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The Campaign in Context

Founded in the 13th century, Oxford is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. It is today a global centre of excellence in undergraduate and post-graduate education and a world leader in research. 

Keble and Oxford

Crucial to Oxford’s success is its unique dual structure. All students and tenured academics are members both of the University and one of the 38 self-governing colleges. The University, organised on conventional faculty lines, focuses on subject specialisation. The colleges, each with students and academics drawn from all subjects and from all parts of the world, provide thriving small-scale academic communities that foster creative interaction across disciplines, culture, nationalities and religions.

If Oxford is to retain its remarkable pre-eminence the colleges must be equally effective in post-graduate education and collaborative research

As the academic focus of University departments becomes ever more specialised, the breadth and human-scale provided by the college structure becomes ever more important. But for that breadth to be genuinely transformational, colleges need to do far more than simply feed and house their members. Colleges have always excelled in undergraduate teaching, largely delivered through the acclaimed tutorial system. If Oxford is to retain its remarkable pre-eminence the colleges must be equally effective in post-graduate education and collaborative research.

Keble, one of Oxford’s largest colleges and a 19th century pioneer of university reform, is planning the most radical college development in recent Oxford history, one which will transform its role in graduate education and attract leading academics from across the world keen to challenge conventional thinking and to establish links between academic disciplines.

Our Vision for 2020, will make Keble an exemplar of academic development in the 21st century. The core of our campaign is to develop the Keble Advanced Studies Centre at a 1.7 hectare site -The Acland Site - in the new heart of the University, located between the established University Science and Engineering Area and the proposed new University Humanities Quarter.

Challenges facing Oxford & Keble

With modest endowments compared to its main rivals, a reliance on government funding and facing global competition for staff and students, how does Oxford maintain its position as one of the world’s leading universities?

The key to Oxford’s longevity and global reputation for excellence lies fundamentally in its collegiate structure. If Oxford is to remain one of the world’s leading universities, colleges must continue to be part of how it evolves and adapts to new circumstances.

The academic world is changing significantly. Financial constraints and worldwide competition pose challenges to Oxford, but these also present us with opportunities. A move to concentrate upon departmental research outputs in order to compete runs the risk of undermining the single greatest advantage Oxford has – its college system.

The past twenty years have seen fundamental changes in Oxford’s priorities. The education of undergraduates remains a core commitment. But research is becoming ever more important, and with it a much larger commitment to postgraduate education. Colleges need to play a central role in research and postgraduate education comparable with their historic role in undergraduate education.

Innovation is in Keble’s DNA

Innovation is in Keble’s DNA. It was the first Oxford college of the modern era. It now aims to develop a new paradigm for a college in the 21st century University, one that puts research and postgraduate studies alongside undergraduate education at its core.

Central to our ambition is the creation of Oxford’s first Advanced Studies Centre, which will bring together world-class thinkers, star young researchers and the brightest graduate students in an environment that stimulates interaction between disciplines and collaborative research programmes. This will build on the unique structure of Oxford colleges as multi-disciplinary communities of scholars. By adapting the collegiate culture to the service of research and postgraduate education we can ensure not only that colleges remain central to Oxford’s academic life, but that Oxford thereby remains a world leader.

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Keble