Caius Explore 2023 launched

  • 23 March 2023
  • 2 minutes

Caius Explore is an outreach initiative to support students develop their super-curricular interests which launches for the third year today (Thursday 23 March).

Zameer Shahpurwala (Natural Sciences (Physical) 2022) took part in the scheme when he was in Year 12 at school in Kingston, southwest London. Now a student at Gonville & Caius College, Zameer shared his experience of Caius Explore. For more details, visit the dedicated page on our website: Caius Explore | Gonville & Caius (cam.ac.uk)

How did you come across Caius Explore?

I had attended online open days and saw a very nice video of Caius, which caught my attention. So later when I saw Caius was having an essay competition, Caius Explore, on their website, I thought it was a no-brainer to try out.

It was a question on how quantum technology could change the world by 2100. It was an interesting, broad question we could go into any way we liked. It allowed me to learn more about superconductors and solidify knowledge from school and other essays, as well as going far beyond the curriculum.

What was the task like and did it help your application?

Luckily, I was one of the fortunate winners. I got to come here and see the College, have a tour, eat in Hall, meet a NatSci DoS. Overall, it was really nice to see behind the wall and see what Cambridge was actually like!

The Cambridge application is so multifaceted. It was reassuring to have a bit of work you’re very proud of, that may also benefit your application.

I was asked about it in my interviews as an ice-breaker question. It was nice to talk about something I was comfortable with and enthusiastic about, which helped with the nerves and started the interview off well!

I’ve done some similar things in my courses, of course now much more in depth. But the task helped my wider knowledge and confirmed that I wanted to study physical NatSci.

Would you recommend Caius Explore to prospective applicants?

I recommended it to my best friend from school in the year after I did it, because he took a gap year. He did it last summer and now he’s also now coming to Caius! It’s fun, interesting and there’s nothing to lose!

Explore