Festival of Social Science

18 October to 8 November 2025

Festival of Social Science 2025

The Festival of Social Science is a fantastic opportunity for children and grown ups alike to get hands on with fun and engaging activities, peek into the world of research and learn something new about our world.

It celebrates the creative, engaging, and impactful work that social science researchers do to help us understand and influence the world around us, and this year we are excited to be returning with a packed programme of activities on the theme of "Our Working Lives" from 18 October - 8 November.

Supported by the University of Oxford's ESRC Impact Acceleration Account.

Logos of University of Oxford, Social Sciences Division, Oxford Brookes University, ESRC IAA, and UKRI ESRC

About the Festival of Social Science

The ESRC Festival of Social Science is an annual, UK-wide, free celebration of the social sciences. The festival consists of a series of events run each autumn, delivered by ESRC’s ‘festival partners’, higher education institutions spread across the UK. Events range from exhibitions, lectures and panel debates through to performances, guided walks and workshops.

The festival is an opportunity for anyone to explore topics relating to social science, from health and wellbeing to crime, equality, education and identity, through events run by researchers from UK universities.

The 2025 festival is taking place from 18 October 2025 to 8 November 2025 with hundreds of events delivered by 41 partner institutions across the UK. The 2025 festival theme is our working lives, with a number of events exploring this area as well as many others covering a wide range of social science topics.

There’s no cost to attend, and most events are open to everyone, though some are aimed at specific groups.

Read more about the festival on the Festival of Social Science website.

Discover past Festivals