Topic description and stories

Madeline Lancaster in a lab

The neurobiologist who grew ‘mini-brain’ tissues in a dish

20 September 2021

When Madeline Lancaster’s attempt to grow neural stem cells ‘failed’ she had no idea that the floating balls of cells she saw in her petri dish were in fact miniature brain tissues. They would revolutionise our ability to study the early stages of brain development and take us closer to answering: what makes us human?

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HeLa: the cells that changed science

25 Feb 2021

Discover the incredible story of Henrietta Lacks, an African American woman whose cells enabled a scientific revolution and contributed to numerous...

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World first as Bell Burnell pulsar chart goes on display

08 Mar 2019

Iconic object exhibited for the first time, alongside works by Isaac Newton and Stephen Hawking at Cambridge University Library.

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Bridging the divide: philosophy meets science

12 Jul 2018

A unique three-year project to bridge the divide between science and philosophy – which embedded early-career philosophers into some of Cambridge’s...

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Image from Newton’s own annotated copy of Principia Mathematica

Sir Isaac Newton’s Cambridge papers added to UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register

01 Dec 2017

The Cambridge papers of Sir Isaac Newton, including early drafts and Newton’s annotated copies of Principia Mathematica – a work that changed the...

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Believing is Seeing: a Cambridge Shorts film

09 Nov 2016

Imagination is where ideas start: in the mind’s eye. The ability to think creatively – to dream the impossible – is behind the technological...

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Opinion: Only by keeping close ties with Europe can UK research remain globally competitive

08 Aug 2016

Ash Amin (Department of Geography) and John Bell (Faculty of Law) discuss the importance of European research collaborations, and how they might...

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Priceless treasures: in a shot commissioned to celebrate Cambridge University Library’s 600th anniversary, Professor Stephen Hawking is pictured with Newton’s annotated first edition of Principia Mathematica. Credit: Graham CopeKoga

Understanding gravity - from Newton to Hawking

29 Apr 2016

The most important publication in the history of science – Isaac Newton’s own annotated copy of Principia Mathematica – and other seminal works by...

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Newton, Darwin, Shakespeare – and an envelope of ectoplasm: Cambridge University Library at 600

23 Dec 2015

In 2016, Cambridge University Library will celebrate 600 years as one of the world's greatest libraries with a spectacular exhibition of priceless...

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Skulls in print: scientific racism in the transatlantic world

19 Mar 2014

A PhD student’s research at Cambridge’s Department of History and Philosophy of Science has revealed how racist ideas and images circulated between...

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Voyage of discovery takes Cambridge to the capital

10 Jan 2014

An exhibition exploring human discovery in all its forms – selected from more than five million objects at eight University of Cambridge museums –...

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Ed Turner carrying out field work in the forests of Sumatra

What is it really like to work in scientific research today?

12 Dec 2013

A new programme offered by the Institute of Continuing Education will give participants a rare insight into the challenges involved in pushing back...

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Winners of Royal Society Awards. From left to right: Professor Lynn Gladden CBE FREng FRS, Dr Duncan Odom,

Cambridge scientists honoured by Royal Society

22 Jul 2013

The Royal Society has awarded three University academics for their ground-breaking research that will help to forward the future of science.

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