Posted: 25th July 2011

This week the Department is playing host to 20 young people participating in the UNIQ Computer Science summer school.  The UNIQ Summer Schools provide an opportunity for academically gifted students, who have a passion for learning, to discover what it is like to be an undergraduate at the University of Oxford.

The successful applicants are undertaking a week-long intensive programme of academic study here at the Department.  The Computer Science stream introduces some of the material that a Computer Science student would study as part of a degree at Oxford: participants attend lectures given by Oxford tutors and participate in practical computing sessions where they have the chance to try some programming, using Maths learnt at A Level.  This year’s programme includes sessions on cryptography, Fibonacci and programming in Haskell.

Existing undergraduate students are on hand as mentors to guide participants through their experience of living and studying in College. Throughout the week there will also be workshops on the application process, UCAS, interviews and much more. Evenings are being spent socialising with new-found friends, through a wide range of activities. 

A participant from last year’s Summer School stated:

“Quite simply, one of the best experiences of my life. The academic content we followed in the computer science course was extremely interesting and our lectures/practical followed a natural progression of skill and adeptness - which culminated in a very stimulating practical... Thanks for such a magnificent time in Oxford!”

The summer school is free to attend: transport, accommodation in College and meals are provided free of charge to the successful students, together with the academic course and evening activities.

This year the UNIQ team received 3,400 applications for the 650 places available across the subject streams. This annual scheme is open to high-performing UK state school students studying in the lower sixth at the time of applying. 

Further information: www.ox.ac.uk/uniq