Professor John Knight, the founding Academic Director of the Oxford Chinese Economy Programme (OXCEP), passed away peacefully surrounded by all his children at the John Radcliffe Hospital on the evening of Wednesday 17 January 2024. The College flag was flown at half-mast for three days as a mark of respect.

Since John’s family is planning a Memorial Service at the College on a later date, the Symposium originally scheduled for 24 February has been postponed to the day after the Memorial Service, for so many of us who feel the loss keenly to come together to remember him and his life-time research work. The details will be announced on the OXCEP website in due course. 

Let us keep John’s family in our thoughts as they go through most difficult time. John will be missed tremendously by so many people at Oxford and across the globe. 

The Oxford Chinese Economy Programme (OXCEP) has announced its collaboration with the Puxin Education and Technology Group, Being, China regarding the OXCEP Economics, Public Policy and Management Course (EPPM) in July 2024, for a group of highly qualified academics and business executives who are interested in the study of the global economic development post pandemic, including the advanced topics in sustainable finance (green finance), net zero economy, new energy and related fields. DPhil students of the relevant academic disciplines from across the University are welcome to register for a limited number of free places available on the Course.

Between 2 and 15 July, a group of thirty-five senior medical academics, clinicians, researchers and dental surgeons from Taiwan successfully completed the highly intensive OXCEP (Oxford Chinese Economy Programme) Academic Medicine Course 2023 at St Edmund Hall, under the theme of ‘Precision Medicine Post Pandemic’ and became the newest members of the Aularian family.

During the farewell ceremony, the course attendees sang in chorus, for bidding adieu to the Hall and the University. The event was concluded with a traditional toast of ‘Floreat Aula’ to Principal Professor Baroness (Kathy) Willis and the Hall.

During the course, the dental surgeons also established their academic collaboration with OXCEP, on a Dental Medicine Course to commence in the summer of 2025.

The lecture was held in the Doctorow Lecture Theatre at 17:00 on Friday 11 November.

Lord Mark Sedwill will speak on ‘National Security in the era of Global Competition’.

Lord Mark Sedwill, KCMG, FRGS, was formerly National Security Adviser (2017-20) and Cabinet Secretary (2018-20). He is an Honorary Fellow of St Edmund Hall, having taken the M.Phil. in Economics at the Hall in the 1980s. After Oxford he pursued a diplomatic career, much concerned with security, and has served as UK Ambassador to Afghanistan and then NATO Civilian Representative in Afghanistan.

The lecture is free to attend, all are most welcome.

OXCEP proudly recognised the success of its first Graduate Scholar, Ilona Mostipan, in her DPhil viva at the Oxford Said Business School. Dr Frank Hwang, Chairman of OXCEP, was also pleased to announce an OXCEP Graduate Scholarship for DPhil study in Clinical Medicine at the Hall.

St Edmund Hall is delighted to announce the first recipient of the OXCEP Graduate Scholarship for DPhil study in Clinical Medicine to Mr Sebastian Klindert for his study at the Hall. This scholarship is provided by the Oxford Chinese Economy Programme (OXCEP), in collaboration with the Nuffield Department of Medicine and the Medical Sciences Division’s Graduate School. Mr Klindert is currently studying to gain a pharmacy license in Germany and will start his DPhil in the next academic year.