Waynflete Lectures underway

The last few weeks have seen the Lower Sixth treated to a series of fascinating lectures as part of their Waynflete Studies programme. Eminent Oxford University academics have been joining us in person and via remote learning platforms, to give the pupils their insights into the nature of academic research, their own research topics, and how to choose a good research topic for their projects.

Professor Karen O’Brien, Head of the Humanities Division, gave both an entertaining and insightful opening lecture. She discussed Thinking Skills, urging the pupils to be careful in the framing of their topic, to be realistic, to examine their own assumptions, and most of all, to make sure they construct a reasoned argument.

Professor Zhanfeng Cui, Donald Pollack Professor of Chemical Engineering, told us how his group at the Institute of Biomedical Engineering has developed a rapid COVID test.

Finally, Dr Lucy Wooding of the History Faculty told us more about our fifteenth-century founder William Waynflete and his vision of an education for all.

We are very grateful to all the speakers for generously giving us of their time and expertise.