Oxford Martin School: Public Lectures and Seminars

The UK’s development strategy and the new economic and geopolitical challenges

30 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Minister for Development and Africa, Andrew Mitchell MP, will join us to discuss how to address these challenges as well as seize new opportunitie...

Book talk: 'Not the end of the world: how we can be the first generation to build a sustainable planet'

20 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Hannah Ritchie discusses her new book 'Not the end of the world' with Prof Charles Godfray. We are bombarded by doomsday headlines that tell us the so...

Human security versus national security: have we lost our capacity for collective action?

24 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator, explores the implications of growing paralysis, polarisation and uncertainty for a world in a race against time to ...

The United Nations and the prevention of mass atrocities in the 21st Century: some challenges and opportunities

24 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Adama Dieng, former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, July 2012 to July 2020, discus...

Time To Look Up – in conversation with Rt Hon Sir Alok Sharma about the climate crisis

31 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

After a summer of extreme heatwaves, devastating wildfires and deadly flooding across the world, all made worse by climate change, the Rt Hon Sir Alok...

Can international humanitarian organisations adapt to face the challenges of this century?

26 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Yves Daccord, former CEO of the International Committee of the Red Cross, joins us at the Oxford Martin School. The history of humanitarianism is one ...

Panel Discussion 'The age of the strongman: populism and authoritarianism in global politics'

07 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A discussion on leaders and populism with Lord Patten, Gideon Rachman, Margaret MacMillan and Ricardo Soares de Oliveira Since the beginning of the mi...

The state of the African state: Where has it come from and where is it going

07 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Nick Westcott, Director of the Royal African Society, discusses the African State. African states have been in flux since long before colonial powers ...

Book talk: 'Butler to the world: how Britain became the servant of tycoons, tax dodgers, kleptocrats and criminals'

07 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In this event chaired by Ricardo Soares de Oliveira, Oliver Bullough discusses his best selling and critically acclaimed book, 'Butler to the World: H...

Illicit finance and the role of professional enablers in the United Kingdom: are things finally changing?

21 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

MPs Andrew Mitchell and Margaret Hodge discuss illicit finance and their work on improving regulations. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and resulting s...

Book talk: 'Storylistening: Narrative Evidence and Public Reasoning' with Claire Craig & Sarah Dillon

15 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Claire Craig and Sarah Dillon discuss their new book. There is an urgent need to take stories seriously in order to improve public reasoning. The c...

Book Talk: 'Envisioning 2060: opportunities and risks for emerging markets'

07 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The event launched a book by the Emerging Markets Forum (EMF), a Washington DC based not-for-profit think tank focused on emerging economies. The book...

P4 healthcare and precision population health - a transformation of healthcare

07 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Dr Leroy Hood, CEO of Phenome Health, discusses his strategy for precision population health If one takes a systems approach to healthcare, it is obvi...

Book talk: ‘Why do some countries gamble on development, and others don’t?’

27 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Stefan Dercon talks about his new book, with further discussion from David Pilling (Financial Times) and Melinda Bohannon (FCDO) In the last thirty ye...

Book talk: ‘Why do some countries gamble on development, and others don’t?’

27 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Stefan Dercon talks about his new book, with further discussion from David Pilling (Financial Times) and Melinda Bohannon (FCDO) In the last thirty ye...

Panel Discussion: "Fleshing out a future COP"

17 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Dr Tara Garnett (director of TABLE and fellow of the Oxford Martin School) in conversation with Dr Helena Wright, Dr Pablo Manzano and Dan Blaustein-R...

What would a sustainable economy look like?

17 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Sir Dieter Helm discusses how we could shift to a sustainable economy. What would have to happen for this generation to live within its environmental ...

Britain's long-running 'skills crisis': why can't we fix it? and what would it take to do so?

07 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Alison Wolf, Ian Stuart and Sir Chris Husbands join Sir Paul Collier to discuss vocational skills and the economy. This country has been worrying abou...

Panel discussion: 'Capitalism: what has gone wrong, what needs to change and how can it be fixed?

09 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This discussion brings together the editors of a special issue of the Oxford Review of Economic Policy on Capitalism. Rising levels of inequality, so...

The political economy of Nigeria: challenges and opportunities for reform

07 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Join Professor Kingsley Moghalu, Oxford Martin Visiting Fellow on the Oxford Martin Programme on African Governance and former Deputy Governor of the ...

Private financing levelling-up: an idea of its time

07 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Join Ron Emerson, Chairman of Bank North, & Professor Colin Mayer, Lead Researcher on the Oxford Martin Initiative on Regional Levelling-up, as they d...

Renewing South Yorkshire: seizing new opportunities, overcoming old constraints

07 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Dave Smith, Chief Executive of South Yorkshire City-Region Authority and Colin Mayer, Professor of Finance, discuss how South Yorkshire can forge a st...

"Conflict resolution for the future of biodiversity conservation" with Dr Alexandra Zimmermann

01 Dec 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Dr Alexandra Zimmermann, WildCRU, discusses the challenges of managing conflict between different groups in order to protect wildlife and natural reso...

Book talk: 'Cogs and Monsters: what economics is and what it should be' with Prof Diane Coyle

25 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Diane Coyle and Ian Goldin discuss Diane's new book 'Cogs and Monsters' and how economics can face the challenges of technological change. Digital tec...

Greed is dead: politics after individualism

09 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Economists Paul Collier and John Kay discuss their book, Greed is Dead, with Sir Charles Godfray Throughout history, successful societies have created...

Zero carbon energy systems

04 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Join Nick Eyre and Steve Smith for a discussion on a renewable energy, energy efficiency and carbon emissions. The combustion of fossil fuels is respo...

Net zero – why and how?

01 Mar 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The first discussion in the Oxford Net Zero Series, hosted by the Oxford Martin School, hones in on the fundamental motivation of the research program...

Protein structure and AI: the excitement about the recent advance made by Google DeepMind’s AlphaFold Programme

18 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Why is it important to understand the 3-D structures of protein, why are they difficult to construct, and what is the nature of AlphaFold’s advance?...

Data work: the hidden talent and secret logic fuelling artificial intelligence

16 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Gina Neff discusses artificial intelligence and data work, and the ethical and social implications of integrating these tools into organisat...

Rethinking diet, weight and health policy in and after the COVID-19 pandemic

09 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Prof Susan Jebb and Sir Charles Godfray discuss the possible implications of the pandemic on health policy and tackling obesity. The current covid-19 ...

Healthcare after the COVID-19 pandemic: the walls are coming down

04 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Join Professor Chas Bountra, Professor of Translational Medicine and Professor Sir Charles Godfray as they discuss how the healthcare system has had t...

The ages of globalization

01 Feb 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Jeff Sachs discusses his new book 'The Ages of Globalization' with Professor Ian Goldin. We are justified to say that we are living through ...

21st century technologies for tackling 21st century pandemics

26 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Christophe Fraser of Oxford’s Big Data Institute, who advises the UK’s NHS COVID-19 Tracing app, and Prof Oliver Pybus discuss the opportunities a...

Re-imagining urban mobility after COVID-19

09 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in unprecedented disruptions to urban mobility systems across the globe yet also presented unique opportunities for...

Terra Incognita: 100 Maps to Survive the Next 100 Years

02 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Ian Goldin, Professor of Globalisation and Development at Oxford University, discusses his new book 'Terra Incognita: 100 Maps to Survive th...

A tale of two crises: COVID-19 and the financial system

02 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Dr Julia Giese, Bank of England, discusses the impact of Covid-19 on the financial system and how banks can play their part in economic recovery. Date...

Baby steps: the gender division of childcare during the COVID-19 pandemic

01 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Sarah Smith, Professor Almudena Sevilla and Professor Cameron Hepburn discuss the gender division of childcare during the covid-19 pandemic,...

Privacy is Power

01 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Carissa Véliz discusses her new book 'Privacy is Power', focusing on the importance of understanding how our data is used and how we can protect our ...

Resetting our relationship with nature in a post-COVID world

17 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Professor E.J. Milner-Gulland and Professor Sir Charles Godfray discuss our relationship with nature, how it relates to the Covid-19 pandemic, and wha...

Supply and demand shocks in the COVID-19 pandemic: an industry and occupation perspective

17 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this recorded talk, Professor Doyne Farmer and Maria del Rio-Chanona talk about their new paper on supply and demand shocks, and the impacts on soc...

After the lockdown: macroeconomic adjustment to the Covid-19 pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa

13 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this talk, Professor Chris Adam, Professor of Development Economics looks beyond the public health aspects of the pandemic to examine the medium-te...

Global macroeconomic cooperation in response to the Covid-19 pandemic

13 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Professor David Vines, Professor of Economics at INET Oxford, discusses the need for international cooperation to support emerging economies after the...

Globalisation in the post-COVID world

06 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Beata Javorcik, Chief Economist at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, discusses the recent developments in international ...

Lie machines: misinformation in a Post-COVID world

06 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Phil Howard, author of Lie Machines and Nicola Aitken, Policy Manager at Full Fact, discuss the implications of fake news and misinformation. In the a...

Recipes for transforming food production and beyond

05 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Paul Clarke, Ocado's Chief Technology Officer, will focus on the disruptive ingredients and recipes at the heart of Ocado's ongoing journey of self-di...

What is life?

05 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

For this year's James Martin Memorial Lecture, Sir Paul Nurse will consider some of the fundamental ideas of biology with the aim of identifying princ...

Better doctors, better patients, better decisions: Risk literacy in health

18 Mar 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Can every doctor understand health statistics? Gerd Gigerenzer will describe the efforts towards this goal, a few successes, but also the steadfast fo...

Why we need a fourth revolution in healthcare

06 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

William bird discusses how healthcare focused on communities and acitve lifestyles can lead to greater wellbeing. We are entering the fourth revolutio...

Psychologically informed micro-targeted political campaigns: the use and abuse of data

04 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Data-driven micro-targeted campaigns have become a key part of political strategy. As personal and societal data becomes more accessible, we need to u...

The technology trap - capital, labour and power in the age of automation

04 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Carl Frey discusses his book 'The Technology Trap' In this book talk the Author, Carl Benedikt Frey, will discuss how the Industrial Revolution was a ...

Migration: the movement of humankind from prehistory to the present

02 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Robin Cohen discusses migration throughout history and in the present day. Migration is present at the dawn of human history - the phenomena of huntin...

Ending energy poverty: reframing the poverty discourse

27 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The President of the Rockefeller Foundation discusses the need for new solutions for energy transformation and economic development. We cannot end pov...

New economic and moral foundations for the Anthropocene

24 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Prof Beinhocker will argue that by changing the ideologies, narratives, and memes that govern our economic system, we can create the political space r...

The future of the corporation, economy and society

19 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Sir Paul Collier and Professor Colin Mayer CBE will share the latest thinking and research into the future of capitalism and the corporation...

Climate change: what science and the IPCC report has to say

18 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Nick Eyre and Myles Allen give a talk for the Oxford Martin School on climate change and the IPCC report. One of the key objectives of the Fifth Asses...

Climate change: what science and the IPCC report has to say

18 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Nick Eyre and Myles Allen give a talk for the Oxford Martin School on climate change and the IPCC report. One of the key objectives of the Fifth Asses...

Biodiversity and climate change: what happens when we turn up the heat on nature?

18 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Dr Nathalie Seddon, Director of the Biodiversity Institute, gives a talk for the Oxford Martin School. The future of biodiversity conservation is unde...

The ‘perfect storm’ revisited: food, energy and water security in the context of climate change

18 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Sir John Beddington, Senior Adviser at the Oxford Martin School, gives a talk on climate change Some five years ago Sir John Beddington, Senior Advise...

Climate change and our oceans

18 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Gideon Henderson, Professor of Earth Sciences, and Professor David Marshall, Professor of Physical Oceanography, will explore the role of oc...

Hopes and fears: why people disagree about how to tackle climate

18 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

In this seminar Dr Rob Bellamy, James Martin Fellow at the Institute for Science, Innovation and Society, will explore how and why people disagree abo...

Hopes and fears: why people disagree about how to tackle climate

18 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

In this seminar Dr Rob Bellamy, James Martin Fellow at the Institute for Science, Innovation and Society, will explore how and why people disagree abo...

Climate change: dealing with uncertainty

18 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

In this talk Professor Tim Palmer CBE, Co-Director of the Programme on Modelling and Predicting Climate, gives a talk for the Oxford Martin School. Ti...

Rich and poor: a cause for social unrest? at the Oxford Literary Festival 2015

18 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

John Kampfner and Katrine Marçal discuss the growing gap between rich and poor and its implications for society, chaired by Professor Ian Goldin. Thi...

Rich and poor: a cause for social unrest? at the Oxford Literary Festival 2015

18 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

John Kampfner and Katrine Marçal discuss the growing gap between rich and poor and its implications for society, chaired by Professor Ian Goldin. Thi...

The future of Africa at the Oxford Literary Festival 2015

18 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Three authors with recent books on Africa discuss the future of the continent and answer questions from the audience under the watchful eye of the dir...

The future of Africa at the Oxford Literary Festival 2015

18 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Three authors with recent books on Africa discuss the future of the continent and answer questions from the audience under the watchful eye of the dir...

The limits of human performance and artificial intelligence

18 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

In this new Oxford talk, Garry Kasparov, Senior Visiting Fellow at the Oxford Martin School, turns his attention to the rapidly evolving relationship ...

Philae at the comet: a scientific adventure

18 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Chris Lintott, Professor of Astrophysics, University of Oxford and presenter of the BBC’s Sky at Night will talk about the history and the...

The metabolism of a human-dominated planet

18 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Yadvinder Malhi, Director of the Oxford Centre ofr Tropical Forests, gives a talk for the Oxford Martin School. We live in a new epoch, the Anthropoce...

The metabolism of a human-dominated planet

18 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Yadvinder Malhi, Director of the Oxford Centre ofr Tropical Forests, gives a talk for the Oxford Martin School. We live in a new epoch, the Anthropoce...

Living in a quantum world

18 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Vlatko Vedral, Co-=Direct oof the Oxford Martin Programme on Bio-Inspired Quantum Technologies, gives a talk for theOxford Martin School. Quantum mech...

Quantum life

18 Aug 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Seth Lloyd, Principal Investigator in the Research Laboratory of Electronics (RLE) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) gives ...

The fight for women's rights: learning from success

24 Feb 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Baroness Helena Kennedy QC gives a talk for the Oxford Martin School on women's rights. The past century has seen huge progress in women's rights, but...

Capital failure - restoring trust in the financial system

17 Feb 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Professor David Vines gives a talk onthe financial system. Financial firms were once organisations which helped their clients to do well, and earned f...

Oxford and the next-generation of mobile health

17 Feb 2015

Contributed by Lukas

David Clifton, Institute of Biomedical Engineering, gives a talk for Oxford Martin School.

The butterfly defect: how globalization creates systemic risks, and what to do about it

17 Feb 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Ian Goldin gives a talk on globalization and systemic risk. Globalisation has brought us vast benefits including growth in incomes, educatio...

Is the Planet Full?

17 Feb 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Charles Godfray, Ian Goldin, Sarah Harper, Toby Ord and Yadvinder Malhi discuss whether the planet is full. The panel will discuss the whether our pla...

Well fed? The health and environmental implications of our food choices

17 Feb 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Mike Rayner, Susan Jebb and Tara Garnett give a talk about food and feeding the population. Non-fat, low-fat, saturated fat, trans fats, healthy fats ...

Well fed? The health and environmental implications of our food choices

17 Feb 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Mike Rayner, Susan Jebb and Tara Garnett give a talk about food and feeding the population. Non-fat, low-fat, saturated fat, trans fats, healthy fats ...

World population and human capital in the 21st century

17 Feb 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Andrew Dilnot, David Coleman, Francesco Billari, Sarah Harper and Wolfgang Lutz give a talk about world population. The future of global development a...

Eradicating Hepatitis C and HIV: progress and challenges for the next ten years

17 Feb 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Dr John Frater, Principal Investigator, Institute for Emerging Infections and Dr Ellie Barnes, Principal Investigator, Institute for Emerging Infectio...

New strategies for disease prevention and management from infancy to old age

17 Feb 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Terry Dwyer, Executive Director, The George Institute for Global Health and Dr Kazem Rahimi, Deputy Director, The George Institute for Globa...

New strategies for disease prevention and management from infancy to old age

17 Feb 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Terry Dwyer, Executive Director, The George Institute for Global Health and Dr Kazem Rahimi, Deputy Director, The George Institute for Globa...

Why do we need to reconstruct drug discovery?

17 Feb 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Dr Javier Lezaun and Professor Chas Bountra give a talk about drug discovery. Dr Javier Lezaun, Co-Director, Institute for Science, Innovation and Soc...

Why do we need to reconstruct drug discovery?

17 Feb 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Dr Javier Lezaun and Professor Chas Bountra give a talk about drug discovery. Dr Javier Lezaun, Co-Director, Institute for Science, Innovation and Soc...

Strategies for vaccines for the 21st century

17 Feb 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Susan Lea, Professor Christoph Tang, Professor Jeffrey Almond and Dr Ian Feavers discuss strategies for vaccines for the 21st century. Vacci...

Superintelligence: paths, dangers, strategies

17 Feb 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Bostrom on his book, Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies.

Innovation or stagnation - Oxford Union Debate

22 May 2013

Contributed by Lukas

The Innovation Enigma - Is the current growth crisis a result of decades of technological stagnation in a risk-averse society? A dynamic Oxford Union ...

The Transformation of Humankind

22 May 2013

Contributed by Lukas

With Dr James Martin, Founder, Oxford Martin School. This is the first time in Earth's history that humanity that can study its situation and devise p...

The Future of Energy and Transport

22 May 2013

Contributed by Lukas

With Elon Musk, CEO and Product Architect of Tesla Motors and the CEO/CTO of Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX). Elon Musk, the Founder of Tesla ...

Ethics and infectious disease - navigating the moral maze of pandemic control

22 May 2013

Contributed by Lukas

With Professor Paul Klenerman Principal Investigator, Institute for Emerging Infections. Paul Klenerman demonstrates the way our immune systems work a...

Ethics and plant science - improving food yields in a changing environment

22 May 2013

Contributed by Lukas

With Professor Liam Dolan and Professor Jane Langdale, Co-Directors, Plants for the 21st Century Institute. As we struggle to feed the world's growing...

Resource stewardship - can we develop a new common sense morality?

22 May 2013

Contributed by Lukas

With Professor Myles Allen, Co-Director, Oxford Martin Programme on Resource Stewardship. You can show people all the evidence in the world about clim...

Killing with computers - the ethics of autonomous and remote controlled weapon

22 May 2013

Contributed by Lukas

Remote controlled and autonomous robotic weapons are bringing new levels of complexity to modern warfare. It's when such robots are designed as lethal...

Reviving the Spirit of Innovation

22 May 2013

Contributed by Lukas

With Kary Kasparov, world chess champion, writer and political activist. The world we live in now is very different from the one that was imagined 50 ...

Pandemics - Can we eliminate major worldwide epidemics?

06 Nov 2012

Contributed by Lukas

Larry Brilliant, President of the Skoll Global Threats Fund, gives a talk for the Oxford Martin School. In our interconnected world the possibilities ...

Doing capitalism in the innovation economy

06 Nov 2012

Contributed by Lukas

William H. Janeway CBE, Senior Advisor and Managing Director at Warburg Pincus, gives a talk for the Oxford Martin School. The innovation economy begi...

Hybrid reality: the emerging human-technology co-evolution

19 May 2012

Contributed by Lukas

Parag Khanna and Ayesha Khanna; Directors of The Hybrid Reality Institute, gives a talk for the Oxford Martin School public lecture series. With Profe...

Catastrophic dehumanization

19 May 2012

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Thomas Homer-Dixon gives a talk on Dehumanization for the Oxford Martin School Public Lectures series. Introduced by Professor Ian Goldin. D...

Can Globalization work for the Poor?

21 Mar 2012

Contributed by Lukas

Panel discussion on whether Globalisation can benefit the poor with Alex Gennie, Ian Goldin, Rushanara Ali MP, James Drummond and Nick Gowing. Globali...