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Episode 29

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Published on:

5th Sep 2024

Curiosity Unbound: Robert Ssempijja and Harry Cliff

Our guests today come from very different walks of life and have been following widely different paths, which have both led them here to Cambridge and the Cavendish. More than just location, it’s clear that our guests have a lot in common and a lot to share.

Ugandan contemporary artist, dancer and researcher, Robert Ssempijja, is the third Cavendish Arts Science Fellow at Girton College, a programme that creates collective encounters between art and science, that explores the world, our humanity and our place in the world. His work explores things that spoken language cannot always explain, and that are too difficult to talk about out loud.

Harry Cliff is a particle physicist working on the LHCb experiment, a huge particle detector buried 100 metres underground at CERN in Switzerland, to study the basic building blocks of our universe, in search of answers to some of the biggest questions in modern physics.

He is also a recognised author of popular science books, and a former curator at the Science Museum in London.

Ssempijja and Harry have met in Cambridge as part of Ssempijja’s fellowship, and have instantly recognised a common curiosity, and a desire to continuously question the world around them. 

So it’s very logical that we are welcoming them both today to the podcast, to expand upon their journeys with us, and discuss their shared questions and approaches between art and physics.

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Episode credits

  • Hosts: Charlie Walker and Vanessa Bismuth
  • Recording and Editing: Chris Brock


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About the Podcast

People doing Physics
The podcast exploring the personal side of physics
As fascinating as physics can be, it can also seem very abstract, but behind each experiment and discovery stands a real person trying to understand the universe. Join us at the Cavendish Laboratory on the first Thursday of every month as we get up close and personal with the researchers, technicians, students, teachers, and people that are the beating heart of Cambridge University’s Physics department. Each episode also covers the most exciting and up-to-date physics news coming out of our labs. If you want to know what goes on behind the doors of a Physics department, are curious to know how people get into physics, or simply wonder what physicists think and dream about, listen in!
Join us on Twitter @DeptofPhysics using the hashtag #PeopleDoingPhysics.

About your hosts

Vanessa Bismuth

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I'm the Cavendish's Communications Manager and I want the world to know about the extraordinary people that are working, researching and studying here.

Jacob Breward Butler

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Working in the Outreach Office of the Cavendish Laboratory, I run Cambridge University Physics' educational outreach programmes, helping young people from around the UK to see physics as a worthwhile endeavour.

Charles Walker

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As a researcher at Cavendish Astrophysics and Selwyn College, Cambridge, I help develop and use radio telescopes to learn more about the Universe, and perform outreach to help others learn more about our work, and us!