Kavli Oxford Director Professor Dame Carol Robinson appears on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs

Kavli Oxford Director Professor Dame Carol Robinson appears on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs

Professor Dame Carol Robinson, Director of the Kavli Institute for Nanoscience Discovery at the University of Oxford and Dr Lee’s Professor of Physical Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry, shares her life story through music in the next episode of BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, airing on Sunday 10 August 2025.

In the programme, Dame Carol reflects on the people, places and pivotal moments that shaped her remarkable journey — from leaving school at 16 to work at Pfizer, to becoming a world-leading chemist and the first female Professor of Chemistry at both Oxford and Cambridge.

Her eight chosen tracks take listeners from her early days discovering a love for chemistry, through decades of pioneering research in mass spectrometry, to moments of joy and challenge.

Speaking about the experience, she said:

“These aren’t just songs; they’re memories from my life. Each one immediately evokes recollections of the friends, family, colleagues, and research groups who’ve supported me along the way. I hope I haven’t forgotten anyone.”

Tune in to hear her conversation with Lauren Laverne on BBC Radio 4 or listen online: bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002gzqj

Since April 2021, Oxford University's KAVLI Institute for Nanoscience Discovery is proudly serving as a hub for research groups from seven different departments spanning both the medical and physical sciences, including Professor Carol Robinson's Group from the Department of Chemistry.