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 president-elect of the Royal Statistical Society on stepping into Gladstone’s shoes, Florence Nightingale and why Brexit is nightmare for medical statisticians
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 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 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 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 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 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 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
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 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 award-winning historian talks about research in an Eastern Siberian prison, making sense of the world through stories and why Angela Merkel is admirable
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
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
The new chair of the Campaign for Social Science on ethnic minorities, the similarity between law and academia and universities swallowing the management textbook
The chief executive-designate of the UK’s new sector agency discusses her West Country roots, the roles of academics and administrators, and escaping to the country
The chief executive of the Alan Turing Institute discusses his career in higher education, making the case for the humanities, and the nascence of the Russell Group
