Students will need to have continuous access to a computer or laptop during their studies. The following is a guide to the sort of system you will need.

The large majority of what you need to be able to do is:

Access e-mail
Access web-based University teaching resources (like canvas which is the University’s VLE, sharepoint, Student Self Service, etc)
Access web-based library and information sources (like SOLO which is the Bodleian’s online portal, online journals, sequence and structure databases, etc)
Use basic Microsoft products (specifically word, excel, powerpoint and Teams)

If you want to be able to access some University and internet resources (e.g. journal articles) when away from Oxford, then you also need to be able to install and run the University’s VPN.

All of these can be done from anything that will run a web browser, i.e. any chromebook or laptop (a desktop will need speakers, a microphone and a webcam). The advantage of a chromebook is that they are significantly cheaper. The advantage of a laptop (or desktop) is that you can install programmes like Microsoft word, etc, locally and so use them when you don’t have an internet connection whereas with a chromebook you can only run the web-server versions. This may be more relevant when you are away from Oxford and might not have fast, high-capacity internet access all the time.

There are a few other specific programmes that you will need to use at various stages of the course. Many of these, such as Matlab, are available as a web-server version (in which case you just need a web browser and so a chromebook is fine) or can be installed locally (in which case you need a windows or linux/MacOS laptop). There are a few, such as Pymol and ChemDraw, which aren’t available as a web service and so you would need a windows or linux/MacOS laptop if you want to be able to run these. However, there is a computer suite in the Department which is available to students 8am-5pm Mon-Fri whenever it isn’t being used for other teaching, and programmes like Pymol are available on those machines if you don’t have a laptop that will run them.

Any laptop will be quite powerful enough to run any of the programmes you need, you do not need anything high spec. A more important consideration is the ergonomics, having a screen and keyboard size that suits you and you will feel comfortable using for extended periods of time, and having something that isn’t too cumbersome for you to carry around. The only piece of advice is that there are some programmes (like Pymol) where having a three-button mouse makes a big difference to ease of use compared to a touch pad.

All students have free access to Microsoft software (including Office and Teams) once they have received their Nexus 365 account so you do not need to purchase a license for Microsoft software in advance of arrival.