Centre for the Study of Existential Risk

📢 Closing Sunday 8th February: Assistant Professor in Global Risk and Resilience!

Have questions about the role, the recruitment process, or how to apply? Visit our FAQs to find out more ⬇️
www.cser.ac.uk/people/join-...

There's still time to apply for the MPhil in Global Risk and Resilience!
We welcome applicants from diverse disciplines & backgrounds with a passion for tackling global challenges.

Application deadline: 5 March 2026
Find out more: buff.ly/Tc3986i

📢 Last week to apply: Assistant Professor in Global Risk and Resilience

CSER is looking for an Assistant Professor to lead research in global risk and resilience & contribute to teaching, assessment & admissions for CSER's MPhil.
Deadline: 8 February 2026
Apply here: buff.ly/vD7LEnz

Educating AI developers to prevent harmful path dependency in AI resort-to-force decision making The integration of AI technology into resort-to-force decision making would give machines influence over decisions determining the life or death of countless people. Despite this prospective impact...

This is the 2nd of a 3 part series on "Developers, Integrators, Users".
Read part 1 here: buff.ly/KyJUDdr

Integrators at war: Mediating in AI-assisted resort-to-force decisions | Cambridge Forum on AI: Law and Governance | Cambridge Core Integrators at war: Mediating in AI-assisted resort-to-force decisions - Volume 1

A new paper by Maurice Chiodo, Dennis Müller and Mitja Sienknecht explores the role of integrators in AI-assisted resort-to-force decision making.
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buff.ly/ofD4bzg

📣 Cambridge Seminar Series on Law and the Climate Crisis – Lent Term 2026
6 , 13, 20 & 27 Feb. Dr Ugljesa Grusic, Dr Hao Zhang, Dr Pedro Schilling de Carvalho & Dr Franziska Arnold-Dwyer
Free reg: climatehughes.org/the-cambridg...
@harrovanasselt.bsky.social @cambridgezero.bsky.social

Thank you to Myrle Ballard, for joining CSER on Monday to explore how Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Indigenous science can provide critical insights into understanding extreme events.

Thank you to everyone who joined the seminar!

Have questions about the MPhil in Global Risk and Resilience?

Our FAQs cover key information about how to apply, funding and what to expect from the course.
👉 Visit the FAQs on our website to learn more.
buff.ly/G9bamOj

Stop admiring the problem: let’s get to work on reducing catastrophic risk A response to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 2026 Doomsday clock announcement from the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk at the University of Cambridge In a year when the Doomsday Clock ...

The Doomsday Clock is now 85 seconds to midnight.

In our response to the @thebulletin.org announcement, we reflect how new forms of global cooperation are essential for navigating today’s risks and how meaningful progress is still possible.
Read the full response below ⬇️
bit.ly/49KSNOC

Are we safer this year than we were last year? Tomorrow, watch the 2026 Doomsday Clock announcement to hear what experts think.

Tomorrow, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists' Science and Security Board will reveal the 2026 Doomsday Clock time.

The announcement will be livestreamed at this link and on the Bulletin's YouTube channel: buff.ly/BGu0Zse

We'd like to welcome Anthony Torres-Ruesta to CSER as a new Research Associate!

His work examines the challenges & dual-use implications of AI for pandemic preparedness and response. His research sits at the intersection of infectious disease science, global health, and biosecurity.
buff.ly/L9Tdi9f

How to read the Doomsday Clock The Doomsday Clock depicts how close humanity is to armageddon – but where did it come from, how do you read its time, and what can we learn from it?

On 27th Jan, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists will announce the 2026 Doomsday Clock time.
Curious about what the clock means? Read SJ Beard’s 2025 article "How to Read the Doomsday Clock" to learn about its history, how it is set, and what it can tell us about global risk.
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Interested in researching and teaching global risk & resilience at the University of Cambridge?
ITH is recruiting an Assistant Professor to join CSER to lead research & contribute to teaching on the MPhil in Global Risk and Resilience.

Deadline: 8 February 2026
Apply here: buff.ly/Fhnd0pW

Very exciting to see our study on #wastewatersurveillance referenced in the @financialtimes.com highlighting the value of near-source, building-level surveillance alongside national systems.
#episky
#IDsky
www.ft.com/content/b498...

New national network Evidence Exchange to enable civil and public servants to learn and connect with research organisations - Centre for Science and Policy New national network Evidence Exchange to enable civil and public servants to learn and connect with research organisations.

📢 New national network connecting civil and public servants with research organisations.

The Evidence Exchange project, led by CSaP, will establish UK-wide infrastructure for Policy to Research opportunities. The consortium includes Alexandru Marcoci from CSER.
Read more here:

Visual methodologies in documenting community knowledge in planning - CRASSH Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities

Open call 📣

CRASSH's Community Design Lab & the Cambridge Room invite artists and collectives to apply for a £2,000 commission to support a project that explores how Cambridge is understood through its social, spatial, historical, and cultural layers

Apply by 19 Jan
https://bit.ly/3XDXymf

A snowy start to the New Year in Cambridge!❄️

We're pleased to welcome Emma Patten as our new Postgraduate Co-ordinator!
Emma has experience in further and higher education providing academic support and programme administration. She holds an undergraduate degree in International Studies from the University of Leeds.

YouTube video by Postgraduate Open Day PGOD 2025: Global Risk and Resilience

Watch the recording here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPs3...

Curious about the MPhil in Global Risk and Resilience?
Watch a recording of our virtual open day with course Co-Directors Alexandru Marcoci and Charlotte Hammer! The session covers the course structure, core and optional modules, how to apply and more.

Link to video below⬇️

Vacancies - CRASSH Come and work with us - the latest vacancies at CRASSH

📢 New job alert: The Centre for Pandemic Risk Management are recruiting a PDRA to lead a project applying machine learning & bioinformatics approaches to the prediction of pandemic risks.

Deadline: 7 January 2026
Find out more and apply here: www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/about/vacanc...

Relevant specialist skills may include risk identification and assessment, systems modelling, participatory methods and risk mitigation policy, with interests in areas such as emerging technologies, global systems breakdown, disaster risk management, or international security.

CSER is looking for an Assistant Professor in Global Risk and Resilience!

The role holder will lead research relevant to the study of global risk and resilience and contribute to teaching, assessment, and admissions for CSER's MPhil.

Deadline: 8 February 2026
Apply and learn more: bit.ly/4j3PZyT

Stopping the Clock on catastrophic AI risk AI is already sufficiently robust that it introduces new global risks and exacerbates existing threats. Its development is being driven by some of the most powerful companies on Earth, and the technol...

An honour to provide a paper for the Bulletin's 80th anniversary, on the challenges AI poses for catastrophic risk the coming decade. An exercise in navigating uncertainty and the collingridge dilemma, with the stakes likely rising with each passing year.
thebulletin.org/premium/2025...

Write an essay to win £500 📝
Just over a week to go to enter your essay proposals to the Gordon Duff Prize.
This opportunity is open to all University of Cambridge members.
Deadline for proposals: 19 December 2025
Find out more: https://loom.ly/xZZOdOc

🎄The CSER team started the holiday season yesterday with our Christmas lunch!

Read Vanessa's full bio here:
www.cser.ac.uk/team/vanessa...

We're pleased to welcome Vanessa Burns as a Teaching Associate on our MPhil programme!

Dr Vanessa Burns is a political scientist with research interests in resilience and adaptation to climate change, extreme climate change, environmental governance, and environmental justice.

Interested? Find out more information about the MPhil here: www.cser.ac.uk/education/mp...

The session also marked several firsts:
• the first year this elective ran in the MPhil programme
• the first university-level UNSC simulation on AMOC collapse
• the first time a multilateral response to this risk, and through the UN system, was formulated