Fellowships - support available
Your application and research proposal must have the support of an Oxford faculty member in an MPLS department and confirmation from the department that they are ready and willing to host you. Please ensure you contact the department and their Research Facilitators well in advance of the closing date as there may be internal deadlines and processes that you will need to comply with.
The Fellowship programme is integrated within Oxford’s Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Division (MPLS), which includes both the core AI departments of Computer Science, Engineering Science, Mathematics and Statistics, as well as the University’s non-medical science departments; Physics, Chemistry, Materials, Earth Sciences, and Biology.
The research elements of the Fellowship programme take place within the stimulating intellectual environment of research groups embedded within the academic departments of MPLS. Beyond MPLS, the Fellows benefit greatly from the unparalleled breadth of research across Oxford. In particular, Fellows undertake learning on the social and ethical implications of AI, providing a grounding in issues on the motivations, governance, and security of the use of AI.
The University provide individualised training to each of the Oxford-based Schmidt AI in Science Fellows, through the provision of a comprehensive programme of graduate level courses across the range of AI and ML to allow each fellow to develop their own knowledge of AI and software tools as their research programme unfolds.
Oxford also provides extensive training and support from professional research software engineers (RSEs) with expertise in ML and AI to allow fellows to implement both existing methods and any new methods that they develop in a robust, sustainable, and reusable manner. From the onset of the project, RSEs provide training in software engineering best practices, HPC and cloud computing resources, and collaborative tools including version control, enabling fellows to work individually or as a team to develop reproducible and reliable software. The aim is to provide fellows with a set of transferable software engineering skills and a significant advantage in their future careers.
The newly formed Reuben College focuses on the ‘big challenges of the 21st century'. College members are connected within four broad themes – AI & ML, Cellular Life, Environmental Change, and Ethics & Values – and complemented by Fellows in Innovation & Entrepreneurship and in Public Engagement in Research. The College brings together computer scientists, engineers, mathematicians and statisticians, working on fundamental principles or applications of AI, but also neuroscientists and biologists interested in characterising human intelligence, philosophers working in philosophy of mind and social scientists exploring ethical issues. The postdocs supported by this programme will be offered ‘Associate Research Fellowships’ at Reuben College. As such, they will be invited to attend and present at termly meetings convened by the College’s President, welcomed to College lectures and talks, and to participate in the academic and social life of the College. Reuben College recognises the importance of equality and diversity in advancing intellectual endeavours and is committed to ensuring that diversity is advanced and maintained within the growing fellowship, staff and student body.
Schmidt AI in Science Fellows will be invited to be part of the international Schmidt Sciences network, providing high-level opportunities to view how AI is poised to transform engineering and scientific fields. For example, it is expected that each of the awardees will attend ~1 annual event, organised and funded by Schmidt Sciences, which will enable them to interact, collaborate with and learn from one another, as well as thought leaders in AI and science around the world.
