Welcome to Caius Explore!

Caius Explore 2023 has closed for entries, but will reopen in 2024! Scroll down for previous tasks.

In the below video our Tutor for Admissions and Outreach, Dr Chris Scott, introduces our annual outreach programme aimed at helping students develop their super-curricular interests. Scroll down for more information, and the subject tasks!

Below you will find a selection of tasks and questions across 22 different subjects. They are aimed at helping you to develop your academic interests beyond your school curriculum. Not only is developing your academic interests one of the best things you can be doing to make yourself as competitive as possible as an applicant to Cambridge, but we also think it's a very good thing to do for its own sake!

That is the spirit in which all of these explorations have been set: we hope that they will be genuinely engaging, that they will encourage and help you to explore your academic interests, and most of all that they will be enjoyable.

We would love to see what you come up with in response to one (or more!) of the below tasks, if you would like to send it to us! If so, you can do that here, by 31st July 2023. We will pick our favourites and invite their authors to come to Caius to meet our Directors of Studies, students, have a tour, and more.

Please note that we will only consider submissions from students currently studying at UK state schools or colleges. The explorations have been designed for students in year 12 (or equivalent), but you are welcome to take part if you are in a younger year and we are happy to consider any such submissions. Collaborative submissions will also be considered in groups of no more than four. If you are submitting a collaborative project, please tick the "collaborative" box on the submission form and have each member of your group submit the form individually. This is so we have all the information we need about each of you. Members of the group do not need to attend the same school or college, but they do all need to attend a UK state school or college.

If you have any questions about the scheme or about specific explorations, please feel free to email schools@cai.cam.ac.uk.

Good luck and enjoy exploring!

The subjects

Below is a list of the explorations running this year. Click on the links to open a pdf document which will set you your task. Short descriptions of each exploration are provided below each link.

Unless specific directions on format/word limit are given in an individual task, there are no restrictions on the length or nature of your submission.

Anglo-Saxon, Norse & Celtic
Take a look at some manuscripts! How is Old English different from the English we speak today?

Archaeology
Describe how you might excavate a grave or burial, and explore what it can tell us about the people of the past!

Computer Science
Design a new “smart” product to join the “internet of things”.

Economics
Are financial crises inherent to modern economic growth?

Education
Should genetics research have an impact on educational policy?

Engineering & Chemical Engineering
Examine the food supply in the UK. How should we source our food?

English
Does what the author “meant” matter to our study of literary texts?

Geography
Does it matter if we fail to limit global warming to 1.5⁰C above pre-industrial levels?

History
Think about a particular object from history, and write about it!

History of Art
Why does an object, building or artwork look the way it does?

Human, Social & Political Sciences
Are you ready for fieldwork? Study the social life of your family/friends in this exploration.

Land Economy
Do people make places or do places make people?

Law
There has been no Law task set by the Directors of Studies. If you're interested in Law, try looking at Philosophy (a question about ethics), Land Economy (a Law-heavy degree) or other social sciences like Economics or Human, Social & Political Sciences.

Linguistics
How do words and phrases change in meaning or significance over time?

Mathematics
Can AI help us with mathematical proofs?

Medicine
Is modern living harmful to human health?

Modern & Medieval Languages
Write an essay about your response to a work of literature or visual art.

Music
Try composing a piece for a melody instrument!

Biological Natural Sciences
How is multi-cellular life achieved and sustained?

Physical Natural Sciences
How will quantum technology have changed our world by 2100?

Philosophy
Are moral values objective or subjective?

Psychology
Imagine you are an experimental psychologist working for a drink company. Can you determine how to change the recipe without it being detectable to the human senses?

Theology, Religion & Philosophy of Religion
Can we be objective when arguing for the existence or non-existence of God or gods?

Whilst you browse the tasks, have a look at our video about the scheme and hear from some of 2021's participants: