Research drives impact through people, not papers.
A licence, a spinout, a diagnostic used in clinic, an instrument another lab can buy, evidence that shifts policy — research reaches the world in a handful of concrete forms, and every one of them takes more than the person who ran the experiment. Principal investigators, postdocs and DPhils, technicians, research managers and professional services all sit on that path. You don’t have to call yourself a founder to start.
Who owns the idea?
If your idea came from your research, the University may have a stake in it. Our spinout vs startup guide explains the difference, and Oxford University Innovation can advise on your situation.
Open to you now
Programmes, sessions and sector events open to anyone researching at or employed by the University.
Worth reading
The similarities between academics and entrepreneurs
Testing hypotheses, chasing funding, and pivoting when the data says no: academics already think like entrepreneurs.
Intellectual Property at Oxford: A Starter Guide for Researchers.
Get to grips with IP at Oxford, from University policy to spinouts, and join our termly Understanding IP talks.
How a Chemistry DPhil turned plastic research into a startup.
From StEP Ignite to a £300k Innovate UK award, Bryan Ng maps the Oxford support that helped him spin out his plastics research.
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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