A Cambridge PhD student has gone missing in Cairo, prompting calls for the Egyptian government to help locate him.

Giulio Regeni, who is Italian, “mysteriously disappeared” on the evening of 25th January, according to a statement published on the Italian Foreign Ministry’s website.

Regeni is a member of Girton College, and is based at POLIS, the University of Cambridge’s Department of Politics and International studies.

Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni has spoken to his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry, and has asked him “to do his utmost to trace the Italian student and provide any possible information on his condition”, the statement says.

The Italian Embassy in Cairo has said it is following the disappearance “with great concern”, and is “keeping [in] close contact” with Regeni’s parents.

A spokesperson for the university has confirmed that they are aware of his disappearance.

Speaking to Cambridge News, they said: "On behalf of the college and the university our thoughts are with Giulio, his family and friends, and currently we are waiting to hear from the Italian authorities."