University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge, formally The Chancellor, Masters, and Scholars of the University of Cambridge, is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England.剑桥大学（University of Cambridge）坐落于英国英格兰剑桥，是一所公立学院制研究型大学，正式名称为剑桥大学校监、硕士与学者团体。

Founded around 1209 and the second oldest university in the English-speaking world, it is a federation of 31 self-governing colleges, and it ranks sixth in the 2027 QS World University Rankings.学校约创建于 1209 年，是英语世界历史第二悠久的大学，由 31 所自治成员学院组成联邦，在 2027 年 QS 世界大学排名中位列全球第六。

History

• The university grew out of a migration of scholars from Oxford, who moved to Cambridge in 1209 after a dispute with the townspeople of Oxford.学校起源于一批牛津学者的迁居，他们于 1209 年在与牛津市民发生冲突后迁往剑桥。

• By 1226 the scholars were numerous enough to form an organisation headed by a chancellor, and in 1231 Henry III issued a writ placing the community under protection and granting it a measure of self-government.到 1226 年，剑桥的学者人数已足以组成由一名校监主持的组织；1231 年亨利三世颁下敕令，将这一团体置于保护之下并授予其一定程度的自治。

• A papal bull of 1233 let Cambridge graduates teach anywhere in Christendom, and the university was recognised as a studium generale in 1290 and again in 1318.1233 年的教宗诏书允许剑桥毕业生在基督教世界任何地方授课，学校并于 1290 年与 1318 年两度被承认为具有通学地位的学府。

• The first college, Peterhouse, was founded in 1284, most of the medieval colleges followed in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and after a long interval Downing College was established in 1800.第一所学院彼得学院建于 1284 年，多数中世纪学院在十四与十五世纪相继成立，其间断档甚久，直到 1800 年唐宁学院才告设立。

• When Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries in 1536 the colleges were told to stop teaching canon law and scholastic philosophy, and the university's focus shifted from theology towards the Greek and Latin classics, the Bible and mathematics.1536 年亨利八世解散修道院后，各学院被要求停止教授教会法与经院哲学，大学的重心遂从神学转向希腊与拉丁经典、圣经以及数学。

• From the time of Isaac Newton to the end of the nineteenth century the university concentrated on applied mathematics and mathematical physics, examined through the competitive Tripos.从艾萨克·牛顿的时代到十九世纪末，学校一直偏重应用数学与数学物理，并通过竞争激烈的荣誉学位考试加以考核。

• Women were first admitted to a college when Girton was founded in 1869, women sat the university examinations from 1882, and they gained full membership of the university only in 1948.1869 年格顿学院成立，女性首次进入学院；她们自 1882 年起可以参加大学考试，但直到 1948 年才获得完全的大学成员资格。

• The Cavendish Laboratory, opened in 1874, made Cambridge a centre of experimental physics, and the university's science base drew students and funding during the Second World War.1874 年启用的卡文迪许实验室使剑桥成为实验物理学的重镇，其雄厚的科学实力在第二次世界大战期间为学校吸引了学生与经费。

Academics

• Cambridge is a collegiate university: the 31 colleges are self-governing and own their property, admit their own students and provide small-group supervision, while departments deliver lectures and conduct research.剑桥是一所学院制大学：31 所成员学院自治并拥有自有资产，自行录取学生并提供小组辅导，各学系则负责授课与科研。

• Undergraduates are taught by the college in supervisions, small groups in which they work directly with experienced tutors, alongside lectures arranged by the faculties.本科教学由学院以导修课的形式进行，学生以小型小组直接接受经验丰富的导师指导，此外还须参加由院系安排的讲座。

• Teaching is grouped into six schools, arts and humanities, humanities and social sciences, technology, physical sciences, clinical medicine and biological sciences, in more than 150 faculties and departments.教学归入艺术与人文、人文与社会科学、技术、物理科学、临床医学、生物科学六个学术学院，下设一百五十多个院系。

• As of 2024/25 the university had 22,565 students, among them 13,345 undergraduates and 9,220 postgraduates, taught and supported by some 6,180 academic staff.截至 2024 至 2025 学年，学校共有学生 22565 人，其中本科生 13345 人、研究生 9220 人，由约 6180 名学术人员授课与支持。

• The University of Cambridge Press, a department of the university, is the oldest university press in the world and one of the largest.剑桥大学出版社是大学的组成部分，也是世界上最古老且规模最大的大学出版社之一。

• The university holds around 15 million volumes across more than one hundred libraries, and its main library is among six legal deposit libraries in the United Kingdom.学校一百多座图书馆共藏有约 1500 万册图书，其总图书馆是英国六座法定送存图书馆之一。

• It also maintains eight cultural and scientific museums and a botanic garden, and works closely with the Cambridge cluster of technology firms known as Silicon Fen.学校还拥有八座文化与科学博物馆和一座植物园，并与被称为「硅沼」的剑桥高科技产业集群密切合作。

• Its research and teaching span the natural sciences, engineering, medicine, mathematics, the humanities and the social sciences, and it is a member of the Russell Group and the League of European Research Universities.其科研与教学涵盖自然科学、工程、医学、数学、人文与社会科学，并是罗素集团与欧洲研究型大学联盟的成员。

Campus

• Cambridge has no single campus. Its colleges, departments and libraries are distributed across the centre of the city and several sites, from Addenbrooke's and the biomedical campus to West Cambridge and the North West Cambridge development.剑桥没有单一的校园，其学院、院系与图书馆分布于市中心及若干区块，从阿登布鲁克与生物医学园区到西剑桥与西北剑桥发展区。

• The older colleges cluster along the River Cam in the city centre, where punting is a long-standing tradition.较古老的学院集中在市中心康河沿岸，撑篙漫游是这里延续已久的传统。

• The Mathematical Bridge at Queens' College and the Bridge of Sighs at St John's College span the Cam and are among the best-known landmarks.王后学院的数学桥与圣约翰学院的叹息桥横跨康河，是最负盛名的地标之一。

• Addenbrooke's Hospital, at the centre of the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, is the teaching hospital of the medical school, where students complete three years of clinical study.位于剑桥生物医学园区中心的阿登布鲁克医院是医学院的教学医院，学生在此完成为期三年的临床学习。

• The city's student population accounts for some twenty per cent of the inhabitants of Cambridge, and the bicycle is the main means of getting between sites.这座城市的在校学生约占剑桥居民的五分之一，自行车则是往来各区块的主要交通工具。

• Among the colleges, Trinity, King's, St John's and Clare are known for their courts and chapels, and King's College Chapel is one of the finest examples of late Gothic architecture in England.在各学院中，三一、国王、圣约翰与克莱尔以庭院与礼拜堂著称，国王学院礼拜堂是英格兰晚期哥特式建筑最杰出的实例之一。

Reputation

• Cambridge ranks sixth in the 2027 QS World University Rankings, fifth in the 2027 Times Higher Education World University Rankings, fourth in the 2026 Academic Ranking of World Universities and fifth in the 2026-2027 U.S. News Best Global Universities.剑桥在 2027 年 QS 世界大学排名中位列全球第六，2027 年泰晤士高等教育世界大学排名第五，2026 年软科世界大学学术排名第四，2026 至 2027 年度 US News 全球最佳大学排名第五。^[1]

• Alongside Oxford it is one of the two ancient universities of England, and the pair are commonly referred to together as Oxbridge.剑桥与牛津并称英格兰的两所古典大学，二者常被合称为牛剑。

• As of 2020 its alumni, faculty and researchers included 121 Nobel laureates, 11 Fields medallists, seven Turing Award winners and 15 British prime ministers.截至 2020 年，其校友、教师与研究人员中包括 121 位诺贝尔奖得主、11 位菲尔兹奖得主、7 位图灵奖得主与 15 位英国首相。

• Its endowment stood at 2.76 billion pounds in 2025, excluding the separate endowments of the colleges.2025 年学校捐赠基金规模为 27.6 亿英镑，尚不包括各学院各自持有的基金。

• Cambridge has long been strong in mathematics and the physical sciences, and its alumni have won six Fields Medals and an Abel Prize.剑桥在数学与物理科学领域素来实力雄厚，其校友共获得六枚菲尔兹奖与一项阿贝尔奖。

• Its achievements in the biological sciences include the discovery of the structure of DNA by Francis Crick and James Watson, announced in 1953.在生物科学领域，其成就包括弗朗西斯·克里克与詹姆斯·沃森于 1953 年公布的脱氧核糖核酸结构发现。

• The university's teaching in small-group supervisions, together with its collegiate system, is often cited as central to its academic reputation.学校以小班导修课进行教学，加之其学院制安排，常被视为其学术声誉的核心所在。

Student life

• Students belong both to a college and to the university, and the college is the centre of social and sporting life.学生同时是学院与大学这两个共同体的成员，学院则是社交与体育生活的中心。

• Colleges provide accommodation, meals, pastoral care and much of the small-group teaching, and each has its own traditions and societies.各学院提供住宿、膳食与生活辅导，并承担大部分小组教学，每所学院都有各自的传统与社团。

• The university has hundreds of clubs and societies, ranging from rowing and rugby to debating, music and drama.学校有数百个俱乐部与社团，涵盖赛艇、橄榄球、辩论、音乐与戏剧等。

• The Boat Race against Oxford, rowed on the Thames each spring since 1829, is the best known of the inter-university sporting fixtures.每年春天在泰晤士河上与牛津举行的赛艇对抗赛自 1829 年起延续至今，是校际体育赛事中最负盛名的一项。

• Traditions include May Week, the celebrations after examinations, and formal dinners in college halls.学校的传统包括考试结束后举行的五月周庆典，以及在学院餐厅举行的正式晚宴。

• The Cambridge Union is among the oldest debating societies in the world, and college choirs such as that of King's College are internationally known.剑桥辩论会世界上历史最悠久的辩论社团之一；国王学院等学院的合唱团则享誉国际。

Notable people

• Among the scientists associated with Cambridge are Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, James Clerk Maxwell, Francis Crick, James Watson and Stephen Hawking.与剑桥相关的科学家包括艾萨克·牛顿、查尔斯·达尔文、詹姆斯·克拉克·麦克斯韦、弗朗西斯·克里克、詹姆斯·沃森与斯蒂芬·霍金。

• Charles Darwin studied at Christ's College and developed his theory of evolution by natural selection, set out in On the Origin of Species in 1859.查尔斯·达尔文就读于基督学院，提出以自然选择为核心的进化理论，并于 1859 年在《物种起源》中加以阐述。

• Isaac Newton spent much of his career at Trinity College, where he worked on the laws of motion and universal gravitation.艾萨克·牛顿的学术生涯大部分在三一学院度过，期间完成了运动定律与万有引力的研究。

• Alan Turing, a graduate of King's College, laid the foundations of computability theory and helped break the Enigma code during the Second World War.国王学院毕业生艾伦·图灵奠定了可计算性理论的基础，并在第二次世界大战期间参与破译恩尼格玛密码。

• In politics the university has educated 15 British prime ministers, among them Robert Walpole, William Pitt the Younger and, more recently, David Cameron and Boris Johnson.在政治领域，这所大学培养了 15 位英国首相，包括罗伯特·沃波尔、小威廉·皮特，以及近年的大卫·卡梅伦与鲍里斯·约翰逊。

• Writers and thinkers educated at Cambridge include Francis Bacon, John Milton, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Bertrand Russell and the economist John Maynard Keynes.在剑桥受教的作家与思想家包括弗朗西斯·培根、约翰·弥尔顿、塞缪尔·泰勒·柯勒律治、伯特兰·罗素与经济学家约翰·梅纳德·凯恩斯。