Event timetable 2026 16–20 September
British Science Festival 2026
Highfield Campus, University of Southampton Centenary Building (100)
What’s on
Wednesday 16 September
9:30
Lecture Theatre A
Seminar Room 4013
Harvard Lecture Theatre
10:00 10:30 11:00
Surgery ahead of the game
11:30
12:30 13:00
Dark stories from deep-sea sharks Building future worlds and AI
12:00
Don’t miss
Seminar Room 3023
The deep sea dilemma
13:30
4th Floor
Main entrance
Inspire change: Circular economy with Willmott Dixon
The Ordnance Survey vernacular map of Southampton
Main Auditorium
Holy motherboard! Trade in a divided world
The return of eugenics
14:00
Turner Sims (52)
Electromagnetic art
14:30 15:00 15:30
The living autopsy
16:00
18:00–19:00 Centenary Building (100) – Lecture Theatre A
16:30 17:00 17:30 18:00 18:30 19:00 19:30
Event type Talk
Film
20:00
Workshop
Exhibition
20:30
Performance
Drop-ins
21:00
The living autopsy The Ocean Remembers: Festival launch
For the most up-to-date version of the programme and to book your free tickets, visit britishsciencefestival.org/events
British Science Festival 2026
Highfield Campus, University of Southampton Centenary Building (100)
What’s on
Thursday 17 September
9:30
Lecture Theatre A
Seminar Room 3023
10:00 10:30 11:00
Hidden secrets of the genome
Across time and tide: Exploring the deep sea
AI: Doom or bloom?
Electronic textiles
11:30
Seminar Room 4013
Harvard Lecture Theatre
4th Floor
Turner Sims (52)
Inspire change: Circular economy with Willmott Dixon
Eating for the Earth Mapping the human story
12:00
Don’t miss
12:30 13:00 13:30
The “forever chemicals” challenge
14:00 14:30 15:00
The Urbane Forager project
15:30
Call me, Mother Nature
16:00 16:30
20:00–21:30 Turner Sims (52) – Main Auditorium
17:00 17:30 18:00
You, Me & Debussy
18:30 19:00 19:30
Event type Talk
Film
20:00
Workshop
Exhibition
20:30
Performance
Drop-ins
21:00 21:30
Truth, trust and TikTok: Navigating science media in the digital age Call me, Mother Nature
For the most up-to-date version of the programme and to book your free tickets, visit britishsciencefestival.org/events
British Science Festival 2026
Southampton City Centre John Hansard Gallery
What’s on
Friday 18 September
16:30 17:00 17:30 18:00
Foyer
SOUNDSCALE: Our sonic city
Mezzanine
Becoming doctors
Screening Room
Barker-Mill Gallery
Lateral lines
Galleries 2 & 3
The art of creation
Screening entangled futures
City dreams
18:30
Paint your plankton portrait
19:00
Don’t miss
Active Space
19:30 20:00 20:30
Southampton City Centre Sir James Matthews Building
16:00
Lateral lines 17:00–20:00 John Hansard Gallery – Barker-Mill Gallery
Lecture Theatre 1
16:30
17:30
19:30
Talk
Film
Workshop
Exhibition
Performance
Drop-ins
Visiting future worlds and AI
Bite-size behaviour changes Adolescence, chatbots and AI intimacies
18:30 19:00
The Student Hub
Lassie’s got talent
17:00
18:00
Event type
Lecture Theatre 2
Southampton and the disappearing night
Bite-size behaviour changes: Drop-in
Talking entangled futures
20:00 20:30 21:00
For the most up-to-date version of the programme and to book your free tickets, visit britishsciencefestival.org/events
British Science Festival 2026
What’s on
Southampton City Centre
15:00
Friday 18 September
The Artisan
15:30
Stage Door
Venue TBC
Guildhall Square
Retelling the land: Sustainable songs
16:00
Bitterne Village
CastAway in Bitterne
16:30
continued
17:00
Don’t miss
18:00
17:30
18:30
Show Runner: Prime time with AI
The skate equation
19:00 19:30 20:00 20:30 21:00
Marine remixed The marvellously mathematical improv jam
CastAway in Bitterne
Cocktail hour in the Southern Ocean
Science stand-up spectacular
21:30
The skate equation
22:00
18:00–18:45 Guildhall Square
22:30 Science stand-up spectacular Time: 20:30–22:00
Cocktail hour in the Southern Ocean Time: 19:00–20:00
Event type Talk
Film
Workshop
Exhibition
Performance
Drop-ins For the most up-to-date version of the programme and to book your free tickets, visit britishsciencefestival.org/events
British Science Festival 2026
Southampton City Centre John Hansard Gallery
What’s on
Saturday 19 September
Foyer
10:30 11:00 11:30 12:00
Gallery 1
Mezzanine
Becoming doctors
SOUNDSCALE: Our sonic city
Active Space
Creative conceptions
Barker-Mill Gallery
Lateral lines
Galleries 2 & 3
The art of creation
City dreams
12:30 13:00
Don’t miss
The play protocol
13:30 14:00 14:30
Climate <=> Technology Justice
15:00 15:30 16:00 16:30
SOUNDSCALE: Our sonic city
17:00 17:30
11:00–17:00 John Hansard Gallery – Foyer
18:00 City dreams Time: 11:00–17:00
Climate <=> Technology Justice Time: 13:30–15:00
Event type Talk
Film
Workshop
Exhibition
Performance
Drop-ins For the most up-to-date version of the programme and to book your free tickets, visit britishsciencefestival.org/events
British Science Festival 2026
Southampton City Centre Sir James Matthews Building
What’s on
Saturday 19 September continued
10:30
Lecture Theatre 2
11:00 11:30
Study Zone
The Student Hub
Future AI: Play and imagine
Invisible illness through AI eyes
Studio 1
Studio 2
Studio 3
12:00 12:30
Bar & Café
Eye can make music (finishing at 5pm)
Music for climate action
13:00
Don’t miss
Mayflower Studios
13:30
Laughter: The lab report
14:00
The cheek of it!
14:30 15:00 15:30 16:00
Future AI: Reflect and debate
Who’s influencing your health? Have I got science for you?
16:30
Future AI: Reflect and debate 15:00–16:00 Sir James Matthews Building – Lecture Theatre 2
17:00 17:30 18:00 18:30 19:00 19:30 20:00 20:30
Event type Talk
Film
Workshop
Exhibition
Performance
Drop-ins
Eye can play
The Cambridge First All-Ladies Fire Brigade
Generate: Creative responses to AI research
21:00
For the most up-to-date version of the programme and to book your free tickets, visit britishsciencefestival.org/events
British Science Festival 2026 Southampton City Art Gallery
What’s on
Saturday 19 September
Highfield Campus, University of Southampton
Southampton City Centre
Main Hall
10:30 11:00
Yoga for health
11:30
continued
12:00
Don’t miss
13:00
12:30
13:30 14:00
Clothed with protection catwalk
Catwalk performance at 12:30 and 14:00
14:30 15:00 15:30 16:00
Education Room
Turner Sims (52)
Guildhall Square
Main Auditorium
Collective unconscious Microbes unmasked
CastAway in Guildhall Square
The skate equation Transformed by Roman fire: From ashes to art
Meals, mood and microbes From microscope to mural: Plankton portraits From waste to feast
CastAway in Guildhall Square
The Ocean Remembers
16:30
CastAway in Guildhall Square 12:30–13:00 | 15:00–15:30 Guildhall Square
17:00 17:30 18:00 18:30 19:00 19:30
Duality: Listen to light
20:00 20:30
Event type Talk
Film
21:00
Workshop
Exhibition
21:30
Performance
Drop-ins
22:00 22:30
For the most up-to-date version of the programme and to book your free tickets, visit britishsciencefestival.org/events
British Science Festival 2026
Southampton City Centre John Hansard Gallery
What’s on
Sunday 20 September
10:30 11:00 11:30 12:00 12:30
Foyer
Nightjar: Making the heath a home Matter, light, frame SOUNDSCALE: Our sonic city
Mezzanine
Becoming doctors
Active Space
Barker-Mill Gallery
Nightjar: Bird migration Lateral lines and belonging (Workshop sessions at 11:00 and 12:15)
Galleries 2 & 3
The art of creation
13:00
Don’t miss
13:30 14:00 14:30 15:00
See, sketch, sew: Crafting a slower city
15:30 16:00 16:30
Nightjar: Making the heath a home 11:00–17:00 John Hansard Gallery – Foyer
17:00 17:30 Matter, light, frame Time: 11:00–17:00
See, sketch, sew: Crafting a slower city Time: 15:00–17:00
Event type Talk
Film
Workshop
Exhibition
Performance
Drop-ins For the most up-to-date version of the programme and to book your free tickets, visit britishsciencefestival.org/events
British Science Festival 2026
Southampton City Centre Sir James Matthews Building
What’s on
Sunday 20 September continued
09:30
Lecture Theatre 1
Lecture Theatre 2
The Student Hub
10:00
The Artisan
Guildhall Square
Southampton’s Spogomi showdown
10:30 11:00
Engineering better health
11:30
How we map Great Britain Mapping the air we share
12:00
Don’t miss
Study Zone
Chickpeas, culture and cuisine
12:30 13:00 13:30 14:00
Plan Z: Should scientists get arrested for climate action?
14:30 15:00 15:30
Southampton’s Spogomi showdown 10:00–12:30 The Artisan
16:00 16:30
Maths within and beyond us
The People's Emergency Briefing
The skate equation
17:00 17:30 18:00 18:30
Event type Talk
Film
Workshop
Exhibition
Performance
Drop-ins
Chickpeas, culture and cuisine Time: 12:00–17:00
The People’s Emergency Briefing Time: 15:30–17:00
For the most up-to-date version of the programme and to book your free tickets, visit britishsciencefestival.org/events