HE and Me

Magical literature professor reflects on the influence of witch trials on contemporary US politics, the Harry Potter novels and dealing with requests for exorcisms

The expert in outbreak medicine discusses overcoming early academic challenges, the UK government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and how a chance meeting over bagpipes changed his life

A widening access alumnus and practitioner on the difficulties of coming into academia from a background of poverty

Expert in online education long before it became fashionable discusses what can be learned from the gaming industry, common mistakes innovators make and why her own undergraduate experience was an unhappy one

A crusader for equity in teaching design finds a formula that works across borders and sectors, with critical importance for society as a whole

The war studies professor on Ukraine, writing speeches for Tony Blair and late career fame on Substack

The Harvard researcher discusses his humble upbringing and how the plight of Dalits is now being taken more seriously, in academia and beyond

Drug discoverer talks about her caravan childhood, her frustration with process inefficiencies and why researchers need to understand the business side

The mathematician and author talks about how her experience of racism and ‘not fitting in’ prepared her for being a woman in maths, and how abstract maths can stimulate empathy

The UK’s youngest lecturer talks about an international upbringing that made her at home in academia and the fresh perspective of youth in research

The writer and academic talks about her philosophical fascination with the mind and body, and why she wrote about her mother’s dementia

International relations expert discusses Western dominance of the field, what can be gained from amplifying new voices and balancing her academic work with being mayor of a small town in Warwickshire

NYU economist reflects on stumbling into her field, using data for the public good, and lessons from four decades in academia 

The academic and civil rights crusader talks about a mother who showed her how to stand up for herself and for others

The Harvard refugee education expert discusses teaching classes of 200 pupils, living in post-apartheid South Africa and why she is optimistic for the children she meets in migrant camps

Chinese-Australian material scientist explains the downside of fashion, and why hunger therapy can be a good thing

The human geographer talks about her work with stateless groups, the importance of collaboration and why the stereotype of a map-wielding explorer is important in confronting her subject’s imperial legacies

Ukrainian philologist who found a host university while in a 10-hour queue at the border talks about a life upended

Quantum physicist describes breaking stereotypes about age in science, her venture into the start-up world and how she ultimately chose academia

The product of a warm and happy childhood spent tinkering with computers explains how soft expectations created a personal drive that startled lab colleagues

The museums expert explains how every historical artefact has not just one story, but many

Biomedical engineer talks about problem-solving, the importance of monitoring foetal cardiac health and why no one has got it quite right on STEM education for women

The higher education professor discusses totalitarian Romania, his academic inspirations and a fascination with folk music

Mozambique PhD candidate explains how she overcame extreme poverty, bereavement and daily beatings to study in the UK

The Cundill History Prize winner talks about uncovering a forgotten archive to tell the story of a slave rebellion ‘from the inside out’

Monsoon physicist talks through her journey resisting pressure to be ‘ladylike’ and becoming the only woman of 54 in chemical engineering class

The historian raised in a military family talks about her interest in both war and community, and the formative class which shaped that

Cambridge professor discusses swapping engineering for history, why researchers overlook the Indian and Pacific oceans, and what it means to offer ‘an environmental lens’ on imperial history

Musicologist waxes lyrical on homeschooling, white fragility and the narrowing of intellectual enquiry

The winner of the Philip Leverhulme Prize talks about the importance of ‘mass photography’ and her experience of studying as a single parent

Sports corruption investigator on feeling sorry for drugs cheat Marion Jones, ‘barely graduating high school’ and how sport might clean up its act

The Nottingham historian discusses founding a library in the Indian village where he grew up and the need for alternatives to the ‘false promises of neoliberal education’

Embracing economics after an iconic mountain climb, a daughter of the Deep South takes an optimistic outlook to promoting racial progress

The winner of this year’s Leverhulme Medal discusses what it means to be a feminist historian and how contemporary politics, and a surprising find in Jamaica, changed her research

The glaciologist discusses falling in love with ‘ice rivers’, how emergency brain surgery changed her outlook, and the tragedy of global warming

Ashoka University professor and novelist discusses academic life in the US and India, as well as his next novel, which explores ‘the ethics of education’

Crawford Medal-winning historian on why New Zealand doesn’t have borders, big screens are a good thing and research grant applications are too long

Former Hong Kong v-c and expert on the overseas Chinese experience talks about living through nearly a century of Asian history

Wolfson History Prize winner explains how Toussaint Louverture was a ‘spiritual ancestor’ of Black Lives Matter

The former Austrian molecular biologist explains how a boring childhood was an advantage, why he switched careers and how designing board games is like basic research

The retiring UBC scientist on inspirational partners, the precarious state of career options, and the formative value of stink bombs

Chemical weapons expert turned Cambridge don reflects on conspiracy theorists in academia, making safe a 60-tonne bomb with science and breaking the world press-up record

The computational biologist and Royal Society prizewinner on empowering neurodiversity, academic humour and why emotions are key to problem-solving

Theoretical astrophysicist explains how early home computers nurtured a fascination with the universe, and busts the myth that most stars are single

Artist and researcher Anthony Schrag on the importance of interdisciplinarity, how university changed him and why art will be even more important in the post-Covid world

The LSE management expert describes how workers can gain confidence to speak up, the culture shock of academia and what she learned from a drag king workshop

The British sinologist talks about the book that sparked her interest in China, and why she decided to translate an ancient epic

Winner of award for women in science in the developing world discusses growing up in a family of eight in Ghana and ‘feeling like Christmas’ when she is on a podium

One of the world’s leading experts on the carbon cycle discusses campaigning for Joe Biden as a teenager, the magic of the Amazon rainforest and why she will never give up fieldwork

The BBC presenter and composer explains why students need music more than ever and how his drama school training influences his music

The Canadian indigenous law expert on listening to rocks and learning from a Hollywood ‘bad guy’ grandfather

The Yale professor talks about racism in post-war Britain, mixing the personal and the academic in her writing and her advice to her younger self

The British artist on working with refugees, the similarities between art and science and growing up next door to Twiggy

Epigeneticist on searching for life’s secrets, distinguishing stem cell science from snake oil and pondering the perfect size for a university

Sociologist who has shone light on some of India’s most oppressed people explains why she keeps up the good fight

The crime writer on how to teach mystery writing, why she loves self-help books, and the literary appeal of a campus murder

Scholar of Native American history shortlisted for two major non-fiction prizes discusses why the US needs a ‘reckoning’ with indigenous dispossession

The epigeneticist and new Max Planck vice-president on a global childhood, the pleasures of buses running on time, and why young researchers are more stressed than ever

The human rights barrister and author reflects on his path into international law, the university course that changed history and what the UK’s ‘lazy’ and ‘narcissistic’ prime minister could learn from Keir Starmer

The child refugee and business prodigy discusses racial prejudice and personal perseverance, and the prospects for Kamala Harris