The changes in the way we work arising from the coronavirus pandemic affected research and tuition as much as anything else and online meeting tools became part of the essential software needed for conducting PhD research at Cambridge.  Where meeting in person is not possible, the official meeting tool is Microsoft Teams, which is provided alongside Office 365, but many research groups also conduct seminars and deliver lectures using Zoom.  It is highly likely you will be using both regularly to communicate with fellow students, as well as advisors, tutors, and other academic staff.  In this section you'll find the information on how to download and access both.

You will log in to Teams using your University of Cambridge Microsoft account credentials: your CRSid email alongside your Raven password.  By going directly to the Teams portal, it will prompt you to either download the correct app, or continue using the web app, depending on whether you are using Windows, Mac, or Linux.  There is also an app available for both iOS and Android, if you would rather use your phone.

In addition to being able to attend meetings, seminars, and supervisions using links sent to you, Microsoft Teams allows you to set up these yourself, through its calendar section, and has the entire Cambridge address book included.  Furthermore, Teams is integrated with other Microsoft 365 products, collating everything you need to collaborate with groups of colleagues in one online workspace.

Your institution and college will also have their own Teams sites, of which you should have been automatically made a member. One you have accessed Teams, you will see it listed under the Teams icon in the menu.

For a brief but detailed introduction action to Teams, this Welcome to Teams video is a useful resource.

Zoom can be downloaded directly from their website and is available for Windows, MacOS, and most Linux distributions (including Debian, Ubuntu, Mint, Arch, and more).  As with Teams, Zoom also has an app available for both iOS and Android, if you would rather use your phone.

Zoom is free to download and also free for users wishing to only access the meetings of others and to set up short meetings of their own.  A premium account can be purchased to enable features like social media streaming but for most a free account should suffice and many research groups have premium accounts for any events requiring those additional features.

Support for Teams is available through the University Information Services (UIS), however we also recommend you use the wealth of online resources to help troubleshoot. Start by accessing the Microsoft Teams at Cambridge Hub, a central online service where news updates, service information, shared learnings, and tutorials are posted regularly. 

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