Science doesn't work the same for everyone everywhere - there are huge disparities in access to scientific hardware, and in gender and minority representation in labs. In this piece from The Conversation, Jenny Molloy (Department of Earth Sciences) and Max Liboiron (Memorial University of Newfoundland) look at some of the initiatives around the world which are attempting to level the playing field for scientists. 

Lab training workshop and biotech conference, organised by second year Ph.D. student and Gates Scholar, aim to build African research capacity in agricultural sciences

So what has the ERC ever done for us? Quite a lot, say Cambridge academics, as they mark the 10th anniversary of Europe’s premier research-funding body

Do you have to choose between an academic career and activism? Gates Cambridge Scholar Carol Ibe is one of an increasing number of students are choosing to keep a foot in both camps.

Africa’s food requirements, along with its population, are growing fast. Three research programmes ask how a better understanding of viruses, parasites and the spread of disease can pave the way to improving agricultural yields.

The University of Cambridge is one of a number of British universities and companies that have won access to a £340 million EU Innovation programme to change the way we eat, grow and distribute food. 

A photoreceptor molecule in plant cells has been found to moonlight as a thermometer after dark – allowing plants to read seasonal temperature changes. Scientists say the discovery could help breed crops that are more resilient to the temperatures expected to result from climate change.

Study of bee-manipulating plant virus reveals a “short-circuiting” of natural selection. Researchers suggest that replicating the scent caused by infection could encourage declining bee populations to pollinate crops – helping both bee and human food supplies. 

A tree the height of 20 London double-decker buses has been discovered in Malaysia by conservation scientists monitoring the impact of human activity on the biodiversity of a pristine rainforest. The tree, a Yellow  Meranti, is one of the species that can be grown in the computer game Minecraft.

Christian Ridley (Department of Plant Sciences) discusses why algae biofuel has failed to deliver, and what could be done to save this promising technology.