Consultıng
About OBT Consulting Challenge
Partner with the Oxford Biotech Society – Bring your Biotech Challenge to Oxford Students
At OBT Consulting, we work with biotech and pharma companies to develop their reach and maximise their potential. The Oxford Biotech Society Consulting Challenge connects companies across the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries with talented University of Oxford DPhil and MBA students for focused, team-based research projects. Our graduate students have expertise in their scientific field, including clinical trials. This opportunity will allow them to develop transferable skills by undertaking team-based research projects based on real-world questions in biotechnology and the pharmaceutical industry.
Participating companies propose strategic Challenges relevant to their organisation or sector. We work with you to define a suitable project scope, before a team of selected Oxford students undertakes independent research over the course of the Challenge.
We have successfully worked with CROs, Startups, Pharma and other sectors.
The timeline for our projects are as follows:
Our Impact
In 2 years of operations, our teams have delivered extensive real world impact:
7 completed projects
35+ student consultants recruited and exposed to real world projects
4 White Papers and other public-facing documents released
Impact Report 2025-2026
Our yearly impact report will appear here soon!
Potential Projects
What could a project explore?
Projects can address a wide range of questions across biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and the wider life-sciences ecosystem.
Suitable projects might include:
- Scientific and technology landscapes – mapping emerging technologies, therapeutic approaches or areas of scientific development
- Therapeutic-area landscapes – reviewing companies, assets, mechanisms of action and stages of development within a particular field
- Market and competitor landscapes – mapping relevant organisations, products and publicly available market information
- Industry trends – exploring developments within a technology, therapeutic area or segment of the life-sciences industry
- Literature and evidence reviews – synthesising published scientific, clinical or industry information
- Stakeholder landscapes – identifying and characterising relevant organisations, researchers or other participants within an ecosystem
How does the Challenge work?
After agreeing on a project scope with the OUBT Consulting team, a small team of selected Oxford students is recruited and conducts the research, with opportunities for interaction between the student team and the participating organisation during the project.
At the end of the Challenge, students communicate their findings through a research presentation and/or written research output, depending on the scope of the project.
Previous student white papers can be viewed below.
Why participate?
Working with the Consulting Challenge provides an opportunity to:
- explore your strategic challenge through focused research;
- engage with motivated Oxford students with backgrounds spanning science, medicine, engineering, business and related disciplines;
- hear fresh perspectives from an interdisciplinary student team;
- contribute to the professional development of the next generation of biotechnology and pharmaceutical professionals;
- build connections with the wider Oxford biotechnology community.
Interested in proposing a project?
Get in Touch!
The Team
OBT Consulting is led by Martin and Svea
Martin Kononov – MD of Consulting
- 2nd Year DPhil Student in Molecular and Cellular Medicine
- 6 years of research experience and work published across leading peer-reviewed journals
- Founded and led a boutique life sciences consulting firm in the US
Svea Wupper – VP of Consulting
- 3rd Year DPhil Student in Medical Sciences
- Passionate about helping students gain hands-on experience working on real-world challenges in the biotech sector
- Former project lead at OUBT Consulting
We have worked with CROs, Startups, Pharma, and other sectors.
“We would highly recommend their services to any organisation seeking rigorous scientific evaluation combined with strong commercial and strategic analysis. They were also just a great team to work with!”
– Seroxo
“Most definitely the entrepreneurs of the future. Congratulations to the entire team.”
– hVIVO
“The quality of their work and the collaboration throughout were excellent, and we would not hesitate to work with them again!”
– Change Bio
“They were a pleasure to work with, bringing energy, enthusiasm, and thoughtful contributions throughout the engagement.”
– Oxford Biotherapeutics