exquisite Venetian glass mosaics, created in 1870 by the celebrated firm of Antonio Salviati of Venice. The five mosaic scenes surrounding the altar share an especially fitting theme: teaching, learning and the transmission of knowledge from one generation to the next. The Chapel also contains the magnificent Renaissance tomb of Dr John Caius, whose vision helped establish the tradition of medicine and scholarship that has flourished at the College for centuries. For SRI, the symbolism could hardly be more appropriate: we will begin our evening surrounded by images celebrating the transmission of knowledge from one generation to the next.

Following the concert, guests will make their way through the historic courts of Caius to the College’s Great Hall for the Gala Feast. Dining together in College is one of Cambridge’s oldest traditions, and in this exceptional setting the evening will bring together colleagues and friends from across the international reproductive science community for fine food, fellowship and celebration—continuing, in our own way, a tradition of scholarship and collegiality that has endured at Caius for nearly seven centuries.

Provisional Timetable:

6:30 PM - Guest arrival and Champagne reception
6:45 PM - Access to College Chapel begins
7:00 PM - Concert in College Chapel
7:45 PM - Access to College Main Hall for the beginning of Feast
8:00 PM - Feast begins with sung Grace by Caius Choir and music entertainment
                between courses
10:30 PM - Feast ends

        

ACCOMMODATIONS

Most hotels in the City Centre are within walking distance or 5-minutes via rideshare.

Recommendations:

TRANSPORT INFORMATION

By Air
Of the three main London airports (Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted), Stansted is by far the most convenient for Cambridge.

By Train
Cambridge is on a branch of the East Coast Main Line and is easily accessible from all parts of the country. Train times can be searched for using the National Rail Enquiries website. The railway station is located one kilometre south of the city centre. From there you will need to take either a taxi or a bus to Caius. Buses run roughly every ten minutes and you should ask for a ticket to the city centre. This will drop you in St Andrews Street or the nearby main bus station at Drummer Street, both about 5 minutes walk from the College (see map). There is a frequent train service between Cambridge and London to both King's Cross Station and Liverpool Street Station. The King's Cross service is quicker and takes about 45 minutes. Trains leave roughly every half hour during the day. There is a five or six hour gap between about midnight and about 6am when no trains run between the two cities.

    

Photos by Dan White Photography

 

Questions? Please contact the SRI Office at info@sri-online.org for assistance.