Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford

Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford The OII is a multidisciplinary research and teaching department of the University of Oxford, dedicated to the social science of the Internet.

The Oxford Internet Institute is a multidisciplinary research and teaching department of the University of Oxford, dedicated to the social science of the Internet. Digital connections are now embedded in almost every aspect of our daily lives, and research on individual and collective behaviour online is crucial to understanding our social, economic and political world. Our academic faculty and graduate students are drawn from many different disciplines: we believe this combined approach is essential to tackle society’s ‘big questions’. Together, we aim to positively shape the development of our digital world for the public good.

25/09/2026

Over two days in Oxford, 40 colleagues from the Oxford Internet Institute and .campus.hn came together at for our Autumn Meeting, a chance to share research, test new ideas and spend time in conversation with one another across seven panels.

Here’s a glimpse into day 1, when the programme moved from AI, privacy and security through to the uses of AI in research and higher education, before turning to how humans and AI work alongside each other in the workplace and what the frontiers of the technology might look like.

Between sessions, conversations carried on over coffees, dinner at the , and today a guided walking tour of Oxford. Thank you to everyone from both institutions who brought such generous thinking and curiosity to the room, and to our colleagues at TUM Campus Heilbronn for making the journey to Oxford.

We’re already looking forward to continuing the exchange!

17/09/2026

“There is something really special about the internet, even in this current moment when it feels really dark. It makes me really happy that we still have an Oxford Internet Institute dedicated to holding the internet to account, and to remembering that the internet we were promised is still an internet we can have in the future.”

Heather Ford, Professor at the University of Technology Sydney and OII alumna, reflects on the enduring promise of the internet and why the OII’s mission matters more than ever, 25 years on.

04/09/2026

“The people are 100% one of the best parts of being at the OII.”

Tech Policy Design Institute co-founder and OII alumna Zoe Jay Hawkins talks about the “academic pen pals,” long-term collaborators and conversations that made her time at the OII so memorable.

01/09/2026

“The OII helped me zoom out completely and develop a broader systemic view of technology and society.”

OII alumna and founder of , , reflects on how her time at the OII changed the way she thinks about technology and society.

30/07/2026

Knowing what you’re capable of might matter more than what’s on your CV, at least, that’s what the research suggests.

In our latest episode of The Human Interface, Dr Fabian Stephany from the Oxford Internet Institute and Prateek Sibal from UNESCO explore what it actually takes to stay competitive in a jobs market being transformed by AI.

We cover the skills worth signalling to employers, the institutional changes that need to happen alongside individual effort, and why the people who tend to thrive in periods of rapid change are those who lean into it rather than away from it.

Listen to “The Skills That Win in an AI Jobs Market” here: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0bNJNM97VOLEegin1Ycpak

And if you haven’t already, subscribe to The Human Interface from the Oxford Internet Institute wherever you get your podcasts.

16/07/2026

“There are loads of AI institutes springing up everywhere, but the OII remains rather unique.”

Professor joined the Founding Stories Panel at Rhodes House as part of the OII’s 25th Anniversary celebrations, making the case for why a quarter century of studying how technology integrates into people’s lives and institutions is exactly what this moment in AI demands.

09/07/2026

“The OII is bringing together all of us nerds who are passionate about new technology, and enabling us to have a lot of impact with our research.”

At the OII’s 25th Anniversary Summer Party, we caught up with Matthew Bone, DPhil student, and Slava Polonski, Ph.D, OII alumnus, for a conversation about what this place has meant to them, and how far it has come.

From a little house with a blue door on St Giles to a full department buzzing with interdisciplinary research, the OII’s 25-year trajectory is something our community feels personally.

One week it’s data ethics, the next it’s AI evaluations or the working conditions at global tech companies.

That range, and the rigour underneath it, is precisely what makes the OII distinctive.

07/07/2026

“When something goes wrong, always look for the opportunity. Walk through the next door.”

Andrew Graham, former Acting Director and founding Chairman of the OII’s Advisory Board, joined the Founding Stories Panel at Rhodes House as part of the OII’s 25th Anniversary celebrations, reflecting on the moment he knew the internet was going to change everything, and what he decided to do about it.

02/07/2026

“The work that the OII does has never been more relevant. This is the place that everyone should be coming to.”

Dr Yin Lu and Dr Kathryn Eccles joined us at Rhodes House for the OII’s 25th Anniversary Summer Party and Founding Stories Panel, reflecting on a quarter century of interdisciplinary research and what the next chapter holds.

From the founding questions of internet studies to the frontiers of AI and regulation, the conversation has never felt more alive.

29/06/2026

“So I came to OII on the back of having a policy job. I didn’t want to be an academic, but what interested me about the job was this idea that the OII was going to be different. It wasn’t going to be an ivory tower. It was going to be about learning. It was about how the world was changing and applying that through excellent, rigorous research.”

We were grateful to hear from the former Director of the Oxford Internet Institute, Dr. Vicki Nash, who shared her reflections about the department’s early days during last week’s OII Founding Stories panel at Rhodes House.

To learn more about the OII’s 25th anniversary, click here: https://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/about/our-history/oii-25th-anniversary/

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Oxford Internet Institute, Stephen A Schwarzman Centre For The Humanities, Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, Woodstock Road
Oxford
OX26GG

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