Since joining the UK Young Academy, one thing has stood out to us: the incredible depth and diversity within this community. With over 140 members, each of us brings a unique story, unexpected career paths, and perspectives that challenge and inspire us. These are not always stories you can capture in a short biography or a quick networking conversation, so we decided to create a space to explore them.
Why we started this podcast
As co-hosts of the new UK Young Academy podcast, we aimed to move beyond the polished website bios summarising our peers’ careers and uncover the real stories. We wanted to explore the motivations, challenges, and aspirations that shape the work and lives of members.
As Wenmiao reflects in the final episode: “It’s been incredibly rewarding to have those one-to-one conversations with our guests and learn what truly drives them.”
What we discovered
Despite the diversity of backgrounds, common threads emerged in every conversation. Each guest shared a determination to tackle big challenges and a willingness to take risks. Many spoke candidly about setbacks and the resilience required to keep going. This ethos of persistence, adaptability, and collaboration clearly runs through the membership of the UK Young Academy.
The theme of openness also continued to shine through. Each interviewee appeared to have a genuine appetite for collaboration across disciplines and engagement with ideas and approaches beyond their own fields.
Another observation? Everyone seems to keep a notebook close at hand. It’s a small detail, but it reflects something important to our peers: creativity and inspiration often strike unexpectedly, and being ready to capture those ideas matters.
What to expect in season one
Over the coming months, we’ll release six episodes, twice monthly, featuring conversations that explore themes such as:
- Collaboration across boundaries – navigating between academia and industry to create lasting impact and why breaking down silos is essential.
- Amplifying early career voices to ensure that early career thinkers and practitioners have a seat at the decision-making table.
- Turning failure into learning – reframing setbacks as opportunities for growth, both in academia and beyond.
Through all these discussions runs a shared belief: the challenges worth solving require all of us to work together, across disciplines and sectors.
Wenmiao summarised, “Sometimes progress takes time, especially with voluntary groups. But that spirit of collaboration — that desire to ensure every voice is heard — is what makes it worthwhile.”
We invite you to join us as we delve deeper into what the UK Young Academy is all about and celebrate the remarkable individuals who make up this community.
Where to listen
You can listen to the UK Young Academy podcast on all major streaming platforms, including:
Season 1 line-up
- Collaboration in action: Keri Wong and the power of community
- Fatemeh Shahbazi on innovation, education, and empowerment
- Building diverse communities with Denis Newman-Griffis
- Nikita Hari on embracing failure and taking risks
- Sandeep Sandhu: How cross-sectoral collaboration can solve our biggest challenges
- Alistair McConnell and Wenmiao Yu talk all things UK Young Academy
Watch the teaser
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