This publications page shows how IF Oxford fits within and contributes to a vibrant professional sector that brings together universities, charities, museums, businesses, arts and community organisations to make change through science and culture. Beyond running events, the Oxford science and ideas Festival team shares research, reflections and policy responses that demonstrate its role in shaping best practice, responding to societal challenges, and strengthening the impact of science festivals as spaces where people and ideas connect.
You can see IF Oxford’s annual reports since 2018: if-oxford.com/past-festivals
- Making Connections Long term Impact report (2017—2024), a review of UKRI investment managed by the British Science Association into projects run by members of the UK Science Festival Network
- Perceptions and Purpose of IF Oxford: a discussion document used to frame strategic challenges and opportunities in a post-COVID world (IF Oxford, 2022)
- UK Science Festivals Network (UKSFN) members response to Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport inquiry on ‘Impact of COVID-19 on DCMS sectors
- Fogg-Rogers, L., Weihe, B., Comerford, D., Fooshee, J. and Durant, J. (2019). ‘Science live — articulating the aims and ethos of science event practitioners in the U.S.A. and U.K.’. JCOM 18 (04), N01.
- We describe the context for developing the festival in Oxford in our Landscape Review (Oxfordshire Science Festival, 2017)
- University of Cambridge (Dane Comerford) response to Science and Technology Committee on Science communication and engagement (UK Parliament, 2016)
- Science Live (2016, Wellcome Trust) was a transatlantic pilot study to research science events in the UK (led by Dane Comerford) and USA (led by Ben Wiehe), seeking areas for development.
- 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.
- Review of informal science learning (Wellcome Trust, 2012) is a helpful background to how science is perceived and presented in the UK.