Cambridge Future Museum Voices is an innovative outreach initiative from Clare College, Cambridge, the Museum of Zoology, and the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology for high-achieving students in Year 12 (England/Wales), S5 (Scotland) and Year 13 (Northern Ireland).

Thirty students will take part in a residential in Cambridge in April 2025, during which they will co-curate an interdisciplinary exhibition at the two Museums exploring the connections between people and the natural world across time, animal species, and human societies. Its theme, title, content, and design will be chosen by the participants.

In 2023, nineteen students took part in the inaugural year of the programme and co-curated the exhibition Tangled Planet at the Museum of Zoology. Read more about Tangled Planet here.

The programme grew in 2024 to include 29 participants. Their exhibition, Trodden Earth, will open on 28 September 2024 at the Museum of Zoology and Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. 

The programme is completely free to participate in. All accommodation, activities and meals for the residential are fully covered. We reimburse reasonable travel expenses to and from Cambridge for the residential in April and the exhibition launch event in the autumn.

Cambridge Future Museum Voices is supported by generous funding from the Isaac Newton Trust Widening Participation and Induction Fund. We express our thanks to the Isaac Newton Trust for their support of this initiative.

Essential criteria

Cambridge Future Museum Voices is open to all young people who meet the following criteria:

• You attend a state (non fee-paying) school or college in the UK
• You are in Year 12 (England/Wales), S5 (Scotland) or Year 13 (Northern Ireland)
• You achieved at least 5 grades 8/9/A* at GCSE (or equivalent, including a majority of A grades in National 5s)
• You are on track to achieve at least A*AA at A Level (or equivalent, including AAA in Scottish Highers/Advanced Highers, or 42 points with 776 at HL in the IB)

Widening Participation

If the programme is oversubscribed, we will prioritise students according to the Widening Participation criteria listed here. 

A Level/equivalent subject criteria

We welcome students taking any subject combination at A Level/Advanced Highers/IB across the Arts, Humanities and Sciences.

The programme covers a wide range of academic subjects and will appeal to all students interested in the climate crisis, environmental change, and the natural world. The 2025 programme introduces the theme of 'Art and Nature' and we encourage all students interested in this theme to apply.

Past participants have gone onto university study in Biology, English, Geography, History, Medicine, and Politics, among other courses.

Applications to the 2025 programme will open in December 2024.

Please contact Libby Beckett (Outreach & Admissions Officer) at schoolsliaison@clare.cam.ac.uk with any questions.

Cambridge Future Museum Voices is led by Libby Beckett (Clare College), Roz Wade (Museum of Zoology), and Ed Turner (Clare College), working closely with colleagues at Clare and in the museums and collections of Cambridge.