Shows
Hydroponics DailyCoffee, Caffeine & Your Plants: Friend or Foe?Dr. Russell Sharp examines the effects of coffee and tea on plants, explaining how caffeine and other compounds (tannins, organic acids, sugars) can act as low-dose biostimulants but become inhibitory or toxic at higher doses. He covers root drench vs foliar applications, allelopathy, impacts on microbes and pests, and how repeated use can harm photosynthesis, nutrient uptake and root health.
Practical takeaways: occasional small amounts may help rooting, but regularly pouring leftover caffeinated drinks on houseplants can cause overwatering, chemical stress, microbial shifts and long-term damage—so avoid routine use and be cautious if trying coffee grounds as...
2025-12-2606 min
UKTN | The PodcastWhat the UK can learn from Cambridge’s tech success – Ottoline Leyser, UKRIDame Ottoline Leyser, former chief executive of UKRI and chair of the advisory board of Innovate Cambridge, discusses the research and business success from the University of Cambridge and how that can be applied throughout the country, government plans to support a global Oxford-Cambridge tech hub and the power of local pride in growing new tech clusters. Leyser was appointed as the head of UK Research and Innovation, the public body which directs government funding to science and technological enterprises, in 2020.
2025-11-1132 min
Working ScientistThe problem with career planning in scienceIn June this year developmental biologist Ottoline Leyser stepped down as chief executive of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the country’s national research funding agency. In the final episode of a six-part Working Scientist podcast series about career planning, Leyser tells Julie Gould how the opportunity to lead UKRI came about, and how, for her, good career planning starts with reflecting on who you are what your values are. Leyser also finds the notion of work-life balance problematic, arguing that you cannot easily segregate the two from each other. “You’re not your job. You are who yo...
2025-10-1632 min
The Wonkhe ShowFree speech guidance, R&DThis week on the podcast we examine the Office for Students' new free speech guidance as controversial requirements prepare to take effect from August 1st. What do the "deeply disturbing" YouGov findings about academic self-censorship really tell us, and how should universities navigate campus protests and challenging research topics?Plus we discuss outgoing UKRI chief Ottoline Leyser's stark warning about "inevitable consolidation" in university research.With Mark Peace, Professor of Innovation in Education at King's College London, Arti Saraswat, Senior Policy Manager for Higher Education at the Association of Colleges, Livia Scott, Partnerships...
2025-06-1941 min
Private PassionsDame Ottoline LeyserProfessor Dame Ottoline Leyser first realised plants are extraordinary and astonishing at school, when introduced to the round and wrinkled peas of Gregor Mendel. She is fascinated by plant genetics and as Regius Professor of Botany at the University of Cambridge her particular focus has been on a hormone called auxin which controls the growth of plants. In 2020, she was appointed the chief executive of UK Research and Innovation whose mission is to work in partnership with research organisations, universities, businesses, charities and government to “push the frontiers of human knowledge and understanding" and deliver economic, social an...
2023-12-1036 min
För en klokare värld"It's time to renew our view on research assessment" - meet UKRI CEO Dame Ottoline LeyserIn this episode, we meet with the CEO of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser, as she visited the Swedish Research Council. Our conversation focuses on research assessment, as there is a global movement to renew the view and how to assess research. She shares her thoughts and insights on how diversity, differences, and inclusion are some of the keys to developing research assessments and improving our societies. And much more…
The podcast is hosted by Anders Bjers from the Swedish Research Council.
2022-10-1129 min
The Wonkhe ShowPublic accounts committee, belonging, student financial support, free speechThis week on the podcast MPs are struggling to pin universities’ problems on the right body - where does responsibility lie when things go wrong? There’s also the next phase of our research on belonging with Pearson, a fall (in England) to dramatic new lows for student financial support, and the free speech bill clears the commons.Plus we listen in as George Freeman and Ottoline Leyser appear at the Commons Science and Technology Committee, and hot off the press there’s some new graduates outcomes figures out from HESA.With Ben Elger, Chief Executive of the Office...
2022-06-1637 min
BBC Inside ScienceFusion energy smashes world recordThis week the UK-based JET Laboratory broke its 25-year-old record for energy extracted by nuclear fusion - the process that powers the stars. Using temperatures 10 times hotter than the sun, nuclear fusion has the potential to provide vast amounts of energy at a very low carbon cost. But re-creating the power of the stars here on earth is no easy feat, and Roland Pease has been in Culham, speaking to the scientists at the forefront of this breakthrough.We discuss the Advanced Research and Invention Agency ( ARIA. The ARIA bill is about to go through the final...
2022-02-1028 min
Scientifically...The Life Scientific at 10: What does it take to be a scientist?How damaging is the stereotype of white males in white coats? Do scientists think differently? Or do the qualities we associate with being a nerd do them a disservice? Is specialism the best way to solve 21st century problems when so many great discoveries are made in the cracks between the disciplines? In short, what makes a scientist, a scientist? Jim and distinguished guests consider the lessons learnt from nearly 250 leading scientists talking with extraordinary honesty about their life and work. And ask: has the job description changed? Success in science is often defined by making discoveries...
2021-10-1256 min
The Life ScientificThe Life Scientific at 10: What makes a scientist?How damaging is the stereotype of white males in white coats? Do scientists think differently? Or do the qualities we associate with being a nerd do them a disservice? Is specialism the best way to solve 21st century problems when so many great discoveries are made in the cracks between the disciplines? In short, what makes a scientist, a scientist? Jim and distinguished guests consider the lessons learnt from nearly 250 leading scientists talking with extraordinary honesty about their life and work. And ask: has the job description changed? Success in science is often defined by making discoveries...
2021-10-1256 min
Supercharging InnovationCreating a more connected UK research and innovation ecosystem with Ottoline LeyserListen to Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser share her views on research culture, the future of UK innovation and the role of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) within it. Ottoline is the Chief Executive of UKRI and Regius Professor of Botany at the University of Cambridge. Prior to this Ottoline was Director of the Sainsbury Laboratory at the University of Cambridge, which combines computational modelling with molecular genetics and cell biology in the control of plant growth and development. She served as Chair of the Royal Society’s Science Policy Expert Advisory Committee, Chair of the Management Committee of the Un...
2021-08-0335 minBBC Inside ScienceUK science policy shake-up; Ivermectin & Covid; black fungus in Indian Covid patients; many hominins in Siberian caveThe Prime Minister has announced his desire for the UK to become a 'science superpower'. A new office within the cabinet to look at science will work alongside existing science strategy and funding structures. So far it's unclear where the responsibilities between the various science policy bodies lie.
James Wilsdon, Professor of Research Policy at the University of Sheffield, helps Gaia Vince pick her way through the spaghetti of overlapping organisations and Dame Ottoline Leyser, UKRI Chief Executive, gives her her take of the impact of the reorganisation.A major new trial has been announced into the...
2021-06-2434 min
The MicroscopistsOttoline Leyser (UKRI)#15 — Along with becoming a Dame, Ottoline Leyser also recently became Chief Executive of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), a UK body dedicated to building a thriving, inclusive research and innovation system. In this informal discussion, Ottoline explains what the UKRI does and shows us just why she’s a perfect fit.Discussing her career move, we find out if she has any regrets about leaving the lab and how monthly sanity checks help her juggle the full-time responsibilities of heading the UKRI with managing her research lab.She also touches on more personal matters, including how...
2021-02-2636 min
CSaP: The Science & Policy PodcastBonus Episode: Food Systems in the Context of Covid-19Throughout the month of September, CSaP: The Science & Policy Podcast is sharing bonus episodes which draw on material recorded as part of the Centre for Science and Policy's 2020 Virtual Annual Conference. In this episode, CSaP Executive Director Dr Rob Doubleday sits down with Professor Dame Theresa Marteau, the Food Standards Agency's Emily Miles, and Professor Dame Ottoline Leyser to discuss the food system in the context of the covid-19 pandemic.
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CSaP: The Science & Policy Podcast is hosted by CSaP Executive Director Dr Rob Doubleday, and is edited and produced by CSaP Communications Coordinator Kate...
2020-09-1833 min
Plants and PipettesHelp! Squirrels! – Black eyed peas, Georgiana Simpson, and the humor effect
This week, we’re talking about cowpeas and how they grow in arid regions, the contribution of Georgiana Simpson to Black Rights in the US, and the effect of humor on information retention. Plus so much more!
Joram’s favourite plant is Cowpea Vigna unguiculata, also called black eyed pea
Tegan presents the life and work of Georgiana Simpson.
Joram presents the humor effect
Tegan has a great PhD project idea: Looking for life in weird places. There are microbes that divide only every hundred years and feed isotopes
Plant...
2020-05-221h 18
University of CambridgeOttoline Leyser: Thinking without a brain - how plants decide what to doOttoline Leyser: Thinking without a brain - how plants decide what to do by University of Cambridge
2018-10-081h 00
Law Pod UKEp. 44: Genetic Modification at the European Court of JusticeRosalind English discusses the latest GMO ruling in the European Court of Justice with plant geneticist Ottoline Leyser. Professor Leyser considers the problems that come from focussing on the origin of plants rather than their characteristics, and ponders on the alternatives open to the UK after Brexit.
#OttolineLeyser #GMcrops #GMO #PlanetGenetics #EuropeanCourtofJustice
2018-10-0120 minThe Life ScientificOttoline Leyser on how plants decide what to doTo the untrained eye, a plant's existence may seem rather uneventful. It spends its days rooted to the spot, seemingly at the mercy of its environment. Not so, plant biologist Ottoline Leyser explains to Jim Al-Khalili. Plants are intelligent creatures that possess a unique ability to adapt in ways we animals can only dream of. They can alter their entire body plan of roots and shoots, when required, in response to their surroundings. Now Director of the Sainsbury Laboratory & Professor of Plant Development at Cambridge University, Ottoline has spent her career unearthing the mysterious mechanisms...
2017-05-1627 minBBC Inside ScienceGM plants; Svalbard Seed Vault; Directed Evolution; Dolphin SnotThe topic of GM plants raises strong opinions and many questions. This week, the Royal Society published answers to some of those questions. Adam speaks to Professor Ottoline Leyser, plant science expert and Head of the Sainsbury Lab in Cambridge. She was involved in writing the responses and Adam quizzes her on the possible issues with GM crops.Institutes from around the world made deposits to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault this week. More than 8,000 varieties of crops from Germany, Thailand, New Zealand, and the World Vegetable Center arrived at the Vault, located on a remote Norwegian...
2016-05-2732 minBBC Inside ScienceGain-of-function research, Mindfulness, Women in science, Snake locomotionThis week in the US, public discussions are taking place into controversial Gain of Function research. Who should decide the limits of studies where scientists make new, deadlier viruses in the laboratory? Dr Filippa Lentzos, biosecurity expert from King's College, London, lists a litany of accidental security breaches from the past. Should we stop this kind of dangerous research, or encourage it, in the interests of national security?Mindfulness is a hot topic at the moment. As part of BBC School Report, students from Connaught School for Girls in Leytonstone have tested themselves to see whether meditation...
2016-03-1027 min
The Food ChainFood Technophobes v TechnophilesWho should decide whether a food-related technology is safe? We hear from Mike Mack, CEO of Syngenta, one of the world’s biggest agri-businesses and from Bart Staes, food spokesperson for the European Parliament's Greens Group.We look at the science behind crop farming, from genetically modified crops to pesticides. Professor Ottoline Leyser, director of the Sainsbury Laboratory at Cambridge University, explains how exactly a crop is genetically modified. And could some types of pesticides be harming bees?Are you a food technophobe or technophile? We get views from across the globe, from Nairobi to Ne...
2014-12-0526 min