The University of Oxford has proudly participated in the Botanical University Challenge (BUC) over the years. A recent study, led by the University of Reading, highlights the competition’s significant impacts so far and its promising potential to foster global engagement with plant sciences amongst students.
In some Indigenous languages, plants are referred to as “those who care for us,” underscoring their crucial role in addressing global challenges. However, urbanisation and other factors have diminished engagement with plants and botany, leaving students interested in botany feeling isolated and with limited career opportunities. To address this, three botanists launched the Botanical University Challenge to inspire, support and develop plant-aware students across the United Kingdom and Ireland. With mounting threats from rapid population growth and climate change, it is more critical than ever to encourage students to pursue studies in botany and plant sciences. These fields are essential to understanding how best to protect plants in our increasingly vulnerable world.
The declining number of plant science students and the loss of related academic programmes across universities have hindered communication, knowledge exchange, and innovation among the next generation of plant scientists. This has created what some describe as a potential "ticking time bomb" of botanical skills debt.
Although competitions and engagement events have long been used in education, their application within higher education remains underexplored and underreported. This new study explores the impact of this competition on students thus far and shows it potential for international expansion. Since its inception in 2015, the Botanical University Challenge has grown steadily, with teams from 33 higher education institutions participating, and it has begun to expand internationally.
In 2024, the finals and accompanying Student Botany Festival drew 85 students to Oxford, hosted by the Oxford Botanic Garden and Arboretum, in collaboration with Professor Lindsay Turnbull from the Department of Biology and Queen’s College. Not just a competition, highlights of the programme included academics and industry experts delivering talks in four diverse sessions on careers inside and outside academia, as well as a plant science research showcase. Other activities included an early-career panel delivered by current students on the realities of postgraduate study and early-career research. Careers showcase from botanical and environmental organisations was also held, offering students networking opportunities and career advice. Finally, a range of skills workshops were held on topics such as botanical illustration, conifer identification, ethnobotany, conservation and science communication.
The BUC format can be applied to most higher education settings worldwide, examples have already been seen in Spain and Switzerland. Although not investigated in this study, it is likely that the format could also be used for other subjects.
Dr Chris Thorogood, Deputy Director and Head of Science at the University of Oxford Botanic Garden and Arboretum and lecturer in the Department of Biology says:
"The Botanical University Challenge is truly inspiring. It is fostering a deep passion for plants in a new generation of scientists at a time when this has never been more important. The organisers should feel very proud of what they have achieved"
Dr Lauren Baker, Secondary Education Officer at the University of Oxford Botanic Garden & Arboretum, who led the organisation and delivery of BUC 2024 finals and Student Botany Festival and is also a co-author of the recent study says
“Working with BUC and supporting the development of these students has been brilliant – they’re engaged, excited and they’ve formed a like-minded community. It shows the transformative power of engagement and competition in reconnecting students with the fascinating world of plants. The Botanical University Challenge is more than a contest; it’s a movement to revive enthusiasm for botany and to equip future generations with the skills they need to protect our planet.”
The BUC was founded in 2015 by Professor John Warren, Emeritus Professor of Botany at Aberystwyth University, Dr Jonathan Mitchley, Associate Professor in Field Botany at the University of Reading, and Professor Paul Ashton, Professor of Botany at Edge Hill University.
Hannah Hall (University of Reading) and Sebastian Stroud (University of Leeds) are the co-first authors for this study.
You can read the study here: The Botanical University Challenge: Bridging isolation and empowering plant‐aware students - Hall - PLANTS, PEOPLE, PLANET - Wiley Online Library
You can find out more about the University Botanical Challenge here: Botanical University Challenge – Annual botanical knowledge contest between university students
You can watch the BUC 2025 online heats online here: Botanical University Challenge - YouTube and the finals of BUC 2025 will take place in August at the University of Cambridge.
