After a short period as a postdoctoral research fellow investigating cardiovascular disease at the University of Sussex, Cardew decided to work in science publishing.[6] She worked as an editor for the Novartis Foundation symposia series, supporting biomedical researchers in leading proposals for future events.[6] Cardew works at the intersection of society, culture, science and the arts.[5][8][2]
Cardew was elected President of EuroScience in 2006, on their executive committee in 2018 and as Vice President of their governing board in 2019.[1][9] She serves as Chair of the EuroScience Open Forum Advisory Board, through which she devices the host cities of their annual events.[10][11] She serves on the advisory board of the European Research Council science communication campaign ERC=Science2.[12] Cardew has served as judge for the international science communication competition Falling Walls.[13]
Cardew joined the Royal Institution in 2000, where she led their education and public engagement programmes.[14] In 2011 she became their first Director of Science and Education, in which capacity she oversaw science education and policy work. She represented the Royal Institution at a Government of the United Kingdom roundtable on effective ways to encourage girls to choose physics, engineering and mathematics.[15] She was appointed a professor of Science, Culture and Society in 2015.[16] Cardew has supported almost twenty years of the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures.[17] The storyline of each lecture series typically took around four months to develop.[18] She left the Royal Institution in October 2019.
