US tech billionaire to open new Oxford research campus

Larry Ellison, the founder of software giant Oracle, will open a new research campus at Oxford to help tackle “humanity’s most serious problems”. 

An Oxford branch of the Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT) is set to open in 2025. The original Institute was founded eight years ago in Los Angeles by Ellison and Dr David Agus, an American cancer researcher. 

The Institute will fund about 20 candidates worldwide each year with a full scholarship for study at the University of Oxford.

Its faculty includes former Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair, EIT’s founding director David Agus, and Sir John Bell, Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford. They will work with scholars on four key areas: medical science and healthcare, food security and sustainable agriculture, clean energy and climate change, and government policy and economics.

The new Oxford campus is scheduled to be completed by 2026 and will bridge the Oxford Science Park and Littlemore. The 30,000-square-meter campus will house research laboratory space, a cancer patient clinic, and educational spaces. 

Blair said EIT “will push the boundaries of invention” and the Oxford site “will be an enormous boost to the growth of the UK’s technology sector.”

Professor Irene Tracey, the University’s Vice-Chancellor, called the launch of the new institute “hugely exciting”. 

“We look forward to working with the Scholars team to support and educate the next generation of thought leaders so they are ready to take on the world’s challenges,” said Professor Tracey.

Applications for the Ellison Scholars Programme will open in March 2024.