Dr Tim Minshall (Christ's 1993), University Senior Lecturer in Technology Management

Engineers are fantastic – they are the people who change the world. Engineers put a man on the moon, develop the internet, build skyscrapers, rebuild bodies…and so much more. Yet not many people know what engineers actually do. This talk will reveal – in just ten words – the secrets of what engineers really get up to as they work hard to build a better future for us all.

Dame Fiona Reynolds (Newnham 1976), Master of Emmanuel College and former Director-General of the National Trust.

In a world of rapid change and global, multicultural influences we explore the place that landscape, history and nature play in people’s sense of Britishness today.

Dr Abigail Brundin (Magdalene 1991), University Senior Lecturer in the Department of Italian, Pilkington Prize winner 2013

In C17th Italy, the number of girls and young women entering convents rose rapidly as dowries became increasingly expensive. Not all the girls went willingly and some left powerful written accounts of their experiences.

Tony Badger, Paul Mellon Professor of American history and Master of Clare College

In 2009, as in 1933, a charismatic president succeeded a discredited president at a time of economic crisis and with resounding majorities in Congress. Obama and his advisers explicitly looked to Roosevelt's New Deal for policy models. Despite his re-election in 2012, Obama has lost control of the House where Republicans stymie attempts to avoid the fiscal cliff. Economic recovery is partial and largely jobless. The prospects for his second term look unpromising in highly polarised politics. Did Obama learn the right lessons from the New Deal?

Sir Mark Welland, Professor of Nanotechnology

There's been a lot of hype about nanotechnology, but what is it and what is a realistic expectation of what it can do? Professor Welland will look at how nanotechnology developed, how it is one step in the progress of technology, and at the kind of areas it can be applied to, such as the understanding and treatment of human diseases as well as the more obvious miniaturisation of electronics that provides ever smaller but more complex mobile phones.

Jonathan Haslam, Professor of the History of International Relations

The history of Russia’s Secret Services from the Revolution to the Fall of the Wall: the Military Intelligence, the codes and ciphers and the KGB.

Jacqueline Scott, Professor of Sociology, in conversation with Gaby Hinsliff, author of Half a Wife

Despite much progress in the world of work, women are still often held back by carrying the domestic burden and effectively doing a double shift. However, research shows that greater equality in the home and workplace makes both sexes happier. Nevertheless, many organisations still make decisions that challenge or reinforce traditional ideas about what men and women can or cannot do. If these decisions are not joined up it can limit real gender equality overall.

James Jackson, Professor of Earth Sciences

Earthquakes in the last decade have revealed that rich nations have become very resilient in terms of loss-of-life, while much smaller earthquakes have killed up to 30% of urban populations in countries that are far less well prepared. This contrast is related to wealth, development and education, but also to the geological setting and the nature of the hazard involved. This talk will examine what is behind the sombre conclusion that ‘the rich pay and the poor die’.

Sadaf Farooqi, Professor of Metabolism and Medicine

In an age of obesity where sugary, fatty food is available 24/7, will it ever be possible to control our appetites? Professor Farooqi will describe how the brain, not the stomach, controls what and how much we eat and how scientists are working to conquer the many triggers for overeating.

Simon Blackburn, Professor of Philosophy, and Chris Blackhurst, editor of The Independent

Trust in British public life has now reached catastrophically low levels for parliament, the press, the banks, the police and the NHS. Just as the National Rifle Association in the USA claims that the solution to gun crime lies in more guns, our government (and, for instance, The Times) preaches that the cure for decline in trust lies in less public service and more profit motive. The conversation will reflect on this alarming state of affairs.