OUR MOTIVATION
The UK has many leading women academics, entrepreneurs, business women and women in industry who come from physics backgrounds. These women play an important role in inspiring the new generation of women in physics.​
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Cambridge University Women in Physics Society (CUWPS) aims to help raise the visibility of such successful women by putting them in front of younger women considering careers in physics.
Our projects include holding speaker events, networking sessions, social events, mentoring schemes and the publication of outreach materials.
NAME CHANGE
CUWPS is formerly known as Cavendish Inspiring Women (CiW). This change was implemented after the COVID-19 pandemic to provide greater clarity for our international members.
CORE ACTIVITIES
SPEAKER EVENTS
We hold termly speaker events either based at the Department of Physics or Cambridge Colleges. These are open to all and feature high-profile women from science, business and entrepreneurship. We make an effort to feature women working in the physics department, as well as speakers from further afield in the UK.
Our speakers to date have included Dame Barbara Stocking (Current Master of Murray Edwards College and former CEO of Oxfam), Dr Magdalena Skipper (Editor-in-chief, Nature), Angela Saini (Author of Inferior), Dr Sarah Bohndiek (Reader at the Cavendish), Anne-Marie Imafidon, Dr Sian Dutton (Fellow at the Cavendish), Cary Marsh (Entrepreneur) and Dr Eileen Nugent (Lecturer at the Cavendish).
SOCIAL EVENTS
We have regular Cavendish Women's tea sessions hosted in the Cavendish Lab. This is a good opportunity to meet other members in the department and use it as a space to relax!
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We also arrange undergrad Welfare tea and lunch socials to create a space for women in undergrad and postgrads to connect with eachother.
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CAREER EVENTS
We held our first ever Careers & Cake session in 2019 with sponsorship from TTP. The companies who attended were Microsoft, Nature Publishing Group, Cambridge Display Technology, PragmatIC, Flexenable, Base4, Origami Energy and Riverlane. We hope to host more such sessions in the future. If your company is interested in talking to our members, please contact us.
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OUTREACH PROGRAM
OUTREACH ACTIVITIES
CUWPS members have participated in department outreach activities such as the Cambridge Science Festival or the Physics at Work programme. We also travel to high schools to encourage students to study physics.
If you would like CUWPS to visit your school please get in touch.
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BOOKLET FOR SCHOOLS
We have published a small booklet entitled "What is so exciting about physics?" This is aimed at encouraging teenage girls to study physics. The booklet is being distributed to as many secondary schools in the UK as resources allow.
To download a copy, click here.
MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING
BOOKLET FOR MENTAL HEALTH
MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING GUIDE
The CiW Committee (Former CUWPS) has put together a guide detailing mental health and wellbeing resources in Cambridge.
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To download a copy, click here.
PODCASTS AND INTERVIEWS
PODCASTS AND INTERVIEWS
We have profiled inspiring women who are doing outstanding things, primarily in the fields of science, but also entrepreneurship and business.
We present both written interviews and a podcast series that was produced by Stuart Higgins, a research associate at Imperial College, London.
More information can be found here.
Women in Cavendish Series
We've created a 'Women in Cavendish' series in 2019, featuring a set of Instagram posts that provide brief introductions to the remarkable women of Cavendish.
More information can be found here.
