Find the latest updates of public engagement news, opportunities, funding, and more.
Celebrating Excellence in Public Engagement: Oxford Physics Researchers Receive Awards
20 October 2023
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.
RSC outreach grant to support Oxford Chemistry showcase at community events
The Department of Chemistry has been awarded a grant from the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Outreach Fund to help attract a new generation of young people to study chemistry and continue a successful Science Together pilot collaboration.
Announcing: Oxford Sparks Ambassadors 2022-23
The Oxford Sparks Ambassadors scheme is back, providing hands-on training and support for researchers to create online videos to share with the wider public about their research. Read about the 2022-23 cohort of five researchers taking part in this scheme.
DPhil students win awards for their public engagement with research activities
DPhil students in the StatML and AIMS CDTs were awarded prizes during a celebration of the public engagement activities they delivered as part of their training course.
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.
Announcing: Oxford Sparks Ambassadors
The Oxford Sparks Ambassadors scheme is a new initiative to provide hands-on training and support for researchers to create online videos to share with the wider public about their research. Read about the first ever cohort of six researchers to take part in this scheme.
New Oxford Sparks videos - call for proposals
Would you like to share your research with others, through a live action video? Submit an expression of interest now!
Two Oxford researchers awarded Stephen Hawking Fellowships
Dr Alexander Mushtukov or Dr Orazio Scarlatella (Physics) are amongst 11 researchers being awarded the Stephen Hawking Fellowship that aims to answer the greatest unanswered questions in science and bring these fundamental questions about the nature of the universe to a wider audience through public engagement activities.
Oxford Sparks - Summer 2021 Update
Exciting change is afoot at Oxford Sparks, with a relaunch planned for Michaelmas 2021!
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.
KEF results: Oxford top 10% for Public & Community Engagement of all UK Higher Education institutions
The results of the Knowledge Exchange Framework were recently published, recognising the University of Oxford as a UK leader in Knowledge Exchange. The university performed well across many dimensions, and of course what I'm interested in... public and community engagement.
Lost and looking for help? PER support available from MPLS
If you're interested in doing some public engagement with research (PER) but not sure where to find help, we offer a range of support or can point you in the right direction: from training sessions to answering your questions during help desk hours.
Prof Nick Hawes appointed as MPLS Academic Champion for Public Engagement with Research
Professor Hawes (Associate Professor in Engineering Science) takes over from Professor David Pyle (Earth Sciences) who was the Division’s first PER Champion, to provide leadership and support to progress the embedding of engagement into research practice.
Congratulations to Dr Becky Smethurst - awarded IoPs Mary Somerville Medal
Dr Becky Smethurst (Department of Physics) has been awarded the Mary Somerville Medal for exceptional early career contributions to public engagement within physics in recognition of the success of her YouTube channel, Dr Becky.
What's coming up at Oxford Sparks?
An update on what's coming up at Oxford Sparks - the University of Oxford's platform for digital science engagement.
Wellcome Enriching Engagement funded projects announced
14 August 2020
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.
What do the recent changes to Pathways to Impact mean for public engagement with research?
UKRI recently announced that they were reviewing the research grant process, and as part of this review there will be changes to their requirements for pathways to impact - a mechanism used by many to plan and resource public engagement with research - so what does this mean for public engagement with research?
3 new Oxford Citizen Science projects funded by UKRI
19 February 2020
UKRI recently announced the projects funded through their place-based and citizen science funding schemes. Three grants led by Oxford researchers have been funded, with a further two supported by Oxford. Congratulations! Read the project descriptions here.
PERShare - Equipment available to borrow
We have a range of kit available to borrow; from cameras and microphones to gazebos and tables - all for free!