It’s easy to take Oxford for granted. Architecturally it’s beautiful, but as it surrounds us every day, it’s become the expected, the norm, part of the ho-hum of our daily lives.

And so too with regard to the University. Yet, if you open any daily national newspaper throughout any week, chances are you’ll stumble upon a story emanating from Oxford that pushes the outer limits of science’s known boundaries. Just like this week’s headline story about a blind patient being fitted with an electronic retina and experiencing a restoration of vision – the impact of which will have doubtless twice circled the world by the time you read this – it’s worth remembering that we live in an astonishing city.

Whatever the field of inquiry or research, it seems Oxford is always at the forefront of tomorrow’s world.