from first principles to first venture
Uncommon Sense is a free, independent 8-week evening programme exclusively for Cambridge Arts, Humanities, and Social Science students who want to understand technology, think entrepreneurially, and build the confidence to start ambitious things.
Applications are now open for the Michaelmas 2026 cohort.
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis; the form will close when all spots are filled, so early application is encouraged.
The programme is for students who are curious about start-ups, innovation, problem-solving, and the future – built specifically for AHSS students: people with strong instincts about culture, institutions, behaviour, communication, politics, history, design, and society who want to apply that perspective to technology and venture-building.
Can’t wait til Michaelmas? we’re piloting an anyone-vaguely-interested-in-building Cafe meet-up in Cambridge; first one is Sunday 10th May 1-4pm drop in / drop out casual chats: sign up here
Programme leadership: Uncommon Sense is being led by Dr. David Khachaturov (Department of Computer Science and Technology).
We are supported by
with more partnerships on the way.
Many of Cambridge’s most talented students end up following well-worn paths into large, prestigious institutions. For some, that is exactly the right choice. For others, it can mean missing the chance to build something new, take intelligent risks, and have outsized impact early in their careers.
Uncommon Sense exists to broaden that horizon.
The programme aims to do two things:
This programme is primarily aimed at:
You do not need prior start-up experience.
You do not need a Computer Science background.
You do not need to arrive with a business idea.
What matters most is curiosity, seriousness, and a willingness to think independently.
AHSS students often bring strengths that are central to building good ventures: understanding people, spotting social and cultural change, interpreting institutions, writing clearly, arguing well, and making sense of messy real-world problems. Those are not peripheral skills. In many cases, they are exactly what helps a team notice a worthwhile opportunity before others do.
That is why this programme is designed for students who may not see themselves as technical founders, but who could become unusually effective builders, operators, researchers, product thinkers, or founders if given the right conceptual tools. Modern products can be prototyped and built in many ways: through technical co-founders, existing tools and infrastructure, rapid prototyping, specialist collaborators, or later hires. What matters is not doing everything yourself, but developing the technical judgment to tell whether an idea is feasible, whether a proposed product direction makes sense, whether a team is solving the right problem, and whether apparent progress is masking deeper weaknesses.
In other words, the aim is to help more AHSS students recognise that they already have valuable starting advantages, and that they can pair those strengths with sharper technological and entrepreneurial thinking.
The course is built around three pillars: Computer Science, Entrepreneurial Leadership, and Socio-economic Awareness.
This part of the programme is designed not to turn students into software engineers, but to help them reason clearly about technology. It’s why we refer to it as computer science rather than software engineering.
You will learn how to:
The emphasis is on developing technical judgment, rather than coding fluency. This focus on technical judgment is also a major part of what distinguishes Uncommon Sense from more conventional entrepreneurship programmes. Leadership, communication, and wider strategic awareness matter enormously, and some of that can be found elsewhere. What this programme adds is a more serious foundation in reasoning about technology itself, because that is often what allows non-technical founders and operators to make unusually good decisions in software-driven businesses.
This part focuses on the practical realities of building new ventures and leading teams.
Topics may include:
The aim is to help students move from vague interest in entrepreneurship to a much more concrete understanding of how ventures are actually built.
Start-ups do not succeed in a vacuum. They succeed when they understand the broader world and position themselves ahead of it.
This part of the programme explores how to:
The goal is to develop students who are not only capable and ambitious, but also forward-looking.
The programme runs over 8 weeks, with two evening sessions per week, each lasting approximately 2 hours.
Sessions are currently planned for Mondays and Thursdays, 4-6pm. We also expect to have optional post-session mixers, pub meetups, and other informal social activities so participants can continue conversations with each other, with guest speakers, and at times with more technical students and builders.
An introduction to technical thinking, systems reasoning, feasibility, scalability, and debugging from first principles.
A practical grounding in venture creation, business fundamentals, pitching, leadership, and early-stage execution.
Frameworks for understanding trends, shifts in the wider landscape, strategic timing, adaptation, and long-term positioning.
Participants will begin forming teams around ideas, interests, or complementary strengths.
Teams will work intensively to refine their concept, develop a prototype or proposal, and prepare to present.
The programme culminates in a final Demo Day: a short, high-energy presentation event where each team presents its idea, prototype, or venture concept to an invited audience.
The day will have an emphasis on clarity, ambition, and momentum: teams explain the problem they are solving, what they have built or learned, why it matters, and what they would do next. The audience may include founders, investors, venture capitalists, and other people from the start-up ecosystem.
Alongside the twice-weekly sessions, participants should expect light but regular work between meetings from week 1 onward. This is intended to keep ideas moving, help teams build momentum, and turn the material from discussion into practice.
Typical between-session work may include: - noting interesting problems, frustrations, or inefficiencies you observe in everyday life; practising structured problem breakdown - speaking to potential users or beneficiaries and capturing what you learn - writing a short memo on how an external shift could create an opportunity - preparing for team formation by identifying your interests, strengths, and the kinds of collaborators or ideas you want to work with - developing the final concept, prototype, or proposal and rehearsing for Demo Day
By the end of the programme, participants should have:
Participants should also expect the programme to have a social dimension. The informal mixers and post-session conversations are meant to help people form friendships, find collaborators, ask follow-up questions, and build confidence in rooms they may not previously have imagined themselves in.
Above all, participants should leave with a stronger sense that building things is a real option for them.
Participants should expect:
This is an evening programme, but it is intended to be intellectually serious and practically engaging.
You should consider applying if you want to:
Applications are now open for the Michaelmas 2026 cohort of Uncommon Sense.
The application is designed to understand how you think, what you are curious about, and how you might contribute to the cohort. You do not need previous start-up experience or an existing business idea.
We are looking for students who are thoughtful, curious, serious about learning, and open to working with others on ambitious ideas.
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis; the form will close when all spots are filled, so early application is encouraged. Expected time to complete is around 20–25 minutes.
Following your application, we may follow up with a short informal conversation.
In our definition of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences we include the following Cambridge courses:
Students from adjacent disciplines may also be considered where there is a strong interest in entrepreneurship, technology, leadership, and building new ventures.
Disclaimer: Uncommon Sense is an independent, extracurricular educational initiative. It is not an official course, nor is it sponsored, endorsed, or regulated by the University of Cambridge, or the Department of Computer Science and Technology.