Student radio station RaW kindly recorded some of the sessions at the Festival of the Imagination, which you can listen to below. They also produced this short film, which sums up the festival atmostphere perfectly!

Big Data. Big Opportunities.

Big data is collected from everything we do. What if data science could solve our future? Listen to acclaimed academics; Statistician Mark Girolami, Computer Scientist Ursula Martin and Behavioural Scientists Suzy Moat and Tobias Preis , as they explore how data science can be used to help us all.

Building a Human for the Future

Have you ever considered what the possibilities are for the human species over the next 50 years and beyond? Listen to this session to explore the latest innovations in 3D printed robotic limbs, memory-enhancing neural implants, lab-grown organs, gene therapies that slow ageing, synthetic biology, medical technology and artificial intelligence.

Quantifying Happy

In this session Professor Andrew Oswald and Lord Gus O'Donnell, internationally known experts in this field, describe how the Office of National Statistics now measures the genuine happiness and well-being of the United Kingdom. They divulge what the latest numbers show, and why we should use this kind of information to replace old-fashioned ideas that traditionally focussed simply on GDP and economic growth.

Shakespeare: 50 Years Hence

“Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them.” Is the Bard of Stratford the greatest of playwrights? How will his plays, sonnets and cultural influences take shape over the next fifty years and beyond. Listen to our lively panel of Shakespeare ‘players’ discuss whether our local literary icon and his 400-year-old stories can still inspire future generations. Can we expect to see Shakespeare in space or on Mars?!

The Festival of the Imagination Show

Our launch event for the Festival of the Imagination, this event included appearances from speakers and performers from across the Festival weekend. There was also a special preview of a new musical piece composed by Joe Cutler and performed by the University’s resident Coull Quartet to mark the University’s fiftieth anniversary.

Universities Challenged: Where next for Higher Education?

What are the challenges and opportunities facing the Higher Education sector over the coming years? Can universities continue to operate in their current form or will we see radical transformation across the sector as it adapts and responds to changing student expectations, international competition and fluctuating funding regimes? What will these changes mean for academic research, especially as criteria such as non-scholarly impact and value for money grow in significance?