HE and Me

The Imperial College London-based Brazilian ecologist talks about preserving rainforest and an encounter with angry peccaries

The astrophysicist on how an all-girls school helped her into science, why analogies are the secret to communicating research, and her move to Germany

The remote campus director talks about her traveller roots, winning and losing at business and the limits of the curriculum

The author and black history researcher speaks on the importance of passing historical knowledge on to the next generation, and reveals her competitive sporting nature

The winner of this year’s John Maddox Prize talks about fighting to protect the planet and dealing with adversity

The Warwick Arts Centre director talks about how a school led by Britain’s first black headteacher and her new home in a diverse Coventry suburb have both inspired her

After spending a century in and around academia, Ukraine’s chief scientist reflects on his father’s ‘genius’, Chernobyl and how scientists helped to win the Second World War

The UK’s first black female history professor on universities atoning for their pasts and believing in the goodness of others

Pioneer of the genetics of hearing talks about how her research interests have been shaped by wine and music – and how she would cope with deafness

Circus expert Vanessa Toulmin explains how growing up on a fairground has shaped her academic career, teaching style and approach to life

The humanities professor discusses her passion for human rights, how universities can work with refugees, and learning to stop apologising

The entrepreneurial chemist talks about molecular tools, batteries in the walls and a three-slice secret to success

The winner of the inaugural Letten Prize talks about using his research to fight discrimination and the battles between power and democracy

The award-winning chemist attempts to explain his reasons for wanting to create a chemical brain, but suggests we won’t be moving to Mars any time soon

The University of South Florida president talks about how her enterprising Ohio upbringing bred confidence and why college sports matter

The Teesside pro vice-chancellor discusses promoting gender balance and being diagnosed with ovarian cancer

The president-elect of the Royal Statistical Society on stepping into Gladstone’s shoes, Florence Nightingale and why Brexit is nightmare for medical statisticians

The winner of the Royal Society’s Athena Prize talks about tackling sexual harassment and learning that scientific heroes are people, too

The psychologist talks about jumping ship, putting junior researchers first and why online gaming promotes abstemiousness

The Dutch anthropologist discusses growing up in the sectarian Netherlands, following the hippie trail and whether religious tolerance has a future

The BBC presenter and writer talks about how women should ‘demand equal pay’ and suggests a novel windfall tax to help fund HE

The computer scientist on the future of online education, seeing early demonstrations of Google, and why he wished he had cloned himself

Scotland’s first black professor talks about life as an immigrant, his experiences of racism and why ‘better science makes better’

The leader of the Fulbright Commission talks about reporting to the US State Department, shunning specialisms and the importance of confidence

The Dutch astrophysicist on discovering the chemistry of the cosmos, whether she’d like to go into space, and if extraterrestrial life would surprise her 

The LSE political scientist discusses influencing the US news agenda, Trump’s authoritarian streak and why we must defend democracy

The specialist in ancient DNA talks about caving, elephant birds and how tracking prehistoric genetic changes could help fix our dodgy hearts

The Hungarian medievalist discusses being in Paris in 1968, learning from Jacques Le Goff, and the Orbán regime

The geriatrician and television star on hitch-hiking to Paris, the secret of ageing well, and how an elderly man’s rectal prolapse helped him realise his vocation

The leading historian of the Balkans discusses a fortuitous meeting with his future wife, secrecy in higher education, and why postgraduates should dedicate their theses to their mothers

The biologist on how a box of tulip bulbs encouraged her to research plants and why women must expand their comfort zone 

The new chancellor of Leeds Trinity University talks about playing a student on Coronation Street, coping with grief and why regional accents are still frowned upon by directors of Shakespeare

The philosopher on coming face-to-face with death in Bangladesh, why academics don’t like him, and Brexit

The former gay porn star turned academic on what lecturers can learn from the adult entertainment industry

The Booker prizewinning author talks about novelists and academic historians’ ‘complementary trades’, ‘less subtle’ scholars and studying for a lifetime

The Wolfson History Prize-nominated professor discusses how China’s past shapes its nationalism and why the Communist Party’s ‘historical nihilist’ label suits him

The inaugural provost of Hereford’s new engineering university on moving from Mexico’s industrial heartland to the UK’s Steel City and life as a gay woman in a male-dominated profession

The women’s rights lawyer on growing up in Bangladesh, meeting Mother Teresa and uniting against patriarchy 

The honorary fellow at the School of Advanced Study discusses business-university links, running marathons and his planned book about higher education

The learning analytics expert discusses the potential of his research, his victory at the World Transplant Games, and what the Dutch can teach us about life

The Oxford physicist on his appreciation for nature, renewable energies and the importance of not being afraid to fail

The De Montfort University professor discusses growing up as one of nine children, her work to improve the diets of children in the UK, and how academia turned out not to be a nine-to-five job

The next warden of Rhodes House on growing up in a family of political refugees and why universities must prepare graduates to be good citizens

The quantum computing pioneer and Australian of the Year talks about growing up in south-east London, creating the new field of atomic electronics and how to get more women into science

The Middlesex University expert in stand-up comedy discusses working in the West Bank, collaborating with Mark Thomas, and falling into academia

The Saudi philosopher, neuroscientist and founder of the Al-Rodhan prize seeks inspiration from Immanuel Kant and classical architecture

The architectural historian on the mediocrity of postwar crematoria design and why we need to talk more openly about death

Imperial College Business School’s new associate dean discusses her Spanish heritage, the challenges of balancing work and family, and how business schools should practise what they preach

The leading lawyer and wife of the former British prime minister on why she applied to the LSE over Oxbridge, tuition fees and the importance of international students

The politics lecturer talks Corbyn, computer games and reggae music

The Australian robotics researcher and award-winning teacher discusses the importance of hands-on learning and why robots won’t be taking our jobs any time soon

The Ghanaian university president on medieval poetry, good leadership and Goethe 

The award-winning historian talks about research in an Eastern Siberian prison, making sense of the world through stories and why Angela Merkel is admirable

Open-access campaigner talks about the flood of ideas that comes to her at night and the challenges of change

The world’s first professor of duty of care in sport discusses the challenges of tackling corruption, seeking inspiration from Maya Angelou, and the perfect Reuben sandwich

The Imperial College London stem cell biologist discusses her Italian roots, the search for a cancer cure and dealing with a crowded commute

The Oxford professor of poetry on returning to ‘exotic’ Leeds, why he’s glad he didn’t study English at university, and the future of literature

University of Westminster music academic on fighting with punks, boosting Peter Andre’s career and pioneering ‘classical reggae’

The psychology professor on students’ mindsets, nine-day weeks and thinking in the bath 

NTU pro v-c talks about finding out who you are at university, leading a stellar theatre company and why Nottingham should be European Capital of Culture