Each September, Edinburgh Futures Institute welcomes new minds—and new futures—setting the stage for a year of bold, interdisciplinary collaboration, both on campus and online.
This year’s Welcome Week (8 – 12 September) brought together over 400 postgraduate and undergraduate students from more than 60 countries and a wide range of disciplines, all drawn by a shared ambition to explore how knowledge and creativity can shape our futures.
Welcome Breakfast
We opened this year’s Welcome Week with a refreshed format: a vibrant Monday-morning breakfast that drew more than 200 students eager to share a meal and meet their peers. From 10 am, the large events space at the Futures Institute building hummed with conversation. It was wonderful to see the new cohort of students enter our doors, excited for the week ahead!
Students were introduced to key figures from the Institute who will be supporting their education journey. Our Chief Operating Officer, Director of Students, and Director of Teaching delivered welcome remarks, followed by introductions from a selection of programme directors and the whole Futures Institute Education team.
There was a lively atmosphere during the day, and students were keen to participate in activities. For instance, students joined a call-and-response game where they shouted: “Student Intranet!” when asked where they can find key information and policies.
Course Choices Bazaar
On Wednesday, we welcomed students to our Course Choices Bazaar, a bustling marketplace of ideas where students met programme directors and course organisers to discuss modules, specialisms, and pathways for the year ahead.
The event offered a rare chance for one-to-one conversations, enabling new students to ask any questions and hear directly from the academic minds who design and teach their courses. Stalls and information points filled the events space, creating a buzz of curiosity as students compared options, gathered advice, and began shaping their individual learning journeys.
At one point, I overheard students debating whether artificial intelligence will be seen as this generation’s equivalent of the calculator – just one example of how we had hoped the bazaar would encourage interactions and conversations.
Welcome Week+ Launch
The week concluded with the ‘Welcome Week+ Launch’ on Friday, an event that brought together departments and partner organisations from within Edinburgh Futures Institute and the wider University.
Students had the opportunity to explore the wider Futures Institute ecosystem, discovering the resources, collaborations, and initiatives that will support their studies and projects throughout the year. Notable participants included Edinburgh Innovations, Utopia Labs, The New Real, Market Mind Foundation, among others, each offering insights into how students can engage with cutting-edge research, entrepreneurial ventures, and interdisciplinary collaborations.
The event created a vibrant showcase of the Futures Institute’s community, encouraging students to start building connections that could shape both their academic journey and future career paths.
One student remarked:
“It’s amazing and a great opportunity to learn from different groups or activities.”
Mixers, tours, and online welcome events
Alongside our key events, Welcome Week at the Futures Institute was packed with a range of other engaging events, including an Undergraduate Mixer, more than ten programme-specific welcomes, and building tours led by professional services staff. The tours proved so popular that they were fully-booked within hours, prompting us to add additional sessions!
For students who joined us remotely, a dedicated online Welcome on Teams and a virtual Course Choices Bazaar brought the community straight to their screens, ensuring they could access the same opportunities as on-campus students.
One student summed up their Welcome Week experience:
“I loved every bit of it. The inclusiveness, the kindness and teamwork were top notch.”
The Welcome Week+ programme continues (15 – 26 September) with Cultural Awareness Training, Fusion Training, and the first classes of the year for both postgraduate and undergraduate cohorts, offering all students exciting opportunities to connect, collaborate, and begin their academic journey.
We are so excited for our new students, and we hope that Welcome Week captured the spirit of Edinburgh Futures Institute as a community where students are supported and inspired to shape our futures.
All images: Andrew Perry
