Yee Whye Teh is a Professor at the Department of Statistics, University of Oxford, and a research scientist at DeepMind. His work focuses on statistical machine learning, including probabilistic learning, Bayesian nonparametrics, deep learning, and Monte Carlo methods. He co-directs the ELLIS programme on Robust Machine Learning and has held roles such as Programme Co-chair for ICML 2017. Teh has delivered keynotes at UAI 2019, an IMS Medallion Lecture at JSM 2019, and the Breiman Lecture in 2017. His research emphasizes scalable inference algorithms, hierarchical models, and applications in genetics and natural language processing. Teh's educational background includes a PhD from the University of Toronto (2003) and a Master's from the same institution (2000). He has contributed to widely used software tools like the Sequence Memoizer and has been recognized for his work through prestigious lectureships. Research interests span Bayesian nonparametric models, MCMC methods, and their applications in genetics and data compression. His lab collaborates on projects like fragmentation-coagulation processes for genetic variation modeling and Mondrian forests for online learning. Teh advises students through Oxford's graduate programs, though he notes high demand for mentorship. His work often bridges theory and practice, addressing challenges in big data learning and small data problems.
Adrian Weller is a prominent researcher and academic at the University of Cambridge, serving as a Director of Research in Machine Learning within the Department of Engineering. He holds multiple significant leadership roles including Programme Director for Trust and Society at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence (CFI), and previously served as Programme Director for AI at The Alan Turing Institute, the UK national institute for data science and AI. His work bridges theoretical machine learning research with practical applications and societal implications of artificial intelligence. Weller's research interests span a broad spectrum of AI and machine learning topics with a particular focus on ensuring beneficial societal outcomes. His work encompasses explainability, fairness, robustness, scalability, privacy, safety, and ethics in AI systems. He has made significant contributions to trustworthy machine learning, including developing frameworks for AI governance, certification, and human-AI collaboration. His research group actively investigates neuro-symbolic approaches, privacy-preserving techniques, and methods for improving the reliability and interpretability of AI systems. His recent publications demonstrate a strong trend toward addressing the practical challenges of deploying AI systems in real-world contexts, particularly focusing on certification frameworks, governance mechanisms, and human-centered approaches. His work spans theoretical advances in machine learning architectures while maintaining a strong connection to societal impact, with publications appearing in top venues across AI, machine learning, and interdisciplinary applications. Scientific Awards: MBE for services to digital innovation (2022 Queen's Birthday Honours) Turing AI Fellowship for Trustworthy Machine Learning Weller actively supervises a large group of PhD students and postdocs, with current students including Juyeon Heo, Yanzhi Chen, Katie Collins, Isaac Reid, Yichao Liang, Herbie Bradley, and Shoaib Siddiqui. His former students have gone on to positions at leading institutions including Google DeepMind, ETH Zurich, NYU, and MPI-IS Tübingen. He has served on numerous advisory boards including the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation, UNESCO's expert group on AI ethics, and the World Economic Forum's Global Future Council on AI. His research has been supported through his Turing AI Fellowship and various collaborative projects focused on safe and ethical AI development. Weller leads a vibrant research group focused on trustworthy machine learning, which actively organizes workshops and conferences including ICML 2024 (where he served as Program Chair), multiple workshops on responsible AI, and events through the ELLIS network. His group collaborates extensively across disciplines, working with researchers in computer science, social sciences, law, and policy to address the multifaceted challenges of developing beneficial AI systems.
Mark Steedman is a Professor in the School of Informatics at the University of Edinburgh, where he conducts research in Artificial Intelligence, Computational Cognitive and Social Science, and Natural Language and Speech Processing. He is affiliated with the Institute for Language, Cognition and Computation (ILCC), the Centre for Speech Technology Research (CSTR), and the Human Communications Research Center (HCRC). He also holds an adjunct professorship in Computer and Information Science at the University of Pennsylvania. His research focuses on Combinatory Categorial Grammar (CCG) , computational linguistics , prosody and intonation , temporal semantics , gesture in communication , and computational music analysis . He has authored foundational books including Surface Structure and Interpretation , The Syntactic Process , and Taking Scope . The recent publications reflect a strong trend toward integrating formal grammatical frameworks like CCG with modern neural and distributional models, particularly in semantic parsing, entailment reasoning, and cognitive modeling. His work bridges symbolic and statistical approaches in NLP, often focusing on robust, wide-coverage parsing and semantic interpretation. Best Paper Award at AACL/IJCNLP 2023 for 'Smoothing Entailment Graphs with Language Models' Best Paper Award at ACL 2023 for 'Extrinsic Evaluation of Machine Translation Metrics' Influential Paper Award 2017 from IFAAMAS for 'Animated Conversation' Mark Steedman has supervised numerous PhD students and collaborated widely across institutions. He leads research in formal grammar applications to cognitive modeling, dialogue, and multimodal communication. His lab contributes to CCG software and semantic parsing tools, and he continues to be actively involved in advancing the integration of symbolic and neural AI.
Tomaso Aste is a Professor of Complexity Science at the Department of Computer Science, University College London (UCL). He founded the Financial Computing and Analytics group and co-founded the UCL Centre for Blockchain Technologies. His work bridges complex systems, data science, and finance, with applications in blockchain, fintech, and market modeling. Education: PhD in Physics (Politecnico di Milano, 1994); Laurea in Physics (University of Genoa, 1990) Prior Appointments: Reader at University of Kent's School of Physics; Associate Professor at Australian National University's Applied Mathematics His research focuses on data-driven modeling of complex systems , particularly financial systems, complex networks, and statistical physics. He has pioneered information filtering networks and topological machine learning methods for financial applications, including portfolio optimization, risk assessment, and cryptocurrency analysis. Recent publications highlight his expertise in financial time-series analysis, blockchain technology, and AI-driven modeling. Articles explore topics like limit order books, cryptocurrency market fragility, and topological neural networks. His work has influenced regulatory technology (RegTech) frameworks and digital economy strategies. Scientific Awards : Marie Curie Individual Fellowship University of Genoa graduate study specialization Fellowship Bacheflor Boncompagni-Ludovisi Foundation Fellowship Awarded fellowships from European Commission and academic foundations support his interdisciplinary research. He has held editorial roles at journals like Philosophical Magazine and Granular Matter , and contributed to professional societies including American Physical Society and Australian Research Council panels. Teaching & Academic Leadership : Co-created four UCL Master's programs: Financial Risk Management, Computational Finance, Financial Technologies, Emerging Digital Technologies Coordinates executive training on AI, blockchain, fintech, and regtech for regulators and private firms Teaches graduate-level courses in Data-Driven Modeling, Data Science, and Advanced AI
Professor Anna Korhonen is a leading academic at the University of Cambridge, holding positions as Professor of Natural Language Processing, Co-Director of the Language Technology Laboratory (LTL), Director of the Centre for Human-Inspired Artificial Intelligence (CHIA), and Fellow of Churchill College. Her work bridges computational linguistics, artificial intelligence, and interdisciplinary applications. Her research focuses on human-centric NLP with core interests in multilingual/low-resource systems, conversational AI, and responsible technology development. She emphasizes applications for social and global good, including healthcare, climate science, and equitable language technologies. Her methodology integrates cognitive modeling with machine learning to create interpretable, fair NLP systems. Key projects include ERC-funded initiatives like MultiConvAI (multilingual conversational AI) and Towards Globally Equitable Language Technologies , alongside Innovate UK's ESG RoboFactory and EPSRC's Modeling Idiomaticity project. Her work spans biomedical text mining ( PheneBank , LION ), educational technology ( EF Education First Research Lab ), and cross-lingual transfer learning. Fellow of the Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL) Fellow of ELLIS (European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems) Royal Society University Research Fellow (2005-2014) Google Faculty Award recipient EACL Chair Elect Korhonen actively supervises PhD/MPhil students in Computation, Cognition and Language programs and leads interdisciplinary collaborations across computer science, linguistics, and domain sciences. Her lab (LTL) develops foundational NLP techniques while addressing real-world challenges through partnerships with healthcare, environmental science, and education sectors. Current strategic initiatives include the Institute for Technology and Humanity and CHIA's human-inspired AI framework.
Walid Magdy is a Professor at the School of Informatics, The University of Edinburgh, where he is a faculty member at the Institute for Language, Cognition and Computation (ILCC). He holds a PhD from Dublin City University's School of Computing and has been a faculty fellow at The Alan Turing Institute. With substantial industry experience, he has worked for Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI), Microsoft, and IBM, where he filed nine patents. His research spans computational social science and natural language processing. In computational social science, he focuses on social content analysis, political bias detection, polarization, and users' behavior analysis/prediction, with particular attention to understudied communities. His natural language processing work centers on social applications including sentiment analysis, sarcasm detection, and hate-speech identification, with specialized expertise in Arabic and its dialects as well as Persian. Professor Magdy's recent publications demonstrate a consistent focus on Arabic language processing and social media analysis, with growing attention to cultural factors in NLP systems. His work bridges computational methods with social science questions, particularly regarding misinformation, cultural differences in online behavior, and the impact of platform policies on diverse linguistic communities. He has expanded his research to include Persian language processing and continues to explore social dynamics across different cultural contexts. His significant contributions have been recognized with multiple awards: Best Demo Award for TwiXplorer at CSCW 2024 Outstanding Paper Award at ACL 2024 Best Paper Award Runner-up at SocInfo 2022 Best Paper Award at WANLP-EMNLP 2022 Best Paper Award at AIRS 2015 Best Dataset Award at ICWSM 2013 Professor Magdy serves as an editor for Springer's Social Network Analysis and Mining journal and has held leadership roles in major conferences including ACL 2023, ArabicNLP 2023, ICWSM 2022, and ASONAM 2022. He has co-organized numerous shared tasks focused on Arabic language processing and social media analysis, contributing significantly to community resources and benchmarks. He founded and directs the Social Media Analysis and Support for Humanity (SMASH) research group at the University of Edinburgh, which has organized the Summer School in Computational Social Science (SICSS-Edinburgh) in 2022, 2023, and 2025, training researchers in computational social science methodologies.
Andrew Zisserman is a Royal Society Research Professor at the University of Oxford's Department of Engineering Science, affiliated with the Visual Geometry Group (VGG). His research focuses on computer vision, artificial intelligence, and neural networks, with significant contributions to multimodal learning, video understanding, and 3D scene analysis. He leads projects exploring visual-language models, audio-visual synchronization, and clinical imaging applications. Key research areas include: Video analysis and temporal modeling Multimodal systems for sign language translation and action recognition 3D shape estimation and physical property inference Foundation models and cross-modal retrieval Recent work highlights: Developed Flamingo and Tapir models for video-language tasks Advancements in spinal MRI analysis and clinical imaging Leadership in EGO4D and VoxCeleb challenges Honors include Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS) and the ISSLS Prize in Clinical Science 2023 for spinal analysis innovations. His lab collaborates globally, emphasizing real-world applications in healthcare and autonomous systems.
Michael A Osborne is Professor of Machine Learning at the University of Oxford and leads the Bayesian Exploration Lab . He serves as Director of the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Autonomous Intelligent Machines and Systems and co-directs the Oxford Martin AI Governance Initiative. His research focuses on Bayesian optimization, Gaussian processes, and probabilistic numerics with applications in quantum devices, battery modeling, and AI governance. Key Positions: Professor of Machine Learning, University of Oxford Official Fellow, Exeter College Co-founder of Mind Foundry Lead Researcher, Oxford Martin Programme on Technology and Employment Research Themes: Probabilistic modeling for quantum systems Uncertainty quantification in energy storage AI safety and societal impact analysis Automated experimental design Quantum device calibration Probabilistic numerical methods Technical Contributions: Bridging reality gap in quantum devices Efficient Bayesian quadrature techniques Personalized neurostimulation algorithms Automated measurement protocols Quantum-classical hybrid ML
David Stillwell serves as Professor of Computational Social Science at Cambridge Judge Business School and Academic Director of The Psychometrics Centre, University of Cambridge. His research leverages big data to understand human psychology and behavior, with significant contributions in personality prediction from digital footprints and personalized advertising applications. His educational background includes: BSc in Psychology from the University of Nottingham (2007) MSc in Research Methods from the University of Nottingham (2008) PhD in Decision Making from the University of Nottingham (2012) Dr. Stillwell's research centers on computational social science and psychometrics, pioneering the myPersonality Facebook application that collected data from over 6 million users. His work demonstrates computers can predict personality as accurately as spouses, reveals psychological targeting's advertising effectiveness, and establishes links between personality-matched spending and life satisfaction. He also explores linguistic honesty markers through profanity analysis and personality-based dating patterns. His recent publications (2019-2025) reveal a strong trajectory toward AI evaluation using psychometric frameworks, particularly in medical and general-purpose AI assessment. Key themes include fairness metrics in language models, crisis emotional responses through social media, and computational personality recognition - demonstrating consistent innovation at the psychology-technology intersection. He has received significant recognition: Top 10 most influential papers of 2013 by Altmetric Nieman Journalism Lab highlight of 2013 Named in 'top 30 thinkers under 30' by Pacific Standard Magazine Dr. Stillwell maintains active industry engagement through consultancy with Barclays, Hilton, and Ubisoft on projects spanning computer-adaptive testing systems to interactive experiences like Predictive World for Watch Dogs 2. His policy impact is substantial, with citations by the European Data Protection Supervisor, World Bank, and multiple national governments, leading to speaking engagements at the European Parliament and Bank of England. As Academic Director of The Psychometrics Centre, he leads a global hub for advancing psychological assessment through innovative methods including Concerto open-source software, collaborating with organizations ranging from the European Commission to major corporations on psychometric applications in people analytics and digital behavior.
Paul Goldberg is a Professor of Computer Science and Director of the MSc in Mathematics and Foundations of Computer Science (MFoCS) at the University of Oxford. He holds a BA in Mathematics from Oxford University and a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Edinburgh. His research focuses on algorithmic game theory, computational complexity, and machine learning, with notable contributions to equilibrium computation, complexity classes of total search problems, and decentralized systems. Affiliations: Department of Computer Science, Oxford; Editorial Board of ACM Transactions on Economics and Computation. Education: PhD in Computer Science (1993), University of Edinburgh MSc in Computer Systems Engineering (1989), University of Edinburgh and Université Paris-Sud BA in Mathematics (1988), Oxford University Research Interests: Algorithmic game theory, computational complexity (especially total search problems like CLS and PPAD), decentralized computation of equilibria, and applications in machine learning and AI. His work bridges theoretical computer science and economics, with a focus on algorithm design and complexity analysis. Publications and Awards: Over 120 papers, including influential work on Nash equilibrium complexity (2009), gradient descent (2023), and fair division algorithms. Notable awards include the ACM SIGecom Test of Time Award (2022) and a SIAM Outstanding Paper Prize (2011). Grants and Students: Leads EPSRC-funded projects on game theory and machine learning. Supervised 11 PhD graduates and currently advises Giannis Tyrovolas and others. Active in mentoring MSc and undergraduate projects. Labs/Teams: Part of the Algorithms and Complexity Theory group at Oxford, contributing to research on optimization, equilibrium dynamics, and fair division.
Professor Rebecca Lawson is a Professor of Neuroscience and Computational Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge, affiliated with the Department of Psychology and Bye-Fellow at Peterhouse College. Her research focuses on understanding how humans learn to make predictions under uncertainty, with applications to mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression. She leads the Prediction and Learning (PaL) Lab, which combines computational modeling, neuroimaging (e.g., 7T MRI), and behavioral experiments to study cognitive processes in typical and atypical populations. Key research interests include computational psychiatry, autism spectrum disorders, neuroimaging techniques, and the neurochemical basis of learning mechanisms. She has received significant funding, including a £4.3m Wellcome Mental Health Award and the Sir Henry Dale Fellowship. Notable contributions include advancing theories of neural gain and sensory expectations in autism, as well as studies on uncertainty processing in anxiety and depression. Professor Lawson holds academic awards such as the BNPA Lishmann Prize and the BAP Psychopharmacology Award. She actively contributes to public engagement, including initiatives like Knit-a-Neuron and involvement with PrideinSTEM. Her lab collaborates internationally, with projects like the CamRAA study investigating autism-anxiety overlaps and the Chemical and Brain Basis of Uncertainty (CBBU) study exploring pharmacological interventions. Education: PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience (University of Cambridge), BA (Hons) Psychology & Philosophy (University of Glasgow). Grants: £4.3m Wellcome Award, Parke-Davis Fellowship, Lister Institute Prize. Labs/Teams: Principal Investigator of the PaL Lab; collaborations with MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit, Yale University, and Brown University.
Andreas Vlachos is a Professor of Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning at the Department of Computer Science and Technology, University of Cambridge, and holds the Dinesh Dhamija Fellowship at Fitzwilliam College. His research spans dialogue modeling, automated fact-checking, imitation learning, semantic parsing, biomedical text mining, and trustworthiness in AI systems. PhD in Computer Science, University of Cambridge (supervised by Ted Briscoe and Zoubin Ghahramani) Lecturer at University of Sheffield Postdoctoral roles at UCL, University of Cambridge (NLIP group, Stephen Clark), and University of Wisconsin-Madison (Mark Craven) Current research focuses on evaluating and mitigating biases in language models, advancing fact-checking methodologies, and improving model robustness through interpolation, reinforcement learning, and causal reasoning. His work integrates natural logic, knowledge graphs, and multimodal evidence for verification tasks. Recent publications address uncertainty quantification, temporal planning benchmarks, and ethical framing of NLP artifacts. Grants from ERC, EPSRC, Facebook, Google, and the Alan Turing Institute fund his research team. Collaborations include Sebastian Riedel, Stephen Clark, and Mark Craven. Key projects explore disinformation detection, long-form generation, and confidence calibration in AI systems.
London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)United Kingdom
Professor Andrew Murray is a leading academic in Law with expertise in New Media and Technology Law. He holds the position of Professor of Law at the LSE Law School and directs the LSE Law, Society and Technology Group. His research focuses on digital rights, AI ethics, and regulatory frameworks for emerging technologies. Murray has held roles including Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts and advisor to the Saudi Arabian government on e-commerce law. He has advised parliamentary committees, including the House of Lords Communications Committee on digital regulation, and delivered the prestigious TMC Asser Lecture on AI and human agency. Education: LL.B. Hons from Edinburgh University (1994), followed by academic roles at Stirling University and LSE since 2000. Professional memberships include the Society of Computers and Law (SCL) and the Higher Education Academy (HEA). He has been a visiting professor at Amsterdam Law and Technology Institute and Sciences Po Paris. Research interests span cyberspace regulation, AI governance, and the intersection of technology with human rights. Key publications include Human Rights in the Digital Age (2004) and The Regulation of Cyberspace (2007). Awards include recognition as an Independent Expert in Nominet UK dispute resolution (2001–2008) and a 2024 Leibniz Prize reviewer. Advocacy includes contributions to EU e-commerce directives and UK surveillance law debates. His work emphasizes balancing innovation with legal accountability in digital spaces.
Catherine Lai is a Reader (~Associate Professor) in the Department of Linguistics and English Language at the University of Edinburgh, with strong affiliations to the Centre for Speech Technology Research (CSTR) and the Institute for Language, Cognition and Computation (ILCC) in the School of Informatics. She is based in the School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences and is actively involved in research, teaching, and academic service. Department: Department of Linguistics and English Language School: School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences Research Institutes: Centre for Speech Technology Research, Institute for Language, Cognition and Computation Email: C.Lai@ed.ac.uk Her research centers on the role of prosody—non-lexical aspects of speech—in spoken communication. She investigates how prosody contributes to discourse structure, information structure, and affect in dialogue, using interdisciplinary methods from linguistics and machine learning. Her work bridges theoretical linguistics and practical speech technology, aiming to improve spoken language understanding and synthesis systems. She is particularly interested in how prosody shapes listener expectations and how affect and topic are expressed and perceived in conversation. Her recent publications reflect a strong focus on self-supervised learning in speech models, emotion recognition, ASR error correction using large language models, cognitive state classification, and ethical considerations in language technology. She explores topics such as the uncanny valley in synthetic speech, gender expression through voice, and community-centered development of language technologies. Prize from Scopus Profile Catherine Lai has supervised several PhD students, including Leimin Tian and Yuanchao Li, and has been involved in significant research projects, such as a Toyota-funded initiative on spoken dialogue for robot companions. She has secured multiple grants and leads a research agenda that integrates theoretical inquiry with real-world applications in assistive technologies and social science. Her academic service includes organizing major conferences like Interspeech and UK and Ireland Speech. She is a key member of research teams at CSTR and ILCC, collaborating across disciplines to advance the understanding of spoken communication and the development of robust, ethical speech technologies.
Professor Carlo Harvey is a creative technologist at the School of Digital Arts (SODA), Manchester Metropolitan University. His interdisciplinary research merges games , machine learning , virtual production , and cultural heritage reinterpretation . He leads industry collaborations with entities like Jaguar Land Rover and Epic Games, focusing on AI-driven interactive audio, real-time visualization, and accessibility solutions. Award-winning projects : TIGA, Innovate UK, and Epic Games MegaGrant for Accession Industry partnerships : Automotive sector, cultural institutions His research spans human-computer interaction , multisensory virtual environments , and acoustic-visual cross-modal perception . Recent publications address robotic simulations, motion alignment, and haptic feedback systems. Scientific recognition : TIGA Award, Innovate UK Funding, Epic Games MegaGrant Advocacy : Digital inclusion, creative collaboration, social impact of technology
