The University of Oxford and the Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT) form strategic alliance

3rd December 2024

The University of Oxford and the Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT) have formed a strategic alliance, backed by a minimum £130 million investment from EIT, to accelerate innovation and address some of the world’s most pressing challenges.

The University of Oxford and the Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT) today announced a long-term strategic alliance to develop innovative solutions and foster future leaders to tackle some of the greatest and most enduring challenges facing humanity.

The alliance will bring together the University’s world-class researchers and talented students with leaders, scientists and entrepreneurs based at EIT’s new campus at the Oxford Science Park.

The alliance is centred on collaboration to accelerate innovation across EIT’s Humane Endeavours themes in health and medical science, food security and sustainable agriculture, climate change and clean energy, government innovation, and artificial intelligence and machine learning. These themes strongly align with Oxford University Innovation’s portfolio of companies, groundbreaking technologies, and consultant expertise.

EIT, founded in Los Angeles by Larry Ellison, announced its plans in 2023 to create the EIT Oxford Campus, including 30,000m2 of research laboratories, supercomputing facilities, an oncology and preventative care clinic, plus educational and meeting spaces. Construction of the campus at the Oxford Science Park is underway and due to open in 2027 at a cost of more than £1 billion.

Today, EIT is unveiling plans to invest at least £100 million in joint research programmes undertaken across the University and EIT, targeted towards the Humane Endeavours. The ultimate shared aim is to ensure scientific discovery and pioneering research are turned into products for widespread societal benefit and for global impact. An innovative Alliance Faculty model will provide opportunities for academics and researchers in the University to work at EIT, with some of the world-leading scientists recruited by EIT taking up academic appointments at the University.

Oxford University Innovation is the technology transfer office of the University of Oxford, responsible for commercialising research. Working alongside members of the university, the team supports the creation of world class licenses, spinouts, startups and social ventures, and negotiates consulting agreements on behalf of academics to work with industry, government and the third sector.

Simon Warner, Head of Licensing and Ventures for Life Sciences at Oxford University Innovation said: “This alliance represents an extraordinary opportunity to translate Oxford’s groundbreaking research into game-changing impact. By supporting the Ellison Institute of Technology strategic alliance, we have the potential to harness innovative technology licensing and consulting opportunities. This alliance exemplifies how research, innovation and entrepreneurship can drive transformative societal progress.”

Professor Irene Tracey, CBE, FRS, FMedSci, Vice-Chancellor, University of Oxford, said: “The long-term partnership between University of Oxford and the Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT) is a unique opportunity to bring together great minds to address humanity’s most pressing challenges. EIT’s generous support for our talented students and world class research will be transformative in empowering future leaders and accelerating successful research through innovation into economic and societal impact. We welcome EIT and congratulate Larry Ellison on his vision.”

Larry Ellison, Chairman of Oracle Corporation and Chief Technology Officer, said: “At EIT, our mission is to have a global impact by fundamentally reimagining the way science and technology translate into end-to-end solutions for humanity’s most challenging problems. This long-term, strategic partnership with the University of Oxford is at the heart of delivering on that goal. By collaborating on transformational, world-class research programmes harnessing new technology and compute capability we will together deliver positive impact on society at scale.”

To mark the launching of the strategic alliance, the University and EIT today also announced the creation of the University of Oxford-EIT Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in the Fundamentals of Artificial Intelligence, based in the University’s Mathematical, Physical & Life Sciences Division. A £31m investment from EIT will provide full scholarship funding for at least 100 postgraduate students to join the CDT over the next five years. The first intake of students to the CDT will take place in October 2025, with applications opening in December 2024.

To find out more about the EIT, please visit their website.

 

Image credit: “Artificial Intelligence & AI & Machine Learning” by mikemacmarketing is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

 

Press release sign up