Why would a robot go to church? How can we better communicate with dogs? And what will AI’s role be in our future? Expect fascinating new research, debate and performances exploring these questions and more at the 195th British Science Festival, held in partnership with the University of Southampton, in September.
The British Science Association, founders of the British Science Festival, are today (Thursday 2 July) announcing the programme for their annual celebration of science, running in Southampton from Wednesday 16 – Sunday 20 September 2026.
Tickets are free and available to book now at www.britishsciencefestival.org
Events will take place across the University of Southampton’s campuses and city centre venues.
From comedy shows to art installations, dynamic performances to hands-on workshops, insightful talks to interactive experiences, the British Science Festival programme of more than 80 events is free and has something for everyone.
The programme covers a huge range of subjects that encompass science in the broadest sense, and champions initiatives that blend the sciences and arts.
Talks and experiences from the University of Southampton, and other Southampton partners include:
- An exhibition of artwork by medical students about their experience as junior doctors, identities and future hopes
- A talk on how light pollution in Southampton is affecting local human and animal residents
- Plankton portrait painting
- A workshop exploring the mathematics behind skating with live demonstrations from local skaters
- A guided walk to rediscover the delicacies of Southampton through foraging
- A night of electronic music inspired by the sounds of the ocean
You can make cocktails with a marine twist, learn to grow mushrooms from kitchen waste and sing songs for a sustainable future; craft a slower city in a workshop with local authors who invite you to notice and embroider the nature around Southampton; explore the hidden reality of living with dementia; and yoga-pose your way to better health through just some of the events in the programme.
Become a detective of the deep, discover and draw the artefacts left buried below with the archaeology team at Southampton City Council; build a new Southampton of your dreams through AI; and discover the talents of Ugandan designers in a catwalk fashion show highlighting the power of vaccines – developed in collaboration with the University of Southampton’s Professor Chrissie Jones and artist Luke Jerram.
Projects from Mayflower Studios, John Hansard Gallery, and Turner Sims connect world-class University of Southampton research with artistic practice:
New musical work The Ocean Remembers brings together sound artist, composer and nature beatboxer Jason Singh, composer and trumpeter Yazz Ahmed and the University’s Southampton Marine and Maritime Institute; The Skate Equation, a dynamic public art and participation project from Skate Southampton and the University of Southampton’s Mathematics department; and Generate: Creative Responses to AI Research – an evening of work-in-progress performances at Mayflower Studios exploring the real-life, human impacts of AI from artists who have developed creative responses in conversation with researchers.
Panel discussions and talks
- Dame Wendy Hall , Regius Professor of Computer Science at the University of Southampton and new British Science Association President will deliver her Presidential Address, a conversation with BBC Technology Editor Zoe Kleinman about the future of AI
- Ever talked to a terrier? Had a chat with a chihuahua? We might enjoy talking to our canine companions, but how much do they really understand? Juliane Kaminski, Associate Professor in Comparative Psychology, Dog Cognition Centre, University of Portsmouth explains all
- Evolutionary behavioural scientist Dr Rebecca Sear, Brunel University of London, will explore how the widely discredited and damaging ideology of eugenics has resurged throughout the 21st century
- Andrew Blair, PhD Researcher at the University of Glasgow, explains what happened when he introduced a robot to a centuries-old cathedral, and you’ll get a chance to meet the robot for yourself
- Marine biologist Daniel Moore, University of Exeter, dissects how climate change has impacted on the sharks living in the deep seas, and how that in turn impacts us on dry land
The British Science Festival is one of Europe’s longest-running science festivals and is hosted at a different location each year. The Festival provides a platform for scientists and social scientists, innovators and inventors, researchers and artists, to share their work with the public.
The 2026 Festival is the first in Southampton since 1992 and builds on the University of Southampton’s strength for engaging people in science.
For this year’s Festival, a panel of young people from Southampton have worked with the Festival team and LifeLab , the University of Southampton’s research-based educational project, to help curate the five-day programme.
Find out more: Programme launches for British Science Festival 2026 in Southampton
