About Us

The Society

The Cambridge Scientific Society was founded in 1995, with the goal of promoting all branches of science at a level both stimulating to those studying science and accessible to those coming from other backgrounds. Today, SciSoc is the largest and most active science society at Cambridge, and with more than 2000 lifetime members connected via our expansive email database.

The Society acts as a platform for public exposure of new research and findings. Past speakers include Nobel Laureates Sir Peter Ratcliffe, Sir Paul Nurse and Sir John Walker, eminent scientists Sir Roger Penrose, Sir Richard Friend, Sir John Beddington and Peter Atkins, popular author Matt Ridley, and former Universities and Sciences minister David Willetts among many others across various disciplines of science.

The Society is managed by the Executive Committee, with help from the Academic Advisory Board. Our illustrious Patrons play a less involved role in the Society, but lend their support whenever they can. The Society is further aided by a number of generous sponsors, who provide some of the financial backing for the Society to enact its goal in the best way it can.

The Activities

Our main activity is the organisation of weekly talks that cover all scientific branches, from physics to medicine, from biology to engineering, from chemistry to palaeontology. There is usually time before and after our talks, offering a great opportunity to interact with fellow SciSoc members and the speaker. For more information on talks see here. Join our mailing list to be updated for all our events.

We strive to build a scientific community through various other social events held throughout the Michaelmas and Lent Terms, including movie nights, formals, and pub quizzes. Special events include our glamorous Annual Founders’ Dinner, the Science Societies’ Garden Party, and our Academic Internships Event.

In the past, we also organised trips to science facilities of world class importance, such as to the Diamond Light Source, the National Synchrotron Facility, where we were given a tour by the CEO Professor Gerhard Materlik CBE, and to the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva.