Masterclasses

Masterclasses are online, subject-specific, hour-long sessions for students in Year 12. Sessions run weekly on Tuesday and Thursday (4-5 pm) from March to May in 2025.

About Masterclasses

Applications for the May 2025 Masterclasses are now open.

Masterclasses are online, subject-specific, hour-long sessions for students in Year 12 to get a taste of university. Masterclasses will introduce you to subjects available at UCL in 2025. The hour-long sessions will feature a lecture on a specific topic from UCL academics and PhD students.

Please find below the subjects for the Masterclasses sessions running in 2025.

Application Deadlines:

• March sessions - 11:59 pm, Sunday 23 February 2025
• April session - 11:59 pm, Sunday 23 March 2025
• May sessions - 11:59 pm, Tuesday 22 April 2025

Apply now

Subjects

Please find below the subjects for the Masterclasses sessions running in 2025. 

March (please note, applications for the March Masterclasses are now closed)

Anthropology

Topic: Anthropology: Why do humans do what they do

Presenter: Dr Yathukulan Yogarajah

Date: Tuesday 4 March 2025, 4–5 pm

This talk will look at a simple question that has complex answers: why do humans do what they do? It looks at humans’ lives strangely. Why do we wake up every day, go to work, socialise with friends, and pray? Why do we fall in love? Why do we discriminate based on sex, race, and class? Why do we pursue money relentlessly? This lecture will look at these questions and what anthropology has to say about them.

Archaeology

Topic: Can Archaeology change the world?

Presenter: Dr Borja Legarra Herrero

Date: Thursday 6 March 2025, 4–5pm

This masterclass will look at the place of archaeology in the modern world. Beyond serving as inspiration for video games and movies, archaeology can significantly impact today's world. The class will showcase how current research on gold items from Minoan Crete at the UCL institute of Archaeology, a world leading institution renowned for its innovative thinking, can offer new perspectives on modern society. I will argue that the strange relationship between gold, power and gender in Greece 4000 years ago can help us to identify and challenge narratives of inequality in the modern world.

Cancer Biomedicine

Topic: Cancer Research – Past, Present and Future

Presenter: Callum Oddy

Date: Tuesday 11 March 2025, 4–5pm

The UCL Cancer Institute is the hub for cancer research at UCL. This Masterclasses wil highlight how scientific research is being used to fight back against cancer. You will consider cancer from a historical context, and then we will examine modern definitions, including the types of cancer and who may be diagnosed. We also discuss how research can be used to stop cancer’s ability to endlessly proliferate, using real scientific examples. Finally, we will consider how much more work is still needed in this area; however, there is still hope.

English

Topic: An Introduction to Linguistics

Presenter: Dr Beth Malory

Date: Thursday 13 March 2025, 4–5pm

The Department of English Language and Literature at UCL is one of the most enduring and respected in Britain. This Masterclass will provide students with a linguistic toolkit for approaching literary texts and to assist with your close reading skills. The session will also give you an insight into the range of linguistic topics that are covered at undergraduate level.

Computer Science

Topic: Dual Numbers and Automatic Differetiation

Presenter: Dr Martin Benning

Date: Tuesday 18 March 2025, 4–5pm

In the context of machine learning and optimisation, the computation of derivatives of intricate functions is paramount. This is particularly evident in the training of deep neural networks. In this Masterclass, we will delve into the concept of dual numbers, a technique that enables the automatic computation of derivatives without the explicit knowledge of what derivatives are. We will demonstrate how these dual numbers can be implemented in fundamental Python without the need for external libraries. Subsequently, we will explore their application to the computation of derivatives of arbitrarily complex functions.

Classics and the Ancient World

Topic: Introductory Hittite, Lecture 1

Presenter: Dr Mark Weeden

Date: Thursday 20 March 2025, 4–5 pm

Three and a half thousand years ago, a mysterious people called the Hittites lived in the mountainous region of what is now central Turkey in the Middle East. These people were completely unknown to historians until just over 100 years ago, when thousands of clay tablets containing their writings were discovered at their capital city. Once they had been deciphered their writings revealed a society with a complex history stretching over 500 years before they unexplainably and suddenly disappeared. Now you can learn their language and history at UCL.

Education, Society and Culture

Topic: Nonsense and Knowledge: Finding Our Way in a Confusing World

Presenter: Dr JD Carpentieri

Date: Tuesday 25 March 2025, 4–5pm

The world is full of misinformation, misdirection and outright lies. There is a lot of genuinely useful knowledge out there, but in a world of information overload it can be almost impossible to separate that knowledge from nonsense. In this session, we will discuss misinformation, both online and in the broader world. Who produces this misinformation and why? What are their strategies for fooling us? And why are we more easily fooled than we might want to admit? In this interactive, university-lecture style Masterclass, we will also look at strategies for identifying and avoiding nonsense in our pursuit of genuine knowledge. In doing so, we will consider questions such as: When should we rely on common sense and when should it be avoided? How do governments use statistics to mislead us? Do your parents really know what they’re talking about? And (perhaps most importantly) can you really trust university rankings?

Chemistry

Topic: Microplastics in the Environment.

Presenter: Dr Tamara Alhilfi

Date: Thursday 27 March 2025, 4–5 pm

What are microplastics? How do they get into our environment, and how do they affect the environment around us? In this lecture I will give an introduction to the chemistry of microplastics, and we will dive into the academic research behind the news and social media headlines.

April (please note, applications for the April Masterclasses are now closed)

Construction Project Management

Topic: Solving contemporary built enviroment challenges with sustainable construction project management

Presenter: Dr Abdul-Majeed Mahamadu

Date: Tuesday 1 April 2025, 4–5pm

With challenges facing the built environment, what do real solutions look like and what do we need from future project managers of the future?

Economics

Topic: Economic Story of the World in the Last Four Decades

Presenter: Dr Ramin Nassehi

Date: Thursday 3 April 2025, 4–5pm

In this Masterclass, you will look at interactive data to help answer the following questions: Which technologies have made the most improvements in our standard of living in the last four decades? Who were the main winners and losers of automation and globalisation since 1980? What has happened to the income gap between rich and developing countries in the past 40 years? What has happened to the gap between rich and poor inside countries?

History of Art

Topic: An Introduction to Australian Aboriginal Art

Presenter: Dr Ben Pollitt

Date: Tuesday 8 April 2025, 4–5pm

In this History of Art Masterclass we will look at Australian Aboriginal visual culture. We will discuss the catastrophic impact the arrival of the First Fleet of convicts and British settlers in what later became known as Australia in 1789 had on Aboriginal people. We will also examine the artistic interactions between these two cultures, a dialogue that has been central to the struggle for civil and land rights. We will end the class by thinking about the limits of History of Art as a discipline in its engagements with Aboriginal art, as well as the opportunities it offers in helping us to think across cultural divides.

Information in Society

Topic: Navigating distrust, division, and information overload – an introduction to information literacy

Presenter: Dr Lucy Brownson

Date: Thursday 10 April 2025, 4–5 pm

How do we look for and gather information? How do we turn data and information into knowledge? What sources of information do we avoid or neglect – and why? In our age of information overload, it's more vital than ever that we're able to identify, find, critically evaluate, and ethically use information, as well as verifying and acknowledging where our information comes from. This UCL Masterclass will introduce the concept of information literacy and ground some of the key ideas, skills and concepts that comprise it, from learning new skills to finding information-driven solutions to some of the biggest challenges of our time. We’ll also explore critical thinking and collaboration as powerful tools in the fight against disinformation, distrust, and division.

Information Management for Business

Topic: Introduction to Strategy Masterclass

Presenter: Dr Maya Cara

Date: Tuesday 29 April 2025, 4–5pm

This Masterclass will give you an introduction to the essence of strategy in business. You will delve into the foundational concepts of strategic management by learning about strategy formulation and understanding both the internal and external business environment, and how to make essential strategic choices. The Masterclass will also explore strategy evaluations techniques, with a discussion about successful strategy examples.

May

Mathematics

Topic: An Introduction to Applied Mathematics

Presenter: Thomas Caussade

Date: Thursday 1 May 2025, 4–5pm

In this Masterclass, we will look at applied mathematics. In this topic, we are often led to models where finding an exact solution to the problem can be difficult. However, a good numerical approximation is handy for most practical purposes. We will discuss different techniques to numerically solve various equations where an explicit solution cannot be found, such as the bisection method, the secant method, and fixed-point iteration methods.

Science and Engineering for Social Change

Topic: How to solve the complex challenges puzzle?

Presenter: Dr Irina Lazar

Date: Tuesday 6 May 2025, 4–5pm

We often hear that modern societies are currently facing complex global challenges, which trespass boarders and are not easy to solve or even tackle. But what are the most pressing problems? How do we identify them and whose job is it to try to solve them? Join us for a thought-provoking session where we will explore how science and engineering can help address these challenges when combined with the social sciences and public policy. We will bring in the Sustainable Development Goals framework of the United Nations and explore the topic from an interactive and multidisciplinary perspective. Tackling complex issues from multiple angles ensures that we can come up with technologically-sound sustainable solutions that are equitable and can be implemented on a large scale in society.

History

Topic: Slavery and Abolition in the Americas – The Case of Brazil

Presenter: Dr Thomas Rath

Date: Thursday 8 May 2025, 4–5pm

In 1888, Brazil abolished slavery—the last country in the Western Hemisphere to do so. Why was abolition in Brazil so late? Why did it occur without the civil wars and revolutions seen elsewhere in the Americas? What role did Britain play in this process? And how did abolition change or fail to change Brazilian society? This lecture will tackle these questions, comparing Brazil with other countries in the Americas, and discussing how historians' interpretation have shifted over time.

 

Natural Sciences

Topic: Making Designer Materials

Presenter: Dr Ali Mozaffari

Date: Thursday 15 May 2025, 4–5 pm

Physicists and chemists nowadays often start with an application in mind and a wish list for properties when they design new sorts of materials—this talk will focus on different ways scientists manipulate material properties for different applications and how this may be required for new revolutions in energy, computing and space exploration. 

 

Sociology

Topic: Sociology and Food

Presenter: Dr Sonya Sharma

Date: Monday 19 May 2025, 4–5pm

This Masterclass will foreground the study of sociology through food. This interactive session will explore how food can be a fascinating way to examine current social issues related to the environment, health and wellbeing, the intersections of class, gender, and ethnicity, and belonging and connection.  

International Management

Topic: Introduction to International Management

Presenter: Dr Neil Sutherland

Date: Tuesday 20 May 2025, 4–5pm

The BSc International Management programme at the UCL School of Management is designed to explore how leaders can navigate global challenges and drive innovative solutions in a rapidly evolving world. In this interactive session, we will delve into importance of cross-cultural management, contemporary global challenges, and ethical decision-making to redefine management practices for a socially just and sustainable future. Through engaging discussions and real-world scenarios, together we will explore how the BSc International Management programme equips you with the skills to lead diverse teams, tackle complex organisational issues, and thrive in volatile international contexts.

 

Sports and Exercise Medical Sciences

Topic: Sports and Exercise Medical Sciences Masterclass

Presenter: Joseph Warwick

Date: Wednesday 21 May 2025, 4–5pm

Sports and Exercise Medical Sciences is a novel degree programme that bridges traditional sports science degrees and the newest medical specialty of Sport and Exercise Medicine (SEM). This masterclass with give you a snapshot of what you will study across your second and third year on the programme, helping you to understand key components from the multidisciplinary team that are involved in SEM. Whether you want to be a physiotherapist, doctor, sport scientists or strength and conditioning coach this degree will set your career up with the best foundational platform to excel in your chosen field.

 

Eligibility

All eligible applicants who meet at least one of the shortlisting criteria specified in points 2 to 6 on the Who we work with webpage will be offered a place on this programme. 

Apply

Applications for the May 2025 Masterclasses are open.

Apply for Masterclasses