Public engagement with research
Our academic experts broaden horizons and spark curiosity. Attend our events, explore our digital offerings or take part in our research projects.
View contentOur academics generate knowledge and achieve impact in close collaboration with numerous organisations, institutions and individuals, regionally, nationally and internationally. The University subscribes to the National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement's Manifesto for Public Engagement.
Our academic experts and students love to share their passion for their subjects and we offer a wide range of public engagement events throughout the year, from walks and talks to exhibitions and performances, as well as inviting the public to participate in our research (see below).
We are embedded in the fabric of our community. We have a wealth of knowledge about the local and regional history and archaeology, and our academics feature prominently in local annual festivals such as the BBC History Weekend and Winchester Heritage Open Days, as well as working with Winchester Cathedral. Our academics have lent their expertise to popular TV programmes such as The Last Kingdom and local tourist attractions such as 878AD and Medieval Jewish Winchester.
We maintain close links with our local and regional health services and contribute our health and wellbeing knowledge and expertise to our communities. Explore our Health and Wellbeing links and engagement.
We work closely with regional parter schools on curriculum development through our University of Winchester Academy Trust.
We are deeply concerned about the climate and biodiversity crisis, and we engaged extensively with COP26. We joined the COP26 Universities Network and offered a varied programme of events; staff and students also travelled to Glasgow to add their voices to the growing chorus calling for urgent action on climate change. We are currently working with a number of environmentally focussed organisations such as the National Trust, The Wildfowl and Wetland Trust, and Gilbert White's House, where ecology was born.
We are a university of social justice, and we were the South's first University of Sanctuary, supporting and welcoming refugees and asylum seekers and raising awareness of the issues surrounding forced migration, whether as a result of conflict or climate change.
We have broad teaching and research interests in peace and reconciliation, and the Holocaust. Find out more:
Take part in our research
Covid19-related projects
Help us capture the pandemic for posterity. Future generations will want to know how we spent our days; what was it like to live through a global pandemic from day to day? The University of Winchester is inviting members of the public to keep a diary and document their experiences of living during this unsettling time, to create an archive. Find out more about The Covid Diaries and how to take part.
Law projects
Has your child been in broadcast media? Do you post about your children on social media? Find out about our research into media and children's privacy, and get involved.
Criminology projects
If you are a farmer in Devon or Cornwall and you would like to share your experiences with rural organised crime with researchers, you are encouraged to take part in our Rural Crime Survey.
See, hear, read, watch our research
Exhibitions
Live exhibitions
From 8 Nov. 2022 until mid-Feb. 2023, you will be able to enjoy a fascinating pop-up exhibition on the hidden history of 18th-century contributions made by indigenous and enslaved people on a Caribbean island to the emerging science of botany, dominated by white Europeans. The exhibition is currently hosted by the Wycombe Museum and will be displayed in the University's West Downs Gallery 9-20 February.
Find out more about the exhibition A Caribbean Garden
Find out more about the project
Online exhibitions
Explore our virtual visual showcase of Research and Public Engagement
Our Exhibition Gallery
Sited within our most recent campus development on Romsey Road, the West Downs Gallery hosts a programme of exhibitions throughout the year. It aims to show creative work of the highest quality to inspire debate and participation between creative professionals, academics, students and the public.
Find out more about our Gallery.
Videos and podcasts
Many of our academics have produced fascinating video and audio material.
Explore the Centre for Religion, Reconciliation and Peace's podcast series Talking Peace, Exploring Conflict.
Dive into the Dark Ages with Anglo-Saxon and Viking specialist Dr Eric Lacey in the popular Assassin's Creed Valhalla video game series podcasts.
Discover modern historian Dr Natalya Chernyshova's podcasts and videos as part of her research on protest and conflict in Belarus, from the Soviet era to the current upheavals.
You will find a wealth of video material to explore on our YouTube channel, such as the dynamic Centre for Animal Welfare channel, the Modern History Research Centre channel and Centre for Performance Practice and Research channel.
Join The Conversation
The University is an active member of The Conversation, an independent source of news and views, sourced from the research community and delivered direct to the public. Over the years, many of our academics have published thought-provoking articles, from the history of animal names to animal welfare, crime fiction to scary movies, sporting highs and sporting lows, and from modern-day Queens to Kings under car parks.
Read all University of Winchester articles in The Conversation
Find out more and get in touch
- For further information or general enquiries, contact the Research & Engagement Officer
- Email us if you would like to be added to our mailing list for public events
- Browse our public events calendar
- Follow our research and engagement news on Twitter
- Explore our impactful research and knowledge exchange
Background image: Biological Anthropologist Dr Heidi Dawson-Hobbis and student Briony Lalor demonstrating skeletal analysis to members of the public in the Forensic Science laboratory.