Research Themes

Themes

The challenges of the 21st century are complex and interconnected in ways that may yet be unanticipated. We aim to help the University of Oxford establish its position at the forefront of work to address future challenges, giving our scholars the resources and space to think imaginatively about the problems and opportunities that the future will bring.

Our research agenda is necessarily wide-ranging and dynamic but can be clustered under four key research themes:

Health & Medicine - research into the latest technologies and approaches to health challenges of the future.

Energy & Environment - wide-ranging research initiatives aimed at ensuring a more sustainable future for everyone.

Technology & Society - a variety of research programmes examining major demographic change, socio-economic drivers and directions and impacts of new technologies.

Ethics & Governance - research programmes that aim to provide new frameworks for analysing and addressing the challenges of a complex and interconnected world.

We also develop special integrative programmes, which are created by fostering new academic collaborations to work across traditional thematic perspectives and disciplinary boundaries in order to bring fresh perspectives and practical advice to a wide range of urgent issues.