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PLEASE NOTE

this content comes from the 2009 publication 'A Vital Partnership', it will be updated during 2013

The University's economic impact

The University is committed to its integral role in the economic life of the city and region:

  • The University, its colleges and Oxford University Press (OUP) are, together, the largest employer in Oxford and second largest employer in Oxfordshire, supporting more than 18,000 jobs and injecting £750 million annually into the regional economy.
  • More than nine million tourists, attracted by the University, visit Oxford each year, spending £589 million and supporting 13,700 jobs.
  • Oxfordshire’s growth rate in high-tech jobs is the highest in the UK – many connected to the University.
  • Student society, Oxford Entrepreneurs, is the largest free business society in Europe.  

Widely regarded as one of the best technology transfer offices in the country

Lambert Review of Business University Collaboration

Isis Innovation

Isis Innovation is the University’s wholly-owned technology transfer company and has spun out 64 companies since 1997, beginning with Oxford Instruments, a global leader in high-tech industry tools and systems, employing more than 1,500 people in 16 countries.

Isis InnovationWith the combined value of Oxford’s spinout companies estimated to have reached £2 billion, Isis files, on average, one patent application every week, and its recently formed division, Isis Enterprise, offers consulting expertise and advice on technology transfer and innovation management to universities, governments and industry worldwide. 

Recent University of Oxford spinout companies

  • OrganOx is commercialising a device for sustaining organs outside the body using whole blood at normal body temperatures. Initially it will focus on improved preservation and repair of livers prior to transplantation.
  • Intelligent Sustainable Energy has been formed based on super smart electricity metering technology. The company will further develop a smart metering technology that will deliver far greater detail about how electricity is used by consumers.
  • Oxford Emergent Tuberculosis Consortium was formed to commercialise the world’s most clinically advanced vaccine candidate for the prevention of TB, which has now entered Phase IIb proof of concept clinical trials in South Africa.
  • Oxford Financial Computing was formed to develop Monte Carlo simulations for financial applications with a particular focus on high performance implementations on graphic cards and similar multicore platforms.
  • Oxford Catalysts was spun out of the University in 2005 after almost 20 years of University research reached the point of commercialisation. Oxford Catalysts is now a leading innovator for clean fuels and employs nearly 30 people in Oxford. 

Cultivating relationships with the business world

The Regional Liaison Office, working in collaboration with University departments, is responsible for developing the University's regional strategy, strengthening its links with regional organisations and businesses, and maximising its contribution to the local, national and international economy. The Regional Liaison office has recently promoted local business activities including:  

  • Venturefest 2011 logoVenturefest Oxfordshire’s annual fair for high-tech entrepreneurs brings together entrepreneurs, scientists, inventors, financiers, business angels and supporters to promote ideas, introduce potential funding, encourage networking and open up new markets.
  • Oxford at Saïd Oxford academics discuss their research in everyday language in twice-termly seminars at the Saïd Business School with local businesses and the professional community, students and staff.

 

Other centres of University economic contribution include

  • the University’s Begbroke Science Park, where scientific researchers and start-up high-tech companies work side by side.
  • Oxford Science Park, owned by Magdalen College, designed to grow innovative, knowledge-based companies capitalising on research links with the University and other local institutions.
  • Conference Oxford which arranges around 1,000 non-university conferences each year. 

Saïd Business School

Graduate prospectus

Many students cross continents to study at the school, particularly from North America and China. The current class has students from 47 different countries. But the business school has a regional impact too:  it runs an open business programme that offers seminars and courses on entrepreneurship, free of charge to the local community as well as the wider University, building bridges between the University and the local economy. To date more than 12,000 people have attended part of this programme.

Find out more at the Saïd Business School website

Related links

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Founded in 1621 the University of Oxford Botanic Garden is the oldest botanic garden in Britain. With the Harcourt Arboretum, it promotes learning and glorifies nature with people of all ages and backgrounds visiting for leisure and to learn about plants and their importance in the world

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