Cambridge Festival showcases university's 'incredible research'

The Cambridge University-organised event is one of the largest in the country, according to organisers

A two-week festival of talks, debates, comedy and demonstrations aims to share a university's "incredible research" before "it hits the headlines".

Topics covered in the annual Cambridge University event will include how to fix the NHS, and the impact of artificial intelligence on democracy.

Organisers said it is one of the largest such festivals in the UK, with more than 350 events and activities.

They hope to "reach people who haven't gone before", said manager David Cain.

Its events are organised under the headings health, society, environment and discovery

Mr Cain said its aim was "to share incredible research, dive behind the doors, meet the academics and share their work, which as regular people we don't usually find out about".

"This includes the latest technology developments, new archaeological research or cancer treatments and visitors can find out about it before it hits the headlines," he added.

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The university puts on the festival alongside partners including Anglia Ruskin University.

Its work on three of the world's biggest challenges - climate, cancer and AI - will be explored throughout the fortnight.

One of the health topics will be a panel discussion at Cambridge Union Society on "how can we fix the NHS and social care"

Guest speakers include Astronomer Royal Prof Lord Martin Rees, best-selling author of sci-fi books Una McCormack and historian Prof Sir Richard Evans.

The BBC's disinformation correspondent Marianna Spring will take part in a discussion on misinformation, statistics and lies with Kamal Ahmed, former BBC economics editor, and statistician Prof David Spiegelhalter, from the university.

The chemistry department's Erwin Reisner will look at ways to capture sunlight using emerging technologies

Mr Cain said: "It's very much targeted at people to attend in person - we have people travelling in from more than an hour away to attend - but there will also be online events for people to engage with too.

"We're particularly hoping to reach people who haven't gone before, and are using different ways of engaging such as a virtual reality trail and comedy."

The programme also offers dozens of hand-on interactive events across two weekends, specifically curated for families and children

Events will be held around the city, including on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus and the West Cambridge Campus - the university's housing estate development.

"And we've also got a fantastic event hosted by Abbey People in East Barnwell, exploring the impact of climate change on people's lives," Mr Cain said.

The Cambridge Festival runs from 13 to 28 March.