In this episode of Voices of Mathematics, our podcast featuring conversations with members of the Mathematics Faculty at the University of Cambridge, we talk to Professor Colm-cille Caulfield about his time as Head of the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics.
After five and a half years, Professor Colm-cille Caulfield stepped down as Head of the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics (DAMTP) here in Cambridge from 1 October 2025, handing over the role to Professor Nick Dorey.
Colm took up the role in January 2020, just months before the country was plunged into lockdown during the COVID pandemic. But as well as steering DAMTP during international crisis, his time in post has seen a huge range of innovation, growth and development. This includes the introduction of new taught courses (including three new Masters programmes) and the recruitment of outstanding colleagues at all career stages, working on exciting and diverse fields.
We talked to him to learn more about the major challenges and proud moments of this unique job, what makes DAMTP a special place to work and study, and what advice he would pass on to a new head of department.
The podcast is presented by Marianne Freiberger, Editor of Plus (plus.maths.org) and Julia Hawkins, both from the outreach, engagement and communications team at the Mathematics Faculty.
You can read more about our interview with Colm in our accompanying feature article.
You can listen to the podcast using the player above, and you can listen and subscribe to our Voices of Mathematics podcast through Apple Podcasts, YouTube, Spotify and through most other podcast providers via Podbean.