Public lecture podcasts

In this Inaugural lecture, Professor Simone Fullagar offers a sociocultural perspective on health, sport and active embodiment, to consider why and how the promotion of certain ideals of physical and mental health are not always 'good' for us. At the heart of this lecture are biopolitical and feminist questions concerning the complex effects of power relations (inequities relating to gender, class...

In this Inaugural lecture, Professor Simone Fullagar offers a sociocultural perspective on health, sport and active embodiment, to consider why and how the promotion of certain ideals of physical and mental health are not always ‘good’ for us. At the heart of this lecture are biopolitical and feminist questions concerning the complex effects of power relations (inequities relating to gender, class...

In this IPR Public Lecture, Professor Robert H. Wade - Professor of Political Economy at the LSE - builds on Supreme Court judge Louis Brandeis' dictum "We must make our choice. We may have democracy or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both". Professor Wade reports on recent evidence on the degree of income concentration at the top of OECD countries and the...

In this inaugural lecture, Professor Nigel Wilding explores the computer simulation of changes of state in models for atoms and complex molecules. Predicting the phase behaviour of a material is a central goal of condensed matter science, and a pre-requisite for designing new materials with tailored or novel phase behaviour. Professor Wilding’s lecture outlined how computer simulation of phase beh...

In this IPR Public Lecture Professor David Stasavage - Julius Silver Professor and Chair in the Wilf Family Department of Politics at New York University - discusses his latest book: Taxing the Rich: A History of Fiscal Fairness in the United States and Europe. The book, and the lecture, draw on unparalleled evidence from 20 countries over the last two centuries to provide the broadest and most in...

A recording of Professor Charles Lees’ inaugural lecture that took place on 19 February 2014. In his lecture he discussed how coalition governments are formed and what they can achieve.

Concerns about the gap between management research and management practice are long-standing and well-documented. Management practices do not seem to be based firmly on research evidence and the research produced by management researchers has limited impact on management practice. In his inaugural lecture, Professor Rob Briner argues that this gap is difficult to close and remains an intractable p...

In this lecture, Professor Mike Threadgill explores the influences and inspirations that have led him to a career in academic medicinal chemistry and reviewed the research of his team over the years. Mike's work focuses on the application of medicinal chemistry for the development of new agents for diagnosis and treatment of cancer. This has led him to becoming a Fellow of the Royal Society of Che...

In Professor Michael Finus' inaugural lecture he highlights how economic theory, in particular game theory, can be used to analyse international agreements to tackle climate change.

In his inaugural lecture, Professor Dylan Thompson, highlights why physical activity today is more important than ever. The podcast covers some of the new approaches that are being used to determine the amount of exercise required for good health and points towards some practical recommendations that can help you today.

Professor Bill Durodié's research looks at the causes and consequences of contemporary perceptions of risk, as well as how these are framed and communicated across a range of issues relating to security, science and society. In this podcast, his inaugural lecture at the University, he summarises the concept of "Risk Society" and focuses on the issue of risk perception society.

Professor Stephen Emmitt, from the University's Department of Architecture & Civil Engineering, delivers his inaugural lecture on 'living with buildings'. This puts forward an argument for improving the way in which architects manage design at a project and practice level - the architecture of practice. Professor Emmitt proposes that architects need to demonstrate the value of good design to their...

In her inaugural lecture, Professor Julie Barnett from the University's Department of Psychology examines what can we learn from social media content and the way social media is used by individuals and organisations.

In this public lecture, astrophysicist Dr Chris North takes its audience on a journey through space to understand the most distant stars and galaxies, exploring the findings of the Herschel Space Observatory. Dr North has worked on a number of space missions and is currently part of the Herschel Observatory team, looking at far-infrared light from stars forming in our galaxy and across the Univers...

In this Designability lecture, Kate Allatt shares an inspiring story of about self-management, patient engagement, dignity and future assistive technology opportunities. Kate's motto is to never lower patient recovery expectations because there are no promises, just possibilities. She is the author of ‘Running Free – Breaking out of Locked In Syndrome' and 'Extraordinary Woman Winner 2011'.

In this IPR Public Lecture, Professor David Nutt - Edmund J Safra Professor of Neuropsychopharmacology and Head of the Centre for Neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London, as well as former Chair of the Advisory Committee on the Misuse of Drugs - explores the ways in which evidence is being misused to stop rational regulations for alcohol and tobacco and, simultaneously, to impose unnece...

The rise of the antibiotic “superbugs” such as MRSA and multi-drug resistant tuberculosis, and recent viral pandemics are all examples of the threats posed to human health by infectious disease. These impact severely on our crops and livestock, significantly increasing the challenges associated with sustaining food security on a global scale. In this lecture, Professor Ed Feil (Milner Centre for E...

A recording of Professor Timo Kivimäki’s inaugural that delivered on 4 February 2016. In this lecture, he reveals the paradox of deadly solidarity and outlines a research program that aims to produce lessons on how global protection of civilians could work for peace.

Dr Jeremy Watson, Chief Scientist & Engineer at BRE presents the Third Biennial Lecture for the Department of Architecture & Civil Engineering on sustainability and ethics in the built environment.

Prostate Cancer (PC) is the most common male-specific form of cancer and the third most common form of cancer in the UK. Although cancer treatments are initially effective they become less effective and have significant disadvantages. Against this, there is an urgent need for better treatments. In this lecture, Dr Matthew Lloyd describes a number of different strategies to identify small molecules...

In his inaugural lecture, Deputy Director of the PVRC in the University's Department of Mechanical Engineering, Professor Chris Brace discusses what the future holds for automotive propulsion. During the 20th century the growth of affordable personal mobility changed the way we live and work. Today the passenger car as we know it is under increasing pressure from changing expectations, including a...

Like the mutating cells it was trying to investigate, and through a serendipitous series of unrelated coincidences, what started out as a multi-disciplinary UK-based research project to explore the stratosphere using helium balloons somehow evolved and mutated into a high-powered rocketry based research collaboration with NASA Astrobiologists in the Nevada Desert. This high-octane talk by Universi...

In 2008 Fernando Lugo came to power in Paraguay promising a 'new dawn' based on social justice, democracy and greater empowerment of the country's poor but just four years later, with his reform programme in tatters. In his inaugural lecture, Professor Peter Lambert examines the failure of Lugo's reform programme through analysis of both immediate causes and wider factors related to domestic power...

Professor Galbreath's inaugural lecture asked whether the evolution of technology requires us to be forever vigilant in the face of a new type of warfare. Against new threats to security, posed most recently by organisations like Islamic State, what is the current role for states, and what is the future for power and security, security and defence?

'Internet of Things' technologies have emerged over recent years as enabling technologies for life-long healthcare. Increasingly these technologies are seen as moving health from the hospital to the home, whilst at the same time shifting responsibility for health from the clinician to Computer Scientists and Engineers. The 27th Designability Annual Lecture, 'Data Scientist - heal thyself', explore...