Calling this collection of academic events "The Academic Fringe Festival" is an ode to the story of the eight theatre companies which turned up uninvited at the Edinburgh International Festival in 1947 and performed on the fringe of the event. Over the years, such acts gained popularity and gradually snowballed into what is now the world's largest arts festival, the "Edinburgh Fringe Festival". Our aim is not to create the world's largest academic festival, but to create a forum for open, accessible, and inspiring dissemination of knowledge from renowned scientists across the globe.