the ViVa

Can sunlight and old car battery acid turn plastic wasteinto clean fuel? Cambridge chemist Kay Kwarteng explains how his team breaksdown plastic bottles, foams and nylon using recovered battery acid, then uses sunlight to turn them into hydrogen. He talks about why we live in the Plastic Age, how Ghana’s sunshine and plastic problem inspired his work, his pitch to a Minister of Environment, and th...

Palm oil is in your food, your soap and your cosmetics. But can we grow it without destroying nature? Godspower Major, a Gates Cambridge Scholar and PhD researcher in Zoology at the University of Cambridge, explains how plantations can support insects, soil life and wildlife while protecting farmers’ income. From barn owls and cover crops to cattle grazing between palm trees, this is farming with...

What happens to a tablet after youswallow it? Dr Jongmin Lee (PhD, ChemicalEngineering & Biotechnology, University of Cambridge) uses terahertz lightto see how water moves inside medicines. He explains why tablets are harder tomodel than rocks or soil, what his surprising finding means for drugdevelopment, and how a predictive model could save years and money in gettingnew medicines to patient...

Are We Thinking About Women's Health Too Late? | Pregnancy & Heart Health We talk a lot about pregnancy and thehealth of the baby. But what about the mother's health? In this episode of The ViVa, I sit down with Jasmine Kiley, a PhD researcher in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Cambridge, to explore women's health through the lens of pregnancy and...

Winning a fully funded PhD scholarship can feel like an impossible goal, but where do you even begin? In this episode of The ViVa, Dr. Adewunmi Akingbola shares the story behind receiving the prestigious MRC iCASE Enterprise Scholarship to pursue a DPhil in Primary healthcare at the University of Oxford. We discuss finding the right programme, preparing a competitive application, handling intervie...

What Is It Really Like to Study at Cambridge? Everyone sees the beautiful colleges, historic buildings, and graduation photos. But what is it really like to move across the world and study at the University of Cambridge? In this special episode of The ViVa, I sit down with Elishammah, Tasha, and Adeline for an honest conversation about their experiences as international students at Cambridge. We t...

Can Missing Data Change Healthcare Decisions? Every day, governments, hospitals, and researchers rely on data to make life-saving public health decisions. But what happens when that data is incomplete? In this episode of The ViVa, I sit down with Dr. Akingbola, medical doctor, public health practitioner, King's College scholar, Cambridge MPhil graduate, Forbes 30 Under 30 honouree, and winner of t...

In this episode of The ViVa Podcast, I sit down with Junior KikaLusu , a PhD student at the Crop Science Centre, to uncover the fascinating world of root-knot nematodes, tiny but powerful threats that impact crops, farmers, and global food security. We explore why these hidden agricultural challenges matter, how research is helping us better understand and manage them, and what inspired Kika’s jou...

What happens to healthcare when conflict destroys hospitals, disrupts supply chains, and puts healthcare workers at risk? In Episode 1 of The ViVa, Dr Saleyha Ahsan joins us to explore the often-overlooked health consequences of armed conflict and humanitarian emergencies. We discuss how modern conflicts increasingly target civilian infrastructure, the impact this has on healthcare delivery during...

Welcome to The ViVa, the podcast where research is made simple enough for a 10-year-old to understand. Hosted by Samuel Agyapong, The ViVa brings researchers, PhD students, and innovators into relaxed conversations about their work, their discoveries, and the stories behind the science. Whether it's cancer research, climate change, artificial intelligence, education, or engineering, we break d...