Austin studied Biochemistry at the University of Oxford and gained his PhD at the University of Edinburgh. He conducted post-doctoral research at the University of Oxford, becoming a specialist in the field of pluripotency and embryonic stem cells. Austin joined the Centre for Genome Research in Edinburgh as a Group Leader, and then Director. In 2006, Austin moved to the University of Cambridge and was the founding Director of the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute. Today, he is Director of the Living Systems Institute at the University of Exeter.