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Summer Family Fun at the Science Oxford Centre
Thursday 22nd May 2025
If you’re looking for something different to do with the kids this summer, why not visit the Science Oxford Centre in Headington and make a day of it? Our action-packed Family Days run every Saturday, and there really is something for everyone! Tickets include entry to the amazing Exploration Zone and all day access to […]
Science Oxford at Oxford Literary Festival 2025
Tuesday 8th April 2025
‘Could there be aliens hiding in our Solar System’ and ‘what if aliens are smart?’ To get answers to these intriguing questions and more, Francesca MacLennan, Director of Science Education at the Oxford Trust | Science Oxford, introduced astronomer and author Dr Matt Bothwell at the Oxford Literary Festival
Top Tips for IF Oxford, Oxford’s science and ideas Festival
Thursday 3rd October 2024
Read our top tips for IF Oxford, Oxford’s science and ideas Festival 2024! With over 100 events for all the family from 6 October until 3 November, there really is something for everyone.
Magic summer of science inspires Oxfordshire communities
Monday 16th September 2024
Science Oxford’s summer tour visited libraries and community hubs
Nurturing the next generation of creative techies with Arti-Techs Club
Tuesday 23rd July 2024
Science Oxford’s Arti-techs Club, run by Technology Projects Officer Sarah Townson, is a place where young people aged 11 to 14 years old can come to explore their creativity through technology. It’s also a space where they can connect and make friends.
Sarah Townson receives prestigious High Sheriff of Oxfordshire’s Award 2023
Tuesday 28th March 2023
Technology Projects Officer, Sarah Townson, has received a prestigious High Sheriff of Oxfordshire’s Award 2023, presented at a ceremony on Monday 27 March by Mark Beard, the High Sheriff of Oxfordshire.
Working together to impact our communities
Tuesday 27th September 2022
It takes a team to achieve real and lasting impact. In her wisdom, Mother Teresa couldn’t have put it more simply when she said, “I can do things you cannot; you can do things I cannot; together we can do great things.” Her sentiments highlight the real value in our relationships and connections with partners within the communities we serve. Drawing on each other’s strengths, we can achieve more.
Gadgeteers enjoy inventive library tour this summer
Monday 26th September 2022
We were delighted to visit seven libraries across Oxfordshire this summer with our free Incredible Inventions family show…
Presenter Network Oxfordshire is back for 2022!
Saturday 24th September 2022
Calling Oxfordshire presenters! If you love inspiring audiences in museums, discovery and visitor centres, science communication or the media, the Presenter Network is for you! Our Education Programme Officer, Ian Snell, dons his ‘Presenting-hat’ as leader of the Oxfordshire Hub and tells all…
It’s nearly IF festival time!
Monday 12th September 2022
Get your shoes on (or slippers, if you’d prefer online events) and head to IF Oxford, the Oxford science and ideas festival, over the month of October. Ideas will be plentiful, conversations thought-provoking, and activities fun, creative and stimulating.
A hot summer in the woodland
Tuesday 19th July 2022
As summer temperatures reach the highest ever recorded in the UK today, the effects on the natural world and how to look after our green spaces and wildlife is on our all minds. Luckily, we’re in good hands at the Science Oxford Centre with our Outdoor Learning and Ecology Manager, Dr Roger Baker — read his woodland update, and top tips to keep a cool head in these unprecedented times.
Summer of Science – hands-on family fun with Science Oxford
Thursday 7th July 2022
Summer is here and we’re looking forward to a jam-packed programme of hands-on science! Our popular Summer Science Camps are back at the Science Oxford Centre during the holidays, for children age 6-9 (August 15-19) and 9-12 (August 22-26). Our week long camps run from 9am – 3.30pm and are designed by our skilled staff for children who love science and want […]
Catapulting careers in STEM – meet our placement student
Wednesday 11th May 2022
If you’re considering a career in STEM, there’s a world of opportunity waiting! Earlier this year we were delighted to welcome a PhD student from Sheffield University, Ruth Thomas, who joined us for her Professional Internship placement. Ruth explored her interests in science outreach and communication with our thriving education and engagement programmes at the […]
A not completely alive Live Lab session
Tuesday 10th May 2022
If you visit the Science Oxford Centre for a Family Day this summer, you just might see something unusual. Our pop up ‘Live Lab’ is an interactive space where families get to meet a scientist, student or researcher – or one of our expert team.
String, the super-weird and the story of life – children inspired by ‘Extinct’ tales
Thursday 14th April 2022
School children from Oxfordshire were inspired by string, the super-weird and stories of life at a recent ‘Extinct’ talk with scientist and TV presenter Professor Ben Garrod, for Oxford Literary Festival. The Prof’s ‘Extinct’ book series examines the world’s mass extinctions from the point of view of creatures living at the time, and describes science as a […]
British Science Week – back with a bang!
Tuesday 8th March 2022
With British Science Week (BSW) just around the corner, we’re excited to be engaging with so many schools and families. British Science Week is a ten-day national celebration of science, technology, engineering and maths that will take place between 11-20 March 2022. This year, the theme is ‘Growth’, which is apt as our BSW programme has […]
Children reach for the Stars with Dr Maggie’s Space tour!
Monday 15th November 2021
“She encourages you to reach for the stars…” Local school children were ‘over the moon’ to watch a Grand Tour of the Solar System with Space scientist and BBC The Sky at Night presenter, Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock for the Oxford Literary Festival (OLF). Eight Year 5 pupils from St Andrews school in Cowley, Oxford and […]
Inspiring change at the Science Oxford Centre
Monday 27th September 2021
Science Oxford is delighted to have taken part in ‘Project Inspire’ with the Association of Science and Discovery Centres‘ (ASDC) this spring and summer and inspired change in our Centre! In March of this year, we were lucky enough to be chosen as one of eight UK Science Centres awarded a grant of £15,000, to […]
Summer woodland delights at the Science Oxford Centre
Wednesday 11th August 2021
Enjoying the outdoors this summer? We were delighted to finally welcome back visitors to our Centre this season, where we are lucky enough to have 15 acres of woodlands, grassland and ponds to explore. The Science Oxford Centre is the only indoor-outdoor science centre for children and families in the UK, and we love seeing people […]
The science of gardening – top tips for National Gardening Week
Monday 26th April 2021
As spring arrives, we’re championing the great outdoors for National Gardening Week – the UK’s biggest annual celebration of gardening, organised by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) 26th April – 2nd May. We’ve all appreciated our green spaces during lockdown, and new research from an RHS study announced this week shows that gardening just two to […]
Branching out: celebrating National Tree Week at the Science Oxford Centre
Tuesday 24th November 2020
Planting trees seems more important than ever under the current circumstances – a chance to create positive change. This year we have been funded by the Tree Council Branching Out Fund to plant 25 trees in the 15-acre woodland surrounding our Science Oxford Centre in Headington. These will be dug in by a group of […]
Anneliese Dodds MP visits the Science Oxford Centre
Monday 28th September 2020
Anneliese Dodds MP took time out to visit our Science Oxford Centre recently with her daughter for one of our Family Open Days. During the week, the Centre is open for school visits but every other Saturday we welcome families to our Family Open Days, where they can try the hands-on exhibits in the Exploration Zone […]
Science Oxford supports Science Centres for our Future Campaign
Tuesday 2nd June 2020
Science Oxford joins over 40 members of the UK Association for Science and Discovery Centres’ (ASDC) nationwide campaign to call for Government to set up an Emergency Resilience Fund to support our world-class network of regional science centres. The campaign is being supported by some of the UK’s leading science advocates – including Professor Alice […]
Summer science outdoors – top 5 things to do for families
Thursday 21st May 2020
It feels like summer is almost here! The sun is shining and the flowers are coming into bloom in our woodland at Stansfeld Park. As lockdown eases, it’s time to get outdoors and spend more time in your local park, going on walks or messing around in your garden at home. We’ve been looking out […]
Cats, Easter eggs and Rube Goldberg machines – deliver the Science Oxford Challenge
Friday 10th April 2020
We’re all facing new challenges at the moment, and looking for creative ways to bring fun and learning into the home during ‘lockdown’. So why not get your household and family together and take our Easter Science Oxford Challenge, for the chance to win a free family visit to the Science Oxford Centre, Exploration Zone and […]
Oxford champion will go to FameLab UK final
Tuesday 10th March 2020
We celebrated the launch of British Science Week with the Oxford FameLab Regional Final 2020 at our new Science Oxford Centre Theatre at Stansfeld Park. Our eight brave and brilliant finalists battled it out on stage but it was Maria Violaris who won the day and was crowned the queen of science chatter! With just […]
Explore our world with British Science Week
Friday 6th March 2020
British Science Week is officially here. The Science Oxford team is excited to bring hands-on science-inspired fun to over 5000 school children, families and adults across Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire over the next three weeks! The national celebration runs 6–15 March 2020 and champions science, technology, engineering and maths with the theme of ‘Our Diverse Planet.’ […]
FameLab back with a Bang – Oxford’s battle of the brains begins
Monday 17th February 2020
This February, we put science centre-stage and hosted FameLab UK’s first round of Oxford heats, where sci-curious stars of the future battle it out for a place in the nation’s favourite science competition, in partnership with Cheltenham Festival. With the help of makeshift props and witty bants, thirteen contestants had just three minutes to entertain […]
Getting brains buzzing for February half term
Monday 10th February 2020
Looking for something different for February half term? Look no further, as Science Oxford offers a fabulously fun programme of events for children and families to get budding brains buzzing! Did Humpty Dumpty fall, or was he pushed? We’re calling all super sleuths to crack unsolved cases CSI-style at Saturday Science Club in Nursery Rhyme […]
Year in review 2019: One giant leap for Science Oxford…
Friday 13th December 2019
In a year which saw the 50th anniversary of the 1969 Apollo moon landing celebrated globally, Science Oxford took a giant leap of its own and launched the brand-new Science Oxford Centre in Headington. From hands-on schools exploration and family visits, to woodland walks and expert talks, we’ve welcomed over 2700 pupils from 37 schools […]
Search for new science stars comes to Oxford
Wednesday 27th November 2019
It’s time to nourish those neurones as the UK’s longest running competition for the science stars of the future comes to Oxford this winter. Science Oxford is delighted to announce the launch of FameLab UK 2020 and applications are now open. FameLab is a UK-wide competition to find the new voices of science and engineering. […]
ISEN-sational news for Science Oxford
Friday 22nd November 2019
Sophie Batin, our education outreach manager, has become a member of the British Science Association’s new Inclusive Science Engagement Network (ISEN). This national network aims to support members to make their workplaces and activities more inclusive. The first area of focus for the network is helping members to develop, review and strengthen an internal Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity […]
E-van trial creates a BUZZ
Wednesday 6th November 2019
Electric vehicle mavericks buzzEV are loaning one of their fleet of electric vans to our outreach team to assist in the delivery of our STEM outreach programme to primary schools across the region. London-based buzzEV offers electric cars and vans for rental to business, sporting and educational establishments across the UK. They’ll soon be providing […]
The Future of Artificial Intelligence? with IF Oxford
Wednesday 23rd October 2019
Recently put on the map with the canonisation of Cardinal Newman, University Church again became the focus of attention last night with a discussion between Rt Revd Steven Croft, the Bishop of Oxford and Professor Luciano Floridi, hosted by Jory Fleming. The event was organised for IF Oxford – the science and ideas festival, of […]
Countdown to Oxford’s science and ideas festival
Monday 14th October 2019
With only two weeks to go, we’re getting super-excited about the IF Oxford science and ideas festival, which we are delighted to support once again as associate partners. Amid a flurry of activity in the IF bunker, the countdown has begun for an inclusive science-tastic takeover of Oxford, featuring over 100 diverse events from 18-28 October 2019. IF Oxford […]
A touch of summer magic for Oxfordshire libraries
Thursday 29th August 2019
This summer, a fairy godmother from Witney waved their magic wand and conjured up sparkling fairy dust so that Cinderella could go to the ball, or rather – kindly offered a generous donation so we could take our Science of Magic show on tour to six libraries in West Oxfordshire. Our head magician – ‘Magic-Ian’- […]
New grant will open science clubs up to all
Tuesday 30th July 2019
Science Oxford has received a grant from The Austin and Hope Pilkington Trust to support free places at our science clubs for children from areas of socio-economic deprivation in Oxford and Abingdon. The Austin and Hope Pilkington Trustgives grants to charities working with those in society who face the greatest challenges and whose opportunities are […]
Badger project at Stansfeld Park wins University award
Tuesday 30th July 2019
We’re delighted to share the news that WildCRU PhD student Tanesha Allen has been given a University of Oxford Vice Chancellor Public Engagement Award for her citizen science project, How do badgers respond to scents from other species? She received a Highly-Commended in the Early Career Researcher Category. Part of Tanesha’s research took place in […]
New benches add unique style twist to Stansfeld woodland
Friday 19th July 2019
Two beautiful new bespoke benches, designed by Rycotewood Furniture students, have arrived at Stansfeld Park, ready to be placed in our woodland for everyone to enjoy. The hexagonal bench (see back of photo) will wrap around one of the trees and provide a comfortable seat to enjoy shade from the sun, while the curved one […]
Muir Gray celebrates 75 years and talks the Elixir of Life
Wednesday 26th June 2019
“I’m going to make a donation to the new centre because it needs a clock!” said NHS health expert and anti-ageing champion Sir Muir Gray, as he began his talk on ‘The Elixir of Life’ –holding court to a full house in the new Science Oxford Centre theatre. A clock was hastily provided, to the amusement […]