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Find the latest updates of public engagement news, opportunities, funding, and more.

Priyanka Dhopade at the final of 'I'm a researcher'

New Case Study: Beats and Beams - Laurence Wroe's Funky Drums and Particle Accelerators Workshop

Read about Laurence's thoughtful and award-winning engagement project merging particle accelerator physics with music for young people.

New Case Study: Harnessing the Power of Citizen Scientists in the Darwin Tree of Life Project

Dr Liam Crowley (Biology) shares his experiences of the transformative engagement experiences within the ambitious Darwin Tree of Life research project. Discover how collaboration with nature enthusiasts led to significant benefits for the research endeavour.

Celebrating Excellence in Public Engagement: Oxford Physics Researchers Receive Awards

Huge congratulations to Dr Laurence Wroe, Prof Alan Barr and collaborators for their awards, and their colleagues Dr Thomas Hird and Dr Katherine Shirley for being highly commended at the SEPnet and IRIS awards. Read more about their achievements here.

New case study: Sensing Volcanoes at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition

A new case study has been published that delves into the experience of Professor David Pyle in Earth Sciences, who led a team engaging the public with volcanic eruptions at the prestigious Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition.

Engaging Young Minds: Students Connect with Physicists at 'I'm a Scientist... Get me out of Here' Physics Zone

In March 2023, the 'I'm a Scientist... Get me out of Here' Physics Zone took place, providing an exciting opportunity for students across the UK to engage with physicists from various backgrounds and explore the wonders of physics based on their own interests.

Get involved – Begbroke Science Wonder engagement

Ellie Mathieson writes about how researchers and staff have delivered activities in association with the Cherwell Collective - read to find out how you can get involved.

Working with the University's Garden's Libraries and Museums to engage the public: A Toolkit for Researchers

If you're interested in finding out what public engagement with research the University's Gardens Libraries and Museums can offer and support, this toolkit is for you; whether you're a researcher or supporting researchers.

See the equipment we can loan you in action... The Gene Therapists Headline at Glastonbury 2022

A team from the Radcliffe Department of Medicine took their research to Glastonbury during the summer; they made use of tables and gazebos we can offer to support your engagement.

Check out these PER projects funded through the University's seed fund

The University's annual PER Seed Fund supports a range of engagement activities - the scheme usually opens towards autumn so why not take a look at these for some inspiration and start getting your ideas ready.

Learning how to be a podcaster - Conservation Optimism

A guest post by Conservation Optimism about their recent podcasting mentoring programme for the Department of Zoology (part of a project funded by the Departmental Public Engagement with Research Seed Fund). Conservation Optimism is "a global community dedicated to sharing stories and resources to empower people from all backgrounds to make a positive impact for wildlife and nature".

Congratulations to Dr Peter Hatfield (Physics): awarded MPLS Impact Award for Public Engagement with Research

Peter Hatfield, Hintze Research Fellow in the Department of Physics has been awarded the MPLS Impact Award in the Public Engagement with Research category for his work with the Institute for Research in Schools.

Zoology (Julia Migné and Sofia Castello Y Tickell) awarded Departmental Capacity Building Seed Fund

Congrats to Julia and Sofia on a successful application to the Departmental Capacity Seed Fund. You can read their project overview here. Applications for this have now closed, but watch this space for news on how this scheme may run in the future.

In Control: By Design - a PER Lab Case Study

Julien Carponcy (MRC Brain Network Dynamics Unit), Joy Todd (GLAM Division) and Jozie Kettle (Pitt Rivers Museum) were awarded £12,000 to support people with motor-related neurological conditions (such as Parkinson’s, and their families and carers) to work with researchers, engineers, and artists/fashion designers to create their own aesthetically pleasing mobility solutions, and to empower them to manage their day to day lives, inspired and provoked by collections from the Pitt Rivers Museum.

Who Writes the Future: a PER Lab case study

Jacob Ward (formerly Mathematical Institute) worked with the Bodleian Library on the project that aimed to diversify the voices writing the future by inviting young people to collaborate with science and humanities researchers and a ‘writer in residence’.

The Bubble Lab: A PER Lab case study

Shamit Shrivastava (formerly Engineering Science), Kelly Richards and Carly Smith-Huggins (Museum of Natural History) created a pop-up experience in communities in Oxford, targeting young people (10-13) and their families. A free kit of ‘do-at-home’ experiments and investigations was given out, providing a way to connect with researchers, and to visit the Museum of Natural History to share what they’ve learned and discovered.

Let's Talk About Climate: A PER Lab case study

Ken Amor and Sarah Lloyd (Museum of Natural History) were awarded £5,000 with the aim of working with year 11 and 12 teenagers to explore the science of the IPCC reports and reinterpret them, with the support of researchers and museum collections and staff, by creating their own ‘report’ (written, video, art or performance), and sharing this report with policy and decision-makers.

PER Seed Fund 2020-21 Projects Announced

A total of 21 projects have been funded through the 2020/21 PER Seed Fund, including 2 from MPLS. You can take a look at the funded projects for inspiration and ideas, ready for the next round that will open in Autumn.

Watch: Raising STEM aspirations - How can I make a real difference?

The Department of Physics recently hosted Dr Martin Archer, Stephen Hawking fellow in space physics and public engagement at Imperial College London to talk about what we know about what factors affect STEM aspirations, what's likely to impact aspirations, before talking through a case study of a project he's been involved in.

Mother Earth: Taking Research to School Children During the Pandemic

In 2020 summer term, as schools closed down due to the corona virus pandemic, Cowley Road Works facilitated projects to bring together researchers and school students in an engagement project for children to access from their homes. Originally envisaged as a project to bring research to life as part of the Carnival in July, here we report how the modified online project went.

Wellcome Enriching Engagement funded projects announced

Seven projects from Medical Sciences and MPLS have been awarded funding in Round 2 of the Enriching Engagement grant scheme. They join the six Round 1 projects awarded in November 2019. Have a read of the project summaries for a bit of inspiration.

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