Competitions (STEM)

Here you can find the full details for every competition you can enter as part of the STEM strand of the Year 12 course.

With each session in the Year 12 course, we will include a competition for you to participate in, based on the Taster Lecture in that session. Some of these will be writing prompts, some will be problem questions and some will be creative assignments. After each session, you will find the associated ‘Going Further’ document, which contains full details of the competition for that session, alongside some further reading resources on that topic, on the STEM course content page, and also below.

All pupils enrolled on the Year 12 STEM course may participate in any of the competitions listed on this page.

How to enter

*If we do not receive a completed cover sheet with your entry, we will NOT be able to consider the entry.

Prizes

For each competition, up to 5 winning entries will each receive a £10 Amazon voucher. Each winning entry will also be published on the Year 12 STEM Competitions page about a week after each competition’s closing date.

Terms and Conditions

  1. You must complete the Competition Cover Sheet and submit it along with your entry to inspire@sjc.ox.ac.uk before the closing date. If we do not receive a completed cover sheet with your entry, we will NOT be able to consider the entry.
  2. The competition closes at 5pm on the deadline specified.
  3. The work you submit must be entirely your own and should be within the stated word limit. Please include your name on both the cover sheet AND the entry.
  4. Unless specified otherwise, written work and images should be submitted in Word or PDF format, and should be emailed as attachments. Please do NOT use file-sharing systems such as SharePoint or Google Docs.
  5. Competition winners will be contacted via email about two weeks after the competition’s closing date. The following prizes will be awarded:
    1. a. Up to 5 top entries: £10 Amazon gift voucher, entry listed on Inspire Digital

Session 1: General Intelligence – From Biology to Minds and Machines

This competition is based on Dr Keno Juchems’ lecture on Artificial Intelligence. Find out all the details in the Going Further document below!

Release date: 25 March 2021
Competition deadline: 8 April 2021

Session 2: The Mathematics of Natural Selection

This competition is based on Professor Alan Grafen’s article on The Mathematics of Natural Selection. Find out all the details in the Article Session below!

Release date: 6 April 2021
Competition deadline: 20 April 2021

Session 3: Meandering through Medicine

This competition was set by Professor Charles Newton. For this competition, we are asking you to do some research, using the sources we have provided! Read the sources by clicking the links in the Going Further Document below, before drawing your conclusion. Find out all the details in the Going Further document below!

Release date: 29 April 2021
Competition deadline: 13 May 2021

Session 4

For Session 4, we were lucky enough to have two great STEM lectures; a recorded session from Professor Gillian Rose (How Digital Data Is Transforming How Cities Work – Session 4A) and, for those of you who joined us live on Thursday 20th May, Professor Katherine Blundell OBE gave a lecture on The Universe Beyond the Visible – Session 4B. There is a competition based on each of these lectures – you can choose which you would like to enter!

Session 4A: How is Digital Data Transforming How Cities Work?

This competition is based on Professor Gillian Rose’s lecture on How Digital Data Is Transforming How Cities Work. Find out all the details in the Going Further document below!

Release date: 20 May 2021
Competition deadline: 3 June 2021

Session 4B: The Universe Beyond the Visible

This competition is available for those pupils who watched Professor Katherine Blundell’s live lecture on The Universe Beyond the Visible. Find out all the details in the Going Further document below!

Release date: 20 May 2021
Competition deadline: 3 June 2021

Session 5: Energy Transition to a Post Carbon World

This competition is based on Dr Ken Amor’s lecture on Energy Transition to a Post Carbon World. Find out all the details in the Going Further document below!

Release date: 10 June 2021
Competition deadline: 24 June 2021

Session 6: How Do Children Learn Language?

This competition is based on Dr Elizabeth Wonnacott’s lecture on “How Do Children Learn Language?”. Find out all the details in the Going Further document below!

Release date: 24 June 2021
Competition deadline: 8 July 2021