This Cambridge Life

Topic description and stories

Stories from the people that make Cambridge University unique.

Kirstie Stage in the gardens at Christ's College

The graduate student rewriting Deaf histories and disability histories

05 January 2024

When Kirstie Stage was diagnosed with hearing loss, she realised that the experiences of Deaf and disabled people were missing from the history books. Kirstie is determined to bring these narratives to the fore.

The doctor using smartphones to save lives in war zones

04 Feb 2019

Having survived the civil war in Afghanistan, alumnus Waheed Arian arrived alone in the UK aged 15. He went on to study medicine at Trinity Hall...

The political scientist motivated by a desire to understand the world

12 Oct 2018

Alice Musabende has turned her childhood experiences in Rwanda into a quest for intellectual growth. Academic study, she says, enables her to be the...

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

09 Jul 2018

Millions of Syrian children are being educated in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. In 2014 Hiba Salem left her Damascus home to gain the qualifications...

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

06 Jul 2018

Imagine wallpaper that can change colour or a toilet that monitors dopamine levels. Jeremy Baumberg and colleagues are developing materials made from...

The Proctor who treasures her role in upholding Cambridge's age-old traditions

02 Jul 2018

Graduations are joyous occasions. Among the Cambridge University officials helping to uphold the traditions of such important ceremonies is Karen...

The history student who says that dyslexia has taught her to work hard

21 Jun 2018

Grace England couldn’t do maths at school, which puzzled her teachers because she was a bookworm who had learned to read early. A diagnosis of...

The eminent astronomer who says there is no plan B for the world

14 Jun 2018

Professor Lord Martin Rees, Astronomer Royal, is best known for his research in astrophysics. He’s also interested in the social and political...

The museum researcher giving indigenous objects a voice of their own

07 Jun 2018

Erna Lilje looks at the material culture of her maternal homeland, Papua New Guinea (PNG). She argues that, to tell the complex stories of indigenous...

The scholar whose career began in the books section of his local newsagent

31 May 2018

Geoffrey Khan grew up with a sense of not belonging. His passion for languages led him to embark on a quest to trace and record disappearing dialects...