Three Jesus College Fellows will be showcasing their interdisciplinary research at October’s IF Oxford, the Oxford science & ideas festival.

IF Oxford brings together communities across Oxford to discover and engage in the cultural narrative around science and our perceptions of the world around us. The festival programme covers a huge range of science and cultural activities, from animal-inspired robotics to new medicines, working with choreographers, poets and visual artists to develop skills and inspire creativity in activities for people of all ages and backgrounds.

Many Jesus Fellows and students participate in public engagement work throughout the year, and the festival provides a unique opportunity to engage with people from all parts of the city over the course of the month. This year, Professors Shankar Srinivas, Graham Taylor and Vili Lehdonvirta will all be involved:

8th October 2022 – Shaping Destiny: Experiments in embodiment’

From 11am at Wesley Memorial Methodist Church, New Inn Hall Street, Oxford OX1 2DH.

Professor Shankar Srinivas and colleagues at the University’s Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics (DAPG) and TORCH, will be part of the #IFOx2022 EXPLORAZONE, sharing ‘Shaping Destiny: Experiments in embodiment’ – a Wellcome-funded project that uses dance, theatre and virtual reality to explore intersecting ideas of embodiment, physical form and the social norms which determine and shape human destiny. The project’s science side is led by Shankar and the team at DPAG, and explores the concept of determinism, and how certain cells are destined to create certain organs or body parts.

22nd October 2022 – Animal Senses Zone

From 10am, John Krens Field Station, Wytham

Senior Research Fellow Professor Graham Taylor and the Oxford Flight Group will part of the festival’s Animal Senses Zone. The team will be demonstrating their research on visually-guided flight in birds, and its applications to autonomous vehicles, computer vision and even wind turbine avoidance, using motion capture demos, bird-borne videos and more.

25th October 2022 – Cloud Empires: How digital platforms are overtaking the state and how we can regain control 

17.30 – 19.00, Cheng Kar Shun Digital Hub, Jesus College

Professor Vili Lehdonvirta, Senior Research Fellow, digital economy expert and author of a widely-praised new book ‘Cloud Empires: How digital platforms are overtaking the state and how we can regain control’ explores the rise of the platform economy into state-like dominance over our lives and proposes a new way forward. To book for this free event, click here.