mural of radcliffe camera
mural of radcliffe camera

Oxford Inside Out 2023

Celebrating collaboration that unlocks the power of research 

19 – 21 September 2023 

Our research is enriched by collaboration – with community groups, businesses, policymakers, charities and others. Oxford Inside Out provides us with opportunities to celebrate and explore the different ways in which we work together to enable our research to benefit society on a local, regional, national and global scale. We’re planning three days packed with learning and networking opportunities: workshops, panel discussions, exhibitions and more, touching on a range of the many shared interests of our researchers and their partners.

To that end, we’re calling for expressions of interest from potential contributors: whether you’re a researcher, member of professional services staff, partner or potential partner, this is an exciting opportunity to share with participants from across the University what you’ve learned and achieved through your own collaboration. Let us know how you would like to contribute, or what you would like to see included!

Oxford Inside Out will:

  • Enable our researchers, professional services staff, partners and potential partners to
    • Learn more about the range of opportunities for engagement
    • Explore the mutual benefits and challenges of working together
    • Connect with others who share their interests
  • Recognise excellent and innovative practice, and highlight the good that can come from engagement and how it benefits research and the wider world
  • Raise awareness among researchers and professional services staff of the resources available to support engagement, and diversify uptake of related internal funding
  • Broaden and deepen participation by researchers and professional services staff in relevant networks

We’ll be hosting Oxford Inside Out in person in venues in Oxford city centre. Some sessions will be streamed online and/or recorded.

Oxford Inside Out is funded by Research England’s Higher Education Innovation and Policy Support Funds, and builds on the University’s experience of similar events, including the Oxford Policy Engagement Network (OPEN) Showcase 2022 and successive annual Public Engagement with Research (PER) Conferences.

Timeline


15 May - Deadline for expressions of interest
22 May - Contributors notified
8 June, 10.30-12.00 - Networking meeting with other contributors (online)
23 June - Deadline for full proposals
26 June - Registration opens
18 September - Registration closes
19 -21 September - Oxford Inside Out

We’re inviting those who would like to make a specific contribution to our event to submit a brief expression of interest no later than 12:00 BST on 15 May 2023.

We’re keen to include diverse contributions in the programme, which might include any of the following:

  • Case studies – in-depth exploration of a specific collaboration, enabling researchers and external partners to share perspectives and lessons learned
  • Exhibits – poster, video or other output that tells a story of collaboration or engagement; can be submitted by individuals or on behalf of a team
  • Interactive sessions – workshops or hackathons, enabling participants to tackle a community, industry or policy question or challenge
  • Panel discussions – you could propose a full panel (4-5 participants), or put yourself forward to be part of a panel
  • Plenary sessions – short oral presentations, sharing experience and insight into one or more mode of collaboration, capable of informing and inspiring a wide audience
  • Skills sessions – an opportunity to share your own and/or others’ skills, enabling others to plan, initiate, or extend collaboration, or to learn from it

Other suggestions welcome!

Who can submit an expression of interest?

Whether you’re a researcher at the University, doctoral student, or member of professional services staff, or a recent, current or potential partner in the public, private or voluntary sector, we welcome your ideas!

We’re particularly keen to hear from:

  • Those in the public, private, community or voluntary sectors* who
    • Are working, have worked, or would like to collaborate with academic researchers in the last 5 years
    • Serve as intermediaries between academic researchers and external partners, sometimes referred to as “knowledge mobilisers”
  • Researchers at the University who
    • Have experience of engaging, formally or informally, with external partners or other research users in the public, private or voluntary sectors
    • Have published on the theory or practice of public, policy, or business engagement
    • Have led change within an academic context to facilitate or improve institutional support for knowledge exchange
    • May be planning to host external partners in Oxford between 19 and 21 September 2023
  • Professional services staff who have facilitated engagement with public, private or voluntary sectors

*We want to make Oxford Inside Out as accessible to as many people as possible. If you feel there is a barrier preventing your involvement, please let us know as bursaries are available to enable your contribution. We will cover costs to enable the contribution of community and voluntary sector representatives (for example, reasonable UK travel costs), which should be estimated in your expression of interest.

Please note contributors are expected to be available on 19, 20 or 21 September 2023. If you have any constraints, please let the Organising Committee know so we can try to accommodate them.

How do I express interest?

Please use this - Oxford Inside Out expression of interest form - to share your expression of interest no later than 12:00 BST on 15 May 2023. This will enable us to get a sense of your overall idea, how it relates to our aims (see “About Oxford Inside Out”), target audience(s), the topics it will focus on, and any additional resources that might be required to make it a success.

Our Steering Group will review all expressions of interest received by the deadline above, and identify those that are best aligned with the aims of the event. We will notify short-listed contributors by 22 May and invite them to develop their proposal and ask that these be finalised by 23 June 2023.

We are keen to hear from a wide range of voices, expertise and sectors and can provide support for contributors in developing their ideas and shaping their proposals. Please feel free to contact us at collaboration@admin.ox.ac.uk  if you would like to discuss your participation in this conference.

Successful EOI contributors will be invited to a networking session to connect with each other, explore cross-cutting ideas and themes, and ask any questions, before finalising their proposal. This  will take place on the 8 June, 10.30 - 12.00 (online).

If you have any questions or would like to discuss your Expression of Interest, please do get in touch by emailing collaboration@admin.ox.ac.uk (please put Oxford Inside Out in the subject title).

  • Professor Abigail Williams (TORCH Knowledge Exchange, Impact and Innovation Director)
  • Professor Alison Woollard (Academic Champion for Public Engagement with Research)
  • Professor Christl Donnelly (Academic Champion for Policy Engagement)
  • Dr Helen Carstairs (Knowledge Exchange & Impact Manager)
  • Professor Kylie Vincent (Academic Champion for Women in Entrepreneurship)
  • Dr Matthew Hickman (Head of Public and Community Engagement with Research)
  • Will Pryor (Head of Policy Engagement)