Development Plan

1. The University of Oxford aims to lead the world in research and education. We seek to do this in ways which benefit society on a national and a global scale. Over the period of this Plan we will build on the University’s long traditions of independent scholarship and academic freedom while fostering a culture in which innovation plays an important role.

2. The University of Oxford’s distinctive structure, born of its history, is a source of strength. Its colleges offer environments which are both supportive to individual scholars and characterised by a defining and enduring sense of community. The personal sense of academic identity that they provide is life-long.

3. This Plan covers the period 2013-2018. It sets a high-level agenda for the University. We have shaped the Plan to meet the following aspirations:

a. To develop our capacity to generate and share knowledge in the UK, Europe, and globally, ensuring significant contributions to public policy-making and economic growth.

To work effectively with other institutions and organisations, where such partnerships can lead to outstanding research and teaching.

c. To enhance structures for collaboration across departments, colleges, and the University.

d. To fulfil the aims that no potential student should be deterred from applying to Oxford by financial or other barriers and that no student’s success should be hampered by financial difficulties.

e. To ensure, through a commitment to the personal education of each student, a quality of education and experience which enables students to apply the values, skills, and intellectual discipline they have acquired in their future lives and careers, and which generates a lifelong sense of connection with Oxford.

To contribute effectively to the cultural, social, and economic life of the city of Oxford and the Oxfordshire region.

g. To recruit and retain the best academic staff and ensure that under-represented groups have equality of opportunity in recruitment, personal development, and career progression in all areas of employment in the University.

4. We will monitor progress against our priorities, commitments, and aims using relevant performance indicators, benchmarks, and targets. Through this we will maintain focus on the Strategic Plan, ensuring that it continues to meet academic needs, enables us to respond to the external environment, and is updated as appropriate.

5. The annual planning and budgeting process will provide the framework for making the Strategic Plan operational at divisional and service level.