The excitement is mounting as plans for OKFest move into the final planning stages. As [Kat Braybrooke reports](https://blog.okfn.org/2012/08/05/okfestival-updates-early-bird-ticket-extension-developer-travel-bursaries-and-open-data-cooking/), hundreds of OKFest tickets have been snapped up already. The early bird ticket deadline is **THIS WEDNESDAY 8th AUGUST**, so book your tickets now!

**[Book your OKFest ticket here](http://okfestival.org/early-bird-okfest-tickets/)**

On the Open Research and Education stream – which includes sessions on open science and open access – we have a packed schedule of speakers, panelists and hands-on workshops confirmed. See the [Research and Education topic stream](http://okfestival.org/topic-stream-open-research-and-education/) on the main OKFestival website for more details of what’s in store.

## Tuesday 18th September – Hackday & Social

On Tuesday 18th September, we will be holding a [science hackday](http://science.okfn.org/okfest/open-science-hackday/). With capacity for up to 25 hackers to join us in person and more welcome online, we will be spending the day developing applications to open up science through citizen participation, open research processes, data sharing, open access to scientific articles and more. Participation is free but numbers are limited.

Please sign-up for the hackday [here](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dENfTWM3S0JtVUVOazNNZ2R3Um5WQ1E6MQ).

Following the hackday on Tuesday, everyone interested in open science is invited to a social – more details to follow!

## Wednesday 19th September – Seminars, Panels and a Keynote

The majority of the science-orientated sessions will be taking place on Wednesday 19th September. Sessions on Wednesday will include:

* ‘Communicating Science‘ – with panelists from Wikimedia, academia and the media,
* ‘Open Access in Practice – how?‘ – covering everything from business models to the technicalities of standards and licensing, five panelists explore how open access can work in practice.
* ‘Immediate Access to Raw Data from Experiments‘ – Mark Hahnel (Figshare) and Mark Wainright (CKAN) discuss data sharing platforms and aggregators, algorithms and tools, and the challenges and benefits of releasing raw data now.
* ‘From data mining to graduate training‘ – Ross Mounce and Sophie Kershaw, the first ever Panton Fellows, discuss the work of their fellowships: come and find out how mining open data could help phylogeneticists decipher the tree of life and how to inspire a new generation of open scientists through pre-doctoral training.

Wednesday’s sessions will close with a keynote speech by Mat Todd from the University of Sydney. Mat headed up a project to improve synthesis of the major drug used against the tropical parasite schistomaniasis, which involved extensive collaboration between academia and industry. During his keynote on Open Source Drug Discovery, Mat will explore how open science has and could aid the development of treatments for disease across the globe.

## Thursday 20th September – Workshops, Cross-Streams, and a presentation from the European Commission.

Thursday 20th September will feature one of the highlights of the Open Science programme. Carl-Christian Bohr, Member of the Cabinet of Neelie Kroes, will present the Commission’s new open access policy and infrastructure initiatives, before leading an interactive discussion about opportunities for bringing together the European open data and open access communities. The European Commission is highly supportive of both open access and open science, and this is an opportunity not to be missed!

Thursday will also feature a cross-stream session with the Development stream, exploring how crowdsourcing can be used in development. Other sessions will have a more hands-on edge.

* Put open science tools on trial in our hands-on workshop and review session;
* Help to draft a section of the forthcoming Open Research Data Handbook;
* Film yourself in our open science video booth…
* … and more!

If that isn’t enough, a whole host of other presentations and sessions will be taking place on learning, education, the School of Data and the School of Open as part of the Open Research and Education Topic Stream, and all participants are welcome to dip into sessions that the other streams have on offer. There will be plenty to see!

## Book your tickets now!

Early bird ticket sales close on Wednesday 8th August, so book your ticket now! Visit the [main OKFestival site](http://okfestival.org/) for full details.

If you have any questions about the Research and Education topic stream, please contact educationandresearch [@] okfest.org.