Edinburgh Futures Institute

A new futures-focused space for learning, research, and innovation at the University of Edinburgh.

New
Futures Conversations podcast
EPISODE 1: Shannon vallor on the Ethics of AI

Philosopher Shannon Vallor argues that we need to look to humans, not machines, for how to adapt to this emergent technology. 

We are for the pathfinders, the inquisitive, and those who want to make our complex world better.

Study

Futures-focused undergraduate, postgraduate and executive education

Research

Support for interdisciplinary, data-driven research innovation

Engage & Innovate

Collaboration and innovation opportunities for people and organisations

Latest news and thinking

Featured Thinking

Feedback Fest: Turning Student Voice into celebration

Education
A large group of people, mostly young adults, gather in a bright room with white walls, chatting, eating, and standing around tables with laptops and snacks. Sunlight streams through a window on the right.

Our Student Experience Coordinator, Emma Craigen, showcases the Feedback Fest, a warm and welcoming event for students to provide feedback.

Featured News

Futures Conversations: Edinburgh Futures Institute’s new podcast series  

A pair of headphones designed with alarm clocks as ear cups and an orange roller coaster as the headband, featuring miniature roller coaster riders on the top.

Edinburgh Futures Institute is thrilled to announce the launch of our new podcast series — “Futures Conversations.” 

Join the conversation

Illustration of a rollercoaster shaped like headphones with alarm clocks as earcups. Three people raise their arms in the coaster. Text: "Futures Conversations Podcast. Listen everywhere" with podcast platform icons. Edinburgh Futures Institute logo.
Listen now

Upcoming events




We’ve moved into our new home

Edinburgh Futures Institute has moved into its stunning new home at the Old Royal Infirmary.

Brick clocktower and front entrance of EFI building.

Co-location opportunities

Find out more about co-location opportunities at The University of Edinburgh’s data-driven innovation hubs.

Co-location spaces at Edinburgh Futures Institute are focused on our four key sectors; creative industries, financial services and fintech, public services and tourism, travel and festivals.

Our sectors in focus

A DJ standing over his decks, red tint over image.

Creative
industries

Financial Services
& FinTech

Public
Services

tourism, Travel
& festivals

“With a philosophy of delivering challenge-led, transdisciplinary, multi-sector collaborations that innovate responsibly, the Data for Children Collaborative, is a living and breathing example of what Edinburgh Futures Institute is all about – using novel approaches to build better futures.”

Alex Hutchison, Programme Director, Data for Children Collaborative

Discover more at Edinburgh Futures Institute

people experimenting with virtual reality headsets

Explore our ecosystem

Close up of lamppost with various stickers on it, orange tint on image.

Learn about our approach

headshot of katherine trebek

Meet our writer-at-large

A group of undergraduate students outside a building, green tint over image.

Support the future


Follow us @uoe_efi

“The Edinburgh Futures Institute is an integral part of the University of Edinburgh and our future. It is an integral part of our commitment to the local communities in which we operate and for our place in the world. Recognising that the biggest challenges facing society are complex and multi-layered, and that insight and innovation often comes from bringing together expertise across different disciplines, the Futures Institute is creating a new environment for learning, teaching, research and engagement. It is doing so side-by-side with communities, business and industry and governments.”

Professor Peter Mathieson, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh

Join us to challenge, create, and make change happen.

#ChallengeCreateChange