Head of Oxford MPLS Division Prof. James Naismith congratulates OSCAR on six years of achievement

From 28 to 29 November, Prof. James Naismith RS, FRSE, FMedSci, MAE, paid his first visit to Oxford Suzhou Centre for Advanced Research (OSCAR) since his appointment as Head of Oxford’s Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Division (MPLS) in October 2023. He was joined by Prof. Dermot O’Hare, Associate Head (Research and Innovation) of MPLS and Board Director of OSCAR, Dr. Richard Liwicki, Legal Representative and Board Chair of OSCAR, Jeremy Sims, Finance Controller, MPLS, Sophie Pryor, Company Secretary of Subsidiary Companies, University of Oxford, and OSCAR Visiting Professor Monique Andersson, who is an Associate Professor in Medical Virology/Consultant in Infection at Oxford.

(left to right) Sophie Pryor, Jeremy Sims, Prof. Dermot O’Hare, Dr. Richard Liwicki, Prof. James Naismith, OSCAR Director Prof. Zhanfeng Cui and General Manager Leah He pose for a group photo at OSCAR

Credit: Suzhou Daily

As well as listening to a presentation of OSCAR’s research work and celebrating the Centre’s sixth birthday, the Oxford contingent met with Mayor of Suzhou, Dr. Qingwen Wu, to discuss future collaboration through the OSCAR project. 

Mayor Wu said that OSCAR represents a flagship international collaboration project of Suzhou, and that the city has every confidence in its cooperation with Oxford University and the development of the Centre. He promised to provide OSCAR with consistent support

in its efforts to translate original research findings into practical applications. He also welcomed extended exchanges and collaboration with the University in areas including talent introduction and development, joint education, training and internship programmes.

Prof. Naismith acknowledged Suzhou’s support to OSCAR and said that the University would make concerted efforts with Suzhou to develop young scientists and commercialise scientific discoveries and help OSCAR develop better.

Prof. James Naismith addresses OSCAR Annual Research Work Summary Meeting

Prof. Naismith congratulated OSCAR on reaching its sixth anniversary at the OSCAR Annual Research Work Summary Meeting on 29 November. He said:‘Everyone is incredibly impressed by the work that you have done here. I want to pay tribute to all of you because I know you do the work. I want to congratulate all of you on your 6th birthday today in this building and to see how proud we are of what you've done.’The research presentation was followed by a festive birthday celebration to mark OSCAR’s six-year journey to where it is today.

Co-location benefits innovation 

On 22 November 2018, the University of Oxford and Suzhou Industrial Park announced the inauguration of OSCAR, an exemplar project of UK-China science and technology collaboration.

On 7 December 2023, at OSCAR’s 5^th anniversary celebration, Prof. Irene Tracey CBE, FMedSci., Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford, launched the ‘OSCAR i³ initiative’, together with and Suzhou Industrial Park, underscoring OSCAR’s commitment to ‘Innovation, Incubation and Impact’ in the next phase of its development.

By November 2024, OSCAR had worked its way through six years of exciting progress and multi-faceted challenges, to become an international research institution boasting an innovative vibrancy.

‘OSCAR represents a unique co-location of PIs from across the MPLS departments of Engineering Science, Chemistry, Materials and Maths,’ said Martin Edmunds, MPLS Head of Research Support. Over the past six years, OSCAR has been able to ‘co-locate’ with 30 world leading scientists under diverse partnerships to undertake interdisciplinary research.

OSCAR was born with Oxford’s renowned research excellence. An extending network of collaboration and the flourishing innovation ecosystem in Suzhou Industrial Park position OSCAR well to accelerate the translation of scientific discoveries into solutions for society.

OSCAR is recognised as a major research laboratory and proof-of-concept centre, both within the local region and at a state-level. OSCAR’s research impact continues to grow, having formed partnerships with nearly 50 institutions and businesses from 11 countries, and is delivering on over 100 research-industry collaborative projects. OSCAR has filed 45 patent applications, of which 15 are PCT applications.

To speed-up technology transfer and commercialisation, a 2,500 sqm ‘OSCAR Innovation Hub’ was opened in 2022 inside the OSCAR building, to host activities from technology validation, prototype design to clinical trials and pilot batch production. The Hub is now supporting 10 proof-of-concept projects. Furthermore, OSCAR has helped close to ten technology projects achieve commercialistion, with three spin-out companies registered. Six more projects are now in the pipeline for commercialisation, which have the potential to benefit health monitoring, financial trading, display technology and the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and compounds.

Sir Mark Walport, Vice President and Foreign Secretary of the Royal Society, described OSCAR as ‘an excellent example of the cooperation between the UK and China’ following his visit to OSCAR in September.

A ‘Best Employer’ that propels research excellence

Behind OSCAR stand nearly 70 researchers and professional services staff who have been contributing to OSCAR’s forward trajectory. Some of the researchers are Oxford graduates. When Vice-Chancellor Prof. Irene Tracey visited OSCAR in December 2023, she met with these young Oxford scientists and said that she was delighted to witness many who have graduated are coming back, using OSCAR as their career launch pad.

Prof. Irene Tracey meets OSCAR researchers during her visit in December 2023

In fact, OSCAR attracts early career researchers from Oxford as much as it trains ‘OSCAR graduates’ to continue their academic studies at Oxford and beyond.

Yu and Geng were both a research technician at OSCAR. Now, Yu is now a PhD student at the Department of Health Technology of the Technical University of Denmark. He recalls the ‘challenging research experiences’ at OSCAR as solid preparation for his PhD application. While Geng, who set off for Oxford in August for doctoral training, said, ‘the considerable latitude for personal development and trust that OSCAR gives to the staff is invaluable.’ 

OSCAR was honoured with the ‘Healthiest Employer Award’ in 2024

OSCAR practices a ‘people-centred’ approach to its staff and allows them to do the best research. In 2022, OSCAR was honoured with the ‘Greater Suzhou Best Employer Award’, and this year, OSCAR was selected as the ‘Healthiest Employer’ by Asia Best Workplace. OSCAR is increasingly known for its environment that propels research excellence.

 Making impact felt in education

OSCAR Director Prof. Zhanfeng Cui believes that OSCAR is a window to China, through which Oxford can showcase its research, teaching and social impact.

Since 2023, OSCAR has been working to make an impact in the training sector. The ‘OSCAR Generation’ research training programme, which launched early this year, has allowed over 100 students to experience the ‘Oxford way’ of research. Imili-eah.com, a public microbiology knowledge-sharing website jointly launched with OSCAR Visiting Academician, FEAM, FAAM, FRS Prof. Kenneth Timmis, now offers 40 copies of microbiology teaching materials across five categories, compiled by microbiologists from around the world.

Students of the ‘OSCAR Generation’ research training programme

‘More work awaits us in year seven,’ says Prof. Zhanfeng Cui, ‘we will continue to undertake innovative research, and our research teams will be regrouped into research clusters, reimagining the way we innovate and collaborate. I’m confident that OSCAR will become a leading institute of international collaborative research at a time when it’s urgently needed.’