The Big Think 2022 Winners
Winners announced!
We invited students across the UK to tackle one of our academics’ ‘big’ questions. The high standard of entries blew us all away with so many creative and clever responses! Our panel of tutors had a tough time choosing our prizewinners, but we are delighted to announce the winning entries…
First prize: Millie Hudson (Law)
Millie answered the question ‘Should governments be allowed to violate civil liberties when imposing lockdowns in order to save lives?’. Professor Solene Rowan loved the concept and presentation of this fantastic video that carefully outlines both sides of the argument for pandemic lockdowns.
Second prize: Bethinn Feely (English)
Bethinn answered the question ‘Should the arts ever have a moral or political purpose?’. Dr Tom Macfaul commented that this was a wide-ranging, attractively produced presentation, showing very good understanding of a lot of key issues.
Subject Winners
- Law
- Languages
- English
- Philosophy
- Politics
- Medical Sciences
- Physics
- Earth Sciences
- Engineering
- Mathematics
Law
Harjas answers the question ‘Should governments be allowed to violate civil liberties when imposing lockdowns in order to save lives?’
Languages
Katharine answers the question ‘Is translating creating?’.
English
Zoe answers the questions ‘Should the arts ever have a moral or political purpose?’.
Philosophy
Alex answers the question ‘What, if anything, is the fundamental difference between moral imperatives like “Don’t kill innocent people,” and manners, like “Don’t speak with your mouth full”?’.
Politics
Stefania answers the question ‘Should young people’s votes count for more than elderly people’s in elections?’.
Medical Sciences
Siding answers the question ‘Is the brain a supercomputer?’.
Physics
Roisin answers the question ‘Shouldn’t we be using all our resources to combat the climate crisis, instead of using some of them to put people on Mars?’.
Earth Sciences
Lauren answers the question ‘What can Earth’s past teach us about its future?’.
Engineering
Liam answers the question ‘Should machine learning techniques be used in safety critical engineering systems, such as self-driving vehicles?’.
Maths
Denim answers the question ‘Is Maths really the language of the universe?’.
A huge congratulations to all our winners, but also a massive thank you to all our entrants this year! Our tutors were thoroughly impressed and hope to see many of you at university (and maybe even at St Edmund Hall…) in the future.