Risk and uncertainty

Topic description and stories

From cybercrime to earthquakes, influenza to air travel, research on risk and uncertainty reflects issues that are of paramount importance.

Planning for war: a guide for businesses

19 Feb 2015

Dr Andrew Coburn of the Cambridge Judge Business School writes on The Conversation website about how business leaders have reawakened to the risk of...

Scientists ‘must not become complacent’ when assessing pandemic threat from flu viruses

15 Oct 2014

As our ability to assess the pandemic risk from strains of influenza virus increases with the latest scientific developments, we must not allow...

That was supposed to be going up, wasn't it?

Stress hormones in financial traders may trigger ‘risk aversion’ and contribute to market crises

18 Feb 2014

New study’s findings overturn theory of personal risk preference as a ‘stable trait’, and show that real source of instability in risk behaviour “...

Putting a price on our future

07 Oct 2013

Helping big businesses consider their impact on the environment is leading to a re-evaluation of activities to combine profitability with...

After the flood: harnessing the power of mud

31 Jan 2013

On the 60th Anniversary of the ‘big flood’ that devastated the coastline of eastern England, new research shows that integrating ‘natural’ sea...

The Jarrow March symbolises austerity in the 1930s

Austerity Britain: it's déjà vu all over again

16 Jan 2013

The last 100 years have seen several governments introduce austerity measures to try to balance the books. Duncan Needham, a Phd candidate in the...

Hurricane Katrina makes landfall in the US. Speaking this week in Cambridge, engineer Tom O’Rourke will describe such disasters as game-changers for those wishing to protect people from similar, future events.

Natural disasters, infrastructure and the “new normal”

15 Jan 2013

The Japanese and Canterbury earthquakes, Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy and a host of other modern natural disasters have changed the game for those...

Humanity's last invention and our uncertain future

25 Nov 2012

A philosopher, a scientist and a software engineer have come together to propose a new centre at Cambridge to address developments in human...

How risky is your breakfast?

27 Oct 2012

Understanding how the numbers add up in relation to risk can help us deal with our own uncertainty, as David Spiegelhalter, Winton Professor for the...