Young Researchers
What is it?
Our Young Researchers programme is an online super-curricular programme for Year 10 students in which students can apply to participate in one of the six research projects that are running this year. Each project will have no more than ten students, and will be led by a Group Leader who will be an experienced PhD student, and will guide the group through ten online sessions which will be delivered between November and April. In these online sessions, you will learn from the Group Leader, and share your ideas with the other students in your research group. Between the sessions, you will be asked to complete some activities to prepare you for the next session.
Towards the end of the programme, you will prepare a presentation in response to the research project and the independent work that you have completed. You will then deliver this presentation to the rest of your research group at an in-person day at Fitzwilliam College on Saturday 12th April 2025. Your Group Leader will support you in preparing your presentation.
What subjects are available?
This year we will be running the following research projects. Click on each one to find out more about what you can expect to learn, and when the sessions will be running.
- Find Your Own Alien: Astrobiology and the Search for Life in the Universe
- Biblical Ways to Die
- Telling Textile Tales
- Dysregulated Immunity in Tumour Microenvironment
- The Role of Kisspeptin in Fertility and Neuroscience
- Music: Listening, Discussion, and Creative Practice
Who is it for?
This programme is for Year 10 students who are currently attending a state school in the UK. If the programme is over-subscribed, places will be allocated according to the information provided on the application form, as well as the widening participation criteria outlined below.
How can I apply?
In order to apply for a place, fill in the application form here. Make sure that you have read the relevant project briefs, meet any eligibility requirements, and are available for the session dates.
If you have any questions, please contact outreach@fitz.cam.ac.uk.
Widening participation criteria
In the event of over-subscription, places will be prioritised for students who meet any of the following criteria:
- Are care experienced
- Have been eligible for Free School Meals (at any point in the last six years)
- Are, or have been, an asylum seeker or refugee
- Have significant caring responsibilities
- Are estranged from close family members
- Live in an area of low progression to higher education (POLAR4)
- Live in an area of high deprivation (IMD)
- Attend a low-performing sixth form
- Attend/attended a low-performing GCSE school
- Are from an under-represented ethnic group, these include:
- Black African and Black Caribbean
- Pakistani and Bangladeshi
- Gypsy, Roma and Traveller
- Are from any background or region of the UK which is under-represented at the University of Cambridge
- Have had any other personal circumstances that have disrupted your education
This programme has been made possible through generous funding from the Isaac Newton Trust Widening Participation and Induction Fund.