We empower people to explore and answer biological questions with our transformative sensing technology.
Welcome to Oxford Nanopore Technologies
You’ll soon be joining a determined and innovation-led company. By enabling biological insights, we strive to improve life on earth and beyond. With your help we aim to grow and evolve as a company and realise our ambitions. In turn, your work with us should help you grow too — both professionally and personally. We can’t wait to start working with you and find out more about you.
What to expect on day one
We’ll be in touch with you with the arrangements for your first day, whether you’re joining us in person or remotely. Unsure about to wear? If you’re joining our manufacturing or R&D teams, your PPE (personal protective equipment) will be ready for you. Everywhere else it’s smart casual unless you're meeting customers.
Your manager will meet you either on-site or online on your first day and will help you get oriented and settled in. IT will have already set up your email, and you'll have an IT induction to introduce you to your equipment and our various systems and platforms. Additionally, you'll join an HR-led induction session to provide you with essential information to get started.
The first few days and weeks of any new job is all about settling in and becoming productive as quickly as possible. To help you, your manager will discuss a full 30-day, 60-day and 90-day plan designed to help you learn your way around the business. Above all, ask lots of questions. You’ll soon realise that everyone is friendly and genuinely wants to help you.
Our motivation
At Oxford Nanopore we are driven by a desire to help humanity through our innovative platform - this is captured in our Mission, Purpose and Vision.
Mission
What we do
We empower people to explore and answer biological questions with our transformative technology platform
Purpose
Why we do it
By enabling biological insights, we strive to improve life on Earth and beyond
Vision
The long term future
Our goal is to enable the analysis of anything, by anyone, anywhere
Our inspiration
As you enter our home and head office in Oxford, UK, you'll notice an array of famous faces on the walls. These eclectic figures inspired our founders, embodying innovation, creativity, and determination to turn their visions and ideas into reality. Each was an industry disruptor in their own right, just like us.
Among the faces you'll spot is Nikola Tesla, a pioneer of modern electrical systems. His impact spans from hydro-electric power to X-rays, and he even predicted the Internet of Things a century earlier.
Blondie, one of several punk icons on display, symbolises a rebellious music scene that quickly grew into a community. We think science and music are not so different.
JFK and his moon-shot mission inspired our groundbreaking work with NASA, where Oxford Nanopore’s MinION device was used on the International Space Station.
David Bowie, the ‘Starman’ who said "tomorrow belongs to those who can hear it coming," has provided the soundtrack to our evolution, from ground control to our world-changing discoveries and applications.
Nikola Tesla
Blondie
The moonshot mission
David Bowie
We attract, motivate, and retain the best. That’s you!
No matter what role you’ll be starting, we recognise the contribution made by all our people in bringing exciting, disruptive technology to life. We are proud that over 60 nationalities are now represented across our company. Together we are doing things that have not been done before.
Here are a few of the ways we support, motivate and appreciate the diverse skills of our people:
As a technology company we recognise that a collaborative culture is important in driving results
We are creating a working environment which offers greater flexibility in how we manage and deliver our work
Values in Action (ViA) is our worldwide employee engagement community, encompassing interest groups where employees gather to discuss their collective experiences. This community is dedicated to sharing initiatives with our CEO, addressing the needs of both the business and its people
Investing our collective talents in the future of our company, and the communities we serve, is an essential part of who we are. Learning is in our nature, so we’ll provide continuous formal and informal opportunities for your growth and development
Hear from the talent behind the technology
Our team is expanding, now proudly representing over 60 nationalities across our company. To help you get to know the people who work here and their roles, we asked a few team members to introduce themselves and share their thoughts on working at Oxford Nanopore.
What is Oxford Nanopore technology?
We have created and innovated a unique sensing platform based on nanopores - tiny holes that act as gateways across membranes. All of our sequencing devices work by passing an electric current through engineered nanopores, which have been embedded into synthetic electro-resistant membranes.
As molecules such as DNA or RNA move through the nanopore, the electric current is disrupted, producing a characteristic ‘squiggle’. Our devices monitor this squiggle, which is then decoded, revealing the DNA or RNA sequence in real-time. The platform is also being developed for the analysis of proteins and metabolites.
Our platform
Our platform is fully scalable — from pocket-sized to population-scale deployments — enabling scientific researchers to answer questions about the biology of people, pathogens and environments. It is also increasingly being used in ‘applied’ situations such as clinical settings, epidemiology, and population genomics.
Our devices in action
Protecting newborns from HIV
Prof Veron Ramsuran and her team in South Africa are studying infants who appear to show natural protection, using genomic approaches to better understand the role of DNA methylation and other factors that may influence these outcomes.
By analysing methylation patterns and broader genomic variation, their research is helping to uncover why differences exist between individuals and how these mechanisms may be more widely observed across populations.
Identifying emerging pathogens in hospital settings
In this video, Rahul Batra discusses how nanopore sequencing is enabling faster, more cost-effective pathogen surveillance in hospital settings. By sequencing emerging pathogens in real time, researchers can respond more quickly to outbreaks, improve infection control, and advance hospital-based genomics research.
Learn how the speed and accessibility of nanopore sequencing are moving science forward.
Uncovering the genetic diversity of cancer to improve women's health
In this video, Kimmo Palin discusses how nanopore sequencing helps uncover the genetic complexity of cancers such as uterine leiomyoma (fibroids) and colorectal cancer. Affecting up to 70% of women during their lifetime, uterine leiomyoma highlights the need for comprehensive genomic insight — because every cancer is different. Learn how whole-genome nanopore sequencing provides the flexibility and depth needed to understand cancer at the molecular level.
