The Darwin-Hamied Centre at Christ’s College, Cambridge is announced.
Thanks to a generous donation by the Yusuf and Farida Hamied Foundation, the Centre will promote impactful research at the intersection of biodiversity science, conservation and economics.
The Darwin-Hamied Centre, based in Christ’s College, will host two senior Research Fellows for five years to begin in late 2025, and two PhD students who will begin their research in October 2026.
The founding director is Christ’s Fellow Prof. Daniel Field, Professor of Vertebrate Palaeontology in the Department of Earth Sciences and Strickland Curator of Ornithology at the Museum of Zoology.
Professor Field said:
'This is an exciting opportunity for Christ’s College to be at the forefront of building new connections between biodiversity science and economics at a time when Earth’s biodiversity faces ever-increasing pressure from humanity.'
Dr Hamied said:
As the college of evolutionary biologist Charles Darwin, Christ’s is a fitting home for this vital research to understand and preserve our planet’s biodiversity. I am proud that the Darwin-Hamied will be founded at Christ’s and keenly anticipate its achievements over the next five years.
Lord McDonald of Salford, Master of Christ’s College, said:
Lady Margaret Beaufort founded Christ’s 520 years ago as a centre of education and research. I am proud that Dr Yusuf Hamied has chosen Christ’s to host this important research centre.
Applications for the Senior Research Fellowships - one in Biodiversity and one in Demography - are open. The Darwin-Hamied Centre will be officially launched by Dr Hamied on 2 July 2025.