Two Gates Cambridge Scholars and an interviewer have earned promotions at the University of Cambridge in the last month
Two Gates Cambridge Scholars and an interviewer on the Biological Sciences panel have been promoted by the University of Cambridge in the last month.
Professor Riikka Hofmann [2001] has been promoted to a Professorship at Grade 12 in the Faculty of Education while Ramit Debnath [2018] has been promoted to Associate Professor in the Department of Architecture.
Professor Hofmann is a Professor of the Learning Sciences in the Faculty of Education where she leads the Research Strand “Dialogue Professional Change and Leadership” in the Faculty’s Cambridge Educational Dialogue Research Group (CEDiR). She holds the Title of Docent in Psychology of Education at the University of Helsinki and is co-founder of Cambridge University Medical Education Group (CUMEG) based at the University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine. Riikka’s research addresses the well-known challenge that impacting on professional practice through research and education is very difficult even when practitioners desire change.
Ramit Debnath is a University Associate Professor and Executive Director of the Centre for Human-Inspired AI (CHIA). Ramit is an elected member of the Methods Advisory Group (MAG) of the UK Government. He leads the Cambridge Collective Intelligence and Design Group and climaTRACES Lab, and has a visiting academic role at Caltech, where he co-leads the Climate and Social Intelligence Lab. He is a faculty affiliate of the Earth System Science, Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, leading the Stanford-Cambridge Inclusive Ordering Initiative. He is the Maths and Programming teaching lead for the DesignTripos course, and AI for Sustainability Module leader for the MPhil in Human-Inspired AI (CHIA).
Dr Debnath’s research involves designing responsible and human-centric AI systems to advance climate action and environmental sustainability at urban and regional scale.
Professor Uta Paszkowski – who is on the Gates Cambridge interview panel for Biological Sciences – has also recently been appointed to the Russell R. Geiger Chair in Crop Science, a prestigious academic chair within the University’s Department of Plant Sciences that serves as a cornerstone for cutting-edge agricultural research, sustainability and global food security. Established in October 2020, the professorship aims to develop translational crop science programmes focused on finding alternatives to chemical fertilisers, minimising crop losses sustainably and improving photosynthesis to maximise grain quality and yield.
As part of this role, Professor Paszkowski formally becomes Director of the Crop Science Centre (CSC) where she has been acting Director since September 2024.
She was also appointed a Fellow of the Royal Society, the UK’s national academy of sciences and the oldest science academy in continuous existence [https://www.plantsci.cam.ac.uk/news/cambridge-plant-scientists-elected-fellows-royal-society-2026], in May.
Professor Paszkowski is Head of the Cereal Symbiosis group at CSC. She is also team leader at the Centre for Sustainable Resource Science (CSRS) at RIKEN Yokohama, where she directs the RIKEN-Cambridge Joint Crop Symbiosis research team.
Her research investigates the molecular mechanisms underlying arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) symbioses in rice and maize, focusing on how these cereal crops form beneficial relationships with soil fungi. This natural partnership allows fungi to live inside plant cells. The plant provides carbon to the fungus in exchange for essential soil minerals, which can significantly improve crop nutrition.
By uncovering the genetic signals and communication rules that control this exchange, her group aims to help farmers harness this natural partnership to build sustainable agriculture systems worldwide.
Professor Paszkowski’s contributions to the field have earned her international recognition, including memberships in the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) and the German Academy of Sciences (Leopoldina). Most recently, she was elected as an International Member of the National Academy of Sciences, USA in 2025 and a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2026.
