Latest Events

Our Annual Conference brings together an audience of policy professionals, academic experts and business leaders for a day of talks and presentations, and to share and discuss issues and ideas on a range of topics from innovation and economic growth to climate and sustainability. Speakers from government, academia, and industry will present examples of how we are working together to address new and emerging policy challenges.

Networking sessions

In addition to keynote talks and panel discussions, this year our conference will provide a forum for attendees to participate in small group discussions on topics of particular interest led by academics and policy professionals in our network. Sessions will also provide an opportunity for tech companies and university researchers to showcase their work and its benefits to public policy.

Register: https://www.csap.cam.ac.uk/events/2024-csap-annual-conference

Programme

Morning sessions (10am-1pm)

Future of science and technology in the UK (10:15-11:00)

• Andrew Griffith MP, Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation
• Chair: Hetan Shah, Chief Executive, British Academy

Break (11:15-11:45)

Parallel seminars (11:45-13:00)

1. Envisaging a quantum future

• Steve Brierley, CEO, Riverlane
• Helena Knowles, Assistant Professor, Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge
• Chair: Hayaatun Sillem, CEO, Royal Academy of Engineering

2. Rebuilding nature - making it happen

• Stephen Elderkin, Director of Environmental Sustainability, National Highways
• Rachel Fisher, Deputy Director, Land Use Policy, Defra
• Emma Ward, Director General for Roads and Local Transport, Department for Transport
• Dr Silviu Petrovan, Senior Researcher, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge
• Chair: Fiona Reynolds, Deputy Chair of the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission; Chair of Governors at the Royal Agricultural University

3. Retrofitting to decarbonise housing

• Ronita Bardhan, Associate Professor of Sustainability in the Built Environment, Department of Architecture, University of Cambridge
• Shaun Fitzgerald, Director, Centre for Climate Repair, University of Cambridge
• Chair: Becci Taylor, Director and Retrofit at Scale Business Leader, Arup

Lunch, networking, and themed discussions (1pm-3pm)

Afternoon sessions (3pm-5:45pm)

Parallel seminars (15:00-16:15)

1. AI in education

• Jenny Gibson, Professor of Developmental Psychology, University of Cambridge; and Chief Scientist, Nesta
• Kevin Martin, Managing Director, Digital Education Futures Initiative (DEFI), University of Cambridge
• Chair: Anna Vignoles, Director, Leverhulme Trust

2. Net Zero

• Niva Thiruchelvam, Executive, Hakluyt
• Anna Valero, Director, Growth Programme, LSE Centre for Economic Performance
• Dimitri Zenghelis, Senior Associate, Bennett Institute for Public Policy, University of Cambridge
• Chair: Nick Godfrey, Senior Adviser, Grantham Research Institute, LSE

3. Regional economic and social development

• Professor Andrew Westwood, Professor of Government Practice, University of Manchester
• Owen Garling, Knowledge Transfer Facilitator, Bennett Institute for Public Policy, University of Cambridge
• Professor Louise Kempton, Director, Insights North East
• Chair: Nicola Buckley, Director Fellowships and Networks, Centre for Science and Policy

Panel discussion on the future of science and technology in the UK (16:30-17:45)

• Chi Onwurah, Shadow Minister Science, Research & Innovation
• Chair: Hetan Shah, Chief Executive, British Academy

Networking drinks reception (5:45pm-7:30pm)

For further information, please email: annualconference2024@csap.cam.ac.uk

Without customers you're just a good idea on legs. Skills and knowledge only get you so far. 

You can try building a business by sending a few thousand emails (where's the joy in that) or you can use a more human approach of connecting with the connectors. It's vital to build warm interdependent relationships so that your business finds its place in the world and connects with people who matter most.  Together we'll unpack the idea of Relationship Ripples...

Steve Shepherd Bio

Steve has built and grown several tech business units including cloud, data protection and analytics/AI services.  He's carried a sales target for decades in global tech companies, selling multi-million pound projects into highly regulated sectors including government, defense and healthcare.  He's fascinated with the psychology of change and how we move ourselves and others.  More recently he's been invited to join the coaching team for the NHS Future Vision executive leadership programme.  Steve hosts a peer learning community "Lead with Care from Anywhere" based on adaptive leadership principles for complex system change. Steve advises tech companies on engaging with the NHS and wider public sector.

About the Seminar Series

The Innovation Seminar Series is organised by a number of initiatives across the University and has a lineup of brilliant speakers who are at different stages in their Innovation and Entrepreneurship journey. If you are a member of the University of Cambridge community interested in all things entrepreneurial, this is a series for you!

This series of seminars happens monthly and speakers will present their ideas and experiences on how innovation impacts their endeavours.

• We have a varied list of speakers, from academics turned in to entrepreneurs all the way to established companies.
• The format is a 45 minute talk, followed by Q&A.
• Attendance is free

Come and join the talk with Steve Shepherd.

Registration: https://forms.office.com/e/WCGbwf6xxP

Data Protection

We collect information about you when you register to attend the Innovation Seminar Series. You can find details on how we handle personal information at https://www.maxwell.cam.ac.uk/faqs.

The data we hold for this purpose is very limited (contact details: name, email address, name of the organisation you are affiliated with).

The information you provide will be used to process your booking, and contact you regarding your participation. We may also contact you to undertake post-event evaluation and provide marketing information about events and services offered through the Maxwell Centre, University of Cambridge and the Office for Tranlational Research. All marketing communications will incorporate an option to opt-out of receiving further communications.

On behalf of the organising committee, we invite you to the Warwick Battery Days (WBD) Workshop, scheduled to take place at the University of Warwick (UK), between 20-21 June 2024. 

WBD 2024 will be the first of the annual workshop series that is co-organised by the Warwick Chemistry and Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG). WBD 2024 will bring together leading experts from the experimental and computational battery research community as well as the from the industry, aiming to facilitate discussions on the current state-of-the-art in the field and the future directions based on industrial and societal needs. We expect the conference to attract around 100 participants.

For more details, please visit our website [WBD 2024].

WBD 2024 will cover an array of scientific topics, including (but not limited to):

• Multi-scale Modelling of Battery Materials and Systems
  • Materials discovery through crystal structure predictions

• • Atomistic modelling of chemistry at the surfaces and interfaces
  • Machine-learning applications in  battery modelling
  • Continuum and larger-scale modelling
• Experimental characterisation of Battery Materials and Systems
  • Electrochemical performance, structure-property relations, microstructures, surface/interface morphologies, and alike.
• Role of Additives and Coatings in Enhancing Battery Performance
  • Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) and CVD in Battery Applications
• Industrial Perspectives on Scaling up Next-gen Battery Systems and related applications

13:00 – 13:40

Welcome and opening address from Dr Sally Pidgeon, Head of Environmental Sustainability, highlighting the University’s environmental sustainability successes within our Annual Environmental Sustainability Report.

Recognising our Green Impact Teams and Excellence through award presentations.

13:40 – 14:30

Presentations from:

Dr Belinda Bell, Co-Director of Finance for Environmental and Social Systemic Change, will discuss an ongoing project, led by Cambridge, in which over 65 UK Higher Education Institutions have collaborated on a new effort to create a market for cash products that do not contribute to the financing of fossil fuel expansion.

The University’s Climate Challenge led by Beth Simpson, Student Engagement Coordinator, Cambridge Zero. The Climate Challenge gives postgraduate students the opportunity to collaborate across disciplines to explore early stage, innovative solutions to climate change. Here, our two runner-up teams from the 2024 competition discuss their proposals and their experience on the programme. The Climate Challenge is led by Cambridge Zero in partnership with Carbon13, Cambridge Enterprise, CISL Canopy, the Maxwell Centre and Energy IRC, with sponsorship from Moda Living.  Introducing Postgraduate students Guillaume Bigot, MPhil in Technology and Jerrell Ong, MPhil in Engineering for Sustainable Development, who will be presenting on Terracotta Cooling is an early-stage climate pitch for a sustainable data centre cooling solution in equatorial climates to significantly reduce the emissions impact and resource use of capital-intensive technology ill-suited for local contexts.

Stewart Bethell, Transport Coordinator, Environmental Sustainability Team, showcasing Modeshift Stars transport platform.

14:30 – 16:00

Origin 8 will be providing refreshments and nibbles providing the opportunity for all staff and students engaged in sustainability University-wide to network and socialise. 

There will be the opportunity to have professional photographs taken.  

Short biodiversity focused walks will be on offer to explore the ecology at Eddington.

Click here for travel and accessibility information.

Get tickets here (access code 2024).

Speaker: Trevelyan Wing Baltic Fellow, Centre for Geopolitics & CEENRG Researcher, CEENRG, University of Cambridge

Cambridge Centre for Environment, Energy, and Natural Resource Governance (CEENRG) in the Department of Land Economy, University of Cambridge, invites you to attend its regular seminar series. In 2024 Easter term, our seminars continue in a hybrid format in the DAB— David Attenborough Building every Thursday at 3 pm* (UK time). To join online, please register to receive the Zoom link on the day of the seminar. Everyone is welcome!

Register: CEENRG Seminar Series: 2024 Easter Term Registration Form (office.com)