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This Cambridge Life

People make Cambridge University unique. Cooks, gardeners, students, archivists, professors, alumni: all have a story to share.

The volunteers who went virtual but still delivered Christmas

The volunteers who went virtual but still delivered Christmas

When Vanessa Chuang and Olivia Taylor became student volunteers, they had no idea they’d need to re-invent their activities as a virtual…
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University of Cambridge
Dec 22, 2020
The conservationist, the herders and the fashionistas

The conservationist, the herders and the fashionistas

Respect for the Mongolian landscape is engrained within her, says Onon Bayasgalan. Her work is helping herders in her home country to…
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University of Cambridge
Dec 22, 2020
The student linguist who started a pro-refugee fashion revolution

The student linguist who started a pro-refugee fashion revolution

Tiara Sahar Ataii has just been named Undergraduate of the Year for Impactful Social Action. She shares how her love of languages and…
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University of Cambridge
Dec 22, 2020
The scientist reducing the rise of superbugs by talking to farmers

The scientist reducing the rise of superbugs by talking to farmers

Chioma Achi is worried about the global misuse of antibiotics in agricultural practices. Her work helping farmers in Nigeria to reduce…
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University of Cambridge
Nov 10, 2020
The scientist who launched a comic and flew the flag for Black History Month

The scientist who launched a comic and flew the flag for Black History Month

Self-confessed comic addict Osarenkhoe Ogbeide sees beyond the superhero to the scientist. When he’s not developing printable gas sensors…
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University of Cambridge
Oct 23, 2020
The student entrepreneur who interviewed Stormzy about race and privilege

The student entrepreneur who interviewed Stormzy about race and privilege

Recent graduate and former president of the African and Caribbean Society, Toni Fola-Alade, talks about advocacy, start-ups and…
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University of Cambridge
Oct 23, 2020
The colleagues who’ve scored almost a century in continuous service to the University

The colleagues who’ve scored almost a century in continuous service to the University

As they (literally) hand over the keys to their much-loved Vet School, Betty and Paul tell us about the poorly elephant who brought two…
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University of Cambridge
Oct 23, 2020
The chemist who fuses fashion with science

The chemist who fuses fashion with science

Areeb Mahtey (Fitzwilliam College) is studying for a PhD in epigenetics, but outside the lab he is a member of the University of…
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University of Cambridge
Oct 23, 2020
The polar explorer using Grime to break the ice

The polar explorer using Grime to break the ice

It’s not often someone compares the voices of seals to the sounds of space set to a Grime beat. But when he’s not monitoring seals from…
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University of Cambridge
Feb 3, 2020
The museum technician who found her place among ancient faces

The museum technician who found her place among ancient faces

When Charis Millett realised that being a museum technician was the job for her, she worked day and night to make it happen. She speaks…
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University of Cambridge
Jan 28, 2020
The cellist whose Christmas starts in summer

The cellist whose Christmas starts in summer

When he’s not running college choirs and keeping the piano tuned as Director of Music for Magdalene and Director of St John’s Voices…
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University of Cambridge
Jan 2, 2020
The climate scientist and the planet-sized problem

The climate scientist and the planet-sized problem

Dr Emily Shuckburgh is Director of Cambridge Zero, an ambitious new University climate change initiative aimed at transitioning to a zero…
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University of Cambridge
Dec 17, 2019
The Fetcher who became keeper to millions of books

The Fetcher who became keeper to millions of books

Robin James has worked at Cambridge University Library for 26 years. Today, he leads the team responsible for the Library’s ‘Cathedral of…
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University of Cambridge
Dec 6, 2019
The plant scientist with a practical vision for Africa (and who wasn’t content to sit and drink…

The plant scientist with a practical vision for Africa (and who wasn’t content to sit and drink…

Carol Nkechi Ibe discovered the hard way what it’s like to be bright and educated, and yet feel like you know almost nothing. The life…
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University of Cambridge
Oct 22, 2019
The student working to make education accessible to everyone

The student working to make education accessible to everyone

Final-year chemist Shadab Ahmed reflects on his sabbatical year as CUSU Access and Funding Officer, the importance of role models, and how…
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University of Cambridge
Oct 9, 2019
The unschooled anthropologist working with Q’eqchi’ weavers

The unschooled anthropologist working with Q’eqchi’ weavers

Living for ten months with Q’eqchi’ weavers in the Alta Verapaz of Guatemala, PhD student Callie Vandewiele watched and listened as the…
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University of Cambridge
Sep 24, 2019
The neuroscientist hoping to slow down dementia and speed up Darwin

The neuroscientist hoping to slow down dementia and speed up Darwin

When she’s not on the river captaining the Darwin College Boat Club, PhD student Jessica Walsh is investigating a possible link between…
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University of Cambridge
Sep 2, 2019
The collector of future memories

The collector of future memories

College Recorder Alice Oates is passionate about Pembroke, its community and capturing the latest instalment in the College’s 670-year…
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University of Cambridge
Jun 28, 2019
The engineering student who gets his kicks from playing with the Pythons.

The engineering student who gets his kicks from playing with the Pythons.

When he’s not catching passes in the backfield and blocking the opposition, Kiran Singh Jolly — a running back with Cambridge University’s…
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University of Cambridge
May 3, 2019
The woman who brought Space Invaders to the UK and is championing women’s sport

The woman who brought Space Invaders to the UK and is championing women’s sport

She was the first woman in the UK to hold a gaming licence, secured a £27.5 million grant to move Birmingham Children’s Hospital across…
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University of Cambridge
Apr 1, 2019
The doctor using smartphones to save lives in war zones

The doctor using smartphones to save lives in war zones

Having survived the civil war in Afghanistan, Waheed Arian arrived alone in the UK aged 15. He went on to study medicine at Trinity Hall…
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University of Cambridge
Feb 5, 2019
The political scientist motivated by a desire to understand the world

The political scientist motivated by a desire to understand the world

Alice Musabende has turned her childhood experiences in Rwanda into a quest for intellectual growth. Academic study, she says, enables her…
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University of Cambridge
Oct 12, 2018
Into the swim with the interviewer behind our This Cambridge Life series

Into the swim with the interviewer behind our This Cambridge Life series

Over the past 18 months, she’s interviewed people whose specialisms range from the literature of love and loss to the fragile early life of…
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University of Cambridge
Jul 10, 2018
The Syrian researcher determined to invest in the future of a displaced generation

The Syrian researcher determined to invest in the future of a displaced generation

Millions of Syrian children are being educated in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. In 2014 Hiba Salem left her Damascus home to gain the…
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University of Cambridge
Jul 9, 2018
The nanoscientist, his love for colour and clocks, and the dancing atoms

The nanoscientist, his love for colour and clocks, and the dancing atoms

Imagine wallpaper that can change colour or a toilet that monitors dopamine levels. Jeremy Baumberg and colleagues are developing materials…
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University of Cambridge
Jul 5, 2018
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