Dreamer, Rebel or Zigzagger? Research reveals nine types of procrastinators and how to help them all
Heat is on at Climate & Nature Research Showcase
First of its kind Cambridge Showcase demonstrates commitment to addressing climate and biodiversity crises
Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 07/03/2026 - 14:16Climate & Nature Research Showcase a Cambridge first
More than 140 Cambridge researchers will share their efforts to tackle the climate and biodiversity crises at the inaugural Cambridge Climate & Nature Research Showcase on Friday.
Paul Casciato Fri, 06/26/2026 - 05:18AI system could predict safety problems in social housing before they happen
Cambridge researchers are developing an artificial intelligence tool that could tell councils which social housing tenants are most at risk, before a potential crisis hits.
Sarah Collins Mon, 06/22/2026 - 08:00Bach ache: the project transforming classical music into an immersive bodily experience
Pilkington Prize winners honoured
The winners of this year's Pilkington Prizes have been presented with their awards at a special event hosted by St Catharine's College.
Paul Seagrove Wed, 06/17/2026 - 12:28Cambridge to Careers: Building community, finding voice
Retelling the Odyssey
AI not yet good enough to mark university essays, rewarding ‘style over substance’
Top AI systems show bias towards rewarding overly complex prose styles and only match human examiners for grade bands around half the time, research finds.
Almost a minute to midnight: Cambridge helps launch open course on nuclear weapons as global tensions rise
An open-source online textbook and course on the current state of nuclear weapons, along with possible futures and global annihilation potential, has been launched by the University’s Centre for the Study of Existential Risk (CSER), at a time when nuclear sabre-rattling is firmly back in the headlines.
At the heart of the new course is an examination of how these weapons shape today’s security environment, from geopolitical alliances to the potential for cyber-attacks on warhead facilities, and the dire need for democratic participation in nuclear debates.
“With the end of the Cold War, so many were relieved of the anxiety that nuclear war could be imminent,” said Prof S.M Amadae, an expert on nuclear security, who joined CSER last year as its director.
“Unfortunately, in the 21st century, the threat of proliferation and the escalation to nuclear war are growing once more, but a generation of researchers and arms control experts have passed on. It now falls on the shoulders of our generation to provide accessible knowledge of the existential risks of nuclear war.”
Amadae developed the new resources with colleagues at CSER and the University of Helsinki in Finland, which is just one example of a nation where nuclear weapons are back on the political agenda in a major way.
Historically, the Finns took a firm anti–nuclear weapons stance. However, Russia’s war on Ukraine has seen a “shift in public sentiment” according to Amadae, with Finnish President Alexander Stubb even running his campaign on openness to nuclear sharing.
In a video interview for the University’s YouTube channel, Amadae argues that we are seeing the start of a new nuclear arms race, as post-war global orders teeter on the brink, and a new breed of ‘strongmen’ leaders lean into escalatory nuclear rhetoric.
“Just in the last decade we have seen the US, Russia and China all undergoing a nuclear revolution, with major revamping and upgrading of their weapon systems as well as their nuclear command and control systems,” said Amadae.
From Russian aggression and Ukrainian retaliation, which has already seen strikes on nuclear infrastructure, to the US and Israel’s war on Iran over nuclear arms ambitions, the risks of nuclear conflict keep rising.
Amadae points out that this year’s Doomsday clock announcement from the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists placed humanity at 85 seconds to midnight, the closest we have been to existential destruction in 79 years of warnings.
China is reportedly increasing its missile stockpiles, while North Korea, a rogue nuclear state, seeks to expand its capabilities. Countries like South Korea, Saudi Arabia and even Japan – site of the worst nuclear atrocities in history – have started to debate whether to remain non-nuclear.
Trump’s instability and threats to NATO have led European nations to look at bolstering nuclear “deterrents”, with Macron announcing an expansion of France's arsenal earlier this year, and German and Polish politicians discussing the possibility of hosting nuclear warheads.
“The announcement by Macron suggests France might be trying to step into that role of supplying some of the nuclear deterrence for Europe if the United States is falling behind as an ally,” said Amadae.
However, for Amadae, it is the UK in the “driver’s seat” of European nuclear proliferation, with the recent reacquisition of B61-12 nuclear gravity bombs, after having dispensed with them in the 1990s. “These are thermonuclear bombs that have a yield of up to 50 kilotons, where the Hiroshima attack was ten kilotons, so that’s a huge destructive capability.”
Amadae argues that this action by the UK may even violate the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. “The UK leadership is tacitly saying yes, everyone should have nuclear sharing or nuclear weapons, without even really looking at what scenarios would they be used under, or how it works with NATO.”
In the video, Amadae also addresses questions of how our digital world and the era of artificial intelligence could affect the risks posed by nuclear weapons. “In nuclear decision-making, where leaders may only have about 15 minutes, they might default to AI systems, and we know that some systems tend to favour rapid escalation.”
“In democratic societies, it’s fundamental that citizens understand nuclear weapons and their implications, from the financial, political, and strategic, as well as the technological, and demand greater transparency,” said Amadae.
“Open access educational resources offer key tools to empower citizens to face existential risks and demand action from the representatives.”
Ultimately, Amadae says that shifting more towards existential risk has – perhaps counterintuitively – made her increasingly optimistic. “Many people would be willing to contribute to a better future, they just don’t know how, and it is up to us to help inform them.”
“The biggest challenge is overcoming cynicism and the sense that current trajectories are inevitable. I believe we can create very different futures.”
The open-access textbook Nuclear Weapons, Planetary Risks, and Human Consequences: What Every Citizen Needs to Know, a collaboration between the universities of Cambridge and Helsinki, is available to download from the University’s online repository. It also forms the basis of an open university course on the topic on the Helsinki website.
The new Director of the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk warns that a new nuclear arms race may be underway, as more countries consider or seek to expand their arsenals.
“The biggest challenge is overcoming cynicism and the sense that current trajectories are inevitableProf S.M Amadae Nuclear weapons are back in the headlines, here’s what you need to know Nuclear weapons are back in the headlines, here’s what you need to know Video of Nuclear weapons are back in the headlines, here’s what you need to know Jonny SettleProf S.M. Amadae, Director of the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk
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Unseen Peter Shaffer play revealed at Trinity
Trinity College is celebrating the centenary of the birth of twin brothers Peter Shaffer (1926-2016) and Anthony Shaffer (1926-2001) who both studied at Trinity and went on to become award-winning playwrights. Peter bequeathed his substantial archive of playscripts, correspondence and photographs to Trinity College.
PhD student James Critchley came across the unstaged play Our Lady of the Volcano in the archive, while studying Shaffer’s first play, Five Finger Exercise. The play had been catalogued by archivists, but has remained completely unknown. Our Lady of the Volcano reflects the importance of Italy in Shaffer’s creative life. Set on the sultry Amalfi Coast, the plot swirls around two British travellers staying in a villa and their interactions – for better or worse – with other residents.
James Critchley says: "It's about competing kinds of romance narratives, primarily relating to the Brando-esque Jim Suckling, and his various encounters in relation to a religious festival near Sorrento. And in this kind of steamy, tempestuous sensuality, you can see the growing influence of writers such as Tennessee Williams, who Shaffer admired."
For Critchley, the play is intriguing for its cinematic influences, at a time when Hollywood films set in Italy – among them Roman Holiday, Three Coins in the Fountain, Boy on a Dolphin – proved highly popular.
"It emerges from a real immersion in the cinematic world of the early 1960s - these films made in Italian studios fed into Shaffer’s thinking. It was quite unusual at the time to see a play set outdoors, in an Italian villa, so the play is an example of him thinking across different media."
Our Lady of the Volcano marks a transition in the playwright’s early work, Critchley argues.
"Shaffer longed to leave behind the world of slammed doors and actual breakfasts being consumed in an atmosphere of domestic tension. He wanted to reinvent theatre. Of course, in later plays like Royal Hunt or Amadeus, he can be seen confidently working towards what he called ‘Total Theatre’: a mode of performance in which music, mime, movement might all play a role as important as scripted text.
"Even though the play never made it to stage, it is fascinating to see a writer developing his craft: to peek, as it were, behind the curtain. We can see in Our Lady ideas and scenarios that he would go on to flesh out more fully in the mature works of his later career."
James, who began exploring the Shaffer Archive as an undergraduate, said his PhD offered an amazing opportunity to understand Shaffer’s evolution, as well as the ups and downs charted in his correspondence.
"It's really exciting to be up close and personal so to speak with the projects that didn't necessarily make it to publication, but which still have all of the kind of thrilling imprints of a writer whose legacy continues to flourish today."
Shaffer at CambridgePeter and Anthony Shaffer were conscripted to the coal mines in Kent as ‘Bevin Boys’ during the Second World War. After that, in 1947, aged 21, they arrived at Trinity, Anthony to study Law and Peter, history.
Peter Shaffer described student life as ‘heaven’ and Cambridge ‘an astonishing place for many reasons.’ He attended lectures of all kinds, including by the philosopher Bertrand Russell, and he met EM Forster at King’s College, where the novelist was an Honorary Fellow.
Peter entered a short story competition set by Forster and although he did not win, he did receive an invitation to tea. He recalled: "I said I would love to have tea with him and I went round in some awe of the great man. And he served me tea and he was very shy. … it was tremendously encouraging … the fact that he liked the story and it had merits and he had a way of conveying its demerits … that was very, very graceful."
Enduring legacyPeter Shaffer’s breakthrough came in 1958 with Five Finger Exercise. He would go on write acclaimed plays that continue to be staged today: a production of Equus opens in London this month and a major new production of Amadeus has been announced for 2027 in UK. Only last December Trinity alumnus Will Sharpe directed Amadeus for television, playing the title role himself.
Anthony Shaffer trained as a barrister but devoted his life to stage and film following the success of Sleuth in 1970. His film credits include Hitchcock’s Frenzy and the cult classic The Wicker Man.
In the centenary year, Trinity will announce the fifth Shaffer Playwright-in-Residence, a studentship established with funding from the Sir Peter Shaffer Charitable Foundation for early-career playwrights.
More informationThis story was originally published by Trinity College.
A catalogue of the Sir Peter Shaffer Archive at Trinity College is accessible here. Researchers are welcome to consult items in the archive by appointment with the Wren Library.
James Critchley has written an essay, 'An unpublished play by Peter Shaffer', for The Times Literary Supplement.
His research is funded by the Alice and James Penney Studentship in English Literature.
A PhD student at Trinity College has unearthed a complete, unpublished play 65 years after Peter Shaffer wrote it - and before he reignited the world of theatre with the acclaimed plays The Royal Hunt of the Sun, Equus, and Amadeus.
He wanted to reinvent theatreJames CritchleyTrinity College CambridgeTitle page of Peter Shaffer's Our Lady.
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The researcher analysing far-right rhetoric on Facebook
Raphael Hernandes, a PhD student at Cambridge Digital Humanities and Selwyn College, is a researcher and data journalist specializing in AI, journalism, and society.
The Hungarian election 2026: Cambridge researchers give their reaction
Viktor Orbán has been swept from power after 16 years as Hungarian Prime Minister in a landslide victory for Péter Magyar's Tisza party. Four Cambridge researchers specialising in Hungarian history and politics give their reaction.
UK must improve energy efficiency to end 50 years of policy failure and prevent future energy crises, study argues
A Cambridge-led study, published in Environmental Policy and Governance, traces the evolution of British energy policy support since World War II up to reforms announced in 2025. It highlights a clear shift away from broad-based and preventive approaches, such as large-scale energy efficiency programmes, towards narrowly targeted measures that compensate households only after energy costs increase.
“The key question is not just who receives support, but why policy so often reacts rather than prevents,” says Tijn Croon, a Visiting Fellow at Cambridge’s Department of Architecture from TU Delft. “We find that this is not accidental: it reflects deeper political and institutional dynamics that consistently favour short-term, visible interventions over long-term investment.”
Recent decades reveal a recurring pattern, the researchers argue. During crises, governments introduce broad, often universal support and promise large-scale green investment, but this is typically short-lived. As pressures ease, policy shifts back towards narrowly targeted schemes, largely delivered through energy supplier obligations, leaving many households outside support despite ongoing energy affordability challenges.
The study suggests that this pattern is driven by political economy factors. Preventive policies such as home insulation require upfront investment and deliver benefits over longer time horizons, making them less attractive within short electoral cycles. In contrast, compensatory measures like energy bill support provide immediate, visible relief.
“What we see is a system that increasingly responds to crises rather than reducing vulnerability in advance,” says Minna Sunikka-Blank, Professor of Architecture and Environmental Policy at Cambridge and a Fellow of Churchill College. “This means support often arrives too late and mostly functions as a stopgap.”
The study points out that in the 1970s and 1980s, the UK was a global leader in energy efficiency, launching the world's first dedicated Energy Efficiency Office, nationwide awareness campaigns, and coordinated government support for households and industry. In stark contrast, it argues, the UK today “is one of the few high-income European countries without a comprehensive, universally accessible scheme for retrofitting grants or loans that goes beyond heating system replacement.
“Instead, it relies on a fragmented patchwork of policies, mostly financed through consumer levies and limited to low-income households, despite an ageing and relatively inefficient housing stock and the pressing challenges of climate change and the cost-of-living crisis.”
Dr Ray Galvin, from the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) says: “Without stronger investment in preventive measures like energy efficiency, on-site renewables, and low-carbon heating systems, governments risk repeatedly facing the same affordability crises. Short-term relief may be necessary, but it cannot substitute for structural solutions.”
The findings are particularly relevant in the current context of rising energy prices, where governments once again face pressure to intervene quickly. The authors warn that relying primarily on compensation risks entrenching a recurring cycle of crisis response.
While recent government commitments, such as the expansion of the Warm Homes Programme, signal a renewed focus on energy efficiency, the study argues that current plans remain insufficient in scale and ambition to fundamentally shift this trajectory.
To break this pattern, the authors call for a rethinking of how energy policy is evaluated and funded. They also suggest that framing energy affordability as a social right, such as a right to a warm and comfortable home, could help anchor more long-term policy approaches.
Reference
T. M. Croon, M. G. Elsinga, J. S. C. M. Hoekstra, M. Sunikka-Blank, R. Galvin, ‘For the Few, Not the Many: Tracing the Residualist and Compensatory Nature of British Energy Support’, Environmental Policy and Governance (2026). DOI: 10.1002/eet.70067
As prices rise and the UK Government considers energy bill help once again, a new study warns that the country’s approach to energy support is structurally geared towards short-term crisis response rather than long-term solutions.
support often arrives too late and mostly functions as a stopgapMinna Sunikka-BlankImage by ri from Pixabaywhite radiator
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