Theme: By Other Means

The University of Cambridge is a hotbed of ideas, innovation and energy. Students and researchers alike come to Cambridge to be amongst some of the top minds in the world, and to hone their own abilities, knowledge and passions. You could say it’s a pretty busy place.

But even within the whirlwind of life in Cambridge, TEDx Cambridge University stands out as something unique. Applications to attend are open to the entire university, and from this talented pool we work carefully to select the 100 applicants who best demonstrate a passion for great ideas, and the ability and conviction to make those ideas into reality. Everyone is welcome, and we look for people from all backgrounds, and with a broad range of interests and abilities.

Conference attendees will get the chance to listen to and to connect up with speakers who’ve done extraordinary things from both within and beyond Cambridge. But our vision for TEDx goes well beyond the day of the conference itself. Taking our theme – ‘By Other Means’ – to heart, we hope to produce an event that takes the idea of producing credible and meaningful change seriously. So we will be running a host of broader events around the conference, from ‘Adventures’ which allow attendees with particular interests to get hands-on with the work that speakers do, to discussion groups, to public performances and debates open to the wider University community.

We are TEDx with a difference. And we hope you will join us in making that difference.

http://tedxcambridgeuniversity.org/

St John's Divinity School
All Saints' Passage
Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB2 1TB
United Kingdom

Highlights

Ashley Dove Jay

Ashley Dove-Jay is a young researcher whose interest in aerospace engineering has led him to confront some of the big questions around sustaining human life in space. Currently working on morphed wing technology, he has previously led an expedition simulating life on Mars in the high-altitude Utah Desert in collaboration with several space agencies and dozens of private and academic institutions.

Barbara Stocking

Dame Barbara Stocking DBE was Chief Executive of Oxfam GB from 2001 until 2013. At the forefront of global humanitarian responses to crises as varied as West African famines and the Haiti earthquake, and behind the campaigns ‘Make Poverty History’ and ‘Grow’, Dame Barbara's experience in the global fight for social and economic justice is unmatched. Since 2013, she has been President of Murray Edwards College, Cambridge.

Callie Vandewiele

‘Unschooled’ until age 16 when she started high school in the United States followed by local community college, Callie Vandewiele is now studying for a PhD at the University of Cambridge in Latin American Studies. Through her learning and work she has developed an interest in women’s leadership education and the ongoing interactions between globalised western culture, local cultures and the evolution of ancient traditions.

Charlotte Higgins

Charlotte Higgins is an Irish-born spoken-word poet who has performed at Glastonbury Music Festival and ran Cambridge’s popular ‘SpeakEasy’ poetry slam nights.

Colin Tudge

Colin Tudge is a biologist by training, and a renowned writer on topics such as natural history, food and farming and most recently, the philosophy of science.

Deborah Frances-White

Deborah Frances-White is a stand up comedian who has performed across the world and has had a two year residency in the West End. She is currently recording a series for BBC Radio 4 called Deborah Frances-White Rolls the Dice. As a screenwriter she has received commissions from Fox Searchlight, the BBC and Channel 4. She regularly delivers corporate seminars on charisma, leadership, diversity, and inclusion.

Euan Semple

Euan Semple is a pioneer in using social media tools in the business and not-for-profit sector, and has worked with organisations as diverse as The United Nations, The World Bank and BUPA.

Freya Aquarone

Freya Aquarone is a 21-year-old sociology undergraduate at the University of Cambridge. In 2012 Freya she spent four months with the Al Kamandjati music school, playing with Palestinian musicians and working on arts-outreach in refugee-camp schools. She returned to Palestine in 2014 to research ‘women rebels’ in their various forms, from activists to activist-actors.

Irena Borzym

Irena Borzym is the Nicholas Handy Lecturer in Mathematics at St. Catharine’s College, Cambridge University. She lectures to mathematicians and natural scientists but passionately believes that higher levels of scientific and mathematical literacy among non-scientists would have cultural and social benefits for everyone. She would enjoy having time for her special research interest of twistor methods in general relativity. She is a keen supporter of technological innovation and engineering solutions to problems facing the planet. She believes solutions will require a commitment to space exploration. Hobbies include fine art, architectural design and classic cars.

John Girkin

John Girkin is Professor of Biophysics at Durham University and an expert on the application of optics and photonics technology to help solve real world problems.

Rae Langton

Professor of Philosophy at the University of Cambridge and one of Prospect Magazine’s ‘Top 50 World Thinkers’ of 2014, Rae Langton is an expert on moral, political and feminist philosophy.

Richard Brock

Richard is currently in the third year of his PhD at the University of Cambridge researching the concept of making-sense in physics education. After studying physics at Durham University, he taught in Japan before training to be a secondary physics teacher. He taught at a comprehensive school in Essex for eight years before returning to educational research.

Robert Cain

Famous for his participation in BBC4’s ‘Scrapheap Orchestra’, Robert Cain is a gifted violinmaker and teaches at the Newark School of Violinmaking, one of the most prestigious schools of its kind. Whilst teaching a craft which has changed little in the 500 years since the violin’s invention, Robert continues to be interested in exploring the meaning and value of craftwork in 21st century society, where machine-made objects are the norm.

Ruth Amos

As a keen, challenge-hungry GCSE pupil, Ruth Amos asked her Design & Technology teacher for a real problem to solve, rather than designing a jewellery box like all the other girls in her class. The product she designed, StairSteady, was so successful that it led her to win Young Engineer for Britain in 2006 and is now sold internationally.

Tim Bussey

Tim Bussey isn’t just Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge, he’s also a science campaigner, driving to increase the number of women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields.

William MacAskill

William MacAskill is a Research Fellow in Moral Philosophy at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He’s the cofounder of non-profits Giving What We Can, which advocates for people to pledge 10% of their income to the most cost-effective charities, and 80,000 Hours, which provides advice and coaching on how to choose a career with the biggest social impact. Between them these organisations have raised over $10 million for charity, with a further $370 million pledged. He is the author of Doing Good Better, to be published August 2015 with Penguin Random House (Gotham imprint) in the US and Guardian Faber in the UK. This book presents a philosophy he calls ‘effective altruism’, explaining how to do the most good though where you give, what you buy, where you volunteer and what career you pursue.