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Challenges bring together Oxford students who want to use their expertise to build something great. Students join a small interdisciplinary team, choose a challenge shaped by real stakeholders, and develop a research-informed response with impact beyond the University. 

Each cohort centres on a thematic track, set with industry or sector partners seeking to explore new approaches to hard problems. Topic areas can include life sciences, deep tech, AI and machine learning, design, industrial processes, media and the creative industries, and social impact.

2026-27 Challenges

Machine Learning

AI/ML

Solve hard problems in artificial intelligence and machine learning put forward by G-Research. These span computer science, mathematics, physical sciences, finance, and the social sciences.

2025-26 Challenges

science

Deep Tech and Life Sciences

Work with Oxford Science Enterprises on challenges in deep tech and the life sciences.

Youth employment

Youth Employment

Tackle barriers to youth employment and develop new approaches to social impact with Nando’s and the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship.

Programme structure
  • Launch. The challenges are presented by domain experts at a launch event. Teams form around shared interests and complementary skills.
  • Collaborate. Teams dive into the challenge, gather insights, test ideas, and work towards solutions to these hard problems with weekly check-ins for guidance.
  • Showcase. The programme concludes with teams presenting their solutions to invited assessors.

The programme is open to students at Oxford. The time commitment is a few hours a week, although teams are encouraged to work on their idea outside the allocated sessions. The challenges are designed with the potential to evolve into something greater, should the teams wish to take them further.

Applications for our next Challenges programme will be open in Michaelmas 2026.

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Interested in setting a Challenge? Frequently asked questions

  • Who do we work with?

    Oxford Edge works with a wide range of partners, from leaders in industry looking to explore novel technology to solve hard problems, to mission-driven organisations looking to sandbox new approaches to the most intractable societal challenges. Partners bring briefs rooted in their expertise and commitment to real problems, and in return they gain access to exceptional postgraduate talent bringing novel thinking to challenges that their organisation cares about.

  • What we are looking for

    1. Challenge problems – Three to five open problems that the partner organisation would value a fresh perspective on, scoped so that a small team can make meaningful progress within 8 – 12 weeks. Briefs should not require access to confidential data.
    2. Mentoring and Support – The programme draws on each partner's depth of expertise by embedding their researchers and practitioners as dedicated mentors. A senior representative from the partner organisation is also invited to join the final showcase panel, offering industry-level feedback and identifying standout teams. Each partner supports their own challenges.

  • Why get involved

    • A competitively selected, interdisciplinary cohort with the time and incentive to tackle the real-world barriers that the partner organisation is working to address.
    • Novel approaches: teams arrive unconstrained by how the problem is conventionally framed within the partner's sector, and are trained to evidence and test ideas rather than simply propose them.
    • Sustained engagement with brilliant Oxford students!