CAREERS AT
OXFORD INSTRUMENTS
ABOUT US
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OUR VISION
Together, we can make a real impact
We’re committed to being the leading provider of high tech products and services for the world’s most important industrial and scientific research communities. Our people are vital to our success. We strive to offer the opportunities that will attract, motivate and retain the very best talent in our sector. This involves creating an inclusive environment and culture, where difference is valued and people are recognised for what they deliver and bring to the team...
Our Values
INCLUSIVE
We listen and engage with customers, colleagues, shareholders and partners for mutual success.
TRUSTED
We build long-term relationships based on integrity, trust and respect.
INNOVATIVE AND PROGRESSIVE
We bring skill, experience and openness to new ideas to address the needs of the 21st Century
WHOLEHEARTED
We approach what we do with passion, with care and with pace.
Our Structure
Our History
We started out in a garden shed and went on to develop the world’s first superconducting magnet, support Nobel Prize winners and win 14 Queen’s Awards. Today, we’re continuing our work to help overcome the greatest challenges of the 21st century.
1959
1959
Oxford Instruments is founded
by Sir Martin and Lady Audrey Wood, as the first commercial spinout from Oxford University.
1961
1961
First workshop
We opened our first workshop in a shed in the Wood family’s garden in Oxford
1962
1962
World’s first superconducting magnet
Sir Martin Wood developed the world’s first superconducting magnet.
1963
1963
We hired our first two full-time employees
1966
1966
Dilution refrigerator
We manufactured the world’s first commercial dilution refrigerator.
1967
1967
Queen’s Award for Technology
We won our first Queen’s Award for Technology for our 10 T superconducting magnet and dilution refrigerator.
1969
1969
Ten-year anniversary
We celebrated our ten-year anniversary with 105 employees
1970
1970
NMR magnet
We built the first commercial NMR magnet.
1972
1972
Second Queen's Award
We won our second Queen’s Award for our ‘rapid and sustained’ rise in exports
1974
1974
As part of the acquisition of Newport Instruments, we briefly operated a profitable luxury caravan manufacturing division
1978
1978
Third Queen's Award
We won our third Queen’s Award for the ‘most powerful and convenient NMW spectrometer in the world’
1980
1980
World’s first MRI body scanner
We built and installed the world’s first MRI whole body scanner for Hammersmith Hospital, London.
1983
1983
Floated on the London Stock Exchange
1986
1986
Plasma Technology
Plasma Technology joined Oxford Instruments.
1989
1989
Link Analytical
We acquired Link Analytical, which became part of NanoAnalysis.
1990
1990
R&D 100 award
We won an R&D 100 award for the first analysis system that detects Be X-rays.
1990
1995
Cryogen-free magnet systems
Our first cryogen-free magnet systems were created.
1997
1997
Offices expanding
We opened new offices in Beijing in China and High Wycombe in England, and moved in to brand-new premises in Tubney Wood near Oxford.
1999
1999
Sir Martin Wood Prize
We established the Sir Martin Wood Prize for early-career scientists in Japan.
2004
2004
Science Prizes for young scientists
We launched the Nicholas Kurti and Lee Osheroff Richardson Science Prizes for young scientists in Europe and North America.
2008
2008
Triton
Following the acquisition of VeriCold the previous year, we launched the Triton brand.
2010
2010
Nobel Prize in Physics
The Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded jointly to Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov "for ground-breaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene” using Oxford Instruments tools.
2011
2011
MacRobert Award for Engineering
Triton, our Cryofree ® dilution refrigerator system, was shortlisted for the MacRobert Award for Engineering.
2012
2012
13th Queen's Award
We won our thirteenth Queen’s Award for Enterprise.
2012
2012
Best Technology Company
We acquired Asylum Research in California and Oxford Instruments were awarded Best Technology Company at the PLC Awards.
2014
2014
Andor Technology
We acquired Andor Technology in Belfast.
2014
2014
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2014 was jointly awarded to Eric Betzig, Stefan W. Hell and William E. Moerner “for the development of super-resolved fluorescence microscopy” using Oxford Instruments tools.
2015
2015
The Nanotechnology Forum and Young NanoScientist Award are established in India.
2016
2016
Dragonfly
We launched Dragonfly, our confocal imaging system.
2017
2017
Horizon Strategy
We launched our Horizon Strategy to focus on market segments where nanotechnology drives world leading research.
2017
2017
Asylum Research launched Cypher VRS video rate AFM.
2017
2017
Our partners at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (NHMFL) successfully created a magnetic field of 32 Teslas, shattering the world record.
2018
2018
Dragonfly R&D 100 Award
Dragonfly won an R&D 100 Award as one of the most technologically significant products of the year
2019
2019
14th Queen's Award
We won our fourteenth Queen’s Award for innovations during the development of Ultim Extreme.
2019
2019
Royal Mail Stamp
To highlight the best of British innovation and engineering from the last 50 years, the Royal Mail produced a new stamp celebrating our application of superconducting magnets to produce the first whole body MRI scanner.
Awards & Recognition
14 Queen's Awards
4 R&D 100 Awards
Finalists in MacRobert Award in 2012, from Royal Academy of Engineering
Established the Sir Martin Wood Prize for early-career scientists in Japan.