Davis was privately educated at Nottingham High School[8] followed by the University of Oxford where he was awarded Bachelor of Arts degree in Chemistry (with Chemical Pharmacology) in 1993[citation needed] and a Doctor of Philosophy in 1996 supervised by George Fleet [Wikidata].

[4] After his PhD, Davis spent two years as a postdoctoral research fellow in the laboratory of J. Bryan Jones [Wikidata][21] at the University of Toronto, exploring protein chemistry and biocatalysis.

In the autumn of 2001 he moved to the Dyson Perrins Laboratory in the Department of Chemistry and received a fellowship at Pembroke College, Oxford.

[22] His certificate of election reads: Professor Davis is noted for his chemical interrogation and manipulation of biological systems, particularly those that hinge on carbohydrates and proteins.

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