Our Universe: what we think we know

We believe our universe originated about 14 thousand million years ago. From that moment we can tell a story of the emergence of the multitude of planets, stars, galaxies and black holes, around us today. We will see how the elements that make our world, were made in different objects, including massive exploding stars and merging neutron stars. These elements steadily accumulated until the time when planets formed. Within our solar system, planets come in a great variety, as they do around other stars, elsewhere in our galaxy. The search for life in our solar system, leads us to consider whether we are alone in the Universe. This is a 10 session course and must be taken with W310Pm05 in week 3.

Typical week: Monday to Friday 

Courses run from Monday to Friday. For each week of study, you select a morning (Am) course and an afternoon (Pm) course. The maximum class size is 25 students.   

Courses are complemented by a series of daily plenary lectures, exploring new ideas in a wide range of disciplines. To add to your learning experience, we are also planning additional evening talks and events. 

c.7.30am-9.00am	Breakfast in College (for residents)
9.00am-10.30am	Am Course
11.00am-12.15pm	Plenary Lecture
12.15pm-1.30pm	Lunch
1.30pm-3.00pm	Pm Course
3.30pm-4.45pm	Plenary Lecture/Free
6.00pm/6.15pm-7.15pm	Dinner in College (for residents)
7.30pm onwards	Evening talk/Event/Free

Evaluation and Academic Credit  

If you are seeking to enhance your own study experience, or earn academic credit from your Cambridge Summer Programme studies at your home institution, you can submit written work for assessment for one or more of your courses.  

Essay questions are set and assessed against the University of Cambridge standard by your Course Director, a list of essay questions can be found in the Course Materials. Essays are submitted two weeks after the end of each course, so those studying for multiple weeks need to plan their time accordingly. There is an evaluation fee of £75 per essay. 

For more information about writing essays see Evaluation and Academic Credit. 

Certificate of attendance 

A certificate of attendance will be sent to you electronically after the programme.