The accelerating rise of AI-generated fraudulent academic papers is fuelling an existential crisis for evidence synthesis. But AI also presents hope - both in speeding up literature searches, and in detecting these very same phony papers. In a comment piece published in Nature today, Department of Zoology's Sam Reynolds...

The Janet Moore prize is awarded for the best supervisor for Part II Zoology students, nominated by the students themselves. Janet Moore held a long-term association with the Zoology Department, with a strong focus on undergraduate teaching. This year the Prize has been awarded to Conall Stanforth. Congratulations Conall...

Are you planning to submit a senior research fellowship application for funding competitions with deadlines after March 2026? We are seeking Expressions of Interest from early career researchers who wish to be sponsored for externally funded fellowships that will allow them to start an independent research group in our...

Are you planning to submit a senior research fellowship* application for funding competitions with deadlines after March 2026?

The Department of Zoology at the University of Cambridge seeks Expressions of Interest from early career researchers who wish to be sponsored for externally funded fellowships that will allow them to start an independent research group in our Department.

We offer a programme of support that will help you to establish you as an independent academic researcher, including assistance with your fellowship application, setting up your lab and recruiting personnel, as well as mentoring and training to help you develop your career. Research fellows will also have access to the comprehensive package of ongoing support available from the School of Biological Sciences https://www.bio.cam.ac.uk/research/research-fellowships.

We have an excellent track record in progressing our Senior Research Fellows into lectureships or equivalent positions at leading international universities and research institutes.

About the Department of Zoology

We are a thriving community of researchers investigating how animal life evolved, how it functions and persists today and how we can conserve it for future generations. The Department comprises more than 25 research groups, working at every level of biological organization from genes to ecosystems. We are keen to increase diversity in our academic staff and particularly encourage expressions of interest from women and BAME applicants.

Our dynamic intellectual environment includes the world-leading Cambridge Conservation Institute and University Museum of Zoology, and provides opportunities for collaboration in research themes that span the School of Biological Sciences (https://www.bio.cam.ac.uk/research/research-themes) and the wider university (https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/research-at-cambridge/strategic-research-initiatives-networks).

The School of Biological Sciences has state of the art facilities in imaging, high performance computing and bioinformatics. The Department's research strengths currently lie in behaviour and neuroscience, conservation science, ecology and all aspects of evolutionary biology.

How to apply for sponsorship

Please address informal enquires to the Head of Department Professor Rebecca Kilner hod@zoo.cam.ac.uk

To make an application, please download and complete the very short application form (https://shorturl.at/3KpGp) and send it with your publications list and contact details for two referees to admin@zoo.cam.ac.uk by 17:00 GMT on Sunday 9th November 2025. We will only contact you, and your referees, if you are shortlisted.

We will shortlist the fellowship applicants we would like to support by Monday 8th December 2025. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to the Department to meet the academic staff and give a seminar in the week beginning 12 January 2026.

*Target fellowship schemes include: ERC Starting / Consolidator Grant, The Wellcome Trust Career Development Awards, Royal Society University Research Fellowship, Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship, Branco-Weiss Research Fellowship.

If you have any queries regarding the application process please contact Anastasia Nezhentseva.

Email: an286@cam.ac.uk Telephone: (0)1223 330117

Please quote reference PF46494 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.

The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.

Are you planning to submit a senior research fellowship* application for funding competitions with deadlines after March 2026?

The Department of Zoology at the University of Cambridge seeks Expressions of Interest from early career researchers who wish to be sponsored for externally funded fellowships that will allow them to start an independent research group in our Department.

We offer a programme of support that will help you to establish you as an independent academic researcher, including assistance with your fellowship application, setting up your lab and recruiting personnel, as well as mentoring and training to help you develop your career. Research fellows will also have access to the comprehensive package of ongoing support available from the School of Biological Sciences https://www.bio.cam.ac.uk/research/research-fellowships.

We have an excellent track record in progressing our Senior Research Fellows into lectureships or equivalent positions at leading international universities and research institutes.

About the Department of Zoology

We are a thriving community of researchers investigating how animal life evolved, how it functions and persists today and how we can conserve it for future generations. The Department comprises more than 25 research groups, working at every level of biological organization from genes to ecosystems. We are keen to increase diversity in our academic staff and particularly encourage expressions of interest from women and BAME applicants.

Our dynamic intellectual environment includes the world-leading Cambridge Conservation Institute and University Museum of Zoology, and provides opportunities for collaboration in research themes that span the School of Biological Sciences (https://www.bio.cam.ac.uk/research/research-themes) and the wider university (https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/research-at-cambridge/strategic-research-initiatives-networks).

The School of Biological Sciences has state of the art facilities in imaging, high performance computing and bioinformatics. The Department's research strengths currently lie in behaviour and neuroscience, conservation science, ecology and all aspects of evolutionary biology.

How to apply for sponsorship

Please address informal enquires to the Head of Department Professor Rebecca Kilner hod@zoo.cam.ac.uk

To make an application, please download and complete the very short application form (https://shorturl.at/3KpGp) and send it with your publications list and contact details for two referees to admin@zoo.cam.ac.uk by 17:00 GMT on Sunday 9th November 2025. We will only contact you, and your referees, if you are shortlisted.

We will shortlist the fellowship applicants we would like to support by Monday 8th December 2025. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to the Department to meet the academic staff and give a seminar in the week beginning 12 January 2026.

*Target fellowship schemes include: ERC Starting / Consolidator Grant, The Wellcome Trust Career Development Awards, Royal Society University Research Fellowship, Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship, Branco-Weiss Research Fellowship.

If you have any queries regarding the application process please contact Anastasia Nezhentseva.

Email: an286@cam.ac.uk Telephone: (0)1223 330117

Please quote reference PF46494 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.

The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.

A Post-Doctoral Research Associate post is available in the Connectomics Group directed by Greg Jefferis in the Department of Zoology at the University of Cambridge. We have obtained a Wellcome Discovery Award to proofread, annotate, and analyse the first mosquito brain connectome, with a focus on the chemosensory circuits involved in human host-seeking. The principal focus will be on the high level proofreading, annotation and analysis of connectomics data. This will include whole-brain scale analysis of multimodal features such as connectivity, morphology or cell ultrastructure. Of particular interest here are two related problems: systematic meta annotation (especially cell types) of connectomics datasets, and across-dataset mapping. This work feeds into the biological question of how stereotyped/variable brain wiring is (e.g. between sexes or across species) and we will expect the candidate to work closely on these issues with group members working on other connectome datasets. A background in neurobiology or a strong quantitative preparation with experience in bioinformatics/computer science will be essential. Prior experience with connectomics data is highly desirable. Our group has developed an international reputation in this area and our tools have now been used in dozens of published and in progress studies. There might also be opportunities in the near future to adapt these approaches for mammalian connectomes.

We will also enthusiastically consider applicants with a strong background in circuit neuroscience. Prior experience with connectomics data or of connectome analysis and of insect neural circuits will be highly desirable.

Successful candidates will join a team based in Zoology with 15 team members, carrying out data processing and computational analysis of neuronal reconstruction data. They will interact closely with a similar team in the US as well as experimental groups in Cambridge (Greg Jefferis) and Boston (Meg Younger). Candidates will need to be highly motivated and develop a good understanding of the nature of the data and the scientific aims of the project. This will be critical to setting priorities as the project develops. Close teamwork and a collaborative spirit will be essential, but team members will have increasing opportunities for scientific independence as their expertise develops.

Candidates will report to a team leader or Principal Investigator based in Zoology and will be mentored by an experienced post-doc. There will be opportunities to contribute to training new team members as the group expands and to general project management, as well as to participate in public engagement activities.

The role will be based on site in the department of Zoology.

Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for up to 3 years.

Flexible working requests will be considered.

We particularly welcome applications from women and candidates from a BME background for this vacancy as they are currently under-represented at this level in our University.

Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.

If you have any queries regarding the application process please contact Anastasia Nezhentseva.

Email: an286@cam.ac.uk Telephone: (0)1223 330117

Please quote reference PF46473 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.

The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.

A Post-Doctoral Research Associate post is available in the Connectomics Group directed by Greg Jefferis in the Department of Zoology at the University of Cambridge. We have obtained a Wellcome Discovery Award to proofread, annotate, and analyse the first mosquito brain connectome, with a focus on the chemosensory circuits involved in human host-seeking. The principal focus will be on the high level proofreading, annotation and analysis of connectomics data. This will include whole-brain scale analysis of multimodal features such as connectivity, morphology or cell ultrastructure. Of particular interest here are two related problems: systematic meta annotation (especially cell types) of connectomics datasets, and across-dataset mapping. This work feeds into the biological question of how stereotyped/variable brain wiring is (e.g. between sexes or across species) and we will expect the candidate to work closely on these issues with group members working on other connectome datasets. A background in neurobiology or a strong quantitative preparation with experience in bioinformatics/computer science will be essential. Prior experience with connectomics data is highly desirable. Our group has developed an international reputation in this area and our tools have now been used in dozens of published and in progress studies. There might also be opportunities in the near future to adapt these approaches for mammalian connectomes.

We will also enthusiastically consider applicants with a strong background in circuit neuroscience. Prior experience with connectomics data or of connectome analysis and of insect neural circuits will be highly desirable.

Successful candidates will join a team based in Zoology with 15 team members, carrying out data processing and computational analysis of neuronal reconstruction data. They will interact closely with a similar team in the US as well as experimental groups in Cambridge (Greg Jefferis) and Boston (Meg Younger). Candidates will need to be highly motivated and develop a good understanding of the nature of the data and the scientific aims of the project. This will be critical to setting priorities as the project develops. Close teamwork and a collaborative spirit will be essential, but team members will have increasing opportunities for scientific independence as their expertise develops.

Candidates will report to a team leader or Principal Investigator based in Zoology and will be mentored by an experienced post-doc. There will be opportunities to contribute to training new team members as the group expands and to general project management, as well as to participate in public engagement activities.

The role will be based on site in the department of Zoology.

Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for up to 3 years.

Flexible working requests will be considered.

We particularly welcome applications from women and candidates from a BME background for this vacancy as they are currently under-represented at this level in our University.

Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.

If you have any queries regarding the application process please contact Anastasia Nezhentseva.

Email: an286@cam.ac.uk Telephone: (0)1223 330117

Please quote reference PF46473 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.

The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.

Are you excited by the mechanisms of neurotransmission and behaviour and looking for a new opportunity? We are looking for an enthusiastic, inquisitive and motivated post-doctoral researcher to join the team in the Hardege lab in the Department of Zoology (https://www.hardege-lab.com/). The lab aims to understand how the function and diversity of neurotransmitter receptors is used to generate complex behaviours, including learning, in the small invertebrate model organism C. elegans.

We have recently discovered a range of novel dopamine receptors in C. elegans and found that different receptors are often expressed within a single neuron. This BBSRC-funded project aims to understand the interplay between excitatory and inhibitory metabotropic and ionotropic dopamine receptors and how they contribute to the regulation of complex behaviours.

This will involve a range of techniques including high resolution confocal microscopy to determine receptor localisation, behavioural analysis of C. elegans and computational modelling of the C. elegans neural network. The lab also uses Two Electrode Voltage Clamp (TEVC) electrophysiology and molecular biology techniques to characterise receptors. There are a broad range of training opportunities available, and you will also have the opportunity to mentor other lab members, attend scientific meetings and get involved in public engagement activities.

The successful candidate will have a PhD in a relevant area (or be close to completion) and a good understanding of neurotransmission and behaviour. We welcome applicants with experience in some of the following areas and with a desire to learn others: molecular biology, C. elegans or other model organism research, confocal imaging, computational analysis, preferably in python and electrophysiology. We are also looking for someone who enjoys working both independently and collaboratively, values a supportive lab environment and possesses good communication and organisational skills.

This is an onsite post. We have funding available for a full-time 3-year contract, with a flexible start date starting from September 2025.

Please include a CV and cover letter (max. 2 pages) explaining why this role interests you and how your experience aligns with the candidate profile in the further particulars document

Informal enquiries are welcome and should be directed to Dr Iris Hardege (ih287@cam.ac.uk).

Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for up to 3 years.

Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.

If you have any queries regarding the application process please contact Anastasia Nezhentseva.

Email: an286@cam.ac.uk Telephone: (0)1223 330117

Please quote reference PF46470 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.

The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.

Are you excited by the mechanisms of neurotransmission and behaviour and looking for a new opportunity? We are looking for an enthusiastic, inquisitive and motivated post-doctoral researcher to join the team in the Hardege lab in the Department of Zoology (https://www.hardege-lab.com/). The lab aims to understand how the function and diversity of neurotransmitter receptors is used to generate complex behaviours, including learning, in the small invertebrate model organism C. elegans.

We have recently discovered a range of novel dopamine receptors in C. elegans and found that different receptors are often expressed within a single neuron. This BBSRC-funded project aims to understand the interplay between excitatory and inhibitory metabotropic and ionotropic dopamine receptors and how they contribute to the regulation of complex behaviours.

This will involve a range of techniques including high resolution confocal microscopy to determine receptor localisation, behavioural analysis of C. elegans and computational modelling of the C. elegans neural network. The lab also uses Two Electrode Voltage Clamp (TEVC) electrophysiology and molecular biology techniques to characterise receptors. There are a broad range of training opportunities available, and you will also have the opportunity to mentor other lab members, attend scientific meetings and get involved in public engagement activities.

The successful candidate will have a PhD in a relevant area (or be close to completion) and a good understanding of neurotransmission and behaviour. We welcome applicants with experience in some of the following areas and with a desire to learn others: molecular biology, C. elegans or other model organism research, confocal imaging, computational analysis, preferably in python and electrophysiology. We are also looking for someone who enjoys working both independently and collaboratively, values a supportive lab environment and possesses good communication and organisational skills.

This is an onsite post. We have funding available for a full-time 3-year contract, with a flexible start date starting from September 2025.

Please include a CV and cover letter (max. 2 pages) explaining why this role interests you and how your experience aligns with the candidate profile in the further particulars document

Informal enquiries are welcome and should be directed to Dr Iris Hardege (ih287@cam.ac.uk).

Fixed-term: The funds for this post are available for up to 3 years.

Click the 'Apply' button below to register an account with our recruitment system (if you have not already) and apply online.

If you have any queries regarding the application process please contact Anastasia Nezhentseva.

Email: an286@cam.ac.uk Telephone: (0)1223 330117

Please quote reference PF46470 on your application and in any correspondence about this vacancy.

The University actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.

The University has a responsibility to ensure that all employees are eligible to live and work in the UK.

PhD student, Ritabrata Chowdhury, Insect Biomechanics Group, is first author of a recent paper in Biology Letters which uncovers a previously unknown interaction between plants, ants, and caterpillars in the rainforests of Borneo: kind of arms race between plants and insects. Macaranga trees house colonies of aggressive...

The University of Cambridge’s new Microscopy Bioscience Platform is unifying microscope facilities here in Cambridge. These advanced microscope technologies offer researchers essential tools to expand the frontiers of scientific discovery. The new Platform includes the confocal microscopes here in Zoology , operated by Dr...

We are delighted to share the news that Dr Eleanor Bladon, who is a postdoctoral research associate here in Zoology, has been awarded the Pathway to Independence Fellowship in Ecology and Conservation Biology at Clare College . The position drew over 50 high calibre applications internationally, and six applicants were...

A team at Cambridge is helping to drive biological discovery through innovation in microscope technologies

A team at Cambridge is helping to drive biological discovery through innovation in microscope technologies

Dr Tom Worthington works on the restoration and conservation of coastal ecosystems. The data he provides sits at the heart of billion-pound initiatives to save our natural world.

Dr Tom Worthington works on the restoration and conservation of coastal ecosystems. The data he provides sits at the heart of billion-pound initiatives to save our natural world.

The Evolutionary Ecology group, led by Prof Andrea Manica, is interested in how animals respond and adapt to changing environments. The same tools used to study other animal species can be applied to humans. Research by the group and collaborators, reported in a paper published in Nature[LINK] today, shows how learning to...

Today, all non-Africans are known to have descended from a small group of people that ventured into Eurasia around 50,000 years ago. However, fossil evidence shows that there were numerous failed dispersals before this time that left no detectable traces in living people.

In a new study published today in the journal in Nature, scientists say that from around 70,000 years ago, early humans began to exploit different habitat types in Africa in ways not seen before.

At this time, our ancestors started to live in the equatorial forests of West and Central Africa, and in the Sahara and Sahel desert regions of North Africa, where they encountered a range of new environmental conditions.

As they adapted to life in these diverse habitats, early humans gained the flexibility to tackle the range of novel environmental conditions they would encounter during their expansion out of Africa.

This increase in the human niche may have been the result of social adaptations, such as long-distance social networks, which allowed for an increase in cultural exchange. The process would have been self-reinforcing: as people started to inhabit a wider proportion of the African continent, regions previously disconnected would have come into contact, leading to further exchanges and possibly even greater flexibility. The final outcome was that our species became the ultimate generalist, able to tackle a wider range of environments.

Andrea Manica, Professor of Evolutionary Ecology in the University of Cambridge’s Department of Zoology, who co-led the study with Professor Eleanor Scerri from the Max Plank Institute of Bioanthropology in Germany, said: “Around 70,000-50,000 years ago, the easiest route out of Africa would have been more challenging than during previous periods, and yet this expansion was big - and ultimately successful.”

Manica added: “It’s incredibly exciting that we were able to look back in time and pinpoint the changes that enabled our ancestors to successfully migrate out of Africa.”

Dr Emily Hallett of Loyola University Chicago, co-lead author of the study, said: “We assembled a dataset of archaeological sites and environmental information covering the last 120,000 years in Africa. We used methods developed in ecology to understand changes in human environmental niches - the habitats humans can use and thrive in - during this time.” 

Dr Michela Leonardi at the University of Cambridge and London’s Natural History Museum, the study’s other lead author, said: “Our results showed that the human niche began to expand significantly from 70,000 years ago, and that this expansion was driven by humans increasing their use of diverse habitat types, from forests to arid deserts.” 

Many explanations for the uniquely successful dispersal out of Africa have previously been made, from technological innovations, to immunities granted by interbreeding with Eurasian hominins. But there is no evidence of technological innovation, and previous interbreeding does not appear to have helped the long-term success of previous attempts to spread out of Africa.

“Unlike previous humans dispersing out of Africa, those human groups moving into Eurasia after around 60-50,000 years ago were equipped with a distinctive ecological flexibility as a result of coping with climatically challenging habitats,” said Scerri. “This likely provided a key mechanism for the adaptive success of our species beyond their African homeland.”

Previous human dispersals out of Africa - which were not successful in the long term - seem to have happened during particularly favourable windows of increased rainfall in the Saharo-Arabian desert belt, which created ‘green corridors’ for people to move into Eurasia.

The environmental flexibility developed in Africa from around 70,000 years ago ultimately resulted in modern humans’ unique ability to adapt and thrive in diverse environments, and to cope with varying environmental conditions throughout life.

This research was supported by funding from the Max Planck Society, European Research Council and Leverhulme Trust.

Adapted from a press release by the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Germany

Reference: Hallett, E. Y. et al: ‘Major expansion in the human niche preceded out of Africa dispersal.’ Nature, June 2025. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09154-0.

Before the ‘Out of Africa’ migration that led our ancestors into Eurasia and beyond, human populations learned to adapt to new and challenging habitats including African forests and deserts, which was key to the long-term success of our species’ dispersal.

It’s incredibly exciting that we were able to look back in time and pinpoint the changes that enabled our ancestors to successfully migrate out of Africa.Andrea ManicaOndrej Pelanek and Martin PelanekAfrican Bush Elephant

The text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright ©University of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

YesLicence type: Attribution-Noncommerical

Today, all non-Africans are known to have descended from a small group of people that ventured into Eurasia around 50,000 years ago. However, fossil evidence shows that there were numerous failed dispersals before this time that left no detectable traces in living people.

In a new study published today in the journal in Nature, scientists say that from around 70,000 years ago, early humans began to exploit different habitat types in Africa in ways not seen before.

At this time, our ancestors started to live in the equatorial forests of West and Central Africa, and in the Sahara and Sahel desert regions of North Africa, where they encountered a range of new environmental conditions.

As they adapted to life in these diverse habitats, early humans gained the flexibility to tackle the range of novel environmental conditions they would encounter during their expansion out of Africa.

This increase in the human niche may have been the result of social adaptations, such as long-distance social networks, which allowed for an increase in cultural exchange. The process would have been self-reinforcing: as people started to inhabit a wider proportion of the African continent, regions previously disconnected would have come into contact, leading to further exchanges and possibly even greater flexibility. The final outcome was that our species became the ultimate generalist, able to tackle a wider range of environments.

Andrea Manica, Professor of Evolutionary Ecology in the University of Cambridge’s Department of Zoology, who co-led the study with Professor Eleanor Scerri from the Max Plank Institute of Bioanthropology in Germany, said: “Around 70,000-50,000 years ago, the easiest route out of Africa would have been more challenging than during previous periods, and yet this expansion was big - and ultimately successful.”

Manica added: “It’s incredibly exciting that we were able to look back in time and pinpoint the changes that enabled our ancestors to successfully migrate out of Africa.”

Dr Emily Hallett of Loyola University Chicago, co-lead author of the study, said: “We assembled a dataset of archaeological sites and environmental information covering the last 120,000 years in Africa. We used methods developed in ecology to understand changes in human environmental niches - the habitats humans can use and thrive in - during this time.” 

Dr Michela Leonardi at the University of Cambridge and London’s Natural History Museum, the study’s other lead author, said: “Our results showed that the human niche began to expand significantly from 70,000 years ago, and that this expansion was driven by humans increasing their use of diverse habitat types, from forests to arid deserts.” 

Many explanations for the uniquely successful dispersal out of Africa have previously been made, from technological innovations, to immunities granted by interbreeding with Eurasian hominins. But there is no evidence of technological innovation, and previous interbreeding does not appear to have helped the long-term success of previous attempts to spread out of Africa.

“Unlike previous humans dispersing out of Africa, those human groups moving into Eurasia after around 60-50,000 years ago were equipped with a distinctive ecological flexibility as a result of coping with climatically challenging habitats,” said Scerri. “This likely provided a key mechanism for the adaptive success of our species beyond their African homeland.”

Previous human dispersals out of Africa - which were not successful in the long term - seem to have happened during particularly favourable windows of increased rainfall in the Saharo-Arabian desert belt, which created ‘green corridors’ for people to move into Eurasia.

The environmental flexibility developed in Africa from around 70,000 years ago ultimately resulted in modern humans’ unique ability to adapt and thrive in diverse environments, and to cope with varying environmental conditions throughout life.

This research was supported by funding from the Max Planck Society, European Research Council and Leverhulme Trust.

Adapted from a press release by the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Germany

Reference: Hallett, E. Y. et al: ‘Major expansion in the human niche preceded out of Africa dispersal.’ Nature, June 2025. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09154-0.

Before the ‘Out of Africa’ migration that led our ancestors into Eurasia and beyond, human populations learned to adapt to new and challenging habitats including African forests and deserts, which was key to the long-term success of our species’ dispersal.

It’s incredibly exciting that we were able to look back in time and pinpoint the changes that enabled our ancestors to successfully migrate out of Africa.Andrea ManicaOndrej Pelanek and Martin PelanekAfrican Bush Elephant

The text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright ©University of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

YesLicence type: Attribution-Noncommerical

The successful Cambridge grantees’ work covers a range of research areas, including the development of next-generation semiconductors, new methods to identify dyslexia in young children, how diseases spread between humans and animals, and the early changes that happen in cells before breast cancer develops, with the goal of finding ways to stop the disease before it starts.

The funding, worth €721 million in total, will go to 281 leading researchers across Europe. The Advanced Grant competition is one of the most prestigious and competitive funding schemes in the EU and associated countries, including the UK. It gives senior researchers the opportunity to pursue ambitious, curiosity-driven projects that could lead to major scientific breakthroughs. Advanced Grants may be awarded up to € 2.5 million for a period of five years. The grants are part of the EU’s Horizon Europe programme. The UK agreed a deal to associate to Horizon Europe in September 2023.

This competition attracted 2,534 proposals, which were reviewed by panels of internationally renowned researchers. Over 11% of proposals were selected for funding. Estimates show that the grants will create approximately 2,700 jobs in the teams of new grantees. The new grantees will be based at universities and research centres in 23 EU Member States and associated countries, notably in the UK (56 grants), Germany (35), Italy (25), the Netherlands (24), and France (23).

“Many congratulations to our Cambridge colleagues on these prestigious ERC funding awards,” said Professor Sir John Aston, Cambridge’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research. “This type of long-term funding is invaluable, allowing senior researchers the time and space to develop potential solutions for some of biggest challenges we face. We are so fortunate at Cambridge to have so many world-leading researchers across a range of disciplines, and I look forward to seeing the outcomes of their work.”

The Cambridge recipients of 2025 Advanced Grants are:

Professor Clare Bryant (Department of Veterinary Medicine) for investigating human and avian pattern recognition receptor activation of cell death pathways, and the impact on the host inflammatory response to zoonotic infections.

Professor Sir Richard Friend (Cavendish Laboratory/St John’s College) for bright high-spin molecular semiconductors.

Professor Usha Goswami (Department of Psychology/St John’s College) for a cross-language approach to the early identification of dyslexia and developmental language disorder using speech production measures with children.

Professor Regina Grafe (Faculty of History) for colonial credit and financial diversity in the Global South: Spanish America 1600-1820.

Professor Judy Hirst (MRC Mitochondrial Biology Unit/Corpus Christi College) for the energy-converting mechanism of a modular biomachine: Uniting structure and function to establish the engineering principles of respiratory complex I.

Professor Matthew Juniper (Department of Engineering/Trinity College) for adjoint-accelerated inference and optimisation methods.

Professor Walid Khaled (Department of Pharmacology/Magdalene College) for understanding precancerous changes in breast cancer for the development of therapeutic interceptions.

Professor Adrian Liston (Department of Pathology/St Catharine’s College) for dissecting the code for regulatory T cell entry into the tissues and differentiation into tissue-resident cells.

Professor Róisín Owens (Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology/Newnham College) for conformal organic devices for electronic brain-gut readout and characterisation.

Professor Emma Rawlins (Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience/Gurdon Institute) for reprogramming lung epithelial cell lineages for regeneration.

Dr Marta Zlatic (Department of Zoology/Trinity College) for discovering the circuit and molecular basis of inter-strain and inter-species differences in learning

“These ERC grants are our commitment to making Europe the world’s hub for excellent research,” said Ekaterina Zaharieva, European Commissioner for Startups, Research, and Innovation. “By supporting projects that have the potential to redefine whole fields, we are not just investing in science but in the future prosperity and resilience of our continent. In the next competition rounds, scientists moving to Europe will receive even greater support in setting up their labs and research teams here. This is part of our “Choose Europe for Science” initiative, designed to attract and retain the world’s top scientists.”

“Much of this pioneering research will contribute to solving some of the most pressing challenges we face - social, economic and environmental,” said Professor Maria Leptin, President of the European Research Council. “Yet again, many scientists - around 260 - with ground-breaking ideas were rated as excellent, but remained unfunded due to a lack of funds at the ERC. We hope that more funding will be available in the future to support even more creative researchers in pursuing their scientific curiosity.”

Eleven senior researchers at the University of Cambridge have been awarded Advanced Grants from the European Research Council – the highest number of grants awarded to any institution in this latest funding round.

Westend61 via Getty ImagesScientist pipetting samples into eppendorf tube

The text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Images, including our videos, are Copyright ©University of Cambridge and licensors/contributors as identified. All rights reserved. We make our image and video content available in a number of ways – on our main website under its Terms and conditions, and on a range of channels including social media that permit your use and sharing of our content under their respective Terms.

Yes