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About Us



Southampton Science and Engineering Festival (SOTSEF) is the University of Southampton's annual research festival that allows everyone to explore and discover what the world of science and engineering has to offer.

The festival began in 2002 as a one-day free event, the Science and Engineering Day, at Highfield Campus, where around 200 people attended.

Every successive year it has grown bigger and better, winning best Engineering Event in 2009 and best STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) Institution Event in 2014 awarded by the British Science Association. In 2015, Southampton Science and Engineering Festival was officially launched, moving away from a one-day event to a larger programme, which originally included Ocean and Earth Day at the National Oceanographic Centre (NOCs).

The Festival has continued to expand with new activities and many returning favourites at local venues as well as Highfield Campus and Boldrewood Innovation Campus. Thousands of people now attend Southampton Science and Engineering Festival each year, in particular Science and Engineering Day, coming as far as Dorset, Kent and Greater Manchester.

Since May 2020, the Festival programme also includes a digital presence online to engage with national and international audiences.

Southampton Science and Engineering Festival is part of the UK Science Festival Network and currently runs every year in parallel with British Science Week, a 10-day programme of thousands of events running throughout the whole of the UK, with the aim of celebrating science, engineering, technology and maths. The Festival has continued to expand with new activities and many returning favourites at local venues, as well as Highfield Campus and Boldrewood Innovation Campus.

Over the last few years, we have opened participation to external exhibitors including public engagement professionals, schools, community groups, cultural venues and other research institutions.

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Southampton Science and Engineering Festival is organised by the UoS Festival team - part of the Public Engagement with Research unit (PERu) at the University of Southampton - who curate all sides of the event from planning to evaluation, and take pride in delivering the best possible experience to everyone involved, from volunteers to visitors.

Silvia Lanati
UoS Festival Lead
UoS website profile

Kara Goodland
UoS Festival Admin

Lisa Hanley
Deputy Head of PERu

Ben Littlefield
Head of PERu

Ronda Gowland-Pryde
PERu Civic Lead
UoS website profile

Jess Spurrell
PERu Hubs Lead
UoS website profile

Felicity Farrell
PERu Hubs Officer

Isobel Buck
Student Ambassador Lead (coordinator)

Matthew Grove
Student Ambassador Lead (operations)

Elizabeth Nutburn
PERu Admin

Wendy-Anne Appleby
PERu Civic Admin

We are part of the Public Engagement with Research unit (PERu), which exists to inspire and support high quality public engagement with research across all disciplines at the University of Southampton.

The UoS Festival team is part of the Public Engagement with Research unit (PERu) at the University of Southampton.

The Public Engagement team enables, connects and inspires high quality mutually beneficial engagement between the university and society.

The team:

  • coordinates opportunities to do engagement, from Science and Engineering or Arts and Humanities Festivals, to the Community partnership Hubs;
  • designs and delivers training on engagement skills for staff and students, such as communication, partnership working, or evaluation;
  • provides expertise, advice and guidance on what high quality Public Engagement could be, how to apply for funding and how to measure its impact;
  • curates the cross-institution Public Engagement Network, bringing people together to share successes and challenges;
  • brings together people from the University and society, helping to make connections as well as holding strategic relationships with partners;
  • provides seed funding and support for Public Engagement projects through development funds and enables the embedding of engagement support and practice across Faculties.

The Public Engagement team's work is a key part of the University of Southampton's Civic role, delivering activities in partnership with different groups across different themes, from Education, Learning and Future Jobs, and Staff, Students and graduate support and retention to Health and Wellbeing, and to Environment, Sustainability and Biodiversity.

As a signatory to the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement (NCCPE)'s Manifesto for Public Engagement, the University of Southampton is committed to sharing knowledge, resources and skills with the public, and to listening to and learning from the expertise and insight of the different communities with which we engage.

Alongside Southampton Science and Engineering Festival, the UoS Festival team organises other family-friendly events across the year.

Our annual Southampton Arts and Humanities Festival is held every November, in parallel with Being Human festival. The programme includes Arts and Humanities Day, a free family-friendly event, with tens of interactive hands-on activities, workshops, exhibits and talks.

The UoS Festival team is also behind the University of Southampton Bringing Research to Life Roadshow, which contributes to few local community events across the summer, including, e.g. Southampton Mela Festival, the New Forest and Hampshire County Show and Southampton Pride.