Google expands AI tools for teaching and research at Oxford after pilot success

Google is making its Gemini for Education and NotebookLM tools available to students and faculty at the University of Oxford, after a pilot programme showed strong uptake and reported productivity gains.

In a statement, Google said 85% of respondents to a pilot survey reported increased productivity, while nearly three-quarters said the company’s AI tools helped them work more effectively. Under the expanded arrangement, faculty, administrators and students will be able to obtain Gemini Pro licences through their departments or colleges, for use within Oxford’s secure Google for Education workspace.

For a lay reader, Gemini for Education is a version of Google’s AI system designed specifically for learning and academic work. Rather than simply giving answers, it includes features aimed at supporting understanding and research. One of these is Guided Learning, described by Google as a personal learning companion that asks probing questions and offers step-by-step guidance to help users work through problems, instead of providing instant solutions.

Oxford’s colleges and academic departments will also have secure access to Gemini 3, which Google said is grounded in learning science and built in partnership with education experts. The emphasis, according to the company, is on responsible use in academic settings, where accuracy, transparency and skill development are critical.

Gemini Pro licences include access to Deep Research, an AI assistant designed to support more complex academic tasks. Deep Research can help users plan multi-step research projects, search and review sources on the web, reason through findings and produce multi-page reports with citations. For researchers and students, this is positioned as a way to manage the early stages of literature review and synthesis more efficiently, rather than replacing original analysis.

Alongside Gemini, Google is also rolling out NotebookLM across the university. NotebookLM is an AI-powered research and note-taking tool that works with users’ own documents, allowing them to ask questions, generate summaries and connect ideas across their materials. In an academic context, this can help students and researchers navigate large volumes of reading and notes without uploading sensitive data to public tools.

“Many of our staff and students are already experimenting with AI,” said Alwyn Collinson, head of the AI Competency Centre at the University of Oxford. “The Gemini for Education and NotebookLM tools we’re making available through our partnership with Google will provide secure access to leading AI models, supported by training and guidance to ensure they are used safely and responsibly for work and study.”

He added that the tools could help researchers and academics harness AI to accelerate high-impact research, support breakthroughs and drive innovation aimed at addressing global challenges.

Google said the university has now made Gemini for Education and NotebookLM available to all staff and students through its secure Google workspace, extending access beyond the initial pilot group. Training and guidance will accompany the rollout, reflecting concerns within higher education about ensuring AI tools are used ethically and in ways that support, rather than undermine, learning outcomes.

The move comes as universities worldwide debate how generative AI should fit into teaching, assessment and research. While many students already use public AI tools, institutions have been cautious about data protection, academic integrity and uneven access. By embedding AI within a managed university environment, Oxford and Google are attempting to address some of those concerns.

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For Google, the expansion strengthens its push into education-focused AI, positioning its tools as learning companions rather than shortcuts. For Oxford, the challenge will be balancing experimentation with clear expectations about how AI should support, not replace, scholarly work.

The pilot results suggest appetite among students and staff, but the longer-term test will be whether such tools genuinely deepen understanding and research quality, rather than simply speeding up existing workflows.

The Recap

• Google will provide Gemini and NotebookLM to Oxford
• 85% of pilot respondents reported increased productivity using Google tools
• Pro licences available through departments and colleges to use