The building blocks of the new materials are rods connected by small motors that make the material active. The interactions are non-reciprocal: when pressed from one side the system reacts in a different way than when pressed from the other side. Image by the research authors.

When the rods and motors are placed in a two-dimensional lattice, the structure behave differently on a large scale than on a small scale. Here, when pressed from the left top, the deformation does not reach the right side of the structure. Image by the research authors.

Scientists at Cambridge, Amsterdam & New South Wales are developing “active” materials that use internal energy to change shape and behaviour - opening new possibilities for robotics and advanced engineering 🚀

Read more: buff.ly/5LtjyWw

Happy World Quantum Day 🌍
Soon the Cavendish Laboratory will be home to the UK's most powerful quantum computer, as part of a major new @cam.ac.uk partnership with quantum technology company IonQ.

Read more about the partnership: buff.ly/0HcRqeI

Don't miss the latest episode of #PeopleDoingPhysics to hear legendary astrophysicist Jocelyn Bell Burnell sharing a facinating first-hand account of her route into astrophysics, the momentous discovery of pulsars, and her continuous advocacy for diversity in science.

Listen here: buff.ly/aNjC9wx

Illustration of hybrid array disentangling seismic waves in the Earth and gravitational waves from outer space. Credit: Jeremiah Mitchell ,( GoogleData SIO, NOAA, U.S. Navy, NGA, GEBCOLandsat / CopernicusIBCAOU.S. Geological SurveyGeoBasis-DE/BKG (©2009)Inst. Geogr. Nacional)

Scientists are developing a new way to probe Earth with a hybrid quantum array, on the path to sensing the cosmos. The project, co-led with the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Oxford, is backed by a £1.2 million grant from UKRI.

Learn more about SEQUIN: buff.ly/3lBrFXM

University of Cambridge joins UKRI programmes to train next generation of nuclear scientists The funding for doctoral students is being provided by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and Ministry of Defence as part of the Nuclear Skills Plan, which brings together government, ind...

🆕 @cam.ac.uk will help train industry-ready #nuclear scientists as part of two @ukri.org Doctoral Focal Awards in Nuclear Skills

www.eng.cam.ac.uk/news/univers...

At Cambridge, 26 #PhD studentships expected as part of the two progs - shared with us & @ceb.cam.ac.uk & @cambridgephysics.bsky.social👇

“Creativity” by Bill Pfann, outside the Quantum Engineering Group office

Outside the Quantum Engineering Group at the #RDC, a reminder to all of us in the form of a poem by Bill Pfann:

Ideas are vast, but your body has limits, so be deliberate about when you do your best thinking. Something that every researcher can relate to and reflect on.

ℹ️ buff.ly/vbJW1Ix

Happy Easter

🌼🐣 We wish you all a wonderful Easter. May it bring renewed hope and joy. Happy Easter! 🐰🌸

Noam Mouelle

Cambridge Men’s Blue Boat team

We wish Noam Mouelle, PhD student at the Cavendish Laboratory, every success as he competes in his fourth Boat Race this Saturday, 4 April, as part of the Cambridge Men’s Blue Boat. All the best to Noam and the team 💙
buff.ly/zzEWomR

James Webb Space Telescope

Cambridge astrophysicists have secured over 1,100 hours on the JWST🚀
Dr Sandro Tacchella leads a 1,000-hour galaxy survey, while Prof Roberto Maiolino team will hunt for the Universe’s first stars 🌌

buff.ly/vLtRlR2

Mark Thomson standing in front of students.

Audience view of Mark Thomson speaking in the Ray Dolby Auditorium

Daniel Zeichner and Mark Thomson in discussion

We were delighted to welcome back former Cavendish Academic Prof Mark Thomson, now Director General of CERN, last week for a talk on the future of particle physics — and Cambridge’s role in it.

Great to see such strong engagement from students and the wider community.

Ray Dolby Centre at dusk. Killian O'Sullivan

Public wing at the Ray Dolby Centre. Killian O'Sullivan

We're delighted the Ray Dolby Centre has won Best New Building (over £3m) in the Greater Cambridge Design and Construction Awards 2026, and picked up a High Commendation for the David Mackay Award for Engineering and Sustainability.🏆
Congratulations to everyone involved and to all the other winners!

Cambridge launches major strategic partnership with IonQ to ‘supercharge’ quantum research in the UK - Cavendish Laboratory Department of Physics The UK’s most powerful quantum computer, which will accelerate research and discovery in quantum science, engineering, and a range of other applications, will be based at the University of…

The Cavendish Laboratory will be home to the UK's most powerful quantum computer, as part of a major new @cam.ac.uk partnership with quantum technology company IonQ.

Read the full story: buff.ly/s8cJJRl

Image: Image of the galaxy Image credit: Luhman et al. 2023, The Astronomical Journal

Brown Dwarfs: Linking Stars & Planets ⭐
Join Dr Sonali Shukla for the March CPC Lecture to explore the mysterious objects between stars and planets.
🗓 Thu 12 Mar, 6pm
📍 Ray Dolby Centre, Cambridge
Open to all, especially Year 12 and 13.
Info: buff.ly/luvKtRR

A dozen stacks of Isaac Science books on a table, with interior of Ray Dolby Centre in the background.

The Isaac team has welcomed about 350 Year 12 students at today’s Electricity masterclass at the Ray Dolby Centre in Cambridge! @cambridgephysics.bsky.social #iTeachPhysics

Happy International Women's day visual.

Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell giving the lecture. Credit: Mia Lin

Audience attending Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell's lecture. Credit: Mia Lin

Happy International Women’s Day! Earlier this week, we were honoured to host Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell on 5 March at the Ray Dolby Auditorium for her inspiring talk 'You are made of star stuff'! This event was organised by the Cambridge University Women in Physics 👏

Professor Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell,

✨ International Women’s Day Talk ✨
Join Prof. Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell today for a special talk : “You Are Made of Star Stuff!”

🗓 Thu 5 Mar
⏰ 17:00–18:00
📍 Ray Dolby Centre or online (link below)

Open to all. More details: buff.ly/U18aD0W
@iop.org

One of our hands-on nanophotonics sessions from last year. In the Nanophotonics research group we use surface-enhanced #plasmonics to detect molecules far too small to see, as signals grow stronger near the plasmonic surface. You can see in the image the ball lights up closer to the surface.

The Discovery Factory: 150 Years of the Cavendish Laboratory talk by Dr Harry Cliff at Cambridge Festival 2025.

One of the past hands on Robotics sessions.

Explosions, escape rooms, a planetarium, and the chance to join the Cambridge Physics scientists! Join us at the Ray Dolby Centre this #CamFest. Hands-on physics for all ages. 🔗 More details: buff.ly/GOquBkX
#CambridgeFestival #CamFest #FamilyDay #ScienceForAll
@cambridgefestival.bsky.social

Head of Department and Professor of Physics Professor Mete Atatüre with Professor Stuart Parkin.

One of the lectures: Head of Department Professor Mete Atatüre introducing Professor Stuart Parkin to the audience.

Post lecture Networking.

One of the Scott lectures in progress.

A huge thank you to Prof Stuart Parkin for his series of outstanding Scott Lectures on spintronics last week, drawing enthusiastic crowds from the Department and the wider community🌍

Missed the event?🎥 You can watch the fist two lectures on replay: buff.ly/TY5aUhX

#ScottLectures2026

Stuart Parkin on a green background, with the details of the talk detailed on the right: Scott Lectures 2026 with Prof Stuart Parkin. 2D van des Waal materials for spintronics. Wednesday 25 February 2026 at 4:15pm

Today at 4:15pm, we are welcoming Prof Stuart Parkin for his second Scott Lecture on "2D van der Waals Materials for Spintronics"

Everyone is welcome. Not in Cambridge? Join from anywhere in the world via our livestream: buff.ly/s2Aw4DF

Final lecture (in-person only) on Friday 27 February, 11am.

Stuart Parkin on a green background, with the details of the talks detailed below the photo: Scott Lectures 2026 - One speaker, one theme, three lectures Prof Stuart Parkin: Spintronics for massive data memory-storage 23, 25 and 27 February 2026 Ray Dolby Centre, Cavendish Laboratory, JJ Thomson Avenue, CB3 0US

This week we are welcoming Prof Stuart Parkin (23, 25 & 27 Feb) for the Scott Lectures 2026: Spintronics for massive data memory-storage.
Everyone is welcome. Not in Cambridge? Join from anywhere in the world via our livestream. Link for today’s lecture: buff.ly/1cUeEP9

One of the students in a Cavendish Lab

🚨Deadline Extended
You have got until 4 March to apply for the Experimental Physics Summer School (6 July to 1 August 2026)
Passionate about experimental physics? Love hands-on problem-solving, building skills in the lab, and discussing ideas? Apply:🔗 buff.ly/WrfRBLJ

Stuart Parkin on a green background, with the details of the talks detailed below the photo: Scott Lectures 2026 - One speaker, one theme, three lectures Prof Stuart Parkin: Spintronics for massive data memory-storage 23, 25 and 27 February 2026 Ray Dolby Centre, Cavendish Laboratory, JJ Thomson Avenue, CB3 0US

We are looking forward to welcoming Prof Stuart Parkin next week (23, 25 & 27 Feb) for the Scott Lectures 2026: Spintronics for massive data memory-storage.

Everyone is welcome. Not in Cambridge? Join from anywhere in the world via our livestream: buff.ly/nFWXbzl

The Cambridge Festival brings together free talks, performances, exhibitions and family events celebrating world-leading research across the University of Cambridge.
🎫:
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/fabricant-...

#CambridgeFestival #RoyceCambridge #AdvancedMaterials #ArtsAndScience #UKResearch

CrowdScience - Can we cancel light waves? - BBC Sounds Noise cancelling headphones remove unwanted sound. Can we do the same with light?

Can we cancel light waves?

In a new episode of BBC’s Crowd Science, Jeremy Baumberg discusses the legacy of Ray Dolby and whether it’s possible to cancel out light waves in the same way we can cancel out sound waves with noise-cancelling technology.

Listen at 5mins in:

Surface Matters illustration by Dr Shaoliang Guan

✨ The next event in the Cambridge Physics Centre Sixth Form Lecture Series is today at 6pm at the Ray Dolby Centre. Discover what lies beneath the surface of the materials that shape our world in this talk by Dr. Shaoliang Guan. Open to all.
buff.ly/jvePlxN

Lucy smiling in front of a radio telescope in the sunset. Her quote reads: "The pulsar research field is so dynamic and there is such a wide range of things you can investigate with them – there will be a connection to just about every area of physics you can think of!"

Lucy wearing a yellow hard hat inside a radio telescope cabin. Her quote reads: "You have to ask: what can I actually answer with the resources I have right now? If you’re clear about that, it gives you more flexibility later when things inevitably evolve and change because, and it’s the great joy of research, they always do!"

Lucy appears minuscule in front of a very large telescope. Her quote reads: "Research timelines don’t stop, and that can be challenging. I was fortunate to have lots of support and flexibility, but I never fully left work, even though I was officially on maternity leave."

To conclude International Day of Women and Girls in Science, meet our new pulsars specialist Lucy Oswald.

What are the big questions she's working on?
How does she sees gender balance in astro?
What's her advice for aspiring scientists?

Her answers here👉️https://buff.ly/63dW0WB

One of the researchers inside a Cavendish Lab

Passionate about experimental physics? Love hands-on problem-solving, building skills in the lab, and discussing ideas?
Applications are still open for the Experimental Physics Summer School | 6 July – 1 August 2026 | Final deadline: Sunday 15 February
🔗 buff.ly/WrfRBLJ

Nu Quantum Nu Quantum has been pioneering quantum networking technology since 2018. Our market-leading expertise is uniquely positioned to deliver a distributed quantum...

Cavendish spin-out Nu Quantum is opening a new state-of-the-art trapped-ion networking lab in Cambridge: buff.ly/LOMjzH6

Industry-led R&D is critical to stay at the forefront of quantum science & technology. The facility will push the frontier of quantum networking at industrially relevant scales.

Building Illustration

In an article in Varsity, Siddharth Saxena, head of the Cambridge Central Asia Forum and research professor at the Cavendish Laboratory, discusses the intersection of physics and history, and how scientific thinking brings valuable perspectives to society. buff.ly/SW9rxAh

Cambridge Physics Experience participants.

One of the problem solving sessions.

Hands on practical work at the Cavendish.

Year 12 students joined us this week for the Cambridge Physics Experience: exploring a college, tackling hands-on experiments and hearing about research. Delivered three times each academic year, the programme actively challenges stereotypes and broadens access to the subject. buff.ly/U6ulyNk