The Vice-Chancellor answering question in the Andrew Wiles Building
Credit: John Cairns
Community engagement
You may wish to promote your research through activities that come under the umbrella of public and community engagement, for example:
- through participation in festivals, public lectures and talks (e.g. The Oxfordshire Science Festival, the Oxford Christmas Lectures);
- involvement of the public as researchers (e.g. Zooniverse and other web-based experiments);
- engaging young people in schools to inspire them about your research (e.g. Oxford’s many school outreach activities);
- engaging with the wider world via new media (e.g. the University’s research webpages; the University’s Science Blog; Arts Blog; Oxford Sparks website; or the audio and video podcasts on Oxford’s Podcasts.)
- helping our researchers to engage outside academia.
For other examples of how Oxford engages with its local community and the wider public, visit www.ox.ac.uk/community.
If you are interested in working more closely with local community partners, then it is useful, initially, to think through what you would like to get from it precisely, and then have a conversation with the Head of Government and Community Relations, who may already be aware of similar initiatives that are going on elsewhere. For example:
- a current project partnering Oxfordshire County Council has seen the sharing of information and expertise on such things as children’s services, and public policy formation.
- The Education Deanery works closely with local schools in order to develop best education practice, and
- the Classics Department recently received a community grant in order to develop a project called “Ancient Tales” with the people of East Oxford. Find out more about the East Oxford Community Classics Centre.
Local Government and Community Relations Officer
Laurence Garfield
Tel: 01865 280335, email: laurence.garfield@admin.ox.ac.uk