Are you passionate about communicating your subject to the general public? Could your enthusiasm for your field – whether science or humanities - hold a non-academic audience spellbound in a lecture hall or classroom, or even on television or radio?

Rising Stars - a new initiative organised by the University’s Office of Community Affairs – offers the chance for outstanding undergraduates, post-graduates, post-docs and early-career academics to develop the communication skills required to become ambassadors for their subjects.

Participants in Rising Stars will be following in the footsteps of the current generation of Cambridge academics making waves in the media, who include Nigel Spivey, Richard Miles, Carenza Lewis, Chris Smith and Lisa Jardine-Wright.

These academics are ambassadors not just for their subjects but also for the value of life-long learning: their work in the media, putting complex ideas across in an accessible way, helps to foster an appreciation for the value of higher and further education, teaching and research.

The inaugural Rising Stars programme, which will take place on a series of Wednesdays between 7 February and 25 April, is looking for 12 participants who can come from any academic discipline – from anthropology and archaeology through to theoretical physics and zoology.

The participants selected for the programme will attend training and networking sessions within the University, designed to introduce participants to the essential skills and experience needed to engage with a non-academic audience, and put across specialist topics in an engaging and inspiring way.

The programme, which is funded by HEFCE and is free for participants, will include the delivery of a talk or demonstration to the public – followed by feedback from peers and participants.

The Rising Stars programme is a new development for the Office of Community Affairs, which co-ordinates the annual Cambridge Science Festival, a two-week programme that attracts more than 25,000 visitors to the University, as well as providing a central point for a wide range of community and outreach initiatives.

Penny Wilson, Head of Community Affairs, says: “Underlying the scheme is the real need to create dialogue between the University and the wider community, and communicate what goes on at the University and its contribution to society.”

She continues: “We see Rising Stars building on the success of initiatives such as the Science Festival, and fostering talent within the University by tapping into the huge energy and enthusiasm that exists among staff and students for sharing their subject interest.”

“It is early career academics who make the best ambassadors for the University for many audiences, and it’s they who will become the more established names of the future – and, in their turn, role models for the next generation.”

For more details of the Rising Stars scheme and application forms, email community@admin.cam.ac.uk. To ask questions about the scheme, contact Emma Wenborn at the Office of Community Affairs on ejw58@admin.cam.ac.uk. The deadline for applications is Monday 29 January.

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