The LSE Events Office run the School's Public Lecture Programme. The Public Lecture Programme is a key part of the 'public face' of LSE. The purpose is to position LSE at the centre of debate in all areas of the social sciences. LSE research is relevant to the real world, rather than an "ivory tower" and these lectures aim to enhance the School's reputation for intellectual, challenging ideas and discussion with a broader public audience. The PLP attracts thousands of people to LSE every term. Most of our lectures are now hybrid with both an in-person and online audience. For the majority of events, the recordings will be available to watch on the LSE YouTube channel, plus podcasts and videos available via the LSE Player, attracting audiences from across the world.
You can apply for our office to be involved in the organisation of your event, covering a percentage of the costs and assisting at different levels with the logistical planning. Please see First Steps section below on the process for applying to have an event considered for the PLP.
Please note the below PLP deadline dates:
Winter Term 2027: Friday 23 October, 5pm
Spring Term 2027: Friday 12 February, 5pm
In planning your events, please ensure you join the LSE Events Network on Teams where you can liaise with other events staff across the School and get access to the PLP events planning spreadsheet which is used in order to avoid event clashes across the PLP. This network is also a great resource for finding out about best practices and sharing resources across the School.
First Steps:
1. Take a read of the Public Lecture Programme (PLP) - Important Information for full details about the application process including an update on the levels of service offered by the Events Office.
2. If you are thinking of approaching a high profile political figure to speak, please follow the Guidance on inviting a high profile political figure to LSE.
3. If you are planning an event of widespread interest and therefore you wish for it to be part of the PLP, then please get in touch with us (by emailing comms.events@lse.ac.uk) at the first opportunity to provisionally hold a date in the PLP events planning spreadsheet as referred to above. This should be done as soon as you start planning the event. You may hold one or two dates to offer to speakers. Provisionally booking a slot does not guarantee your event will be taken on as part of the PLP. If the PLP events planning spreadsheet for the date you are interested in has not yet been created, your request will be kept on file by us and processed when it has been made.
4. Please note it is unlikely we will take on any more than 4 events from any one academic unit per term so please only hold slots for those events which are highest in profile. Please also note, due to the number of events taking place during the week and due to limitations of staff we are unlikely to take on events taking place on Friday evenings or at weekends.
5. If the date you are interested in holding is already taken, and you cannot look at alternatives dates, we can put you in as First Reserve, so if the other event does not happen, you will then automatically be moved to having the date provisionally held.
6. Alongside securing a provisional date with us in the PLP events planning spreadsheet, you should at the earliest opportunity get in touch with the room bookings team (LSE.Roombookings@lse.ac.uk) to try and secure a suitable PLP venue. Please note, we will only take on events in the following venues - Sheikh Zayed Theatre/Old Theatre/Auditorium/Hong Kong Theatre.
7. Finalise the speaker line-up. Ensure you are considering diveristy in your speaker line-up. Please read through the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in the Public Lecture Programme: Policy Statement to ensure you are meeting LSE's expectations. Whilst we want to deliver a programme with a broad selection of external high profile speakers, we have also introduced a new KPI to ensure 50% of our PLP events include an LSE academic to deliver on our objective of promoting LSE research. Please do consider this when finalising your speaker line-up.
8. Confirm an eligible chair for your event. Please refer to LSE Code of Practice on Free Speech (specifically 6.15-6.20)
9. Read more about the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme (FIRS) to find out whether you are required to register your event as part of the scheme.
10. Finalise all details for the event including collating speaker and chair biographies and agreeing on a final event title and blurb.
11. Submit your PLP application using the form below.
After submitting the PLP application, please email a high resolution (300dpi) image of the speaker(s) to comms.events@lse.ac.uk and send through images of your main speaker in at least the following size: 560x374
What's next?
The Events Office will confirm receipt of your form and will normally advise you if your application has been successful around 10 working days following the deadline date.
Successful applications will be divided between tier A and tier B, as outlined here, and you will be emailed to advise you of the next steps. This allows our office to assist as many departments as possible.
If we are unable to include your event in the PLP then the event can still take place as a departmental event. We have provided more information for events organisers here: Events Office homepage. We have also produced a useful guide outlining event organiser responsibilities and a checklist for event organisers to guide you through the processes.
If you are planning an online departmental event, we have put together a brief Zoom guide to assist you here.