Impact of giving

From bursaries, scholarships, and new academic posts to new initiatives, buildings and facilities, philanthropy ensures that we continue to lead and inspire the world in our teaching and research, nurturing exceptional minds and driving the discoveries of the future.

Impact of giving

From bursaries, scholarships, and new academic posts to new initiatives, buildings and facilities, philanthropy ensures that we continue to lead and inspire the world in our teaching and research, nurturing exceptional minds and driving the discoveries of the future.

Philanthropic impact stories

Find out how Cambridge is working to solve the challenges we face in today's world. None of the examples described here would be possible without Cambridge’s philanthropic supporters. Their philanthropy sets the brilliant minds working at Cambridge free to pursue new ideas and change the world.

decorative

Gates Cambridge Class of 2026

This year's scholars research everything from the treatment of Crimea’s Tatars to gravitational waves.
decorative

Cambridge's pop-up planetarium will take school pupils to the stars for free

New immersive experience will help University astronomers inspire the next generation of scientists.
Find out more
decorative

All roads lead to Widening Participation

Abigail Williams (Homerton 2022) firmly believes that education should be accessible to everyone. Inspired by her own experiences, she now aims to empower young minds and inform wider education policies.
Find out more
decorative

Artists for Kettle’s Yard

This new exhibition brings together more than 75 works gifted by leading modern and contemporary artists, including Antony Gormley, Lubaina Himid, Lucie Rie and Ai Weiwei, to support the Jim and Helen Ede Fund.
Find out more
decorative

Lucy Cavendish strengthens links with India after welcoming the new, dancing College President

Girish Menon has clocked up five months as the President of Lucy Cavendish College, a job that is “completely different” from his previous roles across four decades working in International Development.
Find out more

Read more impact stories

Gift announcements

Cambridge owes its world-leading excellence in research and teaching to the generosity of its supporters. Our history is synonymous with a history of far-sighted benefaction, and the same is as true today as it has ever been.

decorative

Cambridge to establish Rokos School of Government

Record-breaking donation will enable new School to prepare tomorrow’s leaders to tackle the world’s biggest problems.
decorative

Tech leader Niccolo de Masi delivers a quantum leap at Cambridge

Thanks to Niccolo de Masi (Clare 1998) and his visionary idea, Cambridge has recently launched a groundbreaking project.
Find out more
decorative

Lady Mireille Gillings renews generous Fellowship funding that supports public health researchers to develop leadership skills for real-world impact

Launched on 3 March through the Institut Pasteur and Pasteur Foundation, the 2026 Lady Mireille & Sir Dennis Gillings Global Public Health Fellowship is a distinguished two-year postdoctoral programme based at Institut Pasteur in Paris.
Find out more
decorative

Qube Research & Technologies supports new joint initiative across three leading universities to advance research in mathematics, AI and complex systems

The University of Cambridge is pleased to announce the launch of Cambridge x QRT Labs, part of a major new philanthropic partnership supported by Qube Research & Technologies (QRT) that brings together researchers from Cambridge, Imperial College London and the University of Oxford. 
Find out more
decorative

New applied quantum initiative to advance research translation at the University of Cambridge

Quantum technology research at Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory will benefit from a new collaboration with FormationQ, an independent platform for quantum adoption and application, to help speed translation of the University’s frontier research into real-world applications.
Find out more

Read more gift announcements

Donor stories

Discover why philanthropy matters and how it makes Cambridge better still. Hear from our donors about their philanthropic motivations and from those who have been supported by such gifts during their time at the University.

decorative

For the love of Peterhouse

Peterhouse, Cambridge’s oldest College, has seen waves of progress sweep through its halls in the past few decades. Sarah Ransome (Peterhouse 1987) and Sophia Ewulo (Peterhouse 1996) share their experiences of this time of transition and how, decades on, they have continued to champion progress as members of the Peterhouse Society Committee.
decorative

Visionary philanthropist Stephen Stahl invests in psychiatry’s future at Cambridge

An endowed professorship at the Cambridge Department of Psychiatry promises to pave the way for aspiring clinicians and researchers to do research that will ultimately illuminate the mysteries of mental illness and treatment for generations to come. Dr Stephen Stahl and his wife Shakila made the gift this year. 
Find out more
decorative

A powerful cycle of giving

Victoria Ayodeji’s (Queens’ 2018) experience with social mobility organisations began before she became a student at Cambridge. Victoria has made a career out of Social Impact and continues to inspire students across the country through her outreach work
Find out more
decorative

How ‘the business of philanthropy’ brought Peter Bennett full circle back to Cambridge

With the Bennett School of Public Policy newly launched, donor and leading light Peter Bennett (Churchill 1975, Economics) shares his philosophy of giving and his ambitions for the School's impact. 
Find out more
decorative

Life's rich tapestry at Christ's

How alumna volunteer Jennifer Haywood celebrates the past and contributes to the future.
Find out more

Read more testimonials

Legacy stories

decorative

Footsteps across the Land of Fire and Ice

How the Lasting Legacy of Dr Brian Dodsworth is inspiring a new generation of Icelandic Studies scholars.
Decorative

The art of giving: how legacies are helping widen access to art

At the University of Cambridge, our eight Museums and Botanic Garden are about far more than the pleasure and enjoyment of science and culture; they are tools for teaching, research, insight, and innovation.
Find out more
decorative

Angela and Derek Taunt: funding the future of Kettle’s Yard, from first Friends to legacy donor

Forty-two years ago, artist Angela Taunt and her husband Derek (Jesus 1936) led the setting up of the Friends of Kettle’s Yard, which is still going strong, financially supporting the gallery each year through its activities.
Find out more
decorative

Where the need is greatest: how a legacy is helping to uncover and build Black Cambridge narratives

To mark International Legacy Giving Day, we are pleased to share a story of a legacy gift which has helped promote race equality at the University of Cambridge
Find out more
decorative

The Youngs and the Whipple: An imaginative legacy from an unusual family that honours people, place, and mission

‘We all see the artefacts in a different light after hearing the stories behind them.’
Find out more

Read more stories