Episode 21

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Published on:

2nd Nov 2023

The rise of the machine (learning) with Gareth Conduit

Today we’re joined by Dr Gareth Conduit. Gareth is a lecturer at Gonville and Caius College and Royal Society Research Fellow here at the cavendish Laboratory. He leads a research group focused on developing machine learning methods for understanding and designing new materials and chemicals.

In 2017, he co-founded the startup Intellegens, through which he’s worked with companies such as Rolls Royce to apply software developed in the lab to the kinds of materials questions faced by industry.

Today, we talk about how the joy of physics can come from breaking things down to understand how they work, Gareth’s journey through Cambridge life as an undergraduate, postgraduate and now independent researcher, and the exciting opportunities and advances that arise when you bring physics and computers together to solve real-world challenges.

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Episode credits

  • Hosts: Simone Eizagirre Barker and Jacob Butler
  • 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

Simone Eizagirre Barker

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I'm a PhD student in experimental physics studying new materials for quantum technologies. Outside the lab, I love getting involved in science journalism initiatives that explore the relationship between science and society, as well as the stories of scientists themselves.

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's educational Physics outreach programmes while studying a part-time Masters' in Education.