The University is backing the Cambridge Standing Tall art trail to support the aspirations of young care leavers in the region.
Proceeds from the city-wide trail of 31 large giraffe sculptures – which includes three sponsored by the University – will support Break, a charity working with young people in and around care in the East of England.
The University has sponsored: Growth, located outside Great St Mary’s Church on Senate House Hill, Cosmic Explorer at Eddington Square, and Hubert outside the door to the West Hub in JJ Thomson Avenue.
Growth is at the heart of education, so East Anglia artist Charlie Stafford’s design was a perfect fit for the University, which also shares Break’s commitment to helping young people achieve their full potential, regardless of background. The welfare system in place at Cambridge includes a range of services to help support our care-experienced students.
Charlie, an art lecturer at USP college in Essex, said: “The design is inspired by the idea that no matter where you come from, or what start you’ve had in life, you can grow as a person, create your own opportunities and become your ‘best self’. Most of us have experienced some level of hardship in our lives, so people can connect with the sculpture on any level they want.
“Personally, it represents a huge part of who I’ve become as well. Growing up, my family didn’t have a lot of money, and I was actually a young carer myself, and that was a big focus of my life.
“It’s also about sustainability, regenerative practice and giving back to the community, because community is a big part of how you move forward. If I hadn’t had the help of all my teachers and everyone else who banded together around me, I wouldn’t be where I am now. I’ve had a lot of support, and if I can give that back I will.”
As well as the giant giraffes, more than 60 smaller ‘Mini G’ giraffe sculptures – decorated by schools and community groups – will be on show in shopping centres, shop windows and libraries, as part of Cambridge Standing Tall’s Learning & Community Programme. University students took part in a workshop with Charlie to decorate one of them, Gerard, which is on display in the Grand Arcade.
“It was great,” said Charlie. “I think it aligned really well with them, and it was really good to hear them talk about themselves, their experiences and how much they love the University. They were so forward-thinking and creative with their designs, and each one of them now has some sort of ownership on the art, and has represented some part of themselves, no matter how small.”
Professor Kamal Munir with artist Charlie Stafford, and giraffe sculpture Growth
Charlie painting her design Growth
Kirstyn Kedaitis, Widening Participation Co-ordinator, and artist Charlie Stafford in the Grand Arcade with Gerard
Cosmic Explorer at Eddington Square
United, at Cambridge University Press Bookshop in Trinity Street
Hubert at the West Hub
Camelopard at Corpus Christi College
Cosmic Explorer is the name of the artwork in Eddington. It speaks to the community because of the link to the neighbourhood namesake Arthur Eddington, a Cambridge physicist whose experiments confirmed Einstein’s theory of general relativity and led to its general acceptance. The feet of the giraffe are rooted in planet Earth’s different landscapes, and as your eyes move up, the artwork takes you beyond into the universe.
Artist Amrit Singh said: “The artistic design of the giraffe is based on the idea of a creative and cosmic wanderer: a person who ventures to new places, and the excitement and wonder of exploring new frontiers. It’s also inspired by the imagination and all the fantastic places our minds can create. It is abstract landscape which uses elements of nature and space with vibrant colours, bold shapes, metallics and texture which invites you to touch and experience the artwork.
Hubert – the promotional giraffe for the Cambridge Standing Tall Trail – is outside the door to the West Hub, and a Mini G, co-sponsored with residential developer Hill, and painted by schoolchildren at the University of Cambridge Primary School, is on display in the Storey’s Field Centre in Eddington.
Kamal Munir, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for University Community and Engagement, said: “The University of Cambridge is committed to widening participation in higher education, including for care-experienced and estranged young people through the Realise Project, which supports students from highly marginalised groups typically under-represented at the university level. We are pleased to support Break and are looking forward to participating in Cambridge Standing Tall.”
Corpus Christi College is also taking part in Cambridge Standing Tall. Mini G Camelopard (a medieval word for ‘giraffe’), was decorated by PhD student Emma Bouckley.
On Friday 15th March Cambridge men and women’s teams played Oxford in the 150th Varsity football matches.
Cambridge women’s team chalked up a resounding 3-0 victory. The first goal came courtesy of central midfielder Ella O’Connell, before centre-back Allie Rennie extended Cambridge’s lead with another two more goals, one in the first half and one in the second that also saw Rennie named player of the match.
The men’s game was a more closely fought battle as Cambridge drew the match 1-1 before losing on penalties.
Oxford took the first goal in just the 3rd minute before Cambridge Captain, Cai La Trobe-Roberts, scored an equaliser in the 73rd minute.
With Cambridge suffering an injured goalkeeper, the following penalty shootout saw Oxford take home the trophy, winning 3-0 on penalties.
Plant specimens collected by Charles Darwin on the famous Voyage of the Beagle between 1831 and 1836, rarely seen for 200-years, are being shown by Cambridge University researchers and curators as part of a new TV series with Susan Calman exploring Darwin’s relationship with Professor John Stevens Henslow.
Channel 5’s ‘Susan Calman’s Great British Cities’ visited Cambridge University Botanic Garden and the University’s Herbarium to see the rare plant specimens held there and discover how Henslow’s understanding of plants inspired his most famous student, Charles Darwin.
Henslow was Professor of Botany at Cambridge University and founded the current Cambridge University Botanic Garden in 1846, where the herbarium specimens reside as part of the University’s Department of Plant Sciences.
Throughout his time on the Voyage of the Beagle, Darwin was regularly posting specimens back to his teacher, friend and mentor, Professor John Stevens Henslow. Insightful letters exchanged between the two during the voyage – including Henslow complaining about Darwin’s packaging – are held at the Cambridge University Library.
Chart of the Beagle’s voyage. Charles Darwin travel map – Scanned 1880 Engraving
Specimens put on display for filming include a lichen specimen collected by Darwin in Tierra del Fuego in 1833 – believed not to have been looked at since Henslow’s time. It was uncovered ahead of the show with no classification or modern determination slips and has never been the subject of scientific or historical analysis.
Other rarely seen items were fungal herbarium specimens from Brazil that remain wrapped in the original newspaper Darwin used to preserve them on the Beagle. One news sheet shown is dated Wednesday October 22nd 1828 and priced at 7d.
Two seaweed specimens, collected by Darwin on the beach of Tierra del Fuego, also remain in an incredible condition, dated 1833 with additional details recorded by their famous collector. These particular specimens correspond with letters from Darwin, held in the Cambridge University Library (CUL), where he describes meeting the indigenous people of Tierra del Fuego and observing them on the beach.
Other specimens shown for the cameras include Opuntia (prickly pear) cacti, on which Henslow has added the name he devised for this important species “Opuntia galapagea” and where Darwin collected them, simply recorded as “Galapagos”.
These were the subject of a paper by Henslow, as well as a detailed illustration also residing in the Herbarium, that he would go on to use in his teachings. The paper recorded Darwin’s observations on how the plant integrated with its surroundings and provided a vital water source for the resident iguanas. Observations of interactions between these and similar organisms proved essential in igniting the evolutionary theories Darwin published decades later.
Opuntia Cacti specimens collected by Darwin in the Galapagos, next to illustrations of the plants drawn by Henslow
A hand-written letter from Henslow to Darwin, addressed “My dear Darwin”
Seaweed specimens, collected by Darwin on the beach of Tierre del Fuego, signed and dated 1833
Henslow’s personal botany book
Asheet ofnewspaper from 1828 that Darwin took with him on the Voyage of the Beagle and used to wrap specimens in when posting them back to Henslow in Cambridge
The team exploring and inspecting some of the archival collection
Specimens, newspaper used as wrapping and illustrations unveiled for filming
As Darwin’s Professor, Henslow was responsible for inspiring his love of natural history and it was Henslow that put him forward for the Voyage of the Beagle. Darwin later described it as “by far the most important event in my life”.
Henslow’s progressive, hands-on teaching techniques, which included meticulous observing, collecting, storing and recording were ground-breaking for the time and are why Darwin’s detailed specimens survive to this day, informing modern research.
“A major drive for the collection of plants was to explore how they interacted with the wider world in order to gain a better understanding of ‘God’s creation’. Henslow, in particular, was fascinated with plant physiology and the question of: ‘Why does God design these plants in this way?’
“Darwin was taught botany in this line known as ‘natural theology’ and there was never any doubt in God’s existence. As we know, in later life Henslow and Darwin diverged on this but that curiosity to explore plants in relation to their wider environments was sparked by Henslow’s pioneering teaching.” Dr Edwin Rose, AHRC Early Career Research Fellow and Advanced Research Fellow at Darwin College, who shows Susan Calman the specimens in the Channel 5 programme
Illustrations by Professor John Stevens Henslow that he used as teaching aids with his pupils including Charles Darwin
Other Darwin-related items held in the extensive Herbarium collection include:
Darwin’s first ever recorded specimen, collected on a field trip with Henslow in North Wales
The diary of Darwin’s class rival, Charles Babington, who would irritate Darwin by going to the Cambridge Fens in the early mornings to collect the ‘best’ beetles first
Original wall charts, illustrated by Henslow (such as the one pictured above) that Darwin learned from and saw displayed in the walls of the lecture room
Henslow’s personal copies of James Edward Smith’s Compendium floræ Britannicæ (1829), in which he notes specimens found during the numerous forays to the local countryside with students – including Darwin.
“Plant specimens like Darwin’s, and the rest of the 1.1 million we hold at the Herbarium, are vital for modern-day research. They are verifiable evidence that allows us to monitor and see how environments have changed over time, how humans have impacted specific environments and how climate has changed environments. They allow us to extrapolate information to see if the temperature was similar in the past, or if it’s changed and using modelling we can see what the environment will be like in the future. All this evidence going backwards, allows us to predict forwards and is used in a huge amount of research these days.”Dr Lauren Gardiner, Curator of the Cambridge University Herbarium
The Cambridge episode of Susan Calman’s Great British Cities will air at 9pm, 22nd March on Channel 5 and the series is also available on My5.
Susan Calman with Sally Petitt, CUBG Head of Horticulture. Credit: Channel 5
Dr Edwin Rose shows Susan Calman the archive materials during filming
Vintage illustration of Professor John Stevens Henslow
Professor John Stevens Henslow (1796-1861) was a British botanist, clergyman, and geologist who popularised botany at the University of Cambridge by introducing new methods of teaching the subject. Notably he initiated the move of the Cambridge University Botanic Garden to its present site in 1846.
In 1822 Henslow was made Professor of Mineralogy at Cambridge and in 1825 he became Professor of Botany, where he introduced a teaching technique fostering independent discovery. His students were inspired to collect plants and asked to examine and record the characteristics of the structures they found.
This method, combined with unusual field trips, interesting lectures, and Henslow’s natural enthusiasm, made botany one of the most popular subjects at the university. His class list would extend to as many as 80 students, at a time when the total University population was only in the low hundreds. One of the students Henslow served as a source of inspiration for was Charles Darwin, whom he taught between 1829 and 1831.
Between 1821 and 1835 Henslow expanded and reorganised the Cambridge University Herbarium, adding over 10,000 specimens from across Britain and the wider world. It became the basis for the Cambridge University Herbarium that we know today. He organised his herbarium to emphasise variation within species and determine the limits between species. To aid him, he enlisted about a hundred collaborators, one of whom was the young Charles Darwin.
Charles Darwin attended Cambridge University in 1828 to study Theology with a view to becoming a priest but was soon skipping his own classes to attend Henslow’s botany lectures and field trips instead. Darwin took Henslow’s course three years running and by the end was assisting with teaching it.
It was Professor Henslow’s inspirational teaching on the nature of plant species that established the necessary intellectual framework for Darwin’s subsequent evolutionary thinking.
“The extraordinary botanical collections at Cambridge University Botanic Garden and the University Herbarium, tell the story of one of the greatest teacher-student relationships in history – that of John Stevens Henslow and Charles Darwin.
“Together these two pioneers laid down a Cambridge tradition in studying plant diversity that is maintained to this day, and our botanical collections continue to drive important scientific discoveries, from the discovery of new plant species to the genetic basis of crop disease resistance.”Professor Samuel Brockington, Curator of Cambridge University Botanic Garden
When Darwin took his famous trip on the HMS Beagle in 1831, his place was arranged by Henslow. Visiting the Galapagos islands, Darwin began by arranging his observations in a framework set out by Henslow that assumed the stability of species.
In recent years, academics have put forth that the instruction Darwin received from Henslow set the framework for the new understanding Darwin came to: that varieties are incipient species. Darwin’s theory of mutability would later find its full expression in his canonical On the Origin of Species first published in 1859.
“By far the most important event of my life”Charles Darwin speaking about his trip on the Beagle that Henslow arranged for him
Henslow remained a mentor and friend to Darwin for the rest of his life. Other famous students and contemporaries of Henslow included Miles Joseph Berkeley, Charles Cardale Babington, Leonard Jenyns, Richard Thomas Lowe and William Hallowes Miller.
The Cambridge episode of Susan Calman’s Great British Cities will air at 9pm, 22nd March on Channel 5 and the series is also available on My5.
The text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The public are being encouraged to eat more wild fish, such as mackerel, anchovies and herring, which are often used within farmed salmon feeds. These oily fish contain essential nutrients including calcium, B12 and omega-3 but some are lost from our diets when we just eat the salmon fillet.
Making a few small changes to our diet around the type of fish that we eat can go a long way to changing some of these deficiencies and increasing the health of both our population and planetDr David Willer, Zoology Department
Scientists found that farmed salmon production leads to an overall loss of essential dietary nutrients. They say that eating more wild ‘feed’ species directly could benefit our health while reducing aquaculture demand for finite marine resources.
Researchers analysed the flow of nutrients from the edible species of wild fish used as feed, to the farmed salmon they were fed to. They found a decrease in six out of nine nutrients in the salmon fillet – calcium, iodine, iron, omega-3, vitamin B12 and vitamin A, but increased levels of selenium and zinc.
Most wild ‘feed’ fish met dietary nutrient recommendations at smaller portion sizes than farmed Atlantic salmon, including omega-3 fatty acids which are known to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke.
“What we’re seeing is that most species of wild fish used as feed have a similar or greater density and range of micronutrients than farmed salmon fillets,” said lead author, Dr David Willer, Zoology Department, University of Cambridge.
“Whilst still enjoying eating salmon and supporting sustainable growth in the sector, people should consider eating a greater and wider variety of wild fish species like sardines, mackerel and anchovies, to get more essential nutrients straight to their plate.”
In the UK, 71% of adults have insufficient vitamin D in winter, and teenage girls and women often have deficiencies of iodine, selenium and iron. Yet while, 24% of adults ate salmon weekly, only 5.4% ate mackerel, 1% anchovies and just 0.4% herring.
“Making a few small changes to our diet around the type of fish that we eat can go a long way to changing some of these deficiencies and increasing the health of both our population and planet,” said Willer.
The researchers found consuming one-third of current food-grade wild feed fish directly would be the most efficient way of maximising nutrients from the sea.
“Marine fisheries are important local and global food systems, but large catches are being diverted towards farm feeds. Prioritising nutritious seafood for people can help improve both diets and ocean sustainability,” said senior author Dr James Robinson, Lancaster University.
This approach could help address global nutrient deficiencies say the team of scientists from the University of Cambridge, Lancaster University, University of Stirling and the University of Aberdeen.
The study was published today in the journal, Nature Food.
The scientists calculated the balance of nutrients in edible portions of whole wild fish, used within pelleted salmon feed in Norway, compared to the farmed salmon fillets.
They focused on nine nutrients that are essential in human diets and concentrated in seafood – iodine, calcium, iron, vitamin B12, vitamin A, omega-3 (EPA + DHA), vitamin D, zinc and selenium.
The wild fish studied included Pacific and Peruvian anchoveta, and Atlantic herring, mackerel, sprat and blue whiting – which are all marketed and consumed as seafood.
They found that these six feed species contained a greater, or similar, concentration of nutrients as the farmed salmon fillets. Quantities of calcium were over five times higher in wild feed fish fillets than salmon fillets, iodine was four times higher, and iron, omega-3, vitamin B12, and vitamin A were over 1.5 times higher.
Wild feed species and salmon had comparable quantities of vitamin D.
Zinc and selenium were found to be higher in salmon than the wild feed species – the researchers say these extra quantities are due to other salmon feed ingredients and are a real mark of progress in the salmon sector.
“Farmed salmon is an excellent source of nutrition, and is one of the best converters of feed of any farmed animal, but for the industry to grow it needs to become better at retaining key nutrients that it is fed. This can be done through more strategic use of feed ingredients, including from fishery by-products and sustainably-sourced, industrial-grade fish such as sand eels”, said Dr Richard Newton of the Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling, whose team also included Professor Dave Little, Dr Wesley Malcorps and Björn Kok.
“It was interesting to see that we’re effectively wasting around 80% of the calcium and iodine from the feed fish – especially when we consider that women and teenage girls are often not getting enough of these nutrients”.
Willer said “These numbers have been underacknowledged by the aquaculture industry’s standard model of quoting Fish In Fish Out (FIFO) ratios rather than looking at nutrients.
The researchers would like to see a nutrient retention metric adopted by the fishing and aquaculture industries. They believe that if combined with the current FIFO ratio, the industry could become more efficient, and reduce the burden on fish stocks that also provide seafood. The team are building a standardised and robust vehicle for integrating the nutrient retention metric into industry practice.
“We’d like to see the industry expand but not at a cost to our oceans,” said Willer.
“We’d also like to see a greater variety of affordable, convenient and appealing products made of wild ‘feed’ fish and fish and salmon by-products for direct human consumption.”
The research was funded by the Scottish Government’s Rural and Environmental Science and Analytical Services Division (RESAS), a Royal Society University Research Fellowship, a Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship a Henslow Fellowship at Murray Edwards College and the University of Cambridge.
Reference: D. Willer et al. Wild fish consumption can balance nutrient retention in farmed fish Nature FoodDOI: 10.1038/s43016-024-00932-z
The University of Cambridge has received UKRI funding for research on age-related biological changes in model organisms as part of a national collaboration.
‘Prevention is better than cure’ and so our project will generate a reference map that we will use in the future to assess interventions that could prevent ageing related health decline – Walid Khaled
UKRI funding of £3 million is awarded today to support a new research cluster, as part of the MRC National Mouse Genetics Network (MRC NMGN), focused on improving existing models of ageing with the aim of improving lifelong health and wellbeing. The cluster is led by scientists at the Universities of Cambridge and Newcastle.
The MRC NMGN focuses on age-related biological changes in model organisms, particularly the mouse, to try and improve our understanding and diagnosis of the most challenging disease area of our time – and generate therapeutic avenues.
This award brings the UKRI’s total investment in the MRC NMGN to £25 million.
The need to improve how people age has become a major requirement of modern societies. Regular increases in life expectancy result in older populations, making healthy ageing essential for a better quality of life and a reduced burden on health and social services.
Understanding the biological mechanisms underlying the ageing process is paramount for tackling the challenges brought about by our older populations.
The new tools generated as a result of this research will be made available to the scientific community to improve understanding of the ageing process, and to provide a resource for preclinical testing and intervention.
Professor Walid Khaled from Cambridge’s Wellcome-MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute and Department of Pharmacology, and Co-lead of the new MRC National Mouse Genetics Network Ageing Cluster, said: “I am very pleased to be co-leading this project from Cambridge and I am looking forward to working with the rest of the team from around the UK. ‘Prevention is better than cure’ and so our project will generate a reference map that we will use in the future to assess interventions that could prevent ageing related health decline.”
Professor Anne Ferguson-Smith, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research & International Partnerships) and Arthur Balfour Professor of Genetics at Cambridge, said: “Collaboration is central to our research activities in Cambridge. The new Ageing Cluster is a fine example of multiple institutions working together to add value and bring exciting new insight and expertise to advance the critically important field of healthy ageing. I am proud to be part of this important initiative which can deliver new routes to improved health span.”
Professor David Burn, Pro Vice Chancellor, Faculty of Medical Sciences at Newcastle University, added: “I am delighted that Newcastle University is an important part of the UKRI Mouse Genetics Network Ageing Cluster. This cluster offers researchers the opportunity to develop new animal models so that we may better understand ageing. This, in turn, will allow us to translate this research into extending healthy lifespan in humans in the future.”
The University is bringing together its world leading expertise to tackle the topic of extending the healthy lifespan. Scientists in the School of Biological Sciences are addressing some of the biggest questions in human biology, including: What if we could identify those at risk of developing chronic age-related conditions before they present in the clinic? What if we could intervene before any symptoms arise and prevent disease onset?
UKRI’s strategy for 2022-2027 aims to harness the full power of the UK’s research and innovation system to tackle major national and global challenges. A total of £75m has been allocated to the theme of Securing better health, ageing and wellbeing, which aims to improve population health, tackle the health inequalities affecting people and communities, and advance interventions that keep us healthier for longer.
Researchers have developed a sensor made from ‘frozen smoke’ that uses artificial intelligence techniques to detect formaldehyde in real time at concentrations as low as eight parts per billion, far beyond the sensitivity of most indoor air quality sensors.
The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, developed sensors made from highly porous materials known as aerogels. By precisely engineering the shape of the holes in the aerogels, the sensors were able to detect the fingerprint of formaldehyde, a common indoor air pollutant, at room temperature.
The proof-of-concept sensors, which require minimal power, could be adapted to detect a wide range of hazardous gases, and could also be miniaturised for wearable and healthcare applications. The results are reported in the journal Science Advances.
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are a major source of indoor air pollution, causing watery eyes, burning in the eyes and throat, and difficulty breathing at elevated levels. High concentrations can trigger attacks in people with asthma, and prolonged exposure may cause certain cancers.
Formaldehyde is a common VOC and is emitted by household items including pressed wood products (such as MDF), wallpapers and paints, and some synthetic fabrics. For the most part, the levels of formaldehyde emitted by these items are low, but levels can build up over time, especially in garages where paints and other formaldehyde-emitting products are more likely to be stored.
According to a 2019 report from the campaign group Clean Air Day, a fifth of households in the UK showed notable concentrations of formaldehyde, with 13% of residences surpassing the recommended limit set by the World Health Organization (WHO).
“VOCs such as formaldehyde can lead to serious health problems with prolonged exposure even at low concentrations, but current sensors don’t have the sensitivity or selectivity to distinguish between VOCs that have different impacts on health,” said Professor Tawfique Hasan from the Cambridge Graphene Centre, who led the research.
“We wanted to develop a sensor that is small and doesn’t use much power, but can selectively detect formaldehyde at low concentrations,” said Zhuo Chen, the paper’s first author.
The researchers based their sensors on aerogels: ultra-light materials sometimes referred to as ‘liquid smoke’, since they are more than 99% air by volume. The open structure of aerogels allows gases to easily move in and out. By precisely engineering the shape, or morphology, of the holes, the aerogels can act as highly effective sensors.
Working with colleagues at Warwick University, the Cambridge researchers optimised the composition and structure of the aerogels to increase their sensitivity to formaldehyde, making them into filaments about three times the width of a human hair. The researchers 3D printed lines of a paste made from graphene, a two-dimensional form of carbon, and then freeze-dried the graphene paste to form the holes in the final aerogel structure. The aerogels also incorporate tiny semiconductors known as quantum dots.
The sensors they developed were able to detect formaldehyde at concentrations as low as eight parts per billion, which is 0.4 percent of the level deemed safe in UK workplaces. The sensors also work at room temperature, consuming very low power.
“Traditional gas sensors need to be heated up, but because of the way we’ve engineered the materials, our sensors work incredibly well at room temperature, so they use between 10 and 100 times less power than other sensors,” said Chen.
To improve selectivity, the researchers then incorporated machine learning algorithms into the sensors. The algorithms were trained to detect the ‘fingerprint’ of different gases, so that the sensor was able to distinguish the fingerprint of formaldehyde from other VOCs.
“Existing VOC detectors are blunt instruments – you only get one number for the overall concentration in the air,” said Hasan. “By building a sensor that can detect specific VOCs at very low concentrations in real time, it can give home and business owners a more accurate picture of air quality and any potential health risks.”
The researchers say the same technique could be used to develop sensors to detect other VOCs. In theory, a device the size of a standard household carbon monoxide detector could incorporate multiple different sensors within it, providing real-time information about a range of different hazardous gases. “At Warwick, we’re developing a low-cost multi-sensor platform that will incorporate these new aerogel materials and, coupled with AI algorithms, detect different VOCs,” said co-author Professor Julian Gardner from Warwick University.
“By using highly porous materials as the sensing element, we’re opening up whole new ways of detecting hazardous materials in our environment,” said Chen.
The research was supported in part by the Henry Royce Institute, and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). Tawfique Hasan is a Fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge.
Knowledge & skills for a million Cambridge learners
By Paul Casciato
The global publishing and assessment arm of the University of Cambridge is calling on teachers in 160 countries to help improve climate change education for nearly a million 3-19 year-olds.
The International Education group at Cambridge University Press & Assessmentsaid this week it is advancing work on climate change education by inviting leaders and educators worldwide to collaborate on developing its programmes.
One of the world’s oldest publishing houses said it is working with the University’s climate change initiative, Cambridge Zero, to combine academic expertise from Cambridge with the experience of the educators, policymakers and thought leaders in 10,000 schools around the world.
Education is recognised as a major strategy in tackling climate change because it plays a crucial role in equipping current and future generations with the knowledge and skills needed to address climate-related challenges at local, national, and global levels.
Young learners from Kulachi Hansraj Model School in Delhi during Cambridge Global Perspectives Week
“Education is an essential tool for combating climate change but its potential is still far from being realised,” said Rod Smith, Group Managing Director for International Education at Cambridge University Press & Assessment.
“We want to build a community of educators and leaders to influence the direction of climate change education that will empower current and future generations to respond and be ready for the world.”
In the first instance, education leaders with an active interest in shaping the direction of teaching, learning and assessment of international climate change education have been invited to share their views.
They have been asked to comment on a new introduction paper, complete a questionnaire about their climate change education experience and take part in online discussion sessions hosted by Cambridge.
This multi-disciplinary approach aims to equip learners both with knowledge about climate change, and with the values, attitudes and skills to understand and address climate change.
“Nearly a million learners in 160 countries will be better equipped to address the challenges of climate change with the knowledge and skills we aim to support in every curriculum in the thousands of schools using Cambridge programmes and resources,” said Cambridge Zero Head of Education and Student Engagement Dr Amy Munro-Faure.
Cambridge’s Global Director for Climate Education, Christine Özden said she has heard from hundreds of students worldwide, who are passionate about making a difference on climate change.
“To achieve its aims, climate change education needs to be high quality, holistic across the curriculum and school ages, and set global issues in a local context.”
To learn more visit: www.cambridgeinternational.org
Researchers from the universities of Cambridge and Western Australia have uncovered the importance of hydrothermal vents, similar to underwater geysers, in supplying minerals that may have been a key ingredient in the emergence of early life.
Their study, published in Science Advances, examined 3.5-billion-year-old rocks from western Australia in previously unseen detail and identified large quantities of a mineral called greenalite, which is thought to have played a role in early biological processes. The researchers also found that the seafloor vents would have seeded the oceans with apatite, a mineral rich in the life-essential element phosphorus.
The earliest lifeforms we know of—single-celled microorganisms, or microbes—emerged around 3.7 billion years ago. Most of the rocks that contain traces of them and the environment they lived in have, however, been destroyed. Some of the only evidence we have of this pivotal time comes from an outcrop of sediments in the remote Australian outback.
The so-called Dresser Formation has been studied for years but, in the new study, researchers re-examined the rocks in closer detail, using high magnification electron microscopes to reveal tiny minerals that were essentially hidden in plain sight.
The greenalite particles they observed measured just a few hundred nanometres in size—so small that they would have been washed over thousands of kilometres, potentially finding their way into a range of environments where they may have kick-started otherwise unfavourable chemical reactions, such as those involved in building the first DNA and RNA molecules.
“We’ve found that hydrothermal vents supplied trillions upon trillions of tiny, highly-reactive greenalite particles, as well as large quantities of phosphorus,” said Professor Birger Rasmussen, lead author of the study from the University of Western Australia.
Rasmussen said scientists are still unsure as to the exact role of greenalite in building primitive cells, “but this mineral was in the right place at the right time, and also had the right size and crystal structure to promote the assembly of early cells.”
The rocks the researchers studied contain characteristic layers of rusty-red, iron-rich jasper which formed as mineral-laden seawater spewed from hydrothermal vents. Scientists had thought the jaspers got their distinctive red colour from particles of iron oxide which, just like rust, form when iron is exposed to oxygen.
But how did this iron oxide form when Earth’s early oceans lacked oxygen? One theory is that photosynthesising cyanobacteria in the oceans produced the oxygen, and that it wasn’t until later, around 2.4 billion years ago, that this oxygen started to skyrocket in the atmosphere.
The new results change that assumption, however, “the story is completely different once you look closely enough,” said study co-author Professor Nick Tosca from Cambridge’s Department of Earth Sciences.
The researchers found that tiny, drab, particles of greenalite far outnumbered the iron oxide particles which give the jaspers their colour. The iron oxide was not an original feature, discounting the theory that they were formed by the activity of cyanobacteria.
“Our findings show that iron wasn’t oxidised in the oceans; instead, it combined with silica to form tiny crystals of greenalite,” said Tosca. “That means major oxygen producers, cyanobacteria, may have evolved later, potentially coinciding with the soar in atmospheric oxygen during the Great Oxygenation Event.”
Birger said that more experiments are needed to identify how greenalite might facilitate prebiotic chemistry, “but it was present in such vast quantities that, under the right conditions its surfaces could have synthesized an enormous number of RNA-type sequences, addressing a key question in origin of life research – where did all the RNA come from?”
The springtime emergence of vast swarms of cicadas can be explained by a mathematical model of collective decision-making with similarities to models describing stock market crashes.
Pick almost any location in the eastern United States – say, Columbus Ohio. Every 13 or 17 years, as the soil warms in springtime, vast swarms of cicadas emerge from their underground burrows singing their deafening song, take flight and mate, producing offspring for the next cycle.
This noisy phenomenon repeats all over the eastern and southeastern US as 17 distinct broods emerge in staggered years. In spring 2024, billions of cicadas are expected as two different broods – one that appears every 13 years and another that appears every 17 years – emerge simultaneously.
Previous research has suggested that cicadas emerge once the soil temperature reaches 18°C, but even within a small geographical area, differences in sun exposure, foliage cover or humidity can lead to variations in temperature.
Now, in a paper published in the journal Physical Review E, researchers from the University of Cambridge have discovered how such synchronous cicada swarms can emerge despite these temperature differences.
The researchers developed a mathematical model for decision-making in an environment with variations in temperature and found that communication between cicada nymphs allows the group to come to a consensus about the local average temperature that then leads to large-scale swarms. The model is closely related to one that has been used to describe ‘avalanches’ in decision-making like those among stock market traders, leading to crashes.
Mathematicians have been captivated by the appearance of 17- and 13-year cycles in various species of cicadas, and have previously developed mathematical models that showed how the appearance of such large prime numbers is a consequence of evolutionary pressures to avoid predation. However, the mechanism by which swarms emerge coherently in a given year has not been understood.
In developing their model, the Cambridge team was inspired by previous research on decision-making that represents each member of a group by a ‘spin’ like that in a magnet, but instead of pointing up or down, the two states represent the decision to ‘remain’ or ‘emerge’.
The local temperature experienced by the cicadas is then like a magnetic field that tends to align the spins and varies slowly from place to place on the scale of hundreds of metres, from sunny hilltops to shaded valleys in a forest. Communication between nearby nymphs is represented by an interaction between the spins that leads to local agreement of neighbours.
The researchers showed that in the presence of such interactions the swarms are large and space-filling, involving every member of the population in a range of local temperature environments, unlike the case without communication in which every nymph is on its own, responding to every subtle variation in microclimate.
The research was carried out Professor Raymond E Goldstein, the Alan Turing Professor of Complex Physical Systems in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (DAMTP), Professor Robert L Jack of DAMTP and the Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, and Dr Adriana I Pesci, a Senior Research Associate in DAMTP.
“As an applied mathematician, there is nothing more interesting than finding a model capable of explaining the behaviour of living beings, even in the simplest of cases,” said Pesci.
The researchers say that while their model does not require any particular means of communication between underground nymphs, acoustical signalling is a likely candidate, given the ear-splitting sounds that the swarms make once they emerge from underground.
The researchers hope that their conjecture regarding the role of communication will stimulate field research to test the hypothesis.
“If our conjecture that communication between nymphs plays a role in swarm emergence is confirmed, it would provide a striking example of how Darwinian evolution can act for the benefit of the group, not just the individual,” said Goldstein.
This work was supported in part by the Complex Physical Systems Fund.
Peter Kyle MP, the Shadow Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, met academics from the University of Cambridge and leaders from the Cambridge community for a day focused on AI policy and innovation.
The visit took place at Cambridge Innovation Capital and was hosted by Innovate Cambridge – an initiative which is bringing together partners across the city region to deliver an inclusive future for Cambridge and its science and technology cluster. The Shadow Minister met with experts on AI from the University and from industry, discussing both the challenges it presents, as well as the enormous potential for AI to serve science, people, and society.
At the opening roundtable, academics including Professor Dame Diane Coyle (Director of the Bennett Institute of Public Policy), Professor Neil Lawrence (DeepMind Professor of Machine Learning), and Professor John Aston (Professor of Statistics in Public Life), provided expert analysis on AI policy challenges as well as the role AI can play in public service reform. The group discussed how governance systems need to evolve for the AI era, and how an increasingly complex information infrastructure can be managed. In addition, they considered the opportunity that AI presents for improving public services and breaking down siloed decision-making within government.
Mr Kyle took part in a series of ‘flash talks’, focused on areas where research in AI is delivering benefits to society. These included work by Dr Ronita Bardhan, from the University’s Department of Architecture, on a new deep-learning model which makes it far easier and cheaper to identify ‘hard-to-decarbonise’ houses and develop strategies to improve their green credentials. Dr Anna Moore presented her work in the Department of Psychiatry, using AI systems to speed up the diagnosis of mental health conditions in children.
In the afternoon, Mr Kyle met with leaders representing civic institutions, academia and business organisations from across the city, including Councillor Mike Davey, Leader of Cambridge City Council, and Andrew Williamson, Managing Partner at Cambridge Innovation Capital. They spoke about their shared vision and strategy for the region to ensure Cambridge remains a globally leading innovation centre, and a collective desire to deliver benefits both locally and across the UK.
The day concluded with a spin-out and business roundtable at which participants discussed the need for government and the private sector to be active in ensuring AI benefits all parts of the UK, and people are re-skilled as jobs change. Mr Kyle was also interested to explore how the UK can become a more attractive place to scale companies. Key considerations included the need to improve access to talent, capital and infrastructure, as well tackling the regulatory barriers which can make the UK less competitive.
Two Cambridge-led studies suggest that the psychological distress caused by lockdowns (UK) and experience of infection (US) was reduced among those of faith compared to non-religious people.
People of religious faith may have experienced lower levels of unhappiness and stress than secular people during the UK’s Covid-19 lockdowns in 2020 and 2021, according to a new University of Cambridge study released as a working paper.
The findings follow recently published Cambridge-led research suggesting that worsening mental health after experiencing Covid infection – either personally or in those close to you – was also somewhat ameliorated by religious belief. This study looked at the US population during early 2021.
University of Cambridge economists argue that – taken together – these studies show that religion may act as a bulwark against increased distress and reduced wellbeing during times of crisis, such as a global public health emergency.
“Selection biases make the wellbeing effects of religion difficult to study,” said Prof Shaun Larcom from Cambridge’s Department of Land Economy, and co-author of the latest study. “People may become religious due to family backgrounds, innate traits, or to cope with new or existing struggles.”
“However, the Covid-19 pandemic was an extraordinary event affecting everyone at around the same time, so we could gauge the impact of a negative shock to wellbeing right across society. This provided a unique opportunity to measure whether religion was important for how some people deal with a crisis.”
Larcom and his Cambridge colleagues Prof Sriya Iyer and Dr Po-Wen She analysed survey data collected from 3,884 people in the UK during the first two national lockdowns, and compared it to three waves of data prior to the pandemic.
They found that while lockdowns were associated with a universal uptick in unhappiness, the average increase in feeling miserable was 29% lower for people who described themselves as belonging to a religion.*
The researchers also analysed the data by “religiosity”: the extent of an individual’s commitment to religious beliefs, and how central it is to their life. Those for whom religion makes “some or a great difference” in their lives experienced around half the increase in unhappiness seen in those for whom religion makes little or no difference.**
“The study suggests that it is not just being religious, but the intensity of religiosity that is important when coping with a crisis,” said Larcom.
Those self-identifying as religious in the UK are more likely to have certain characteristics, such as being older and female. The research team “controlled” for these statistically to try and isolate the effects caused by faith alone, and still found that the probability of religious people having an increase in depression was around 20% lower than non-religious people.
There was little overall difference between Christians, Muslims and Hindus – followers of the three biggest religions in the UK. However, the team did find that wellbeing among some religious groups appeared to suffer more than others when places of worship were closed during the first lockdown.
“The denial of weekly communal attendance appears to have been particularly affecting for Catholics and Muslims,” said Larcom.
For the earlier study, authored by Prof Sriya Iyer, along with colleagues Kishen Shastry, Girish Bahal and Anand Shrivastava from Australia and India, researchers used online surveys to investigate Covid-19 infections among respondents or their immediate family and friends, as well as religious beliefs, and mental health.
The study was conducted during February and March 2021, and involved 5,178 people right across the United States, with findings published in the journal European Economic Review in November 2023.
Researchers found that almost half those who reported a Covid-19 infection either in themselves or their immediate social network experienced an associated reduction in wellbeing.
Where mental health declined, it was around 60% worse on average for the non-religious compared to people of faith with typical levels of “religiosity”.***
Interestingly, the positive effects of religion were not found in areas with strictest lockdowns, suggesting access to places of worship might be even more important in a US context. The study also found significant uptake of online religious services, and a 40% lower association between Covid-19 and mental health for those who used them.****
“Religious beliefs may be used by some as psychological resources that can shore up self-esteem and add coping skills, combined with practices that provide social support,” said Prof Iyer, from Cambridge’s Faculty of Economics.
“The pandemic presented an opportunity to glean further evidence of this in both the United Kingdom and the United States, two nations characterised by enormous religious diversity.”
Added Larcom: “These studies show a relationship between religion and lower levels of distress during a global crisis. It may be that religious faith builds resilience, and helps people cope with adversity by providing hope, consolation and meaning in tumultuous times.”
Notes
* The increase in the mean measure for unhappiness was 6.1 percent for people who do not identify with a religion during the lockdown, compared to an increase of 4.3 percent for those who do belong to a religion – a difference of 29%.
**For those that religion makes little or no difference, the increase was 6.3 percent. For those for whom religion makes some or a great difference, the increase was around half that, at 3 percent and 3.5 percent respectively.
*** This was after controlling for various demographic and environmental traits, including age, race, income, and average mental health rates prior to the pandemic.
**** The interpretation is from Column 1 of Table 5: Determinants of mental health, online access to religion. Where the coefficients of Covid {Not accessed online service} is 2.265 and Covid {Accessed online service} is 1.344. Hence the difference is 2.265-1.344 = 0.921 which is 40% of 2.265.
Cambridge scientists may have discovered a new way in which fasting helps reduce inflammation – a potentially damaging side-effect of the body’s immune system that underlies a number of chronic diseases.
Our work adds to a growing amount of scientific literature that points to the health benefits of calorie restrictionClare Bryant
In research published in Cell Reports, the team describes how fasting raises levels of a chemical in the blood known as arachidonic acid, which inhibits inflammation. The researchers say it may also help explain some of the beneficial effects of drugs such as aspirin.
Scientists have known for some time that our diet – particular a high-calorie Western diet – can increase our risk of diseases including obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease, which are linked to chronic inflammation in the body.
Inflammation is our body’s natural response to injury or infection, but this process can be triggered by other mechanisms, including by the so-called ‘inflammasome’, which acts like an alarm within our body’s cells, triggering inflammation to help protect our body when it senses damage. But the inflammasome can trigger inflammation in unintentional ways – one of its functions is to destroy unwanted cells, which can result in the release of the cell’s contents into the body, where they trigger inflammation.
Professor Clare Bryant from the Department of Medicine at the University of Cambridge said: “We’re very interested in trying to understand the causes of chronic inflammation in the context of many human diseases, and in particular the role of the inflammasome.
“What’s become apparent over recent years is that one inflammasome in particular – the NLRP3 inflammasome – is very important in a number of major diseases such as obesity and atherosclerosis, but also in diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, many of the diseases of older age people, particularly in the Western world.”
Fasting can help reduce inflammation, but the reason why has not been clear. To help answer this question, a team led by Professor Bryant and colleagues at the University of Cambridge and National Institute for Health in the USA studied blood samples from a group of 21 volunteers, who ate a 500kcal meal then fasted for 24 hours before consuming a second 500kcal meal.
The team found that restricting calorie intake increased levels of a lipid known as arachidonic acid. Lipids are molecules that play important roles in our bodies, such as storing energy and transmitting information between cells. As soon as individuals ate a meal again, levels of arachidonic acid dropped.
When the researchers studied arachidonic acid’s effect in immune cells cultured in the lab, they found that it turns down the activity of the NLRP3 inflammasome. This surprised the team as arachidonic acid was previously thought to be linked with increased levels of inflammation, not decreased.
Professor Bryant, a Fellow of Queens’ College, Cambridge, added: “This provides a potential explanation for how changing our diet – in particular by fasting – protects us from inflammation, especially the damaging form that underpins many diseases related to a Western high calorie diet.
“It’s too early to say whether fasting protects against diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease as the effects of arachidonic acid are only short-lived, but our work adds to a growing amount of scientific literature that points to the health benefits of calorie restriction. It suggests that regular fasting over a long period could help reduce the chronic inflammation we associate with these conditions. It’s certainly an attractive idea.”
The findings also hint at one mechanism whereby a high calorie diet might increase the risk of these diseases. Studies have shown that some patients that have a high fat diet have increased levels of inflammasome activity.
“There could be a yin and yang effect going on here, whereby too much of the wrong thing is increasing your inflammasome activity and too little is decreasing it,” said Professor Bryant. “Arachidonic acid could be one way in which this is happening.”
The researchers say the discovery may also offer clues to an unexpected way in which so-called non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin work. Normally, arachidonic acid is rapidly broken down in the body, but aspirin stops this process, which can lead to an increase in levels of arachidonic acid, which in turn reduce inflammasome activity and hence inflammation.
Professor Bryant said: “It’s important to stress that aspirin should not be taken to reduce risk of long terms diseases without medical guidance as it can have side-effects such as stomach bleeds if taken over a long period.”
The research was funded by Wellcome, the Medical Research Council and the US National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Division of Intramural Research.
Researchers have developed a robotic sensor that incorporates artificial intelligence techniques to read braille at speeds roughly double that of most human readers.
The research team, from the University of Cambridge, used machine learning algorithms to teach a robotic sensor to quickly slide over lines of braille text. The robot was able to read the braille at 315 words per minute at close to 90% accuracy.
Although the robot braille reader was not developed as an assistive technology, the researchers say the high sensitivity required to read braille makes it an ideal test in the development of robot hands or prosthetics with comparable sensitivity to human fingertips. The results are reported in the journal IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters.
Human fingertips are remarkably sensitive and help us gather information about the world around us. Our fingertips can detect tiny changes in the texture of a material or help us know how much force to use when grasping an object: for example, picking up an egg without breaking it or a bowling ball without dropping it.
Reproducing that level of sensitivity in a robotic hand, in an energy-efficient way, is a big engineering challenge. In Professor Fumiya Iida’s lab in Cambridge’s Department of Engineering, researchers are developing solutions to this and other skills that humans find easy, but robots find difficult.
“The softness of human fingertips is one of the reasons we’re able to grip things with the right amount of pressure,” said Parth Potdar from Cambridge’s Department of Engineering and an undergraduate at Pembroke College, the paper’s first author. “For robotics, softness is a useful characteristic, but you also need lots of sensor information, and it’s tricky to have both at once, especially when dealing with flexible or deformable surfaces.”
Braille is an ideal test for a robot ‘fingertip’ as reading it requires high sensitivity, since the dots in each representative letter pattern are so close together. The researchers used an off-the-shelf sensor to develop a robotic braille reader that more accurately replicates human reading behaviour.
“There are existing robotic braille readers, but they only read one letter at a time, which is not how humans read,” said co-author David Hardman, also from the Department of Engineering. “Existing robotic braille readers work in a static way: they touch one letter pattern, read it, pull up from the surface, move over, lower onto the next letter pattern, and so on. We want something that’s more realistic and far more efficient.”
The robotic sensor the researchers used has a camera in its ‘fingertip’, and reads by using a combination of the information from the camera and the sensors. “This is a hard problem for roboticists as there’s a lot of image processing that needs to be done to remove motion blur, which is time and energy-consuming,” said Potdar.
The team developed machine learning algorithms so the robotic reader would be able to ‘deblur’ the images before the sensor attempted to recognise the letters. They trained the algorithm on a set of sharp images of braille with fake blur applied. After the algorithm had learned to deblur the letters, they used a computer vision model to detect and classify each character.
Once the algorithms were incorporated, the researchers tested their reader by sliding it quickly along rows of braille characters. The robotic braille reader could read at 315 words per minute at 87% accuracy, which is twice as fast and about as accurate as a human Braille reader.
“Considering that we used fake blur the train the algorithm, it was surprising how accurate it was at reading braille,” said Hardman. “We found a nice trade-off between speed and accuracy, which is also the case with human readers.”
“Braille reading speed is a great way to measure the dynamic performance of tactile sensing systems, so our findings could be applicable beyond braille, for applications like detecting surface textures or slippage in robotic manipulation,” said Potdar.
In future, the researchers are hoping to scale the technology to the size of a humanoid hand or skin. The research was supported in part by the Samsung Global Research Outreach Program.
Giulio Regeni was remembered during an event at Girton College, where a plaque was unveiled in his honour.
Giulio was a passionate researcher with a deep sense of justice.Elisabeth Kendall, Mistress of Girton College
The plaque offers a space in which colleagues and friends of the Cambridge PhD student, who studied at Girton, can pay their respects.
Giulio, an experienced researcher, was conducting fieldwork when he was abducted from the streets of Cairo on 25 January 2016, and later found murdered on 3 February 2016. The plaque unveiling marks the 8-year anniversary of his death. No one has yet been convicted of the crime.
Court officials in Rome have charged four Egyptian security officials with Giulio’s abduction, torture and murder, and a trial is due to begin in February. The College and University continue to stand in support of Giulio’s family and friends, and with Amnesty International, in their tireless efforts to uncover the truth of what happened to Giulio.
Elisabeth Kendall, Mistress of Girton College, said: “The loss of Giulio continues to cast a dark shadow over all those who knew him. Giulio was a passionate researcher with a deep sense of justice who had his whole life ahead of him before it was cruelly ended in Cairo. Justice has yet to be done. We will never stop remembering Giulio.”
Every year the College marks the anniversary by flying the College flag to half-mast in memory on 25 January and then on 3 February.
Dr Diarmuid O’Brien has been appointed as the University of Cambridge’s new Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Innovation. He is currently Chief Executive of Cambridge Enterprise, the University’s commercialisation arm which supports academics, researchers, staff and students in achieving knowledge transfer and research impact.
Dr O’Brien will take over from current Senior Pro-Vice-Chancellor Andy Neely, whose term of office finishes at the end of February. Dr O’Brien, who has a PhD in Physics from the University of Sheffield and a degree in Materials Science from Trinity College Dublin, joined Cambridge Enterprise from Trinity College Dublin, where he was Chief Innovation Officer. At Cambridge Enterprise he has led a new strategy which has supported activities such as the establishment of Innovate Cambridge, the formation of Founders at the University of Cambridge, the integration and renewal of ideaSpace and the commencement of the Technology Investment Fund to support the development of University intellectual property.
“The University and the broader Cambridge ecosystem are recognised as being globally leading for innovation, enterprise and entrepreneurship,” said Dr O’Brien. “I have seen this first-hand from my role as Chief Executive of Cambridge Enterprise and in helping to establish Innovate Cambridge. I look forward to my new role as Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Innovation and continuing to enhance the ambition for how the University of Cambridge can enable impact from our research and through our innovation partnerships.”
He replaces Professor Andy Neely, who has served as Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Enterprise and Business Relations since March 2017, and received an OBE for services to University/Industry Collaboration in 2020. Professor Neely’s achievements as Pro-Vice-Chancellor included leading the University’s Recovery Programme helping the University respond to the coronavirus pandemic, overseeing the establishment of the Change and Programme Management Board, as well as building far stronger links with the local and regional innovation community through important initiatives such as Innovate Cambridge.
Professor Neely said: “I’m honoured to have served in this role for seven years and delighted that Diarmuid has been appointed as my successor. The University of Cambridge’s impact on the world is significantly enhanced by our engagement with business and our world-leading innovation ecosystem and I have no doubt that this will go from strength to strength under Diarmuid’s leadership”.
The University of Cambridge Vice-Chancellor Professor Deborah Prentice welcomed Dr O’Brien to the role and thanked Professor Neely for his service.
She said: “I warmly congratulate Diarmuid on being appointed to this important role. With his wealth of experience in driving innovation, most recently at Cambridge Enterprise, he will help ensure no momentum is lost in the handover from the previous Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Andy Neely. “I would like to put on record my sincerest thanks to Andy for his service to Cambridge, both as an academic leader and as Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Enterprise and Business Relations. I know I speak on behalf of all University colleagues when I say how grateful we are for what he has achieved in that role over the past seven years.”
The Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Innovation is broadly the same role as the current Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Enterprise and Business Relations role, but with an enhanced focus on industry, enterprise and innovation.
Dr O’Brien takes up the role in April, and will remain in his current capacity at Cambridge Enterprise for one day a week to provide continuity and connection with Cambridge Enterprise.
There are five Pro-Vice-Chancellors at the University of Cambridge. Their role is to work in partnership with senior administrators to help drive strategy and policy development. The Pro-Vice-Chancellors also support the Vice-Chancellor in providing academic leadership to the University.
Lent Term: Cambridge Zero offers a careers festival, a climate innovation challenge, free climate training and paid summer positions.
By Ellie Austin
2023 Future Leaders Programme in action
source: www.cam.ac.uk
Cambridge Zero kicks off Lent Term 2024 with a packed calendar of competitions, training, industry networking, career panels, and application openings for professional summer placement opportunities.
Climate Challenge 2024: Nature
Are you interested in climate change and want to give entrepreneurship a try? Want to develop your ideas and be in with a chance of winning a £1500 cash prize?
Cambridge Zero’s Climate Challenge is an annual entrepreneurship training programme and competition for climate-interested postgrads and postdocs at the University of Cambridge. This year’s theme is nature.
Free weekly training sessionswill teach early career researchers about effective storytelling, voluntary carbon markets, intellectual property rights, pitching their ideas, and more.
To win the competition, participants form small teams of 2-3 (which can be formed in the initial sessions of the programme, facilitated by the pizza and pub socials!) to propose scalable solutions to climate change.
Shortlisted teams will pitch their ideas to our expert panel of judges at the final, where the winning team will receive a £1500 cash prize and the two runner-up teams will receive a £750 cash prize.
Last year’s competition, themed “just decarbonisation”, winners proposed an “elegant” solution to use algae to tackle methane emissions in the Global South, which had the additional benefits of supporting local communities while mitigating a lack of alternative landfill solutions.
“The climate challenge was one of the most exciting and well-organised events I got to attend during my four years at Cambridge”Tristan Spreng, 2023 Climate Challenge Winner
Following the launch on January 19th, there’s still time to get involved! The next session is an Ideas Jam on Wednesday 24 January 4:30-6pm, Seminar Room, Old Cavendish East. Come along to chat enterprise ideas, socialise with fellow students, and get inspired!
The deadline for forming teams and developing a concept is Thursday 15 February 11:59pm.
If you’re interested in taking part, sign-up to the Climate Challenge 2024 mailing list here, and you can find the full Climate Challenge programme and competition details here.
2024 Climate Challenge Launch
2023 Climate Challenge Pub Social
Green Careers Festival
Want to make an impact with your career? Curious to know what options are out there for you after graduation?
The Green Careers Festival, run by the University Careers Service in collaboration with Cambridge Zero over two weeks starting 29 January, brings students and recent graduates together with sustainability and environment-related organisations to discover potential career paths and job roles.
The Festival kicks off with the Green Careers Fair on January 29th. This year’s Fair will feature employers working across the voluntary carbon market, cleantech innovations in power, transport, waste, industry and building sectors, renewable energy design and distribution, alternative protein (insects!) production and more.
The Festival welcomes students and recent graduates from all disciplines to explore the wide variety of career opportunities available in climate and sustainability, regardless of your area of study or academic background.
“We wantto inspire Cambridge graduates to be future leaders in a changing world.”Dr Amy Munro-Faure, Cambridge Zero Head of Education and Student Engagement
The Festival will run from 29 January to 9 February 2024. See the full programme of events here, and make sure to save yourself a spot through the event links.
Looking for an opportunity to explore a green career for the summer?
The Cambridge Zero Future Leaders Programme encourages students and recent graduates to try out green careers and contribute to the University’s efforts to tackle climate change.
The programme opens for applications from 29 January until 11 March, and will run for eight weeks over the summer between July and September.
Over the summer each Future Leader is tasked with planning and conducting their own projects and presenting their findings at the end of programme symposium.
Last year’s projects ranged from agricultural research in the Cambridgeshire Fens to communicating the University’s climate research through press releases and website features.
“The most significant personal growth has been my realisation of where I could see myself in the future.”Edison Wan, 2023 Future Leaders Programme
Roles are available for current or recent undergraduates this summer, paid at real living wage. To read more on last year’s programme, see here.
Applications open from the first day of the Green Careers Festival, during the Green Careers Fair. Interested students can speak to us about the programme at our stall, or hear more via our student mailing list.
Image credit: Beth Simpson
Image credit: Neil Mahon
Climate Qualifications
Looking for professional climate and sustainability training to bolster your CV?
The student-run Cambridge Hub, funded by Cambridge Zero, will be running two student programmes:
Free carbon literacy training
Cambridge Hub are running a formal training course in the climate crisis, greenhouse emissions and climate action with the Cambridge Carbon Literacy Project.
Upon completion you will receive an internationally recognised qualification to show to employers and peers.
The first session begins 9 February, and you can sign-up to the programme here.
Engage for Change
Eager to get involved inclimate action but not sure where to start?
Engage for Change is an 8-week training programme on climate action. Students are guided to enact individual sustainability projects across the University, alongside weekly training sessions on topics from sustainability in practice to project management.
Previous projects have included switching from single-use plastic to re-usable Tupperware and minimising food waste in College dining halls.
Keep an eye out for sign-up openings for their Easter cohort, and the progress of their Lent cohort, on their social media and website.
Interested students can keep up to date with these and other opportunities with Cambridge Zero via our student mailing list.
Cambridge Zero is the University of Cambridge’s ambitious climate change initiative, harnessing the power of research to tackle climate change at one of the top global research universities in the world.
Taking away the largest serving of wine by the glass – in most cases the 250ml option – led to an average reduction in the amount of wine sold at pubs and bars of just under 8%, new research led by a team at the University of Cambridge has discovered.
When the largest serving size of wine by the glass was unavailable, people shifted towards the smaller options, but didn’t then drink the equivalent amount of wineEleni Mantzari
While only modest, the finding could provide one way of nudging customers to drink less alcohol and have an impact at a population level, say the researchers.
Alcohol consumption is the fifth largest contributor to premature death and disease worldwide. In 2016 it was estimated to have caused approximately 3 million deaths worldwide.
There are many factors that influence how much we drink, from advertising to labelling to availability and cost. Previous research from the Behaviour and Health Research Unit at Cambridge has shown that even glass size can influence how much alcohol is consumed.
In research published today in PLOS Medicine, the Cambridge team carried out a study in 21 licensed premises (mainly pubs) in England to see whether removing their largest serving of wine by the glass for four weeks would have an impact on how much wine is consumed. Wine is the most commonly drunk alcoholic drink in the UK and Europe. Twenty of the premises completed the experiment as designed by the researchers and were included in the final analysis.
After adjusting for factors such as day of the week and total revenue, the researchers found that removing the largest wine glass serving led to an average (mean) decrease of 420ml of wine sold per day per venue – equating to a 7.6% decrease.
There was no evidence that sales of beer and cider increased, suggesting that people did not compensate for their reduced wine consumption by drinking more of these alcoholic drinks. There was also no evidence that it affected total daily revenues, implying that participating licensed premises did not lose money as a result of removing the largest serving size for glasses of wine, perhaps due to the higher profit margins of smaller serving sizes of wine. However, it is important to note that the study was not designed to provide statistically meaningful data on these points.
First author Dr Eleni Mantzari, from the University of Cambridge, said: “It looks like when the largest serving size of wine by the glass was unavailable, people shifted towards the smaller options, but didn’t then drink the equivalent amount of wine.
“People tend to consume a specific number of ‘units’ – in this case glasses – regardless of portion size. So, someone might decide at the outset they’ll limit themselves to a couple of glasses of wine, and with less alcohol in each glass they drink less overall.”
Professor Dame Theresa Marteau, the study’s senior author and an Honorary Fellow at Christ’s College Cambridge, added: “It’s worth remembering that no level of alcohol consumption is considered safe for health, with even light consumption contributing to the development of many cancers. Although the reduction in the amount of wine sold at each premise was relatively small, even a small reduction could make a meaningful contribution to population health.”
Evidence suggests that the public prefer information-based interventions, such as health warning labels, to reductions in serving or package sizes. However, in this study, managers at just four of the 21 premises reported receiving complaints from customers.
The researchers note that although the intervention would potentially be acceptable to pub or bar managers, given there was no evidence that it can result in a loss in revenue, a nationwide policy would likely be resisted by the alcohol industry given its potential to reduce sales of targeted drinks. Public support for such a policy would depend on its effectiveness and how clearly this was communicated.
Researchers have developed a platform that combines automated experiments with AI to predict how chemicals will react with one another, which could accelerate the design process for new drugs.
A deeper understanding of the chemistry could enable us to make pharmaceuticals and so many other useful products much faster.Emma King-Smith
Predicting how molecules will react is vital for the discovery and manufacture of new pharmaceuticals, but historically this has been a trial-and-error process, and the reactions often fail. To predict how molecules will react, chemists usually simulate electrons and atoms in simplified models, a process that is computationally expensive and often inaccurate.
Now, researchers from the University of Cambridge have developed a data-driven approach, inspired by genomics, where automated experiments are combined with machine learning to understand chemical reactivity, greatly speeding up the process. They’ve called their approach, which was validated on a dataset of more than 39,000 pharmaceutically relevant reactions, the chemical ‘reactome’.
Their results, reported in the journal Nature Chemistry, are the product of a collaboration between Cambridge and Pfizer.
“The reactome could change the way we think about organic chemistry,” said Dr Emma King-Smith from Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory, the paper’s first author. “A deeper understanding of the chemistry could enable us to make pharmaceuticals and so many other useful products much faster. But more fundamentally, the understanding we hope to generate will be beneficial to anyone who works with molecules.”
The reactome approach picks out relevant correlations between reactants, reagents, and performance of the reaction from the data, and points out gaps in the data itself. The data is generated from very fast, or high throughput, automated experiments.
“High throughput chemistry has been a game-changer, but we believed there was a way to uncover a deeper understanding of chemical reactions than what can be observed from the initial results of a high throughput experiment,” said King-Smith.
“Our approach uncovers the hidden relationships between reaction components and outcomes,” said Dr Alpha Lee, who led the research. “The dataset we trained the model on is massive – it will help bring the process of chemical discovery from trial-and-error to the age of big data.”
In a related paper, published in Nature Communications, the team developed a machine learning approach that enables chemists to introduce precise transformations to pre-specified regions of a molecule, enabling faster drug design.
The approach allows chemists to tweak complex molecules – like a last-minute design change – without having to make them from scratch. Making a molecule in the lab is typically a multi-step process, like building a house. If chemists want to vary the core of a molecule, the conventional way is to rebuild the molecule, like knocking the house down and rebuilding from scratch. However, core variations are important to medicine design.
A class of reactions, known as late-stage functionalisation reactions, attempts to directly introduce chemical transformations to the core, avoiding the need to start from scratch. However, it is challenging to make late-stage functionalisation selective and controlled – there are typically many regions of the molecules that can react, and it is difficult to predict the outcome.
“Late-stage functionalisations can yield unpredictable results and current methods of modelling, including our own expert intuition, isn’t perfect,” said King-Smith. “A more predictive model would give us the opportunity for better screening.”
The researchers developed a machine learning model that predicts where a molecule would react, and how the site of reaction vary as a function of different reaction conditions. This enables chemists to find ways to precisely tweak the core of a molecule.
“We trained the model on a large body of spectroscopic data – effectively teaching the model general chemistry – before fine-tuning it to predict these intricate transformations,” said King-Smith. This approach allowed the team to overcome the limitation of low data: there are relatively few late-stage functionalisation reactions reported in the scientific literature. The team experimentally validated the model on a diverse set of drug-like molecules and was able to accurately predict the sites of reactivity under different conditions.
“The application of machine learning to chemistry is often throttled by the problem that the amount of data is small compared to the vastness of chemical space,” said Lee. “Our approach – designing models that learn from large datasets that are similar but not the same as the problem we are trying to solve – resolves this fundamental low-data challenge and could unlock advances beyond late-stage functionalisation.”
The research was supported in part by Pfizer and the Royal Society.
Increases in symptoms of depression are associated with a subsequent increase in bodyweight when measured one month later, new research from the University of Cambridge has found.
The study, published today in PLOS ONE, found that the increase was only seen among people with overweight or obesity, but found no link between generally having greater symptoms of depression and higher bodyweight.
Research has suggested a connection between weight and mental health – with each potentially influencing the other – but the relationship is complex and remains poorly understood, particularly in relation to how changes in an individual’s mental health influence their bodyweight over time.
To help answer this question, researchers at Cambridge’s Medical Research Council (MRC) Epidemiology Unit examined data from over 2,000 adults living in Cambridgeshire, UK, who had been recruited to the Fenland COVID-19 Study.
Participants completed digital questionnaires on mental wellbeing and bodyweight every month for up to nine months during the COVID-19 pandemic (August 2020 – April 2021) using a mobile app developed by Huma Therapeutics Limited.
Questions assessed an individual’s symptoms of depression, anxiety and perceived stress. A higher score indicated greater severity, with the maximum possible scores being 24 for depression, 21 for anxiety and 40 for stress. The team then used statistical modelling to explore whether having poorer mental wellbeing than usual was related to changes in bodyweight one month later.
The researchers found that for every increment increase in an individual’s usual score for depressive symptoms, their subsequent weight one month later increased by 45g. This may seem small but would mean, for example, that in an individual whose depressive symptoms score rose from five to 10 (equal to an increase from ‘mild’ to ‘moderate’ depressive symptoms) it would relate to an average weight gain of 225g (0.225kg).
This effect was only observed in those individuals with overweight (defined as BMI 25-29.9kg/m2) or with obesity (BMI of over 30kg/m2). Individuals with overweight had on average an increase of 52g for each increment point increase from their usual depressive symptoms score and for those with obesity the comparable weight gain was 71g. The effect was not seen in those individuals with a healthy weight.
First author Dr Julia Mueller from the MRC Epidemiology Unit said: “Overall, this suggests that individuals with overweight or obesity are more vulnerable to weight gain in response to feeling more depressed. Although the weight gain was relatively small, even small weight changes occurring over short periods of time can lead to larger weight changes in the long-term, particularly among those with overweight and obesity.
“People with a high BMI are already at greater risk from other health conditions, so this could potentially lead to a further deterioration in their health. Monitoring and addressing depressive symptoms in individuals with overweight or obesity could help prevent further weight gain and be beneficial to both their mental and physical health.”
The researchers found no evidence that perceived stress or anxiety were related to changes in weight.
Senior author Dr Kirsten Rennie from the MRC Epidemiology Unit said: “Apps on our phones make it possible for people to answer short questions at home more frequently and over extended periods of time, which provides much more information about their wellbeing. This technology could help us understand how changes in mental health influence behaviour among people with overweight or obesity and offer ways to develop timely interventions when needed.”
Although previous studies have suggested that poor mental health is both a cause and consequence of obesity, the research team found no evidence that weight predicted subsequent symptoms of depression.
The research was supported by the Medical Research Council.
Researchers may have identified the missing component in the chemistry of the Venusian clouds that would explain their colour and ‘splotchiness’ in the UV range, solving a longstanding mystery.
What are the clouds of Venus made of? Scientists know they are mainly made of sulfuric acid droplets, with some water, chlorine, and iron. Their concentrations vary with height in the thick and hostile Venusian atmosphere. But until now they have been unable to identify the missing component that would explain the clouds’ patches and streaks, only visible in the UV range.
In a study published in Science Advances, researchers from the University of Cambridge synthesised iron-bearing sulfate minerals that are stable under the harsh chemical conditions in the Venusian clouds. Spectroscopic analysis revealed that a combination of two minerals, rhomboclase and acid ferric sulfate, can explain the mysterious UV absorption feature on our neighbouring planet.
“The only available data for the composition of the clouds were collected by probes and revealed strange properties of the clouds that so far we have been unable to fully explain,” said Paul Rimmer from the Cavendish Laboratory and co-author of the study. “In particular, when examined under UV light, the Venusian clouds featured a specific UV absorption pattern. What elements, compounds, or minerals are responsible for such observation?”
Formulated on the basis of Venusian atmospheric chemistry, the team synthesised several iron-bearing sulfate minerals in an aqueous geochemistry laboratory in the Department of Earth Sciences. By suspending the synthesised materials in varying concentrations of sulfuric acid and monitor the chemical and mineralogical changes, the team narrowed down the candidate minerals to rhomboclase and acid ferric sulfate, of which the spectroscopic features were examined under light sources specifically designed to mimic the spectrum of solar flares (Rimmer’s FlareLab; Cavendish Laboratory).
Researchers from Harvard University provided measurements of the UV absorbance patterns of ferric iron under extreme acidic conditions, in an attempt to mimic the even more extreme Venusian clouds. The scientists are part of the newly-established Origins Federation, which promotes such collaborative projects.
“The patterns and level of absorption shown by the combination of these two mineral phases are consistent with the dark UV-patches observed in Venusian clouds,” said co-author Clancy Zhijian Jiang, from the Department of Earth Sciences, Cambridge. “These targeted experiments revealed the intricate chemical network within the atmosphere, and shed light on the elemental cycling on the Venusian surface.”
“Venus is our nearest neighbour, but it remains a mystery,” said Rimmer. “We will have a chance to learn much more about this planet in the coming years with future NASA and ESA missions set to explore its atmosphere, clouds and surface. This study prepares the grounds for these future explorations.”
The research was supported by the Simons Foundation, and the Origins Federation.
Reference: Clancy Zhijian Jiang et al., ‘Iron-sulfur chemistry can explain the ultraviolet absorber in the clouds of Venus.’ Science Advances (2024). DOI:10.1126/sciadv.adg8826
A man from Cambridge is the first to join the surveillance part of a clinical trial that could see routine screening for oesophageal cancer introduced into the NHS, potentially halving deaths from this cancer every year.
The capsule sponge, a quick and simple test for Barrett’s oesophagus, could halve the number of deaths from oesophageal cancer every yearRebecca Fitzgerald
The capsule sponge, known as the pill-on-a-thread, is a quick and simple test for Barrett’s oesophagus, a condition that can be a precursor to cancer. Heartburn is a common symptom of Barrett’s oesophagus, a changing of cells in the food pipe.
The BEST4 trial launched at Addenbrooke’s Hospital today is the final step to see if the capsule sponge can prevent oesophageal cancer when used to screen or monitor those most at risk of the disease. If so, it could become a national screening programme across the NHS, in the same way mammograms are used to screen for breast cancer.
The first stage of the trial, BEST4 Surveillance, is for people already diagnosed with Barrett’s oesophagus. It will look at whether the capsule sponge test could replace endoscopies to monitor their condition. Participants will receive both examinations during the trial with results used to assess their risk of developing oesophageal cancer.
The second stage of the trial, BEST4 Screening, opens in the summer and will recruit 120,000 people aged over 55 on long-term treatment for heartburn.
The multi-million-pound trial is jointly funded by Cancer Research UK and the National Institute for Health and Care Research. It builds on decades of research led by Professor Rebecca Fitzgerald from the University of Cambridge. She and a team of scientists, clinicians and nurses at the Early Cancer Institute, University of Cambridge and Cancer Research UK Cambridge Centre, invented and refined the capsule sponge test.
Professor Fitzgerald said: “The capsule sponge, a quick and simple test for Barrett’s oesophagus, could halve the number of deaths from oesophageal cancer every year. Cases of oesophageal cancer have increased six fold since the 1990s. On average only 12% of patients live more than five years after diagnosis. Most don’t realise there’s a problem until they have trouble swallowing. By then it is too late.
“The first phase of the trial looks at whether the capsule sponge can be used as a cancer early warning system for patients diagnosed with Barrett’s. Using the capsule sponge and a new set of lab tests, we will be monitoring patients to see if we can prevent more cases of cancer.”
Tim Cowper, 49, a brewer from Cambridge, has had acid reflux, or heartburn, every night since he was 16. A routine health check while he was at university resulted in the shock diagnosis of Barrett’s oesophagus. After his diagnosis, he has been monitored ever since.
Tim said: “I was alarmed when I was told that having Barrett’s meant having pre-cancerous cells in my gullet. Cancer is never a nice word to hear, especially when you are so young, but luckily, I’ve had my condition monitored.
“Since my diagnosis, I’ve been going for an endoscopy at least once every three years to monitor my oesophagus. It is not pleasant at all. Each time I have a thick tube pushed down through my mouth and I can feel every single one of the biopsies taken by the camera. Swallowing a capsule sponge is a much better experience and I now get the test before my regular endoscopy appointment.”
Barrett’s oesophagus is currently identified via an endoscopy and a biopsy in hospital following a GP referral. It is time-consuming, unpleasant, and quite invasive for patients, as well as being expensive for the healthcare system.
The capsule sponge is a small, easy to swallow capsule on a thread, which contains a sponge. The patient swallows the capsule which dissolves in the stomach and the sponge expands to the size of a 50p coin.
The sponge is carefully pulled back up using the string, collecting cells for laboratory testing. The test takes just 10 minutes and can be done in a GP surgery.
Cancer Research UK and others have funded several successful clinical trials to demonstrate that the test is safe, accurate and can detect 10 times more cases of Barrett’s oesophagus than standard practice.
The test is faster and cheaper than endoscopy, which is currently used to diagnose and monitor Barrett’s oesophagus and oesophageal cancer. It has been piloted in health services in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland for patients who are currently on waiting lists for endoscopy because they have long-term heartburn or diagnosed with Barrett’s oesophagus.
Executive Director of Research and Innovation at Cancer Research UK, Dr Iain Foulkes, said: “Around 59% of all oesophageal cancer cases are preventable. Yet endoscopy, the gold standard for diagnosing and treating this cancer, is labour-intensive. We need better tools and tests to monitor people most at risk.
“Backed by funding from Cancer Research UK, the capsule sponge has become one of the most exciting early detection tools to emerge in recent years. It’s a remarkable invention by Professor Fitzgerald and her team, and previous trials have shown how powerful it can be in identifying cancer earlier.
“There are 9,200 people diagnosed with oesophageal cancer in the UK every year and the capsule sponge will mean they can benefit from kinder treatment options, if their cancer is caught at a much earlier stage.”
The future Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital will bring together clinical and research expertise, including Professor Fitzgerald’s work, under one roof. It will enable the development and discovery of more non-invasive devices like the capsule sponge, to detect cancer earlier, and save more lives.
The BEST4 Surveillance Trial is led from Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Cambridge, with trial design, coordination and analysis of results by the Cancer Research UK Cancer Prevention Trials Unit at Queen Mary University of London.
Professor Sir Roy Calne, the pioneering transplant surgeon who carried out the first liver transplant in the UK during his time at Cambridge, has died aged 93.
Professor Calne pursued a career as a transplant surgeon after his experience as a medical student at Guy’s Hospital in the 1950s, when he was told there was nothing that could be done for a man dying of kidney failure.
He was appointed to the position of Professor of Surgery at the University of Cambridge in 1965, where he remained until 1998. He established the kidney transplant programme at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, now part of Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH) NHS Foundation Trust.
On 2 May 1968, Professor Calne performed the first successful liver transplant in Europe. Almost two decades later, in 1986, he would go on to carry out the world’s first liver, heart and lung transplant together with Professor John Wallwork at Papworth Hospital in Cambridge. Professor Wallwork described Professor Calne as “a giant in the transplant world and an innovative surgeon”.
Professor Calne was a pioneer in immunosuppression – the use of drugs to dampen the response of the immune system in order to prevent the body from rejecting transplanted organs, a potentially fatal complication. This would go on to revolutionise transplantation. He was among the first to introduce the immunosuppressant drug cyclosporin into routine clinical care, for which he shared the prestigious Lasker Award in 2012.
Despite retiring from the Chair of Surgery at the University of Cambridge in 1998, he continued to perform kidney transplants until well into his seventies, and remained active in research into his eighties.
Professor Deborah Prentice, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, said: “Professor Calne was a true pioneer, driven by the desire to help his patients. His work here in Cambridge as a scientist and clinician has saved many thousands of lives and continues to have a major impact worldwide. We are saddened by his loss and pay tribute to his extraordinary achievements.”
Patrick Maxwell, Regius Professor of Physic at the University of Cambridge, added: “Sir Roy was a brilliant man who made a series of major breakthroughs in transplant surgery. His work has transformed the lives of countless patients around the world.”
Professor Calne was a Fellow of Trinity Hall, Cambridge, from 1965-1998. Following his retirement, he was made an Honorary Fellow. In 2018, he attended celebrations at the College to commemorate the 50th anniversary of his pioneering liver transplant surgery, where he was able to meet patients and colleagues from a career spanning six decades. To mark the anniversary, he helped launch a £250,000 appeal by Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust to trial and run a new perfusion machine, which would allow more donated organs to be rendered suitable for transplantation. In 2021, the Addenbrooke’s Transplant Unit was named after him.
Dr Mike More, Chair of CUH, said: “Sir Roy leaves behind a truly amazing legacy and many of our staff will remember him with fondness for his vision and genuine kindness. We will all miss him very much.”
Promoting climate-friendly behaviours will be more successful in societies where everyone has the capacity: financially, physically, and timewise, to make changes.
People on lower incomes can be more restricted in the things they can do to help reduce their carbon footprint.Charlotte Kukowski
In a report just published in the journal Nature Climate Change, researchers argue that tackling inequality is vital in moving the world towards Net-Zero – because inequality constrains who can feasibly adopt low-carbon behaviours.
They say that changes are needed across society if we are to mitigate climate change effectively. Although wealthy people have very large carbon footprints, they often have the means to reduce their carbon footprint more easily than those on lower incomes.
The researchers say there is lack of political recognition of the barriers that can make it difficult for people to change to more climate-friendly behaviours.
They suggest that policymakers provide equal opportunities for low-carbon behaviours across all income brackets of society.
The report defines inequality in various ways: in terms of wealth and income, political influence, free time, and access to low-carbon options such as public transport and housing insulation subsidies.
“It’s increasingly acknowledged that there’s inequality in terms of who causes climate change and who suffers the consequences, but there’s far less attention being paid to the effect of inequality in changing behaviours to reduce carbon emissions,” said Dr Charlotte Kukowski, a postdoctoral researcher in the University of Cambridge Departments of Psychology and Zoology, and first author of the report.
She added: “People on lower incomes can be more restricted in the things they can do to help reduce their carbon footprint, in terms of the cost and time associated with doing things differently.”
The researchers found that deep-rooted inequalities can restrict people’s capacity to switch to lower-carbon behaviours in many ways. For example:
Insulating a house in the UK can be costly, and government subsidies are generally only available for homeowners; renters have little control over the houses they live in.
The UK has large numbers of old, badly insulated houses that require more energy to heat than new-build homes. The researchers call for appropriate government schemes that make it more feasible for people in lower income groups to reduce the carbon emissions of their home.
Cooking more meat-free meals: plant-based meat alternatives currently tend to be less affordable than the animal products they are trying to replace.
Eating more plant-based foods instead of meat and animal-derived products is one of the most effective changes an individual can make in reducing their carbon footprint.
Buying an electric car or an electric bike is a substantial upfront cost, and people who aren’t in permanent employment often can’t benefit from tax breaks or financing available through employer schemes.
Other low-carbon transport options – such as using public transport instead of a private car – are made less feasible for many due to poor services, particularly in rural areas.
Sometimes the lower-carbon options are more expensive – and this makes them less accessible to people on lower incomes.
“If you have more money you’re likely to cause more carbon emissions, but you’re also more likely to have greater ability to change the things you do and reduce those emissions,” said Dr Emma Garnett, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oxford and second author of the report.
She added: “Interventions targeting high-emitting individuals are urgently needed, but also many areas where there are lower-carbon choices – like food and transport – need everyone to be involved.”
The researchers say that campaigns to encourage people to switch to lower-carbon behaviours have tended to focus on providing information. While this is important in helping people understand the issues, there can still be many barriers to making changes.
They suggest a range of policy interventions, such as urban planning to include bus and bike lanes and pedestrian-friendly routes, progressive taxation rates on wealth and income, and employer-subsidised low-carbon meal options.
The research was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation and Wellcome.
Academics and staff associated with the University of Cambridge feature in the 2024 list, which recognises the achievements and service of people across the UK, from all walks of life.
Professor Dame Carol Black is awarded a Dame Grand Cross (GBE) for public service. Black was Principal of Newnham College from 2012-2019 and formerly a Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. GBE is the highest rank in the Order, and rarely awarded, to recognise the most exceptional and sustained service to the UK. Since its creation in 1917, fewer than 80 women have been awarded a GBE.
She said: “I am absolutely delighted to have been made a Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire. This award comes almost 20 years after I received a DBE for services to medicine and recognises the progress being made to tackle some of the most entrenched and interrelated problems in society – poverty, homelessness, unemployment, and drug dependency. My heartfelt thanks go to everyone who has helped and supported me, and to those individuals doing great work on the frontline to change culture and practice.”
Composer Judith Weir, Honorary Fellow and alumna of King’s College, Cambridge, is awarded Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to music. Weir is Master of the King’s Music, having been appointed by Queen Elizabeth II in 2014, and has twice written a specially-commissioned carol for the college’s A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols.
Organist, conductor and broadcaster Anna Lapwood, Janeway Director of Music at Pembroke College, Cambridge, is awarded Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to music. Lapwood reaches a huge audience through her concerts and via social media with over 1 million followers across all platforms. Her passion for the organ is matched by her mission to support girls and women in music.
She said: “When you work as a musician, so much of what you do isn’t quantifiable or finite – your work on a certain piece is never ‘finished’, and your playing is always changing and developing. Receiving this award feels like something concrete – a deeply significant moment in my musical journey.”
Gerard Grech, former CEO and Founder of Tech Nation, is awarded Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to the technology sector. He joined Cambridge Enterprise this year to lead a new flagship initiative, ‘Founders at the University of Cambridge’, that will support University founders to make an even greater impact on the world in the technology and software sectors.
Grech said: “I’m honoured to have been recognised for my contribution to the growing success of the UK’s tech and startup sector which is increasingly creating globally important tech and science-backed companies, from my time at Tech Nation. This honour is also recognition of the founders, ecosystem experts, investors, policy makers, and my colleagues who generously shared their knowledge and insights to support the UK’s most ambitious tech entrepreneurs. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to them all for all their hard work.”
Dr Sabesan Sithamparanathan, Enterprise Fellow at Girton College, Cambridge, and former student in the University’s Department of Engineering, is awarded Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to innovation technology. As Founder & President of PervasID he pioneered the world’s most accurate battery-free, real-time location tracking technology which is now in use by several NHS trusts, the largest aircraft manufacturers, airlines and blue-chip retailers.
He said: “I am absolutely delighted; this is a great honour and testament to the hard work and innovation of the entire team at PervasID. Our products offer a national and international benefit and we will continue to pioneer technology that has a wider value to society as a whole.”
Professor Ann Prentice, Honorary Senior Visiting Fellow at the University’s MRC Epidemiology Unit, is awarded Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to British and Global Public Health Nutrition. A former director of the MRC Elsie Widdowson Laboratory (previously MRC Human Nutrition Research) at Cambridge, and programme leader of the MRC Nutrition and Bone Health Research Group at Cambridge, she was also head of the calcium, vitamin D and bone health research team at MRC Unit The Gambia. Her research is focused on life-course nutritional requirements for population health, with an emphasis on calcium and vitamin D, and encompasses the nutritional problems of both affluent and resource-limited societies.
She said: “I am delighted to receive this honour on behalf of all the people, in this country and worldwide, who have worked with me to improve our understanding of the links between nutrition and health.”
Dr Gillian Tett, Provost at Kings College, Cambridge, is awarded Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to Economic Journalism. Tett, a former student at the University, is currently Chairman of the US Editorial Board and America Editor-at-Large of the Financial Times. She became the 45th Provost at King’s College in October 2023, and is renowned for her warnings ahead of the financial crisis of 2008.
Tett said: “I am deeply honoured to receive an OBE – and hope this helps to champion the importance of British intellectual capital, both in journalism and higher education. Thank you to everyone who has helped me in my career!”
Joan Winterkorn is awarded Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to heritage and culture. She is an expert on archives and literary and historical manuscripts, and was formerly in the antiquarian and rare book trade. In Cambridge she played a vital role in enabling the Churchill Archive Centre to acquire the papers of Sir Winston Churchill and Lady Thatcher and the University Library to gain those of Siegfried Sassoon and Dame Margaret Drabble. In 2019 she received the honorary degree of Master of Arts from the University.
Maxine Purdie, Head of Catering and Conferences at Girton College, University of Cambridge, is awarded an MBE for services to knowledge exchange. Prior to arriving at Girton, she spent two decades at PraxisAuril, a world-leading professional association for knowledge exchange practitioners, where she became CEO and a Board Director.
Dr Rosie Trevelyan, Director of the Tropical Biology Association, is awarded an MBE for her services to environmental science and International conservation. Over the last three decades, Trevelyan developed the Tropical Biology Association into a globally respected organisation that offers an exceptionally high standard of ecology and conservation training to scientists, project managers and educators working to manage and safeguard tropical biodiversity in the long term. This international NGO has offices in the David Attenborough Building, Cambridge, UK and at Nature Kenya in Nairobi, Kenya.
Professor Elizabeth Robertson, an alumna and Honorary Fellow of Darwin College, has been appointed a CBE. Recognised as a world leader in mammalian developmental genetics, Robertson‘s early work focused on embryonic stem cell gene targeting, a technique that pioneered the ability to genetically alter mice. She initiated this work as a post-doctoral fellow with Sir Martin Evans at the University of Cambridge. “It was a big surprise and extremely gratifying to have received this honour,” Robertson said.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby (Alumnus and Honorary Fellow of Trinity College), was appointed GCVO (Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order).
The Dean of Westminster, David Hoyle (Alumnus of Corpus Christi College, Honorary Fellow and former Fellow of Magdalene College) was appointed KCVO (Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order).
Maxine Ficarra, formerly Chief Executive Officer of PraxisAuril, the UK’s professional association for Knowledge Exchange practitioners, has been made an MBE for her services to Knowledge Exchange. She led the not-for-profit, which was co-founded in 2002 by Professor David Secher, Life Fellow of Gonville & Caius College, and former Director of Research Services at the University of Cambridge, for 20 years.
Twelve academics from the University of Cambridge have been ranked among the top female scientists in the world – with one claiming the top spot for Europe.
The Research.com Best Female Scientists in the World 2023 rankings are based on an analysis of more than 166,000 profiles of scientists across the globe. Position in the ranking is according to a scientist’s total ‘H-index’ – rate of the publications made within a given area of research as well as awards and recognitions. Only the top 1000 scholars with the highest H-index are featured in the ranking.
Kay-Tee Khaw, an Emeritus Professor in Gerontology and a Gonville & Caius Fellow, is placed fifth worldwide and tops the list for Europe. Professor Khaw, who was named a CBE in 2003 for Services to Medicine, published a study on how modest differences in lifestyle are associated with better life expectancy which informed the UK Government’s ‘Small changes, big difference’ campaign in 2006.
Also high in the rankings is Barbara Sahakian, Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology in the Department of Psychiatry and a Fellow of Clare Hall, who is placed sixth in the UK. Professor Sahakian’s recent research includes a study showing the benefits to mental health and cognitive performance of reading for pleasure at an early age, and seven healthy lifestyle factors that reduce the risk of depression.
Joining Professor Khaw and Professor Sahakian in the top 10 in the UK is Carol Brayne, Professor of Public Health Medicine in the Department of Psychiatry and Fellow of Darwin. Awarded a CBE in 2017 for Services to Public Health Medicine, Professor Brayne has pioneered the study of dementia in populations.
Nine other University of Cambridge scientists also make the rankings:
Professor Gillian Murphy (Department of Oncology), an international leader in the field of metalloproteinases, who has defined their roles in arthritis and cancer.
Professor Claudia Langenberg (MRC Epidemiology Unit), a public health specialist combining her expertise with research focused on molecular epidemiology.
Professor Nita Forouhi (MRC Epidemiology Unit), a physician scientist, MRC Investigator and Programme Leader in Nutritional Epidemiology, whose research on the link between diet, nutrition and chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes has informed health policy.
Professor Alison Dunning (Centre for Cancer Genetic Epidemiology, Department of Oncology), a genetic epidemiologist working on the risk of breast and other hormonal cancers.
Professor Karalyn Patterson (MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Cambridge Centre for Frontotemporal Dementia and Related Disorders), a Fellow of Darwin College, who specialises in what we can learn about the organisation and neural representation of language and memory from the study of neurological patients suffering from the onset of brain disease or damage in adulthood.
Professor Dame Clare Grey (Department of Chemistry), a materials chemist whose work has paved the way for less expensive, longer-lasting batteries and helped improve storage systems for renewable energy, she is Chief Scientist and co-founder of Nyobolt, a company that is developing ultrafast-charging batteries for electric vehicles.
Professor Sharon Peacock (Department of Medicine), who has built her scientific expertise around pathogen genomics, antimicrobial resistance, and a range of tropical diseases, was the founding director of the COVID-19 Genomics UK Consortium which informed the COVID-19 pandemic response.
Professor Maria Grazia Spillantini (Department of Clinical Neurosciences and Fellow of Clare Hall) has been researching the cause of dementia for many years and was the first to identify the specific protein deposit found in Parkinson’s disease.
Professor Dame Theresa Marteau (Department of Public Health and Primary Care and Honorary Fellow of Christ’s College), a behavioural scientist, focuses on the development and evaluation of interventions to change behaviour (principally food, tobacco and alcohol consumption) to improve population health and reduce health inequalities, with a particular focus on targeting non-conscious processes.
Speaking on publication of this year’s rankings, Imed Bouchrika, Co-Founder of Research.com and Chief Data Scientist, said: “The purpose of this online ranking of the world’s leading female scientists is to recognize the efforts of every female scientist who has made the courageous decision to pursue opportunities despite barriers.
“Their unwavering determination in the face of difficulties serves as a source of motivation for all young women and girls who pursue careers in science.”
