As a not for profit charity the Oxfordshire Science Festival (OSF) relies on the generosity of individuals, corporations and other institutional sources of funding to achieve our goals. Our sponsors and major partners are important to the Festival: some of our work would not be possible without external support so we take these relationships and the associations that they imply very seriously. OSF retains full editorial control over all the events it delivers and aims to present events that meet its charitable objectives and values. We recognise that scientific endeavour is not intrinsically benign and that technologies of all forms should be scrutinised, with the Festival as a platform for such debate.
We work with corporate partners, trusts and foundations, universities and government agencies to create partnerships that help achieve key economic and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) goals. Supporting OSF allows our partners to:
- Demonstrate their role as a responsible institution by supporting a social enterprise
- Raise their profile with a wide range of audiences
- Deepen relationships with staff, clients and stakeholders through a presence at the Festival
- Provide a platform for public engagement with research and encourage the exploration of individual and global potential.
The Festival provides a neutral platform for presenting and discussing innovation with the aim of educating people and encouraging society to make informed choices. We welcome debate and discussion across our programme, including the complex moral, ethical and broader societal implications of research. OSF may programme activities in specific subject areas with challenging viewpoints but it will strive to remain independent. When forming a partnership with a third party, OSF will adhere to the following guidelines:
- Initiatives developed in partnership with third parties remain thematically neutral and that related activity should not compromise the status of the Festival
- We value the participation of scientific and non‐scientific organisations forming dialogue with scientific ideas and people, however, we reserve the right to refuse inclusion of content providers based on either unilateral promotion of non‐scientific ideas or irrelevance to our core vision and objectives
- We reserve the right to decline funding if the values and objectives of an organisation do not match those of OSF.
- Sponsorship of OSF does not imply endorsement of products or companies and instead reflects the partnership relating to delivery of activities
- OSF reserves the right to withdraw from any partnership where new developments mean that areas of our ethical sponsorship policy are breached.
- If an external partner decides to withdraw from OSF, the partner may still be financially liable for events but all other terms may be dissolved.