Exeter College has unveiled its plans for EXOq, a new research and innovation environment to be built near Oxford Parkway Station in north Oxford, which will house a pioneering ‘supercomputer’. The project name, EXOq, combines the college’s initials with the letter ‘q’, referencing quantum computing and the site’s research goals. A public consultation on the proposals took place at the North Oxford Golf Club from 13th to 15th November.
Exeter College said in a press release that the site’s newly-built data centres will be able to host sovereign High-Performance Computing (HPC) infrastructure, which is intended to support research of global significance. The project will develop existing supercomputing discoveries in health, robotics, particle physics, and climate research in order to tackle some of the biggest issues facing the world today. The data centres are also expected to include trusted research environments capable of hosting sensitive datasets such as NHS data.
Professor Sir Nigel Shadbolt, Chair of AI@Oxford Research, said the project’s ambition was to make supercomputing infrastructure available to Oxford researchers “at discounted rates”.
Beyond its strategic importance, Exeter’s plans for the 30-hectare site will benefit the local community. Just under half of the land will be used as parkland to provide “leisure and community facilities” to support the wellbeing of local residents. The College will also build new foot and cycle bridges near Oxford Parkway Station, supporting travel to Oxford and Kidlington.
The EXOq project announced that the planned development could generate a gross value of about £1.4 billion per year when fully operational, with £900 million directly benefitting Oxford’s Cherwell District. The research project is also estimated to create 7,000 new jobs.
To address concerns about environmental stability, heat generated by the liquid-cooled data centres could feed into new heating systems for Oxford residents. Additionally, EXOq is currently in discussions with 1Energy, the UK’s leading low-carbon heat network developer, which has already secured £21 million in government investment to help heat Oxford.
Rector of Exeter College Dr Andrew Roe described the development as “a significant investment in both national capability and the local community”. Nicholas Badman, Exeter’s Finance & Estates Bursar, added that EXOq’s infrastructure would “power and accelerate research of global significance” while enhancing Oxford’s role as a centre of scientific excellence and world-renowned status.
