EFA Oxford goes to Oxford University
A large group of students from EF Academy Oxford visited the Oxford University Open Day, an opportunity to see several parts of the university up close and meet professors and undergraduates. Oxford is one of the best universities in the world, a combination of research-intensive faculties and the residential and teaching colleges making very different from most universities.
First, there was a tour of Brasenose College led by Immy, a current Law student – viewing the hall, common rooms, student bedrooms and the most important space of all, the library. The students then split into different groups to explore different colleges and university faculties. One group got to see Balliol College and attend a talk on Politics, Philosophy, and Economics. Dr. Daniel Susskind, previously Kennedy Scholar at Harvard and adviser in the 10 Downing St. Policy unit, talked about his research into technology, especially artificial intelligence and its future effects on employment.
Other students went to the Medical Sciences Faculty to discover the detail of the Oxford Medicine Degree and observe a mock interview conducted by Prof. Chris Norbury, a researcher on the genetics of cancer and Dr. Jeremy Taylor, who works on the central nervous system, especially vision. Students also attended faculty events in Mathematics, Physics, Experimental Psychology and visited several other colleges.
Hear from some of the students about the experience:
“It was fantastic to see the medical interview, I got to understand how they ask the questions and I saw that it will be possible for me to give good answers. The current students were able to tell us all about life in Oxford, the tutorial system and other opportunities such as internships outside the degree programme.”
– Ana Júlia
“It was really cool to see the blackboard Einstein wrote on when he gave a lecture on cosmology in 1931”
– Laurin
“I was really impressed with how Dr. Susskind was passionate and able to convey his ideas in Economics, and what the cutting edge issues are facing governments and companies”
– Mastura
The EF Academy students were strongly inspired to be part of the Oxford University academic community in the future. Each year, as part of the school’s Pathway Activities, all of our students are able to attend a number of lectures given by Oxford university teachers and researchers.