Southampton Science and Engineering Festival (SOTSEF)

Southampton Science and Engineering Festival (SOTSEF) is one of the annual flagship events of the Public Engagement with Research unit, with thousands of visitors joining researchers, staff and students at the University of Southampton for ten days of scientific discovery and celebration.

The Southampton Science and Engineering Festival was first launched in 2002 and runs every year to coincide with British Science Week .

The festival's acronym, SOTSEF, stands for:

• SOT - Southampton (from the abbreviation Soton)
• S - Science (and)
• E - Engineering
• F - Festival

Through the years, the Science and Engineering Festival has developed into a STEAM (Science-Technology-Engineering-Arts-Mathematics and Medicine) festival that thrives through collaboration, creativity and interdisciplinarity. The aims of the festival are:

The ten-day celebration usually includes our award-winning Science and Engineering Day , a free family-friendly event taking place across Highfield Campus and Boldrewood Innovation Campus, packed with more than a hundred interactive hands-on activities, workshops, live shows, talks, art performances and laboratory tours from across all our Faculties and local community groups, schools and cultural venues.

Over the last few years, we have opened participation to external exhibitors including local bookstores, schools, community groups, trusts, public engagement professionals, artists, cultural venues and other research institutions. The event has grown to become one of the most popular science festivals in the South of England, with attendees coming as far as Devon, Kent, Yorkshire and Greater Manchester for Science and Engineering Day. Since 2020, we have also developed a digital presence online that allows us to engage with new national and international audiences.

We are full member of the UK Science Festivals Network  and are steered by a dedicated Steering Group led by Professor Mark Spearing, Vice-President Research and Enterprise at the University of Southampton.

If you have never exhibited or attended Science and Engineering Day, why not watch the following videos from Southampton Science and Engineering Festival 2025 and 2019 to find out what the day is all about or visit our YouTube channel for more videos and recordings of previous events.