were read. Originally around half of those papers were read by current undergraduates, although it changed with time in favour of the graduate speakers. With no research degrees in Oxford, the ordinary meetings were one of the few opportunities for graduates to arouse interest about their scientific work. Famous students involved in those early years of the Junior Scientific Club include Nevil Sidgwick, Frederick Soddy, Henry Moseley and Julian Huxley. Special meetings with distinguished academics developed into an annual series of "Boyle Lectures", endowed and published from the society's subscription. Among the people who delivered those lectures were William Ramsay, Lord Kelvin and Henry Acland. Some of those lectures have been subsequently made into books. Once every two years the Club organized science festivals, called "conversaziones", in the Pitt Rivers Museum. Conversaziones comprised popular-level lectures and exhibitions in Pitt Rivers. They attracted around 1000 people from around Oxford. One of such conversaziones was described in the journal Nature from 6 July 1936. The club published its own journal, the Journal of the Oxford University Junior Scientific Club. It was edited every term from 1887 to 1912 and also after the First World War. Its style and composition were similar to other contemporary science periodicals, with some numbers containing as many as 100 pages. The articles were devoted to the papers read at the society's meetings or to general scientific developments. The journal also contained notes about current and former members of the club. In 1897 it was renamed Transactions of the Oxford University Junior Scientific Club''. By the beginning of the 20th century some specialized scientific societies were set up in Oxford and they were better suited for presenting undergraduate's research work. The quality of postgraduate teaching also improved. Those changes brought forth a shift in the activities of the Junior Scientific Club in 1920s. It concentrated mainly on inviting high-profile scientific speakers. This has remained the society's activity up to the present day. The society's archives are largely available in the Bodleian Library. People The Senior Member is Professor Kay Davies, FRS (Genetics). The following are patrons: Peter Atkins (Chemistry) Colin Blakemore (Physiology) Marcus du Sautoy (Mathematics) Sir Roger Penrose (Mathematics) References The 'History' section is largely based on the article: External links Oxford University Scientific Society website Student organizations established in 1882 Scientific Society Scientific societies based in the United Kingdom