From robot intelligence to sex by numbers: Cambridge heads for Hay

A record number of Cambridge academics will take part in this year’s Hay Festival, one of the most prestigious literary festivals in the world.

This is the eighth year running that the Series has formed part of the festival. This year it features a range of speakers, from experts on climate change, robotics, maternal health and risk to Classics, European politics, nuclear power, playfulness in education and digital media.

The Series is part of the University of Cambridge’s commitment to public engagement. The Festival runs from 26th May to 5th June and is now open for bookings. Twenty-seven academics from the University of Cambridge and several alumni will be speaking.

This year's line-up includes Professor Peter Mandler on education and social mobility; Professor Ashley Moffett on immunity in pregnancy; Dame Carol Black, Principal of Newnham College, on addiction, obesity and employment; Professor Susan Gathercole on working memory; Fumiya Iida on robot intelligence; Professor Paul Cartledge on ancient Greek democracy; Professor Eric Wolff on climate change, past, present and future; Professor Jim Huntington on breakthrough research into blood clotting and how the insights are being used to prevent heart attacks and stroke; Topun Austin on the development of the human brain; Kathelijne Koops on what chimpanzees and bonobos can tell us about human culture; Suman-Lata Sahonta on LEDs; and Giles Yeo on genetic predisposition to obesity. Dr Yeo will be presenting a BBC Horizon programme on his research in June. Neuroscientist Hannah Critchlow also returns after being singled out as one of the highlights of Hay 2015.

In addition, there will be a series of discussions: Sharath Srinivasan, Director of the Centre of Governance and Human Rights, will be joined by blogger, technologist and social entrepreneur Marieme Jamme and Rob Burnet, CEO and Founder of Well Told Story, to talk about Africa’s digital revolution. David Whitebread, Jenny Gibson and Sara Baker from the PEDAL Research Centre will ask if the consequences of curtailing play, in schools, at home and in the outdoors, could be catastrophic for healthy child development. Madeline Abbas, Chris Bickerton and Katharina Karcher will debate the future of Europe. And theatre director and academic Zoe Svendsen and journalist and economist Paul Mason will explore the theatricality of capitalism through examining what an economic analysis of Shakespeare’s plays might tell us about character and how the human is represented. They are collaborating on a research and development project at the Young Vic Theatre.

Several of the speakers have new books out - Dame Fiona Reynolds, Master of Emmanuel College, will discuss the fight for beauty; Professor David Spiegelhalter will address the statistics of sexual behaviour and whether we can believe them; Professor Paul Murdin will speak about his book on the landscapes of other worlds as imaged close-up by space probes; Simon Taylor will discuss the strange rebirth of nuclear power in Britain; and Matt Wilkinson will explain how the need to move has driven the evolution of life on Earth.  Jennifer Wallace, author of the novel Digging up Milton, will be joined by Professor Adrian Poole to discuss literary celebrity in the 18th and 19th centuries. Chris Bickerton's book The European Union: a citizen's guide is out in June.

Also taking part in the Festival from the University of Cambridge are  Professor Richard Evans, Professor Tim Whitmarsh and Dr Christine Corton.

Peter Florence, director of the Hay Festival, said: "Cambridge University nurtures and challenges the world's greatest minds, and offers the deepest understanding of the most intractable problems and the most thrilling opportunities. And for one week a year they bring that thinking to a field in Wales and share it with everyone. That's a wonderful gift."

Dane Comerford, head of public engagement at the University of Cambridge, said: “The Cambridge series is a fantastic way to share fascinating research from the University with the public. The Hay Festival draws an international cross-section of people, from policy makers to prospective university students. We have found that Hay audiences are highly interested in the diversity of Cambridge speakers, and ask some great questions. We look forward to another wonderful series of speakers, with talks and debates covering so many areas of research and key ideas emerging from Cambridge, relevant to key issues faced globally today."

To book tickets go to www.hayfestival.org. For the full line-up of the Cambridge Series and times, click here.