Academics Unplugged
Academics Unplugged is an opportunity for researchers to introduce their work to staff and students from across the College. These short talks provide the opportunity for University staff and students to engage directly with cutting-edge researchers.
There are over a thousand researchers working across the King’s Buildings campus. And yet, much of the time, the rest of us are unaware of their work, how it relates to other research, or how it may meet the challenges in contemporary society.
The format of the talks
The talks take place between 1.10pm and 1.50pm, several times each semester on the King’s Buildings campus (currently online). Each takes the form of a twenty-minute presentation, followed by the opportunity for the audience to discuss the subject further with the speaker. Links to further information on the speakers’ areas of interest will be provided through this webpage, so that you can delve into the subjects in more detail.
Upcoming talks
| Photo | Date | Title and detail | Venue | Links |
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| TBC |
TBC |
TBC |
Previous talks
| Photo | Date | Title and detail | Links |
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01 April 2021 |
How can we see what's going on inside a cell? A new approach to super-resolution imaging. Professor Lynne Regan School of Biological Sciences |
Watch a video of this talk |
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25 March 2021 |
Deep Learning: what could go wrong? Prof Des Higham School of Mathematics |
Watch a video of this talk |
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18 March 2021 |
The true final frontier: oceans from space Dr Encarni Medina-Lopez Institute for Infrastructure and Environment School of Engineering |
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11 March 2021 |
Atlantic Adventures with ATLAS: understanding deep-sea ecosystems at ocean basin scale Professor Murray Roberts, School of GeoSciences/ATLAS |
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10 December 2020 |
The smallest astronauts: how can microorganisms support us in space? Dr Rosa Santomartino, UK Centre for Astrobiology, School of Physics and Astronomy |
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5 December 2019 |
Engineering Biology: programming cells to compute, sense and manufacture. Dr Baojun Wang, School of Biological Sciences |
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28 November 2019 |
Putting Edinburgh in Space: developing the University's Space and Satellite innovation programme. Dr Murray Collins, School of GeoSciences |
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24 October 2019 |
Artificial Intelligence versus Us: building explainability and ethical responsibility into automated systems Dr Vaishak Belle, Centre for Intelligent Systems and their Applications, School of Informatics |
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28 March 2019 |
Cocaine on banknotes: how strong is the evidence? Dr Amy Wilson, Centre for Statistics, School of Mathematics |
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14 March 2019 |
Soft materials for energy applications: how squidgy materials can help make better batteries Dr Job Thijssen, School of Physics & Astronomy |
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28 February 2019 |
Lab grown human eggs: a new way to preserve fertility Professor Evelyn Telfer, Institute of Cell Biology and CDBS, School of Biological Sciences |
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7 February 2019 |
'A World in a Grain of Sand': why the particular matters Professsor Jason Reese, Institute for Multiscale Thermofluids, School of Engineering |
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6 December 2018 |
Learning from Vikings: archaeological lessons for 21st century climate change adaptation Professor Andy Dugmore - Institute of Geography, School of GeoSciences
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Andy's Research In a Nutshell video Related articles: Disequilibrium, Adaptation, and the Norse Settlement of Greenland |
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15 November 2018 |
Catching the Rainbow: Solar Energy for photovoltaics Professor Neil Robertson - School of Chemistry (Prof. of Molecular Materials). |
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29 March 2018 |
Catching Cosmic Cataclysms: the new field of gravitational wave astronomy Dr Jonathan Gair - School of Mathematics |
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22 March 2018 |
Seeing speech: ultrasound imaging for child speech therapy Dr Korin Richmond |
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15 Feb 2018 |
Optical Imaging: From Glass to Humans Professor Mark Bradley (Professor of High-Throughput Chemical Biology) |
Bradley Research Group |
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25 Jan 2018 |
TIBA: Why all the hype? Professor Francisca Mutapi Professor (Global Health Infection and Immunity) Deputy Director TIBA partnership |
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30 Nov 2017
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The Leidenfrost Engine: from lifetime drops to powering life on Mars Professor Khellil Sefiane Chair of Thermophysical Engineering, School of Engineering |
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9 Nov 2017
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The Great Dying: What happened 250 million years ago? Professor Rachel Wood Professor of Carbonate Geoscience, School of GeoSciences |
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30 March 2017 |
Asteroid and comet impacts: why microbes don't care, but you should Prof Charles Cockell |
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2 March 2017 |
The Edinburgh Genome Foundry: Bringing robots to life and vice versa Hille Tekotte |
Edinburgh Genome Foundry |
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2 February 2017 |
Synthetic speech: the nice (giving a voice to people who can't speak) and the not-so-nice (hacking your bank account). Prof Simon King (Informatics / PPLS) Director of the Centre for Speech Technology Research |
Centre for Speech Technology Research |
| 26 January 2017 |
The Greening Arctic: how the changing tundra is influencing the planet Dr Isla Myers-Smith Chancellor's Fellow, School of GeoSciences |
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1 December 2016 |
Urban Gold Mining: using chemistry to recover resources Professor Jason Love Professor of Molecular Inorganic Chemistry |
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3 November 2016 |
Liquid Crystal Lasers: from displays to anti-counterfeiting and biomedical imaging Dr Philip Hands Chancellor's Fellow, School of Engineering |
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17 March 2016 |
Major transitions in evolution: how did a dinosaur change into a bird? Dr Steve Brusatte Chancellor’s Fellow, School of GeoSciences |
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25 February 2016 |
Multiphase fluid mechanics = Math + Phy + Eng + Bio + Chem + Big Data: an interdisciplinary melting pot Dr Prashant Valluri Senior Lecturer, School of Engineering |
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28 January 2016 |
Antimicrobial resistance: how can physicists help? Dr Rosalind Allen Royal Society University Research Fellow and Reader, School of Physics & Astronomy |
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3 December 2015 |
Modelling Chemical Reactions (is chemistry really just a branch of mathematics?) Dr Carole Morrison Reader, School of Chemistry |
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19 November 2015 |
Informatics Challenges in Biology: from big data to big models Dr Guido Sanguinetti Reader, School of Informatics |
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5 November 2015 |
The Edinburgh Genome Foundry: making synthetic chromosomes from the ground up Dr Patrick Yizhi Cai Chancellor’s Fellow, School of Biological Sciences |
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Future events
Further talks will be planned in due course; details will be posted on this page when available. For further information about this event series, please contact the College Engagement Team (s.dunbar@ed.ac.uk and peter.reid@ed.ac.uk).