Opening Our Doors: One Year of Public Lectures at Portsmouth

One year on, our Public Lecture Series is doing exactly what it set out to do: building relationships with our local communities and connecting our research with real world contexts that matter.

The series was created as a platform to share timely, real-world research with audiences who might not usually engage with the university. It’s about opening our doors, bringing the public onto campus and letting our research out into the city.

This series creates spaces for a broad mixture of voices, from professors to PhD students and post-doctoral researchers. The format encourages creativity and collaboration, with events ranging from drinks tastings to panel discussions, and live DNA sequencing to external site visits. All of this comes together to give speakers an opportunity to move their research beyond academia, and our local communities an opportunity to connect with the world-leading research happening on their doorstep.

“Wonderful subject and very captivating method of delivery” (attendee at The Milky Way and the Ancient Egyptian Goddess of the Sky)

Who’s in the room?

Since launching with a pilot in summer 2025, the series has delivered 11 events, attracting 906 attendees in total. But it’s not just about numbers – it’s about who’s in the room. 60% of attendees have been members of the public and almost half hadn’t attended any University event in the previous two years. As well as drawing in new people, we have also built a growing group of regulars who are coming back for multiple events. In short, the series isn’t just about filling seats – it’s building new relationships.

“I truly enjoyed the experience to give a public lecture […] and glad to see nearly half of the audience from outside the university” (Speaker feedback)

Inspiring audiences and our academics

The series has attracted wonderful feedback from attendees, with many keen to come back for more events and conversations carrying on long after the event has finished.

“Thoroughly enjoyed the presentation, interesting to listen to – my first public lecture! Thank you.” (Attendee at Chernobyl: Science, Society... and Vodka!)

“A whole can of worms of possibility and would love to discuss some ideas with you" (Attendee at Puppetry as a Global Practice)

And the impact of the series goes both ways:

“It was a highlight of my year… great to talk to a public and not academic audience.” (Speaker feedback)

By creating a supportive, public platform, the series is helping researchers build confidence, develop new skills, and see their work through fresh eyes.

“It gave me even more confidence about my research and was nice to have senior staff introduce and discuss my research so positively” (Speaker feedback)