We are bringing together Oxford’s Engineering Biology community to create a world leading Centre of Excellence dedicated to harnessing the power of biological systems to drive the bioeconomy and tackle the Grand Challenges of our time. Combining world-leading expertise in each of our bioscience and technology areas we will produce knowledge, products and approaches to predict and control biology with the reproducibility, robustness and resilienceneeded for safe industrial-scale production. To realise impact from our innovation, we are committed to developing solutions that address real-life problems, which we identify through working with a wide range of Stakeholders from the earliest stages of research problematisation, ideation and design. The sooner we connect the better!
We are eager to build strategic partnerships that guide our research towards tackling genuine industry needs. If you have an idea for a research project and would like to collaborate, or are interested in licensing our IP, please reach out by contacting researchers named on this website or emailing sarah.coy@eng.ox.ac.uk.
Other ways to get involved or learn more are outlined below.
Research Projects and Teaching
Each year we welcome a new cohort of PhD students in September, with applications normally closing February/March. Several of our PhDs receive sponsorship from commercial partners, who benefit through access to foreground IP, with other industry Partners supporting our activities through sponsorship of events, delivering training, or mentoring our students. We run a series of events throughout the year to connect our students with industry, fostering commercial acumen and diversifying career opportunities. Throughout the year there are opportunities for industry organisations to participate in open days and workshops, set research problems for students to tackle, or design more substantive research projects.
Our annual industry day in May, provides an ideal setting for you to tell us about your organisation and present genuine industrial challenges for our researchers to tackle. We also invite industry partners to contribute to our annual summer school in June and attend project meeting and student induction events which often take place in September.
Quantification and Standards
Standardisation and technical frameworks, combined with the ability to measure complex biological systems, will be essential for the assurance of commercial-scale engineering biology delivery systems and end uses, to be able to compare applications against existing solutions, fostering trust, and driving up investment.
We are contributing to the development of new standards that create a common framework for accelerated innovation and product commercialisation, and common languages to foster collaboration.
Exploitation and Commercialisation
Our research drives innovation with real world impact. In the long term we hope to build strategic partnerships with innovative bio-based companies that can help bring our ideas into fruition and tackle genuine industry needs.
If you are looking for an academic collaborator with expertise in a particular area of engineering biology, or are interested in licensing our IP please get in touch.
