University of Cambridge

Dr Rosalind Ridley, Senior Member of Newnham College and former Head of the UK Medical Research Council's Comparative Cognition Research Team in the Department of Psychology Rosalind Ridley views the Peter Pan stories through the eyes of a neuroscientist and explores J M Barrie's interest in cognition, theory of mind and the nature of consciousness. Barrie's stories are rich in post-Darwinian ques...

Professor Daping Chu, Director of Centre for Photonic Devices and Sensors and Director of the Centre for Advanced Photonics and Electronics (CAPE) Professor Daping Chu outlines his work on the car of the future and the use of Head-Up Display technology together with his JLR collaborators.

Dr Preti Taneja, Fellow Commoner at Jesus College and a BBC/AHRC New Generation Thinker Preti Taneja's debut novel We That Are Young sets Shakespeare's King Lear in contemporary India, where the clash of youth and age, the rise of the religious right wing, the repression of free speech and civil conflict in Kashmir are ongoing. Preti will discuss the hidden history, politics and urgent contemporar...

Hugh Hunt, Reader in the Department of Engineering We may want to cool the planet if (when) we fail to meet our CO2 emissions targets. There are technologies out there almost ready to go and some sound quite scary. Is it safe to meddle with the climate when we only have one Earth, asks Dr Hugh Hunt?

Professor Steve Evans, Director of Research in Industrial Sustainability Factories that forage, X-ray glasses that can see energy, why price is not value, and lots of stupid stuff as well. We will explore how the industrial system is (slowly) changing and why free energy is ignored. Professor Steve Evans explains how to be an environmental optimist and love factories.

Athene Donald, Professor of Experimental Physics and Master of Churchill College Children as young as six have already developed ideas about what boys and girls can 'do'. As they progress through school further cultural messages fix attitudes and are one part of why we have so few women engineers and male vets. Innovation, which thrives on diverse perspectives, is handicapped by the effects of suc...

Catherine Barnard, Professor of European Union Law and the Jean Monnet Chair of EU Law in the Faculty of Law EU legal expert Professor Catherine Barnard explains the complexity of the Brexit negotiations.

Dr Kourosh Saeb Parsy, Lecturer at the Department of Surgery, University of Cambridge and a Consultant Transplant Surgeon at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust Dr Kourosh Saeb Parsy reviews how organ transplantation is being transformed by innovations in organ donation, stem cell technology, bio-engineered tissues, machine perfusion of organs and other biomedical advances, including a discus...

The Reverend Alasdair Coles, Professor of Neuroimmunology Once considered separate and independent, it is now clear that the there is an intimate, two-way, connection between the two most complex body systems: the immune system and the brain. So, our behaviour can affect inflammation in the body, and immune cells can alter our behaviour. What are the implications, asks Reverend Professor Alasdair...

Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz, Professor of Mammalian Development and Stem Cell Biology Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz is a Professor of Mammalian Development and Stem Cell Biology at the University of Cambridge. Her passion lies in understanding how cells decide their fate for the very first time and how embryos build their architecture. This passion allowed her and her team to reveal the remarkable self-or...

Dame Carol Black, Principal of Newnham College, in conversation with journalist Rosie Boycott on addiction, obesity and employment Carol Black's independent review for government on employment outcomes for those with drug or alcohol addiction or obesity was published in December 2016. These three conditions impose great costs on individuals and society. The review examines the challenges and the d...

Dr Elizabeth Drayson, Lorna Close Fellow in Spanish at Murray Edwards College Dr Elizabeth Drayson on how seven centuries of Muslim rule in Spain came to an end.

Dr Beth Singler, Research Associate on the Human Identity in an age of Nearly-Human Machines project at the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion Recent developments in Artificial Intelligence and robotics demonstrate that we are aiming towards creating something that is 'human-like' in various ways. What sort of experiences should these beings have? And what does the answer to that question...

David Tong, Professor of Theoretical Physics According to our best theories of physics, the fundamental building blocks of matter are not particles, but continuous fluid-like substances known as 'quantum fields'. David Tong will explain what we know about these fields, and how they fit into our understanding of the Universe.

Professor Theresa Marteau, Director of the Behaviour and Health Research Unit Many of us would like to lead healthier lives so what stops us? asks Professor Theresa Marteau.

We know that sport is good for developing teamwork and exercise is good for your cognition, mood and physical health. However, we also hear about the harmful effects of rugby, boxing and other sports with high risk of concussion on the brain. Join Professor Barbara Sahakian, Professor Peter Hutchinson, Dr Michael Hart, Dr George Savulich and Mike Crofts in a discussion of the benefits and risks of...

Often dismissed as an unpleasant transitional stage or even maligned as a blight on society, are teenagers really as unproductive and worthless as we are usually told? David Bainbridge uses anthropology, physiology, history and psychology to argue that the teenage years should instead be seen as a unique human innovation – the very phenomenon, in fact, which has allowed us to achieve our unique su...

Chemistry doesn’t have to be done in a lab – in fact, you can do it in your kitchen! Find out with Andy Brunning the chemistry lurking in your kitchen cupboards, and learn some chemical explanations for food oddities along the way. Andy Brunning is a secondary science teacher, writer, and science communicator based in Cambridge. He also runs the Compound Interest website, which features simple gra...

Can we build a machine that can solve any problem? How can we break a code others believe unbreakable? Why do leopards have spots and zebras stripes? These questions were all answered by Alan Turing. Mathematician James Grime explores Turing's childhood fascination with maths and how it led to the breaking of the infamous Enigma cipher. Including a demonstration of an original WWII Enigma Machine!

A technology breakthrough that started in Cambridge has brought us to the point where we are able to decode the entire DNA sequence of 100,000 genomes to determine mutations that cause rare genetic diseases and cancer. Dr David Bentley, Chief Scientist illumina and Professor Mark Caulfield, Chief Scientist Genomics England discuss how this project promises to revolutionise the way we practice medi...

From Laser Light Displays to Extreme X-rays, we'll take you on a fantastic journey through the rainbow world of the electromagnetic spectrum. You'll believe your eyes - but you shouldn't in this illuminating science show. And as Jon London is the presenter you know SOMETHING is going to catch on fire!

Animals with backbones took millions of years to move out of the seas and onto land, then one group turned around and dived back in. Join Dr Helen Scales for an encounter with whales, including the biggest and some of the smartest animals ever to evolve. Dr Helen Scales is a marine biologist, writer and broadcaster. Her latest book is the Guardian bestseller Spirals in Time, the secret life and cu...

The human brain is one of the most remarkable objects in the known universe but, like everything living, it evolved over millions of years from the humblest of beginnings. Join zoologist and writer Matt Wilkinson on a quest to uncover these mysterious origins. You’ll never look at a sponge in the same way again!

Morphing structures can adapt their shape to suit their environment and purpose. These are surprisingly difficult for us to make, but nature offers many solutions. For example, the Venus Fly Trap captures its prey using an ingenious morphing structure. Martin Walker introduces examples of these morphing structures: discover how they work and try them for yourself. Martin Walker is a 3rd year PhD c...

Dr Kirstie Whitaker will take you on a journey "under the hood" to learn how researchers in Cambridge (and around the world) are studying the teenage brain. She will discuss what we can (and can not!) learn from brain scans in understanding this sensitive period of brain development. Dr Kirstie Whitaker is a postdoctoral researcher in the Brain Mapping Unit of the Department of Psychiatry at the U...