Blog

27th August 2026 · General
27th August 2026 · General

Why I want to be a scientist (and why I chase light for a living)

by Krupamaya Panda

I was in my fourth year of school when I first decided I wanted to be magician.

24th August 2026 · Science
24th August 2026 · Science

From plants to antimicrobial materials: when nature gives you a starting point

by Paola Monguilod

Plants can’t move away from bacteria or infections. Instead, over millions of years, they’ve developed their own chemical defenses to survive.

17th August 2026 · General
17th August 2026 · General

Coaxing Hexagonal Silicon-Germanium (SiGe) to emit light for laser action

by Aamir Ejaz

1. Why we need a silicon laser in the first place? Every time you stream a video, send an email, browse the internet or read this blog post, your data is for part of its journey, travelling as pulses of light through optical fibres. The lasers that generate this light are not made of silicon. […]

22nd June 2026 · General
22nd June 2026 · General

Finding Your Way: One Step at a Time

by Bhavani Sunila

Moving away to a new country, more than 8,000 kms away from home, where you don’t speak the native language, in pursuit of your dreams, comes with apprehension and excitement. These feelings are not loud, unlike the trumpets blown back in my country, they are the slow winding creepers finding their way into your existence. […]

19th June 2026 · General
19th June 2026 · General

The Hidden Green Along Our Roads—and Why It Matters

by Ignacio Castañeda-Rodríguez

When you drive along a road, you probably don’t think much about the grass on the side. It’s just there—cut regularly, quiet, almost invisible. But what if those green strips could help protect biodiversity, reduce carbon emissions, improve road safety, and even save public money? These areas, known as roadside verges, are far more important […]

12th June 2026 · General
12th June 2026 · General

Rebuilding Life, One Country at a Time

by Simón Antonio Leyton Alarcón

Moving across the world to pursue a PhD sounds, on paper, like a bold and inspiring decision. It carries the promise of intellectual growth, new cultures, and the kind of independence that shapes a person for life. But what often goes unspoken is the emotional cost—the quiet, persistent weight of anxiety, depression, and loneliness that […]

22nd May 2026 · General
22nd May 2026 · General

“No, You Shouldn’t Use Machine Learning”

by Isa B. I. Helal

Machine learning methods are opaque, with varying levels of obscurity surrounding their implementation. Sceptics claim: “no, you shouldn’t use machine learning, because it’s a black box”, but are they right?

12th May 2026 · Events
12th May 2026 · Events

Grappling with Uncertainty: Lessons from Climate Science and My Antarctic Research Journey

by Uzoma C. Nworgu

Understanding the Many Faces of Uncertainty In climate science, the word “uncertainty” connotes way more than a technical term – it’s a fundamental property of the system we study. Every dataset, model output or forecast carries with it some degree of doubt: about how the atmosphere or ocean was observed, how well models represent physical […]

16th April 2026 · General
Uzoma and me feeding kangaroos at the Bonorong wildlife sanctuary
16th April 2026 · General

Shower Thoughts On What It Means To “Be An International”

by Franka Neumann

From my observation, internationals tend to hang around a lot with other internationals. The closest friends I made came from other countries as well.  We all have that common ground of having to start our social circle from scratch, of trying to find new friends among colleagues.

4th March 2026 · Science
4th March 2026 · Science

Reinventing the fire: the challenges of nuclear fusion research

by Anton Moroz

Powerful lasers can generate shockwaves that compress matter to stellar densities, satisfying the conditions required for thermonuclear fusion. This research brings us closer to achieving plasma ignition and a future of safe, carbon-free energy.

26th February 2026 · General
26th February 2026 · General

My first year of the PhD as an AI-assisted condition monitoring researcher

by Songhao Gao

I have just finished my first year of PhD life in the wonderful AUFRANDE project, and I would be very happy to share some of my nice experiences in this blog.

17th February 2026 · Events
17th February 2026 · Events

Beyond the Science: What I Learned About Research Emissions at the CBH Summer School

by Uzoma Nworgu

During the CBH Graduate School Summer School ‘Reducing the Carbon Footprint of Research’ I had to confront a truth I had never really considered before: the act of doing climate research itself has a carbon footprint.

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