Last week, two more alumni crews successfully rowed across the English Channel. Just one crew now remains to take on the challenge 🌊🚣‍♂️

A team of 12 cyclists completed a combined 700-mile cycle on Saturday 9 May in aid of Oriel’s access and outreach work 🚴 Starting in west London, the 60-mile route took the group through Uxbridge, Amersham and Thame before entering Oxford through Cowley. www.oriel.ox.ac.uk/news/cyclist...

🐝 Members of Oriel College’s chapel choir serenaded bees at Bartlemas on Saturday 2 May at a special event to inaugurate a new apiary at the Oriel College sports ground. The society is the direct predecessor of the former Oxford Apiarist Society, which last convened in 1841.

Oriel Fellow and tutor in Mathematics Patrick Farrell has been elected a Fellow of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM). www.oriel.ox.ac.uk/news/profess...

Oriel College will give members of the public access to its heritage site at three “Inspiration Day” events this spring

Oriel College Provost and Lady Mendoza met with alumni across the US, from the East Coast to the West Coast

48 alumni from Oriel College together with current students and staff will row across the English Channel, in an attempt to raise £1 million to establish an endowment for the College’s boat club

Oriel College’s Provost announced as chair of Historic England advisory panel to support programme to protect Ukraine’s cultural heritage

'It's fantastic to see how far the band has come' 🎺 Conductor Esme Harper and Assistant Conductor Felix Thomson helped Oxford University Brass Band to their joint-highest finish at this year's UniBrass.

Oriel's Alex Sullivan and James Fetter have been selected to represent Oxford in The Boat Race 2026. “It’s a really amazing opportunity," said Sullivan. "I’m really excited and honoured to compete in such an historic event," said Fetter. www.oriel.ox.ac.uk/news/a-reall...

Award-winning author and Oriel alumna Kate Herrity reflects on her year-long research project into prisons for her extensive studies on sensory criminology. “I’ve always been interested in prisons, partly because you’re not supposed to go in them,” said Herrity. www.oriel.ox.ac.uk/news/crimino...

Professor Lyndal Roper describes study of the humanities as ‘crucial’ in the age of artificial intelligence as she is named the 2026 Holberg Laureate www.oriel.ox.ac.uk/news/holberg...

'People have become quite emotional and quite angry about what’s been happening' Mathematics graduate Peter Hammond’s campaign against untreated sewage being pumped into England and Wales waterways has been turned into a Channel 4 TV drama 📺 🔗 Read more ⬇️ www.oriel.ox.ac.uk/news/oriel-a...

Oriel student Reed Prinsep played for Oxford in their triumph against Cambridge in The Varsity Matches 🏉 “It was really special," he said. "The build-up in terms of the traditions and everything like that was great and the match really lived up to it." Image by Steve Karpa

Alumnae joined students, staff and academics at a special dinner on Friday to celebrate #InternationalWomensDay. The dinner was hosted by Lady Mendoza and featured an all-women High Table.

‘Once you start looking at different ways of making decisions, you start to see a whole world of different ways of doing things’ Dr Markus Brill has joined Oriel College as a Fellow and tutor in Computer Science

“It's a beacon of how science can be done" Former Oriel student and current @jesusoxford.bsky.social Professor of Physics Phil Burrows has been appointed Chair of the @cern.bsky.social Scientific Policy Committee. @oxfordphysics.bsky.social 🔗 Read more ⬇️ www.oriel.ox.ac.uk/news/its-a-b...

Here is a pre-announcement of a very exciting event: I will be hosting Greg Jackson, Founder and CEO of @octopus.energy at @orieloxford.bsky.social for a conversation on Thursday 7 May at 5 pm in the beautiful setting of the Senior Library. Booking opens soon and we expect tickets to go rapidly.

🔥 LIVESTREAM TODAY 4pm UK 🎙 Redefining Energy @orieloxford.bsky.social Is the energy transition accelerating, stalling or being rewritten by politics? Join me & @laurentsegalen.bsky.social for an unscripted, audience-driven debate. 👉 www.youtube.com/live/tojs9ds...

Oriel’s chapel choir sang Evensong at St Paul's Cathedral at a special service to mark the Oxford college’s 700th year since foundation in 1326

Baroness @thangamdebbonaire.bsky.social, Labour peer and Labour MP for Bristol West from 2015 to 2024, is in conversation with Lord Mendoza, Oriel College Provost, on Sunday 22 February. The event is free to attend and open to everyone. 🔗 Book your place ⬇️ www.oriel.ox.ac.uk/events/provo...

'Each year we're building to get better' Oriel student and women’s captain of the Oxford University Cross Country Club Tamsin Sangster has been reflecting on a memorable weekend for the club at the British Universities & Colleges Sport competition where the men's and women's teams made history.

“Oriel’s impact is absolutely massive.” Oriel College held a Graduation Day with @brilliantclub.bsky.social for pupils from non-selective state schools as they experienced university life for the first time 🎓 🔗 Find out more ⬇️

The donated folio is one of the “destroyed” first editions of Sir Walter Raleigh's ‘History of the World’ 🔗 Find out more ⬇️

NEW: Oxford University has been named Europe’s top university by QS Europe University Rankings. We came top in academic reputation, employer reputation, international research network and employment outcomes. Find out more ⬇️

‘Clean energy was not treated as a marginal concern, but as infrastructure in the deepest sense of the word’ @janrosenow.bsky.social reflects on his experience at the annual World Economic Forum meeting in Davos ⬇️ Image: World Economic Forum

Oriel held a memorable day of events to mark 700 years since King Edward II confirmed the foundation of a “certain college of scholars” by its founder and first provost Adam de Brome. Images by John Cairns 🔗 Find out more ⬇️

John Rous, the second-ever Bodley’s Librarian, was a Fellow of @orieloxford.bsky.social, which is celebrating the 700th anniversary of its foundation this year! [1/5]

'The longevity and continuity of this college and its work is astonishing. Few institutions have endured for so long, and even fewer have remained devoted to the same cause.' Read a statement from the Provost on the 700th anniversary of Oriel College’s foundation by King Edward II:

Founded #OnThisDay in 1326 by King Edward II, Oriel College turns 700 today. Happy birthday, Oriel! 🎉

Today is Oriel College’s 700th birthday. King Edward II issued a charter on 21 January 1326 for what is the fifth oldest college, and the oldest royal foundation, in the University of Oxford. A 700th anniversary programme will include concerts, lectures and an alumni ball for ‘Orielenses’.

Oriel College was founded #OnThisDay 700 years ago 🎉 On 21 January 1326, King Edward II issued a royal charter confirming our first provost Adam de Brome’s foundation of a “certain college of scholars” in Oxford. @ox.ac.uk

‘We think we’re great and we take it for granted. There’s fierce competition from other countries. We may lose our soft power status if we don’t pay more attention to it.’ Read our interview with our Provost Lord Mendoza about Britain's soft power ⬇️

🎙 Redefining Energy LIVE | Oxford | 25 Feb 2026 Is the energy transition accelerating, stalling — or being rewritten by politics? Join me, Gerard Reid & @laurentsegalen.bsky.social at @orieloxford.bsky.social for a no-script, audience-driven live recording. 👇 www.oriel.ox.ac.uk/events/oriel...

2025 in four seasons 🍃📅 Photos 2 & 4 by James Hill

James Hill brilliant last night @orieloxford.bsky.social talking about the ethics of photojournalism - masterful!

NEW HEAT PUMP COST CALCULATOR: The i Paper just published an article about the new cost calculator I developed with Ambient through my research at the @ecioxford.bsky.social @orieloxford.bsky.social and @regassistproj.bsky.social inews.co.uk/news/how-muc...

On May 28, I'll be in conversation with @tmbejan.bsky.social at @orieloxford.bsky.social: oriel.ox.ac.uk/events/provo...

Excellent lecture by Gary Younge at @orieloxford.bsky.social tonight - the untold stories of Black British and French citizens who served in WW2 but who do not feature in "mainstream" i.e.let's face it white accounts of those times. He is writing a book on this which will be essential reading.

Oriel College has announced that Batu Osmanoğlu and Alex Kotecha are the winners of the 2025 Rex Nettleford Essay Prize. This annual, UK-wide competition, invites year 12 pupils to submit essays on the legacies of colonialism. Their essays can be read online 👇 www.oriel.ox.ac.uk/news/oriel-c...

Heating buildings accounts for nearly a third of EU energy demand. 75% still comes from fossil fuels. In a new paper with colleagues @regassistproj.bsky.social we warn that current EU policy risks locking in inefficient heating, putting climate & consumers at risk. www.eci.ox.ac.uk/news/fixing-...

Dr Dmitry Ghilarov has joined Oriel College from the John Innes Centre as the Ron Bancroft Fellow and a tutor in Biochemistry

🚀 Renewable Energy in Africa: The Future is Bright Join Ernest Akinlola (CEO, Bboxx Nigeria) at @orieloxford.bsky.social 15 May, 5:15PM for a dynamic discussion on unlocking solar power’s potential across Nigeria & Africa. Secure your spot here: www.oriel.ox.ac.uk/events/oriel...

🎉 Thrilled to start as Jackson Senior Research Fellow at Oriel College, Oxford! Honoured to join this historic community—and yes, that’s my office view in the top right corner! Grateful to all who supported me. More in Oxford Mail: www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/2512484... @orieloxford.bsky.social

An international expert in sustainable energy has been appointed to lead the energy programme at Oxford University’s Environmental Change Institute. Jan Rosenow will also become a fellow of Oriel College. He said that “Leading the ECI’s energy programme is a huge honour for me.”

Oriel in the USA: The Provost and Lady Mendoza were delighted to meet and talk to Orielensis in Washington DC and New York City this past week. Thank you to Jim Burns (1994) for hosting in Washington DC and to Jonathan Burnham (1979) for hosting in New York City.

Charlotte Buckley, a fourth-year Biomedical Sciences student at Oriel College, secured gold in the 800 meters at the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) indoor championships

🔺 Update: Another athlete from Oriel College, Amelia Monaghan, will represent Oxford in the women’s lightweight boat at the 2025 Boat Race

Chris Ong and Peter Djemal, both second-year Physics students at Oriel College, competed as part of the @ox.ac.uk team ‘POSTLIMS’, which secured second place at this year’s preliminary round hosted at Swansea University.

Four students from Oriel College will row against Cambridge in Oxford’s men’s boat at the 2025 Boat Race