Prof. Ingmar Posner is a leading figure in applied artificial intelligence at the University of Oxford, where he serves as Principal Investigator for the Applied Artificial Intelligence Lab (A2I) and founding Director of the Oxford Robotics Institute. His work focuses on enabling robots to operate effectively in complex real-world environments through experience-driven learning. Key research areas: robot learning, scene interpretation, data-efficient learning, and transfer learning Applications in manipulation, autonomous driving, logistics, and space exploration His team has produced groundbreaking work in world models, sim-to-real transfer, and constraint-based manipulation systems (e.g., COMBO-Grasp). Notable contributions include the TWIST distillation framework and foundational research in tactile data generation (TactGen). He has received multiple best paper awards at top robotics venues. Publications reveal evolving research themes: 2025 work emphasizes language-conditioned learning (Lumos) and multi-agent decision-making, while 2024 focused on diffusion models for locomotion and differentiable simulators. Earlier work spans from urban scene analysis to physically plausible scene synthesis (RELATE).
Shimon Whiteson is Professor of Computer Science at the University of Oxford, leading the Whiteson Research Lab focused on reinforcement learning, multi-agent systems, and deep learning. His research develops algorithms for efficient learning in complex environments. Current work explores meta-reinforcement learning frameworks that enable agents to rapidly adapt to new tasks, with applications in autonomous driving simulation and robotics. Recent innovations include novel methods for offline reinforcement learning, multi-agent coordination, and morphology-aware control. Publications demonstrate advances in: Meta-RL algorithm design for few-shot adaptation Multi-agent reinforcement learning environments and benchmarks Imitation learning in autonomous driving Bayesian methods for sample-efficient learning Research outputs include widely used benchmarks and tools including JaxMARL for accelerated multi-agent RL research. Current doctoral supervision focuses on temporal abstraction in RL, multi-agent coordination, and reinforcement learning theory.
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.
Professor Andrew Davison holds the position of Professor of Robot Vision at Imperial College London's Department of Computing. He leads the Dyson Robotics Laboratory and the Robot Vision Research Group, focusing on advancing SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) and Spatial AI. His groundbreaking work includes the MonoSLAM algorithm (2003), enabling real-time 3D vision for robotics and AR/VR. Current research emphasizes scalable, semantic-rich Spatial AI systems, as outlined in his FutureMapping papers (2018–2019). Education: BA in Physics (Oxford, 1994), D.Phil. (Oxford, 1998). Postdoctoral work at AIST, Japan (1998–2000), followed by a lectureship at Imperial (2002–present). Industrial collaborations include SLAMcore, a Spatial AI startup, and Dyson Robotics Lab. Over 18 PhD students supervised, many now leading roles at Meta, NVIDIA, SLAMcore, and academia. Notable contributions include DTAM, KinectFusion, and Event Camera SLAM. Recognized for software tools like SceneLib and contributions to robotics benchmarks (SLAMBench). Active on Twitter (@AjdDavison) for research updates.
Anette Mikes is an Associate Professor of Accounting at the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School and a Hertford College Fellow. She specializes in risk management, corporate governance, and sustainability, with a focus on the intersection of ethics and organizational control systems. Her research explores how risk frameworks shape corporate decision-making, particularly in climate change and decarbonization contexts. Education: PhD in Accounting from the London School of Economics (2005) Pre-doctoral work in the City of London (2006–2007) studying Chief Risk Officer roles Research Interests: Behavioral approaches to risk management Management control systems for sustainability Ethics in corporate governance Decarbonization strategies in heavy industries Her 2012 Harvard Business Review article (with Robert Kaplan) on risk frameworks remains influential, while her documentary on the Kursk submarine disaster highlights crisis management failures. Awards: 2025 Honorary Doctorate from Uppsala University 2017 ACA Prize for Risk Management Contributions 2014 Global Risk Forum Film Award Key Contributions: Co-developed Harvard’s Risk Management executive program Leads research on ‘Values at Risk’ and corporate purpose Published widely on climate risk governance and ethical leadership Her recent work emphasizes decarbonization strategies and moral accountability in business, bridging accounting practices with environmental and ethical imperatives.
Mauro Bambi is an Associate Professor at Durham University Business School and an Associate Fellow at the Institute of Advanced Studies. His research focuses on Macroeconomic Theory, Endogenous Growth, Habit Formation, and Behavioral Economics. He earned his PhD from the European University Institute (2007) and held positions at ETH Zurich and the University of York. He directs the Centre for Macroeconomic Policy (CEMAP) and has been recognized with the 2008 Italian Association of Applied Mathematics award for his PhD thesis. Education: PhD in Economics (European University Institute, 2007); Postdoctoral Fellowships at Université Catholique de Louvain (Belgium) and ETH Zurich (Switzerland). Research Interests: Macroeconomic Theory and Policy Design Endogenous Growth and Fluctuations Habit Formation in Economic Models Behavioral Economic Preferences Mathematical Methods in Macroeconomics Key Contributions: His work on habit formation models, time-to-build frameworks, and policy design has influenced macroeconomic theory. Recent studies analyze post-COVID demand shifts and pandemic economic impacts. Awards: 2008 Graduate Prize for Best PhD Thesis (Italian Association of Applied Mathematics). Advising and Leadership: Supervised PhD students like Federico Bertoni and Xinyi Xu. Directed CEMAP from 2019–2022, fostering macroeconomic policy research. Active in interdisciplinary collaborations at the Institute of Advanced Studies. Labs/Teams: Leader of CEMAP, collaborating with global institutions on macroeconomic policy analysis.
Lourdes Agapito is a Professor of 3D Vision at the Department of Computer Science, University College London (UCL), within the Faculty of Engineering Sciences. She leads research in Non-Rigid Structure from Motion (NR-SFM) and 3D reconstruction from monocular video sequences. Her work addresses dynamic scenes, deformable objects, and articulated structures, with applications in robotics and computer vision. She holds an ERC Starting Grant (2008–2014) and led the EU Horizon 2020-funded Second Hands project (2014–2019), collaborating with institutions like EPFL and KIT to develop robots with 3D visual perception for maintenance tasks. Her research group focuses on dense optical flow estimation, video registration, and deformable tracking. Agapito’s research interests include monocular 3D reconstruction, non-rigid motion analysis, and neural approaches to 3D modeling. She has supervised multiple PhD students and postdocs, including notable researchers such as Ravi Garg and Marco Paladini (Sullivan Prize recipient). Her contributions to conferences include roles as Program Chair for CVPR 2016 and CVPR 2017, and she has authored influential papers on topics like Video-Popup (ECCV 2014) and Modal Space (CVPR 2017). Current projects involve advancing neural parametric models and real-time 3D reconstruction techniques. Awards include the ERC Starting Grant and recognition for her team’s work in non-rigid reconstruction. She actively mentors students and collaborates on grants, with recent openings for postdocs and PhD candidates in 3D vision and robotics.
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
Dr. Fei Teng is an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Imperial College London and Director of Education at the Energy Futures Lab, a pan-university hub for interdisciplinary energy research. He holds visiting positions at MINES ParisTech, PolyU Hong Kong, and KTH Sweden. His research focuses on software-defined power networks, stability-constrained optimization, cyber-resilient decision-making, and privacy-preserving data exchange in low-inertia grids. Dr. Teng has authored over 100 publications in top-tier journals and conferences, with funding from EPSRC, Innovate UK, the Royal Society, and industry partners like Hitachi and National Grid ESO. His work addresses critical challenges in grid stability, cybersecurity, and renewable energy integration. He has received prestigious awards, including the IEEE Early Career Award and Royal Society Kan Tong Po Fellowship. Research interests include high-penetration power electronics, uncertainty modeling in power systems, and data privacy in smart grids. His interdisciplinary approach integrates machine learning, quantum computing, and cyber-physical systems to enhance grid resilience and efficiency. Key contributions include frameworks for stability-constrained optimization, cyber-resilient control, and synthetic inertia from electric vehicles. He advocates for software-defined grids to revolutionize decision-making frameworks for NetZero systems.
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.
Malcolm McCulloch serves as Professor of Energy Systems and Group Leader of the Energy and Power Group within the Department of Engineering Science at the University of Oxford. He also holds the position of Co-Director for the Oxford Martin Programme on Integrating Renewable Energy and maintains affiliation with Christ Church college. His research spans four primary domains: domestic energy systems, electric vehicle technology, renewable generation, and energy solutions for developing regions. McCulloch's research focuses on practical energy transition challenges. His domestic energy work develops user-centric demand side management technologies and behavior change interventions, leading to the spin-out Intelligent Sustainable Energy (now Navetas Energy Management). In transportation, he pioneered the Morgan LifeCar hydrogen sports car project, resulting in high-efficiency motors and the Oxford Yasa Motors spin-out. His renewable generation research includes lightweight tidal turbines through Kepler Energy, while his Energy for Development work creates nano/micro grid solutions for distributed electrification. Analysis of his recent publications reveals a strong emphasis on integrating variable renewables through innovative market mechanisms, grid flexibility solutions, and electric vehicle integration. His work consistently addresses the technical and economic barriers to decarbonization, with increasing focus on peer-to-peer energy trading, thermal storage, and climate-resilient cooling solutions since 2020. McCulloch previously served as Co-Director of the Institute for Carbon and Energy Reduction in Transport (2008-2013) under the Oxford Martin School. His leadership extends to creating the Integrated Transport Network for Oxford and developing practical applications through multiple successful spin-out companies that bridge academic research and commercial implementation.
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.
Timothy M. Hospedales is a Professor of Artificial Intelligence at the Institute of Perception, Action and Behaviour within the School of Informatics at the University of Edinburgh . He also serves as VP AI and Head of Samsung AI Research Centre Europe . His research focuses on efficient and robust AI , emphasizing meta-learning , lifelong transfer-learning , and domain adaptation in both probabilistic and deep learning frameworks. Applications span computer vision , vision and language , reinforcement learning for robotics , and finance . Professor at University of Edinburgh (2020–present) ELLIS Fellow (2021) Head of Samsung AI Research Europe (2020–present) Founding Director of Applied Machine Learning Lab at QMUL (2012–2016) His work includes pioneering contributions to meta-learning , few-shot learning , and self-supervised methods , with notable awards such as the Best Paper Prize at ICML AutoML 2018 and Best Student Paper at ICPR 2018 . He has co-authored 15+ recent papers on topics like Vision-Language Models , Medical AI Fairness , and Diffusion Model Optimization . He served as Program Co-Chair for BMVC 2018 and AAAI 2022 , and authored a book on Visual Adaptation in the Deep Learning Era (2022). Co-Chair, BMVC 2018 Guest Editor, IET CV Special Issue (2016) Keynote Speaker at TASK-CV Workshop (ECCV 2016) Special Issue on Fewer Labels (IEEE PAMI 2020) His leadership extends to organizing workshops like the Learning-to-Learn Workshop at ICLR 2021 , Meta-Learning Workshop at NeurIPS 2020 , and Domain Generalisation Workshop at ICLR 2023 . Current projects include Meta-Omnium (CVPR 2023) for general-purpose meta-learning and MetaAudio (ICANN 2022) for few-shot audio classification benchmarks.
Dr. Praneet Prakash is a Researcher in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at the University of Cambridge, working under Prof. Raymond Goldstein. His research focuses on interdisciplinary approaches combining microfluidics, microscopy, and theoretical physics to study biological systems. Key areas include microbial motility, active matter dynamics, and the interplay between physics and living systems. He utilizes experimental techniques such as microfluidics and advanced microscopy to investigate phenomena like bacterial swimming, nutrient exchange in microbial communities, and growth oscillations in filamentous fungi. His work bridges Soft Matter Physics, Statistical Mechanics, and Biophysics, with applications ranging from understanding microorganism behavior to developing biosensor technologies. Recent studies explore phototactic algae behavior, ciliary surface interactions in animalcules, and adaptive motility in marine microorganisms. Publications highlight contributions to microbial ecology, active matter systems, and biophysical modeling. While no formal awards are listed, his research has been published in high-impact journals like Journal of the Royal Society Interface and Physical Review Fluids . He is affiliated with the Biological Physics and Mechanics research group and maintains an active presence on academic platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn.
