This month on People Doing Physics, we have a voice very familiar to listeners; Simone Eizagirre Barker, PhD student in the Quantum Optical Materials and Systems group at the Cavendish. Following a winding path into Optical Physics, Simone previously dipped her toes into Nanotechnology in the Cavendish’ NanoDTC, and Chemical Physics at the University of Edinburgh.  Her interdisciplinary background builds on her fascination for figuring out how the world works, whether looking at quantum...

This month we are delighted to welcome Oleg Brandt, a Professor of Experimental Physics in the High Energy Physics group of the Cavendish. Oleg’s journey into the world of particle physics is both captivating and enlightening. From his early days inspired by a remarkable physics teacher directly followed by a rocky start at University, to a transformative experience abroad and a few more pivotal moments along the way, Oleg's insatiable curiosity for the fundamental mysteries of nature and...

This episode is also available in video format on our YouTube channel - check it out! Today’s format is a little different to our usual episodes, as we’ve invited four Cavendish alumni for a panel discussion about all things physics and career development. They’ll tell us about what they learnt at the Cavendish, their natural sciences and physics background, as well as how their doctoral research in physics shaped their careers and brought them to where they are today. We’re joined by...

Have you ever looked at the sky at night and wondered about the mysteries of the universe? When most of us are just looking at those bright stars in awe, our guest today would be searching for tiny, minuscule signals that would help unlock the mysteries of the so-called Cosmic Dawn, when the universe went from dark to bright. Eloy de Lera Acedo is an Associate Professor of Radio Cosmology and the head of the Radio Astronomy and Cosmology research group. His background in engineering and...

Welcome back to a world of People Doing Physics! For this first episode of 2024, let us introduce you to Richard King, the Undergraduate Lab Manager at the Cavendish Laboratory. Richard oversees the practical side of the undergraduate physics course, managing the team that designs, develops, and deploys lecture demos and undergraduate experiments. A former electronic engineer, his background was in circuit design and computing before he joined the Cavendish in 2008. With Richard, we talk...

Our guest today is Emily Roe, who has recently joined us from industry to start a new role as Senior Research Laboratory Technician. Contrary to many of our previous guests, Physics is actually not her first love. What Emily was really interested in as a young mind, was geology. But it turns out field trips were not her thing, so after a degree in geology, she shifted to a lab role at the University of Durham. And shifting, she has continued to do throughout her career, jumping from one city...

Today we’re joined by Dr Gareth Conduit. Gareth is a lecturer at Gonville and Caius College and Royal Society Research Fellow here at the cavendish Laboratory. He leads a research group focused on developing machine learning methods for understanding and designing new materials and chemicals. In 2017, he co-founded the startup Intellegens, through which he’s worked with companies such as Rolls Royce to apply software developed in the lab to the kinds of materials questions faced by...

Long silver hair in a ponytail, a pair of Converse All Star and a Grateful Dead t-shirt… The guest sitting opposite us today in the studio is not your average Cambridge academic.  But don't be fooled by his relaxed demeanour; Professor Mete Atatüre is a serious trailblazer in his field. Co-founder of the Atomic, Mesoscopic and Optical Physics Group of the Cavendish Laboratory, his ground-breaking work in quantum optics and solid-state physics has earned him accolades and respect worldwide....

Help us get better by taking our quick survey! Your feedback will help us understand how we can improve in the future. Thank you for your time. Here’s a question for you dear listener. What’s the link between music and physics? What is the sound of physics? Today we're diving into a fascinating world where art, science, and music intersect. Joining us in our studio are two incredible individuals who have embarked on a journey that brings together the realms of sound, physics, and human...

The team is taking a short break and will be back in September with new guests and more physics chats. Stay tuned! While you wait, why not taking 2 minutes to answer a few questions about the podcast and help us get better? People Doing Physics is a podcast produced by the Cavendish Laboratory, the Department of Physics at the University of Cambridge. Visit the Cavendish website and learn more abour our research and teaching, and how you could get involved! Share and join the conversationIf...

Help us get better by taking our quick survey! Your feedback will help us understand how we can improve in the future. Thank you. This is July and the streets of Cambridge burst with sun and excitement as students let a communal sigh of relief now that the academic year is over. This is July, and the time for future students to think about what subject they might be studying when choosing to go to university.   As we are welcoming hundreds of potential new students today and tomorrow for the...

On 16th June, the Cavendish Laboratory will be celebrating its 149th anniversary! To mark this occasion, we wanted to replay one of our previous episodes with one of our longest standing member of staff, Malcolm Longair. Malcolm is the memory of the Department, and his stories are fascinating, so let's jump back in with Simone, Jacob and our guest. We hope you enjoy! If you like this episode, don’t forget to rate it or leave a review on your favourite podcast app. Episode 9:With us this month...

Help us get better by taking our quick survey! Your feedback will help us understand how we can improve in the future. Thank you for your time. Today we're joined by two physicists who have not only distinguished themselves in the sciences but risen to the top of their sporting fields as well. Louise Shanahan is a PhD student in the Atomic Mesoscopic and Optical Physics group, as part of the Winton programme for the physics of sustainability here at the Cavendish. Siting at the borders of...

Help us get better by taking our quick survey! Your feedback will help us understand how we can improve in the future. Thank you for your time. We are very excited to present a very special episode this month. The podcast has been recorded with a live audience in the Pippard lecture theatre during the Cavendish Festival. For this special episode, we’re joined by Professor Athene Donald, Emeritus of Experimental Physics at the Cavendish and Master of Churchill College Cambridge. Athene has had...

Help us get better by taking our quick survey! Your feedback will help us understand how we can improve in the future. Thank you for your time. Joining us this month is Dr Sandro Tacchella, Assistant Professor in Extragalactic Astrophysics at the Cavendish and the nearby Kavli Institute for Cosmology. Inspired by astronomy at a young age, Sandro pursued a degree in Physics and threaded a line between the “small” scale of planetary astrophysics and the statistical world of pure cosmology. He...

Head of the Cavendish Laboratory Andy Parker takes us on a tour of our new home the Ray Dolby Centre, and talks about his inspiration for becoming a High Energy physicist.

Our guest this month is Prof. Sarah Bohndiek, Professor of Biomedical Physics at the Cavendish Laboratory, Group Leader at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, and Fellow of Corpus Christi College. Currently, her research group, the Vision Lab, looks to understand tumours using new medical imaging techniques, and Sarah is also particularly interested in the incredibly important process of standardising complex methods and datasets between laboratories. Alongside her research, she has...

Our guest this month is Dr Paolo Molignini, a postdoctoral research associate in the Theory of Condensed Matter group here at the Cavendish. He brings together elements of nonequilibrium physics, topological phases of matter, quantum optics and quantum simulation. During the episode, we talk about about his experiences growing up in southern Switzerland, his path from Civil Engineer to Physicist, the work he does as a theoretician working in an experimental laboratory, and where this will...

Our guest this month is Dr. Tiffany Harte, an experimental physicist who works with ultracold atomic systems. During the episode, we talk about the challenges of devising experiments at the limits of zero temperature, on how to find motivation when experiments break down, and how to navigate postdoc life in and out of the pandemic.

Our guest this month is Prof. Malcolm Longair, CBE, FRS, FRSE, (and Munroist), who specialises in high energy astrophysics and astrophysical cosmology. During the episode, we talk about what over half a century of working at the cutting edge of science has taught him, and where he sees the Cavendish laboratory going in the future.

Our guest this month is Dr Diana Fusco, lecturer in biological physics at the Cavendish Laboratory. During the episode, we talk about her interdisciplinary and curiosity-driven career in Biological physics, her different approach towards science and her group’s research in bacterial biofilms and the coevolution between bacteria and viruses.

Our guest this month is Melanie Tribble, the Cleanroom Manager for the Cavendish Laboratory. During the episode, we talk about her enthusiasm for Physics, her early career, finding a position in the cleanrooms at Cambridge and what keeps her going in her current role as the Cleanroom Manager.

Our guest this month is Joanna Piotrowska, a PhD student looking at galaxy formation and evolution in the group of Prof. Roberto Maiolino. During the episode, we talk about her early physics journey, making a choice between arts and physics, her time at the Cavendish and research in Astrophysics, and her dream of becoming an astronaut.

This month, our guest is Stuart Macpherson, post-doctoral researcher in experimental opto-electronics at the Department of Physics. During the episode, we talk about Stuart’s early physics journey, his research at the Cavendish and his non-profit organisation Sustain/Ed and its initiatives - like The Primary School Energy Mapping Challenge - aimed at primary schools in the UK to raise awareness of sustainable activity and climate action.