What is the Whiston Society?

The Whiston Society is Clare College's science society. It is for anyone interested in scientific topics - you don't have to be a NatSci, or even from Clare! We arrange talks, formals and social events, swaps with other college societies, and of course - the event of the year - our annual dinner.

The Whiston Society is one of the largest college science societies at Cambridge. Among our guest speakers were Dr Jon Wheat, talking about biomechanics and improving an athlete’s performance, Professor Bill Harris, talking about the brain, and for our annual dinners, Sir John Gurdon, a Nobel Prize-winning biologist, and Sir Mark Walport, former director of the Wellcome Trust and Government Chief Scientific Adviser.

This year, the Whiston Society's aim is to both continue to provide interesting in-person talks and formals, as long as regulations allow, and to provide alternative means of building a community of scientists and science enthusiasts at Clare, such as through online pub quizzes, opportunities for science communication, and a podcast series.

Our mission

We are a Clare College student run science society offering a number of talks each term given by academics and specialists in their field from across the UK. We aim to encourage scientists from all areas of the Natural Sciences Tripos at Clare and across the University to attend.