Transformative ideas, innovative thinking, and the freedom of enquiry that gives rise to them, lie at the heart of Cambridge’s excellence. But in order to take place and take root – to synthesize with existing scholarship and ensure that the ways in which knowledge is produced remain alive to the present – academic innovation needs nurturing. Indeed, at a time of stunningly rapid change on a global scale, there is a pressing need for fresh approaches that advance and transcend the boundaries of discipline. This is what CRASSH, Cambridge’s renowned Centre for Research in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, exists to do. Both a ‘convener’ and an incubator, CRASSH provides the intellectual space and, now, a state-of-the-art place, underpinned by expert academic and practical support, necessary to explore new academic terrain in a collaborative environment. Through Research Groups of graduate students and academics; Fellowships that provide vital early career opportunities to talented researchers from across the world; and through its flagship Conference Programme, CRASSH enables academics to cross boundaries of discipline, geography, institution and of academe itself, bringing into the process leading artists, writers, film-makers, civil servants, and representatives of government, NGOs and the business sectors.