A great opportunity to see inside one of the world's leading physics research laboratories and its Centre dedicated to industrial and societal applications
Cavendish Laboratory’s Maxwell Centre, University of Cambridge
The Visit will include:
- Cavendish Laboratory Museum: tour led by Emeritus Professor Malcolm Longair, Head of the Cavendish Laboratory 1997-2005; previously Regius Professor of Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, and director of the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh.
- Maxwell Centre: talk by Professor Sir Richard Friend, Director, Maxwell Centre; Cavendish Professor of Physics; Head of the Cavendish Laboratory 2005-2013.
- Maxwell Centre: tour of laboratories led by Richard Friend and laboratory managers.
There are just 30 places. Tickets are £10, and you need to be a member of CSAR to book. To join CSAR please go here.
Parking on site is not available unless disabled access is required, in which case contact reception@phy.cam.ac.uk
If arriving by car, it’s easiest to park at Madingley Park and Ride, and then walk through the West Cambridge campus to reach the main reception of the Bragg Building. Please see this map.
The world-renowned Cavendish Laboratory is a jewel in Cambridge University’s crown.
Established in 2016 within the Cavendish, the Maxwell Centre aims to further strengthen a long tradition of working closely with industry, coordinating the full spectrum of science and engineering on West Cambridge Campus – physics, materials science, chemistry and engineering.
The Maxwell’s partnerships include Winton Programme for the Physics of Sustainability, Henry Royce Institute for Advanced Materials, Faraday Institution for Energy Storage Research, Energy@Cambridge, Cambridge Big Data, Global Challenges Initiative and Centre for Digital Build Britain.
Audience feedback
Brilliant visit, covering the history of Maxwell as the first professor of science at Cambridge right up to the leading-edge research being undertaken now. All of the guides - not least Sir Richard Friend - were excellent.
All three hosts were brilliant. I was not aware of how many labs had been and are being built. It makes you proud to be a physicist. Richard Friend's talk was particularly insightful.
Thank you. I thoroughly enjoyed the visit, which I found very inspiring. The history of the Maxwell Centre and the wealth of ideas and accomplishments of the scientists working there were breathtaking, often using very cheap, homemade equipment. The speakers were very enthusiastic and good communicators. The organization went well and we are very privileged to have in Cambridge such a world class Institute.