University of Cambridge

Giovanna Mallucci is Professor of Clinical Neurosciences and Associate Director of the UK Dementia Research Institute. She discusses how research is transforming our understanding of the cellular mechanisms that make brain cells go wrong in dementia and degenerative brain disease and how these insights may be translated into new treatments. Professor Giovanna Mallucci has undergraduate degrees in...

You might have heard that scientists will soon be able to build quantum computers. But what exactly is a quantum computer? Is it just a super-fast version of a normal computer? What will it be good for? And most importantly, should you buy one? Mithuna Yoganathan provides the answers! Hint: don't put in your pre-order until you've seen this talk!

Through a series of short, interactive presentations, Astex Pharmaceuticals take you on a journey into their ‘molecular mix and match’ approach to the discovery of new medicines. Stick around after the talks to meet the scientists!

Imagine to be in front of a traffic light, you are about to cross and the green light starts to blink. Do you cross? Do you always stop, or does your choice depend on how late/early you are for an appointment? Does this depend on your age, the younger you are, the faster you can cross, or the more likely you are to take risks? Right from brainless bugs such as bacteria and yeasts, to each of the t...

Professor Ulf Büntgen presents a short introduction into modern tree-ring research, including wood anatomy, followed by timely examples of how different tree-ring archives and parameters can help to identify and shift research frontiers and cross disciplinary boundaries; not only within the natural sciences but also to the humanities. In addressing different aspects of archaeology, astronomy, biol...

Research Horizons Public Talk What does the future hold for Cambridge? How will its economy grow, and will our housing and transport infrastructure be able cope? Ying Jin talks about how we are able to model the city’s development, and Matthew Bullock and Gemma Burgess discuss why these predictions matter for balancing economic success and social equality.

Understanding disease at the molecular level is key to the discovery of new targets that drive inflammation and autoimmune processes. What happens when the immune system hits the wrong target? It can unleash a torrent of disorders, including inflammatory diseases, cancer, and autoimmune disease. Understanding disease triggers may enable entirely new approaches to treating and potentially preventin...

From human disease and intellectual ability, ethnicity and race to sex and our origins, Dr Ewan Birney and colleagues, discuss the five things that everyone should know about genetics. Professor Anne Ferguson-Smith is the Arthur Balfour Professor of Genetics and Head of the Department of Genetics. Her research focuses on the molecular events governing pre- and post-natal mammalian development. Dr...

Cambridge Climate Lecture Series In his 100th year, James Lovelock talks with Chris Rapley and Helen Czerski on the theme of Climate Change, Can We Fix It? Only three months after COP24 we hear if Lovelock, the father figure of our climate concerns, remains optimistic. Is Gaia alive? Will the Earth self-regulate whatever we do? Dr Helen Czerski, Professor Tim Lenton and Professor Chris Rapley will...

In this episode, Charis and I speak to Cambridge University alumna, Pat Marsh. When we recorded the interview, we didn’t have any of the studio equipment with us, just a phone, but we thought it would be a crime not to share Pat’s incredible story. Pat was the first woman in the UK to hold a gaming licence and in 1979 she brought Space Invaders, the arcade game sensation, to the UK shores. Pat has...

Black holes are nature’s most extreme and exotic objects. They stretch our understanding of space and time to its limits and, in a cosmic irony, are responsible for some of the most energetic phenomena in the Universe. In this talk, Professor Christopher Reynolds describes the nature of black holes as we currently understand them, the role that they play in the Universe, and how future research on...

A technology breakthrough that started in Cambridge has brought us to where we are able to decode the entire DNA sequence and determine mutations that cause rare genetic diseases and cancer. With all 100,000 genomes now sequenced, Dr David Bentley, Chief Scientist at Illumina, and Professor Mark Caulfield, Chief Scientist at Genomics England, discuss how the 100,000 Genome Project will revolutioni...

The UK is embarking on a renewal of its generation of electricity by nuclear power and moving towards finding a permanent home for its accumulated radioactive waste. Since the last time the UK made decisions like this, much understanding has developed that could re-set our attitude to radiation and radiological risk. Ian & Gerry will demonstrate little appreciated aspects of radioactivity in the n...

We humans have many obvious physical adaptations for effective movement – most notably the fact that we all tend to wander around on two legs. Less obvious, but every bit as important, is how our minds – particularly our desires – have been shaped through evolution by the need to move. Central to these mental adaptations is the brain’s ‘reward chemical’ dopamine. Dopamine is famous for making the...

Cambridge Infectious Diseases Public Lecture Dr Ellen Nisbet discusses how saving the world's coral reefs is helping us cure malaria. Corals contain photosynthetic algae, dying when the algae are lost. And malaria parasites are really algae in disguise.

Daphne Martschenko, president of Cambridge University Women’s Boat Club, is determined to make the sport of rowing more accessible. Her mission to pave the way for greater diversity in rowing chimes with her study of the charged concepts of race, socio-economic status, intelligence and genetics. Read more here: https://medium.com/this-cambridge-life/the-star-rower-whose-research-examines-teachers-...

https://www.cam.ac.uk/thiscambridgelife/waheedarian Having survived the civil war in Afghanistan, Waheed Arian arrived alone in the UK aged 15. He went on to study medicine at Trinity Hall, Cambridge. Today he’s using smartphones and volunteer specialists to provide life-saving medical advice to doctors working in areas of conflict.

Welcome to We are the University. A podcast about the people who make Cambridge University unique. In this episode we meet James Biddulph, the headmaster of the University of Cambridge Primary School. https://www.cam.ac.uk/primaryschool We talk about the school’s character and vision, how a trip to Nepal helped him realise that he wanted to teach as a career and we find out how he inspires the tea...

Has parliament taken back control and if so, are MPs about to shed their traditional party loyalties to prevent a no-deal Brexit? Listen to David Howarth, Professor of Law and Public Policy and former Cambridge MP, and Simon Deakin, Professor of Law, discuss what’s likely to happen in the Brexit negotiations in both the short and longer term.

The University Library is delighted to have been given the archive of the satirical TV programme Spitting Image. The first latex puppet to arrive is Margaret Thatcher. In this podcast, by Made For Your Podcasts, Spitting Image creator explains why the archive is coming home, and Mrs Thatcher speaks form beyond the grave...

What does gender equality mean in practice? Is feminism a threat to men or a collective liberation from social stereotypes? A panel discussion will look at the links between equality at work and equality at home and how the move towards gender equality connects to wider issues of social equality. With Jude Browne, Jessica and Peter Frankopan Director of the University of Cambridge Centre for Gende...

David Reynolds, Professor of International History, reflects on how Western perspectives on Stalin have changed since the end of the Cold War and why the wartime alliance with the Soviet Union remains one of the most challenging problems - both historically and morally - in writing the story of the 20th century.

Many common sayings warn us against being judgmental: “Judge not, lest ye be judged,” is one familiar directive, underscoring the vulnerabilities of human judgments to distortion and bias and reminding us of our own exposure to others’ negative judgments. Nevertheless, we continue to make judgments, both positive and negative, because we have evolved to do so. In this talk psychologist Dr Terri Ap...

Ever felt your phone vibrate without getting a message? That’s a hallucination. In this talk, Hannah Jongsma will explore the spectrum from normal experiences to mental illness. How helpful is it to think of wellbeing this way? Where and how do we draw a line between being well and being ill?

Will the future of work be one in which jobs become ever more precarious and robots take over or can we regulate to make the gig economy and artificial intelligence work in our favour? With Magdalena Soffia, former UN consultant and researcher in Sociology at the University of Cambridge, Dr Alex Wood, a sociologist of work and employment at the University of Oxford, Dr Hatice Gunes, associate prof...