AI, machine learning and data science

Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing scientific research and engineering practice across disciplines. Researchers across the Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Division are conducting significant work in both the fundamental mechanisms of AI and its applications, spanning from theoretical foundations through to real-world implementations in robotics, medicine, finance, and genomics.

Oxford hosts a major concentration of AI researchers across multiple MPLS departments. Computer Science contributes expertise in classical and symbolic AI, knowledge engineering, multi-agent systems, deep learning, and reinforcement learning. Engineering Science focuses on computer vision, robotics, machine learning, and medical applications of AI. Statistics develops probabilistic and Bayesian modelling, Monte Carlo methods, and computational approaches to biology and bioinformatics. The Mathematical Institute provides mathematical foundations, including geometry, topology, and optimisation theory essential to modern AI.

Interdisciplinary collaboration is central to our research approach, bringing together computer scientists, statisticians, mathematicians, and domain experts to tackle difficult problems across multiple fields.

Current large-scale projects include:

EPSRC Erlangen AI Hub: Next-Generation Mathematical Foundations of AI (2024–2029)
Led by Professor Michael Bronstein, this hub brings together researchers from Computer Science, Mathematics, and Statistics to develop new mathematical frameworks for understanding and improving AI systems, with particular focus on geometry, topology, and model interpretability.

EPSRC Programme Grant: "From Sensing to Collaboration" (2023–2028)
This inter-university programme, led by Oxford's Robotics Institute with UCL and industry partners, advances research into adaptive robots capable of sensing, interpreting, and collaborating in real-world applications across social care, manufacturing, and logistics.

UKRI Turing AI World-Leading Researcher Fellowships
Oxford hosts four of these prestigious national fellowships: Professors Alison Noble, Philip Torr, Michael Wooldridge, and Michael Bronstein, each leading major research programmes in their respective areas of AI expertise.

Eric and Wendy Schmidt AI in Science Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme
This programme provides researchers across scientific domains with specialised AI training and tools. Oxford will host approximately 55 postdoctoral fellows over six years, expanding the use of AI across STEM research.

Explore AI at Oxford and meet the researchers across MPLS advancing innovation in this field. Researchers can be contacted via their individual webpages. For any additional enquiries, please contact us here.