Professor Dame Carol Robinson, scientist

Sep 7, 2025

Professor Dame Carol Robinson, the first female professor of Chemistry at both Cambridge and Oxford, shares her groundbreaking journey in science. She discusses her childhood fascination with nature and genetics, which led her to mass spectrometry. Carol emphasizes the importance of taking unconventional paths in science, the emotional complexities of balancing career and motherhood, and her advocacy for studying proteins in their natural forms. With reflections on personal achievements and resilience, she inspires with her unique perspective on navigating academia.

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INSIGHT

Music Powers Her Running Headspace

Carol uses music like 'Girl on Fire' to motivate runs and tackle difficult moments.
She pairs music with physical exercise to create empowering headspace for problem solving.

ANECDOTE

A Watch Marks Early Recognition

Carol's mother bought her a watch to mark a Royal Society Research Fellowship, a cherished memento.
The gift symbolised familial recognition and remains meaningful to Carol today.

ANECDOTE

Childhood Menagerie Sparked Curiosity

Carol built a childhood menagerie of mice, rabbits, guinea pigs and hamsters and documented their crossings.
She used these experiments to explore genetics and nurture her curiosity about nature.

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Professor Dame Carol Robinson is a scientist who was the first female professor of Chemistry at both Cambridge and Oxford Universities. She has been awarded scientific prizes from all over the world for her pioneering work studying complex macromolecules using an instrument called the mass spectrometer.

Carol was drawn to science as a child growing up in Folkstone where she started collecting flowers and shells before moving on to breeding mice because she was fascinated by their genetic makeup. She grew to love chemistry in particular and pored over the periodic table in her bedroom.

She left school at 16 and joined Pfizer, the pharmaceutical and biomedical company, as a laboratory technician. At Pfizer she began working with the mass spectrometer which measures the mass of all the atoms in a particular sample. She studied for an ONC and HNC in Chemistry in the evenings and at weekends and later gained a PHD in Chemistry from Cambridge University.

She was appointed DBE in 2013 for services to science and industry. In 2021 she founded the Kavli Institute for NanoScience Discovery, an interdisciplinary science institute dedicated to studying structures and materials at an ultra-small scale.

Carol has three children from her first marriage and lives in Oxfordshire with her second husband David.

DISC ONE: Girl on Fire - Alicia Keys DISC TWO: She’s Leaving Home - The Beatles DISC THREE: Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet Suite No. 2, Op. 64b: I. Montagues and Capulets - Dance of the Knights. Performed by London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Claudio Abbado DISC FOUR: Sonnet - The Verve DISC FIVE: Wild Horses - The Rolling Stones DISC SIX: Golden Brown - The Stranglers DISC SEVEN: Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin DISC EIGHT: The Scientist - Coldplay

BOOK CHOICE: The Herbal Apothecary: 100 Medicinal Herbs and How to Use Them by JJ Pursell LUXURY ITEM: A portable mass spectrometer CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley