CXO School
The roles that turn research into impact.
Programme overview
CXO School, delivered by MPLS and Kavli Oxford, with support from EnSpire Oxford and Oxford University Innovation, is a practitioner-led pilot for Oxford postgraduates, DPhils, researchers and staff who are curious about where their research could lead.
You don't need an idea, a business background, or to see yourself as a founder.
It is an eight-session pilot for the curious — any researcher wondering what their work could lead to. Practitioner-led, with expertise from Oxford University Innovation (OUI) in turning academic knowledge and research into real-world applications, and grounded in Oxford's IP and equity process, CXO School maps the roles inside a venture and gives an honest read on which one fits you: a spinout, an independent venture, a founding-team role, or simply a sharper understanding of the commercial world your research sits in.
Wednesdays, 1:30–2:30pm, from 7 October 2026 · Kavli Oxford
How to register
It's free, with no application or interview. Register with your Oxford single sign-on. Places on the pilot are limited.
An overview of what CXO School covers:
1 · How innovation helps your future. Why innovation matters to your future — as an academic, an entrepreneur or a professional. An introduction to all six CxO roles, including COO and CIO for AI and data, and to the destinations they open up. Hear directly from experts at Oxford University Innovation, including an introduction to technology transfer, spinouts, consulting and licensing. Covers IP as the assets a research career generates — patents, copyright, know-how — and how the CTO role translates research into products, R&D and technology strategy.
2 · Self-awareness: which seat is yours? Which CxO function you naturally lean toward, knowing you will wear several hats at startup stage. Routes in as a consultant or into industry, how to talk about your own worth, and what the wider innovation world actually looks like.
3 · How to value your ideas. Defining markets using basic search tools. Customers, users, and how to get constructive feedback — the product lens, from invention to something people need.
4 · How to present your ideas. Knowing your audience. Case-study show-and-tell, and experimenting with feedback to sharpen how you communicate your research to non-specialists and to investors.
5 · What is a company? Navigating organisations and fitting in. Company structures and a C-Suite overview, how organisations work and where you fit within them, and what it means to join a spinout at a later stage.
6 · Hear from a real CEO of an Oxford spinout. How a company is actually run — governance, the roles researchers evolve into, and navigating power dynamics. With consultant and C-suite guest voices.
7 · The most important question: how much? University equity policy, venture capital, and what a board has to collectively understand and agree about money.
8 · Breakout session. Small groups chaired by experienced moderators. Bring your own idea, or work through a real example.
Plus: US Day, Thursday 19 November A satellite session with a wider audience. Location to be confirmed.
Still not sure where you fit?
Most people arrive with nothing but a hunch — that is the normal place to start, and it is the beginning of every story on this page.
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