About IF Oxford

IF Oxford is an annual science and ideas festival organised by the charity Oxfordshire Science Festival, (Charity number 1151361). Our Trustees and a small team work year-round to produce the events which we hope anyone will enjoy. Our Vision, Mission and values are below.

Vision:

A world where the complexity, wonder and opportunities of scientific research are explored, challenged, celebrated and enjoyed across society.

Mission:

Through a range of events and activity, inspire and support people of all ages and backgrounds to access ideas from research and innovation for the encouragement and exploration of individual and global potential.

2017 Festival Report

2017 Oxfordshire Science Festival Programme

Values:

• We value high quality research, teaching, and practice in knowledge development.
• We contribute to society by creating accessible, innovative and high-quality material for public audiences.
• We are independent of political or industrial interests and offer a neutral platform to present and amplify complex evidence-based ideas.
• We cultivate and embrace the full diversity of voices from all backgrounds and experiences.
• We build cooperative relationships with organisations that share our values, committed to the advancement of research and public engagement with research.

Objectives:

• Support science festival activity across Oxfordshire and any other geographical region of strategic importance.
• Run a Festival in Oxford with wide public appeal that uses a mixture of live, face-to-face events and digital media to present and initiate discussion on contemporary research and innovation from Oxford and its partner locations.
• Develop the community of practice for public research engagement via the medium of a festival and its associated methodologies.

Acknowledgements:

• We retain editorial control of our associated events to ensure they meet these values.
• All academic disciplines contribute to the vigour of the research endeavour, including the natural sciences, technologies, medicine, the social sciences, the arts and the humanities.*
• The research arc encompasses curiosity-led research, areas of research with a strategic focus, innovation and development for commercial or charitable purposes, socialisation of ideas through democratic processes and any coherent responses from public audiences.
• There has been a science festival in Oxford since 1992 with 500,000 members of the public visiting over the past 25 years.

*Ensuring a successful UK research endeavour BIS, December 2014: “In this review the terms ‘research’ and ‘science’ are usually used in the context of the entire academic landscape, reflecting the Latin root, ‘scientia’, meaning knowledge. All academic disciplines contribute to the vigour of the research endeavour, including the natural sciences, technologies, medicine, the social sciences, the arts and the humanities.