Our bespoke Shuyuan Classics summer extension program offers our students a unique opportunity to conduct research at one of the most prestigious universities in the world. 

The process begins at the start of each new academic year, when students studying a classical subject in Grade 10 are invited to submit an application outlining the area of comparative classics they are eager to research and providing some key questions that they wish to answer. Successful applicants subsequently receive regular support from the Shuyuan faculty and their assigned Research Mentor to reflect more on their chosen area of study, compile a reading list and sharpen the focus of their research question. 

At the end of the school year, students journey to New College, Oxford, where, after one week exploring London, they will spend three weeks in world-class facilities immersing themselves in their research. Students will continue to receive support from Shuyuan staff, while their Research Mentor, a post-doctoral researcher working at New College, will design a program of study specially tailored to our students, which will include lectures and workshops from members of New College’s highly respected Classics department. In order to make this a truly comparative program, students will also have access to the magnificent Dickson Poon China Centre; the University of Oxford’s primary research hub for all academic activities related to China.

Our time in Oxford will culminate in the students’ presenting their initial research findings to a group of academics, who will ask searching questions and deliver feedback on the quality of their work. Upon returning to school for the following academic year, the program continues, as students go through the process of writing up their findings and producing a thorough and academically rigorous research paper. All students will present their research findings to their peers in the form of mini TED Talks, while the best papers will be published in the school’s academic journal, the Bauhinia. 

Ultimately, this is a special opportunity, unrivalled by any other school in Hong Kong. It is hoped that the research and presentation skills garnered through this program, the intellectual autonomy it grants and the authentic taste of university life it provides will not only be of immense benefit to students as they embark on their IB Diploma Program, but will also inspire and equip them to reach the heights of academic achievement in a field of their choosing once their time at The ISF Academy has come to an end.

A compilation of all past paper topics can be found here.

Please see here for application.