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Alongside our main episodes of
Oxford Plus for Season Four we are

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introducing a short fortnightly
miniseries in between the main episodes.

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Brought to you by me, Susannah de Jager,
and in partnership with Mishcon de Reya.

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In each episode, we ask our guests the
same four questions designed to reveal how

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they think, what shapes their decisions,
and what they're curious about right now.

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The questions stay the same.

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The answers rarely do.

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This is Oxford Plus in brief.

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Thank you Lord Hague.

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Just a few quick questions
for you for the mini episode.

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What would success look like if we got
this right and for this conversation,

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I mean, innovation in the UK?

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Success would be that the UK
would again, be one of the most

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prosperous countries in the world.

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There would be great careers for
young people in Britain, and we'd

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be able to say, when we look at
the whole area between Oxford,

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Cambridge, and London, well, that
is the place in the world to be.

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To make money.

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To build a career.

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To learn.

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That's where the movers
and the shakers are.

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That would be success.

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What advice would you give somebody
entering the Oxford ecosystem tomorrow?

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You are entering a fantastic ecosystem.

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You've come to the right place.

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You will find an abundance of talent.

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You'll be able to invent some
of the world's best technology.

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But you will need the capital.

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So I hope that person arriving in
the ecosystem, he's bringing some

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capital to invest in all the talent.

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Wonderful.

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What is Oxford uniquely good at
and what is it structurally bad at?

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It's uniquely good at, although other
universities would come close, at

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really cherishing all disciplines and
having the fullest possible breadth

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and this is true in particular across
science of having the entire breadth

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of human intellectual endeavor.

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Of course what any university like that
can be bad at is rapid change and bringing

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everybody along together because it has
a very decentralised structure there.

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There are great strengths
in decentralisation.

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As I said in my speech of being admitted
as Chancellor, we may make mistakes,

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but there's no danger we will all
make the same mistake at the same

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time because it's so decentralised.

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But that can mean that it's
difficult to respond quickly enough.

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And in your opinion, what do you
think Oxford will look like, in

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whatever that means to you, in 2050.

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Well, I hope it will look very similar,
of course, because one of its great

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attributes is it's one of the most
beautiful cities in the world and

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that does actually contribute to its
intellectual and social environment.

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So I hope it looks very similar, although
with ever, ever more numerous and stronger

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science parks and growth zones around
Oxfordshire and around and about Oxford.

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So physically I hope it looks like that.

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It looks today like a place where
the whole world can meet and

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make connections and share ideas.

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I hope it's even more central
to what's going on in the world.

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Even more than today.

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Wonderful.

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Thank you very much.

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Thank you.

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Thanks for listening to this
episode of Oxford+, presented

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by me, Susannah de Jager.

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If you want to stay up to date with all
things Oxford+, please visit our website,

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oxfordplus.co.uk and sign up for our
newsletter so you never miss an update.

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Oxford+ was made in partnership
with Mishcon de Reya and is produced

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and edited by Story Ninety-Four.