Department of Engineering Science | University of Oxford
Engineering teaching and research takes place at Oxford in a unified Department of Engineering Science. Our academic staff are committed to a common engineering foundation as well as to advanced work in their own specialities, which include most branches of the subject. We have especially strong links with computing, materials science and medicine.
This broad view of engineering, based on a scientific approach to the fundamentals, is part of the tradition that started with our foundation in 1908 - one hundred years of educating great engineers, and researching at the cutting edge!
Our graduates go off to a huge variety of occupations - into designing cars, building roads and bridges, developing new electronic devices, manufacturing pharmaceuticals, into healthcare and aerospace, into further study for higher degrees and in many other directions.
Our Research
The Department of Engineering Science has an international reputation for its research in all the major branches of engineering, and in emerging areas such as biomedical engineering, energy and the environment. The major theme underlying our research portfolio is the application of cutting-edge science to generate new technology, using a mixture of theory and experiment.
Find out more in our Case Studies and Research pages.
Our Institutes
The Department has five Institutes which lead the way for research and collaboration in different areas of engineering, including biomedical, thermofluids and robotics - visit their websites to find out more.
MEng in Engineering Science
Undergraduates on the Engineering Science course at Oxford spend their first two years studying core topics which we believe are essential for all engineers to understand.
Having developed a solid grounding in these, for their final two years they choose to specialise in one of the six branches of Engineering Science: Biomedical, Chemical and Process, Civil and Offshore, Control, Electrical and Opto-electronic, Information, Solid Materials and Mechanics, or Thermofluids and Turbomachinery.
Postgraduate Study
The research degrees offered by the Department of Engineering Science are MSc(R), DEng and DPhil. The opportunities in the Department for postgraduate study and research include conventional disciplines of engineering such as chemical, civil, electrical, and mechanical, as well as information engineering, applications of engineering to medicine, low-temperature engineering, and experimental plasma physics.
Showcase success for Science Together research
Public engagement with research
A local collaboration teaming researchers from the University of Oxford and Oxford Brookes University with the Urban Music Foundation finished on a high note with an immersive sound and art installation at Oxford’s Old Fire Station.
Artificial intelligence and big data help rapid screening antibodies
Artificial Intelligence
Nearly two and a half years into the COVID-19 pandemic, the emergence of new variants of interest of SARS-CoV-2 has prompted the development of a broad range of neutralizing antibodies. Variants such as Delta (B.1.617.2 lineage) and Omicron (BA.1 and BA.2) have been reported to exhibit immune evasion against some current therapeutic antibodies. Evolving SARS-CoV-2 requires rapid prediction of antibody binding to new variants and the development of broadly neutralizing antibodies.
A waste management model for England
Systems and Sustainability
A sustainable waste management model for England is urgently needed to improve resource efficiency and divert waste from landfills. Dr Kok Siew Ng and Professor Aidong Yang have proposed a comprehensive system model to examine current waste management performance and project future waste generation, treatment and disposal scenarios in England.
Future AI could present a serious danger to humans
Artificial Intelligence
Researchers at the University of Oxford have recently analyzed a tricky subject: AI that does not yet exist. The researchers wanted to know, if artificial agents were developed that are much more capable than those existing today, what can we conclude about how they would behave? Their analysis suggests that subject to several assumptions, such artificial agents would present a serious danger to us.
Chess: how to spot a potential cheat
Artificial Intelligence
Michael Cohen is studying a DPhil in Engineering Science with Professor Michael Osborne. In this article from The Conversation, he explains how you need an AI and lots of data to work out whether there’s any foul play in a chess game.
Opportunities in Leicestershire’s nutrient streams
Sustainable waste management
As part of a 12-month collaborative effort between the University of Oxford, Leicestershire County Council, Brunel, Lancaster and 3Keel, the Sprint project held an initial consultative meeting in July 2022 to determine priority nutrient flows, examine the current waste management situation, and discuss opportunities and potential trade-offs to transformation.
Digital Underground Construction
Geotechnical Engineering
A substantial amount of new infrastructure is required to cope with growing populations and the effects of climate change ‒ and efficient use of underground space appears the most viable and sustainable solution. The ‘FOCUS’ project is innovating in the underground construction sector to provide more cost-effective and sustainable critical infrastructure.
Improving technology to support offshore wind production
Civil Engineering
An Oxford research team has improved engineering design for the ‘monopile’ foundations that support offshore wind turbines – reducing costs to enable the economic scale up of wind energy.
