Latest News

Steven Lee in the lab taken by Nathan Pitt, ©University of Cambridge

Nov 5 2025

Professor Steven Lee has been announced a winner of the Royal Microscopical Society (RMS) Scientific Achievement Award 2025.

Prof. Mavrikakis Linnett Lecture taken by Michael Webb ©University of Cambridge.

Nov 5 2025

We are delighted to host Professor Manos Mavrikakis from the Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering at the University of Wisconsin–Madison as the John Wilfrid Linnett Visiting Professor of Chemistry.

Congratulations to Beatrice Jones who has been awarded the Katharine Burr Blodgett Award by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) and Society of Chemical Industry (SCI) Colloids Group. The prize is awarded annually for the best PhD thesis in colloid and interface science.

Bea successfully...

We are proud to announce that Dr Maheera Abdul Ghani has been named a winner of the Nature Inspiring Women in Science Award 2025 in the Scientific Outreach Category,...

We are delighted to share the exciting news that Dr Yan Wang was awarded a prestigious ERC Starting Grant in September for her project “Atomically thin semiconductors for complementary field-effect transistors.”

Over the next five years, Yan will lead pioneering research into using...

Graphic of water auto-dissociation © MPI for Polymer Research.

Oct 22 2025

Researchers at the Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry and the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research reveal how electric fields transform water chemistry, enhancing reaction rates and rearranging molecular structures at the atomic level.

Alexander Forse courtesy Nathan Pitt, ©University of Cambridge

Oct 20 2025

Professor Alex Forse has been awarded a 2025 Leverhulme Trust Philip Leverhulme Prize, recognising the outstanding work of the Forse Group in developing innovative materials to tackle climate change.

We are pleased to announce that Dr Matthew Cliffe will be joining the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy on 5 January 2026 as an Associate Professor.

Matthew’s research focuses on exploring metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) as quantum materials, developing methods to control and...

Nicole Church took up an appointment on 1 October 2025 as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy.

Nicole is currently the Beatrice Mary Dale Sciences Research Fellow at Newnham College, hosted...

The Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy is delighted to welcome Shijing Sun, who joined us in September 2025 as an Associate Professor. Shijing will also serve as co-director for the new MPhil Programme in Advanced Materials for the Energy...

Congratulations to Professor Xavier Moya.

 

We are delighted to share that Professor Xavier Moya has been named...

The image shows alpha synuclein oligomers (yellow) inside microglia, the immune cells of the brain. These structures have long been hypothesised to exist but not previously directly observed in Parkinson’s disease. Photo credits: TheLeeLab

Oct 2 2025

For the first time, scientists have directly visualised and measured the tiny protein clusters, called alpha-synuclein oligomers, thought to trigger Parkinson’s disease in human brain tissue.

Zeke Coady holding a piece of carbon material in front of an NMR machine taken by Nathan Pitt ©University of Cambridge.

Oct 6 2025

Researchers at the Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, Cambridge, have made a major breakthrough in the fight against climate change published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Nai-Shu Hsu taken by Nathan Pitt ©University of Cambridge.

Sep 17 2025

Researchers at Cambridge have found a smarter way to activate the immune system against cancer – making treatments safer and more precise.

Should radical climate interventions to try to 'repair' melting ice or a changing global climate be researched? Are the polar regions particularly in need of such intervention technologies? Professor Mike Hulme reflects on these questions in an Editorial in the journal Frontiers in Science, commenting on a review article published by Martin Siegert and colleagues, 'Safeguarding the polar regions from dangerous geoengineering: a critical assessment of proposed concepts and future prospects'.

This fully-funded studentship provides the opportunity to address this gap in understanding, through qualitative research. The nature of the topic and the research that will be conducted means there may be direct policy impacts of the work conducted, with the supervisory team having experience of communicating policy impacts. This studentship will use qualitative methods (e.g. interviews, document analysis) to explore two diverse countries pursuing climate urbanism agendas – the UK and South Africa. There is flexibility over the policy area (e.g. energy, transport, water) depending on applicants' interests. We welcome those coming to academia through non-standard routes, including mature students, or with caring responsibilities.

Oren Scherman taken by Nathan Pitt ©University of Cambridge.

Sep 10 2025

Professor Oren Scherman’s research group at the Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry, has developed a material that can detect subtle changes in the body, such as an arthritis flare-up, and release drugs exactly where and when they are needed.

The Micro Arctic Climate Simulation (MACS) Conference 2025, to be held on 15th-17th September 2025 at SPRI, will provide an opportunity to evaluate current states of understanding and modelling discrete areas in the Arctic (and Antarctic), and how we develop ways of empowering local communities with the tools and skills they consider necessary to better understand the changes that are happening in this dynamic region. MACS will also be an opportunity to consider developing a proposal for a UArctic Thematic Network on this topical matter. The conference will also provide an opportunity for those with an interest in Antarctic heritage to join with colleagues engaged in Arctic simulations. More info: Bryan Lintott (bjl44@cam.ac.uk) or Gareth Rees (wgr2@cam.ac.uk)

One of the most famous polar shipwrecks, which carried Captain Scott and his men to reach the South Pole, has been filmed in detail underwater for the first time. Dr David Waterhouse and Naomi Boneham from SPRI were interviewed in a feature on BBC News about the Terra Nova shipwreck. More than a century ago, The British party lost the race to the pole - and died on their return journey in 1912. The shipwreck was discovered in 2012, but the new expedition has been the first opportunity to record extensive footage of it. New footage shows the Terra Nova colonised with sea life, but key features of the wooden ship are still visible including its wheel, winch and mast.