November 12, 2025 Curiosity Fair 4-6 p.m., Gatton Student Center Grand Ballroom
The Curiosity Fair is a collection of simultaneous demonstrations from a variety of disciplines (science, humanities, arts...) set up in one of our larger event spaces on campus, the Gatton Student Center Ballroom.
What is the Curiosity Fair?
The purpose of this event is to celebrate the role of curiosity in higher education, by inviting participants to engage in interactive demos designed to highlight an area of interest or research that sparks curiosity about learning about something new. The format allows informal conversation between attendees and presenters, to promote curiosity in several ways.
- The fair is designed to show that learning is fun! For current and prospective students, this is an important lesson that is not always communicated in more formal learning environments.
- The fair helps to promote diverse areas of research and scholarship at UK, possibly sparking interest in majors or career paths students may not have considered.
Everyone at UK and the Lexington community is invited to attend.
The event is informal, fun, and free!
Stay Curious!
Explore new interests and connect with opportunities at the 2025 Curiosity Fair.
Monday, March 30, 2026
4 - 6 p.m.
Gatton Student Center Grand Ballroom
Sign up for a Station
We are currently accepting exhibitor proposals for the 2025 fair.
Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose.
FAQs
What is the purpose of the Curiosity Fair?
We want to inspire students to remain curious! By having experts from multiple disciplines show off what makes their research/area-of-interest cool, we hope students will remember how important a passion for learning is.
Who is invited to attend?
Everyone, whether they be student, faculty, or staff, is invited to attend. We also encourage students from the surrounding area to come by!
If you need your curious spark reignited, please attend!
What is the difference between this and a research fair?
We ask that our participants showcase and interactive exhibit rather than a research poster. Additionally, research isn't the only thing presented at the Curiosity Fair. Anything that sparks curiosity could be the idea behind a great booth.
What fields are represented? Who can run a station?
Anyone from any field is invited to showcase what keeps them curious! In the past we have had a lot of faculty from the different colleges on campus, but anyone who wants to host a booth can.
I want to run a station. What should I do?
We have an application process during which we review potential booth proposals.
The application for exhibitors is currently live at this link.
How can my students get involved?
You can attend the fair to get ideas of how you might use experiential learning and demos to spark more curiosity in your own classroom. Feel free to reach out to CELT (Center for the Enhancement of Learning & Teaching) for more ideas.
So how can you involve your class?
- Take a class field trip to the fair!
- Class Discussion:
- Rank and debate which stations incited the most curiosity and why
- Ask a researcher about their research process
- Discuss a demo that shows real world application of your class
- Imagine a real world application of your class based on something you saw at the fair
- Imagine what kind of Curiosity Station could get people to see what's cool about their field/major