Public Affairs
The Portfolio events calendar 2013 –
University staff only
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The Portfolio events calendar 2013 –University staff only
The Portfolio events calendar 2013 –The University Events Office manages a large and varied number of events which take place locally, nationally and internationally. We oversee more than seventy events each year which are hosted by the Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor. These include traditional University ceremonies, visits by Heads of State, openings of new University buildings, community events, campaign events and events within the Varsity sporting calendar.
We also work in an advisory capacity to departments, divisions and colleges across the University to try to ensure all events achieve their aims.
University events offer the chance to interact with Oxford’s work and values in person; they are an experience of the University that leaves a personal and lasting impression in people’s memories.
Each and every event, no matter what the goal or size, is an opportunity to promote understanding of the University and to recognise the generosity and commitment of our supporters.
Annual University ceremonies which the Events Office organise include: Encaenia (the honorary degrees Ceremony), the Vice-Chancellor’s Oration, the Admission of the Proctors and Assessor and the Glove Ceremony.
Two major public lectures are currently organised annually by the Events Office. The Romanes Lecture invites a distinguished public figure from the world of arts, science or literature to speak in Oxford. The Oxford London Lecture takes an Oxford academic to the heart of London to speak about new, exciting, topical research.
The Events Office manages annual VIP events linked to the Oxford v Cambridge Boat Race and Varsity Rugby Match.
» More about varsity sporting events
The Events Office works closely with The Head of Government and Community Relations to coordinate visits to the University by government ministers, parliamentarians and other VIPs.
They also work together on the Vice-Chancellor's Q&A session; an annual event giving members of the community an opportunity to approach the VC with any questions that they would like to raise.
On behalf of the Development Office the Events Office manages a number of Campaign events. The events we look after range from dinners for supporters and donors with the Vice-Chancellor to large fundraising galas. Recent events we have managed include the Mitsuko Uchida concert in support of the Faculty of Music, a Son et Lumière to launch a fundraising campaign for the University Museum of Natural History as part of their 150th anniversary celebrations, and a cello recital and poetry reading following the successful endowment of an academic post at the Bodleian Library.
The Events Office also works with the Development Office to manage an annual calendar of events to thank University donors and benefactors. These events include the Chancellor’s Court of Benefactors, Vice-Chancellor’s Circle and the Sheldon Medal award.
The Events Office works closely with International Strategy and other departments to help co-ordinate events that take place abroad as part of international visits by the Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor. Recent events we have managed include a VIP reception and dinner with the Chancellor in Shanghai, a dinner and debate for University friends at the Sydney opera House, and a nightcap reception at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
As buildings are built and refurbished across the University, the Events Office organises many events to mark the various stages of construction and to celebrate openings. Recent events include the groundbreaking of the Mathematical Institute on the new ROQ site, the topping out of the Oxford Molecular Pathology Institute, the opening of the new building for the Department of Earth Sciences, and the official re-opening of the Ashmolean Museum by Her Majesty The Queen.
The Events Office helps to co-ordinate large, complex events that involve a number of departments and divisions and which are aimed at a wide, varied audience including VIPs, government, community, donors, supporters, friends, academics and students. Examples include the launch of the Blavatnik School of Government, the Oxford-India day, the Oxford Humanities Research Showcase and a conference on the future of higher education in the Commonwealth.
