A series of conversations with distinguished academics hosted by Professor Dame Athene Donald.

What do academics actually do? What motivates them to get out of bed each morning and to deliver what is — or in many cases what isn't - expected of them?

For a student setting out, the life of senior academics may seem very mysterious, particularly as many may end up taking on responsibilities and activities far removed from where an individual started. The trajectory from student to senior academic is rarely a straight line, with twists, setbacks, time out and/or opportunities (taken or declined) all to be combined with a personal life.

This series of conversations aims to explore the individual paths of some eminent academics who have made it to the top in their own particular ways. How have they found their own solutions to 'life', what tips do they wish they'd been given earlier on, and what might they view, retrospectively, with most pleasure or regret?

The second in the second series of conversations will be Alice Roberts — anatomist, anthropologist, broadcaster and Professor of Public Engagement in Science at the University of Birmingham.

Find out more about this series at: www.chu.cam.ac.uk/conversations