Second successful year of Physics & Engineering outreach residential

Following a popular pilot of the Physics & Engineering at Magdalen Programme last year, the Magdalen Outreach team once again ran this residential event in August 2024.

39 Year 12 students from state schools across the UK came to Magdalen for three days, to experience a taste of being a Physics or Engineering undergraduate.

The participants all came from various disadvantaged backgrounds, including 9 from our partner charity the Social Mobility Foundation. The Outreach team selected the participants from more than 230 applications.

Physics Fellow Dr Alexy Karenowska, Engineering Fellow Professor Robin Cleveland, and Dr Chenying Liu led and delivered the academic content. 4 current Magdalen undergraduates studying Physics or Engineering, supported the programme. Outreach Officers Nuala Marshall and Catriona Macnab planned and co-ordinated the event.

The Programme

The programme participants enjoyed a tour of College with current undergraduate students, taster lectures and workshops. They also received guidance sessions by Outreach staff and the Fellows on the various stages of the Oxford admissions process.

The workshops were hands-on, practical experiences. In Dr Karenowska’s session, the participants built miniature working radios, which they could then take home and keep. In Professor Cleveland’s session, the students experimented with acoustic waves and determined the resonance frequencies of blowing into bottles of water. And in Dr Liu’s workshop, students learned about how origami can be used to get solar panels into space.

I particularly enjoyed Day 2, where we engaged in group activities relating to the taster lectures from the day before. I found this both fun and educational, as well as a good opportunity to see what a tutorial may be like with the tutors. On Day 2 I also found it extremely useful to be able to talk directly with the Physics Fellows about questions I had surrounding applying to the Physics course. - Millie, 2024 participant

The participants also watched a demonstration interview, thanks to student helpers Jasmine and Jian Hui, who kindly agreed to be the interviewees. Participants saw how questions are asked at interview, and received advice about how to prepare.

The most useful part of the programme was the interview workshop since it removed some of my misconceptions about interviews at Oxford and helped me know what to expect in the future and what types of questions could be asked. - Albin, , 2024 participant

On their final night, the participants enjoyed a formal dinner in the Terry Newport Room. They spent the evening in conversation with the new friends they’d made, while experiencing one of the traditions they may encounter as Oxford students. Dr Karenowska and Dr Liu also attended, giving students the chance to converse with them further and ask more questions.

I had a fantastic time on the residential. I got to see what Oxford as a city was like as well as the university system too. I am definitely set on applying to Oxford now and without this residential I would still be unsure. I made connections with fellow students on the residential. I really loved how jam packed the days were, even though that made me quite tired! It was truly eye opening for me. - Louis, 2024 participant