For three days, representatives of the Łukasiewicz Research Network participated in several meetings and asked hundreds of questions to scientists and managers from Oxford. This visit to one of the best universities in Europe and worldwide was aimed at exchanging good practices in the implementation of innovative research projects, commercialization of technology and effective support for the internationalization of research staff.
The University of Oxford is a global leader in the commercialization of research. Since 1959, it has created 300 companies based on the research and ideas of students, employees and graduates. Those companies have attracted investments worth more than £6 billion and created more than 9,000 jobs, setting a high bar in the industry.
During the visit, Dr. Pascal Kaienburg and Dr. Jin Yao introduced Łukasiewicz to the research and development capabilities of EPSRC’s National Thin-Film Cluster Facility for Advanced Functional Material in the development of next-generation materials and devices for power, photonics and electronics applications. Prof. Ian Shipsey FRS and Dr. Phillip Tait shared their success in commercializing technologies developed in the Department of Physics. Prof. Lapo Bogani presented his research related to electronic and magnetic nanomaterials. Prof. Dame Carol Robinson presented the Kavli Institute for Nanoscience Discovery, focusing on nanoscale science – the scale of proteins, viruses and DNA, and aimed at solving important health challenges. Prof. Yujia Qing talked about single molecule chemistry research and successes in commercializing real-time DNA/RNA sequencing technology.
During the visit, there was also a meeting with Harish Bhaskaran, professor specializing in nanomaterials, who is an active innovator and author of many patents, and some of them have been commercialized by spinout companies: Bodle Technologies (2015-2022) and Salience Labs (founded 2020).
Prof. Robert Weatherup guided Łukasiewicz’s representatives around the Centre for Energy Materials Research (CEMR) which gathers scientists involved in experiments and calculations, working on various aspects of energy storage and conversion. With a wide range of synthesis, characterization and analysis equipment, CEMR enables an interdisciplinary approach to energy materials research.