Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford

13/05/2026

Are you interested in environmental sustainability and looking to build skills and experience? 🌱 This opportunity is for you!

Train to become a Green Impact Auditor with SOS-UK, with certification from ISEP (Institute of Sustainability and Environmental Professionals). You’ll gain hands-on experience reviewing Green Impact submissions and auditing teams’ work.

📅 One-day commitment: Thursday, 4 June 2026 (10:00–16:30)
💻 Training and audits available in person or online
Interested?

Read more and register: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=LQrMxMgUMkeRSsUuwP_wymQZVcRKvG9LngqR1UfKI3ZURFk2MVlIWU42RzJIUFdGNDZMOVFGQTZQRC4u&route=shorturl

Apply by 2 June 2026 — limited spaces available! Environmental Sustainability at University of Oxford

Image descriptions:
1: A blurred photograph of plants with text over it reading ‘Calling all students for green impact Auditor Training. Do you want to learn transferable communication, teamwork and decision making skills? Support an international campaign run by a student-led charity? Receive free ISEP-approved training on a recognised course? Learn more’.

2: A pale graphic with text at the top right reading ‘green impact’ further text reads ‘What is Green Impact auditor training? You will attend a 2.5 hr ISEP-approved training, delivered by SO-UK. You will prepare for and conduct at least one audit of a Green Impact team, typically taking 1-3 hours to complete. This is a voluntary position with great opportunities for professional and personal development.’

3: A pale graphic with text at the top right reading ‘green impact’ further text reads ‘Why should you take part? Receive free ISEP-approved training in a recognised course. Develop transferable communication, teamwork, decision-making and time management skills. Develop your knowledge of environmental management techniques. Receive a digital badge to demonstrate your involvement. Support an international campaign run by a student-led charity.’

4: A pale graphic with text at the top right reading ‘green impact’ further text reads ‘How do I take part? Scan the QR code to sign up or follow the link in our bio. Join the one-day course on Thursday 4 June 2026 10.00am to 16.30pm. Receive your certification. Staff are then presented with a Green Impact award, based on your auditing decisions!'

5: A pale graphic with text at the top right reading ‘green impact’ further text reads ‘Student experiences “Really insightful experience – may also be a career that I may now venture into after taking part in this programme training!” “Excellent experience with excellent transferable skills gained”. Sign up to be a Green Impact Auditor today.’

12/05/2026

Do you want to study one of our undergraduate Computer Science courses in 2027? Now's the time to start working on your UCAS application. UCAS applications are now open for 2027 entry, you can register and start your application in your UCAS Hub.

The deadline to apply to study with us is 15 October. For more information on how to apply to one of our courses: https://www.cs.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/how_to_apply/home.html

Image description: A photograph of two young men sitting in a common room, smiling and chatting. They are each wearing casual clothing and holding mugs. At the bottom of the image there is a blue – grey background with text reading ‘Want to join us in 2027? UCAS applications are now open for 2027 entry. You can register and start your application in your UCAS Hub.’.

06/05/2026

The Oxford City Council elections are taking place on Thursday 7 May. UK students are eligible to vote but you must already be registered.

Find more information including the list of candidates and a polling station finder on the Oxford City Council website: https://www.oxford.gov.uk/elections-voting/oxford-city-council-elections-2026

Image description: A pale blue graphic with text reading ‘Oxford City Council elections are coming up: Thursday 7 May’ and there are two bullet points reading ‘UK students are eligible to vote’ and ‘You must already be registered’. At the bottom of the graphic there is a landscape photograph of Oxford city skyline. Over this image, there is a blue grey speech bubble with text reading ‘Make your voice heard’.

05/05/2026

Satellites, smartphones and digital sovereignty: book now for the Strachey Lecture Oxford event on 12 May.

We only have one week left until Professor Srdjan Čapkun will join us from ETH Zürich to deliver the Trinity term Strachey Lecture, where he will look at the vulnerabilities of current satellite positioning systems; and a new security architecture that brings true digital sovereignty to the smartphone and lets users run 'several phones in one' .

The talk, ‘Hardening Digital Infrastructure: Resilient Positioning and Sovereign Smartphone Architectures’, will take place at 15:00 at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.

For more details and booking for this free event: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/strachey-lecture-professor-sran-capkun-tickets-1984869779943?msockid=3eff2b3902f26b9912d83e1903156a93

The Strachey Lectures are generously supported by Oxford Asset Management, who will be on site for networking opportunities.

Image description: A grey-blue background with text reading ‘Next Week ‘Hardening Digital Infrastructure: Resilient Positioning and Sovereign Smartphone Architectures’ Professor Srđan Čapkun (ETH Zurich). Strachey Lecture: Date and time: 12 May 2026 15:00 Location: Oxford University Museum of Natural History. The Strachey Lectures are generously supported by OxFORD Asset Management’. There is a logo for OxFORD Asset Management at the bottom of the graphic. On the left of the graphic there are dark blue dots and lines that look like a computer board, and on the right of the graphic there is a circular photograph of Professor Srđan Čapkun.

03/05/2026

Is a leopard's roar as unique as its spots?

The answer is yes! Professor Andrew Markham worked with researchers from Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, University of Exeter, Lion Landscapes, Frankfurt Zoological Society, TAWIRI (Tanzania Wildlife Institute for Research), Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA) and lead author Jonathan Growcott (University of Exeter), on a study learning how to better identify leopards.

Camera imagery can help us identify leopards by their spots, but this has limits, including its short field of view. Acoustic data can be captured from much further distances.

The paper, titled 'The Secret Acoustic World of Leopards', involved using bioacoustics; the study of sound production, transmission, and reception in animals. Researchers were able to monitor a large area of land; 450km2 area of Nyerere National Park, Tanzania to be exact.

Using camera traps and custom-built microphones, the researchers matched each leopard seen on camera to the roar captured on the microphones. They then used machine learning to analyse the temporal patterns of each voiceprint and found that individual identification was possible with 93.1% accuracy.

These findings open the door to more work on how this vulnerable species communicates and furthers conservation efforts. Did you know that leopards can be identified by their roar?

Image description: A photograph of a leopard laying down on a fallen tree trunk surrounded by foliage. The leopard is looking directly at the camera, with its legs hanging relaxed over the side of the log.

Global Leopard Conference

28/04/2026

Recent failures in digital infrastructure have exposed a deeper systems question: how do breakdowns in isolation, redundancy, and control spread across essential services? A critical challenge remains: can we harden systems to improve resilience and user control while preserving compatibility with existing ecosystems?

Professor Srđan Čapkun will explore this in the Strachey Lecture ‘Hardening Digital Infrastructure: Resilient Positioning and Sovereign Smartphone Architectures’ on Tuesday 12 May. The lecture will take place at 15:00 at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.

Srđan Čapkun is a Full Professor in the Department of Computer Science at ETH Zurich and the Scientific Director of the Zurich Information Security and Privacy Center (ZISC). His research spans system and network security, with a particular focus on trusted computing and wireless security, including secure positioning.

For more details and booking: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/strachey-lecture-professor-sran-capkun-tickets-1984869779943?msockid=3eff2b3902f26b9912d83e1903156a93

The Strachey Lectures are generously supported by OxFORD Asset Management, who will be on site for networking opportunities.

Image description: A grey-blue background with text reading ‘‘Hardening Digital Infrastructure: Resilient Positioning and Sovereign Smartphone Architectures’ Professor Srđan Čapkun (ETH Zurich). Strachey Lecture: Date and time: 12 May 2026 15:00 Location: Oxford University Museum of Natural History. The Strachey Lectures are generously supported by OxFORD Asset Management’. There is a logo for OxFORD Asset Management at the bottom of the graphic. On the left of the graphic there are dark blue dots and lines that look like a computer board, and on the right of the graphic there is a circular photograph of Professor Srđan Čapkun.

26/04/2026

Welcome to Trinity term, we’re wishing good luck to all for this academic season! 📚

Image description: A faded photograph of cream coloured buildings and a blue sky with trees. In the foreground there is text over a green-grey box reading ‘Welcome to Trinity term’ and ‘ ’.

21/04/2026

'I'm very much worried about the degradation of the internet... would it get to a point where the internet is just unusable for humans?' Professor Amir Kafshdar Goharshady at the World Laureates Summit 2026, speaking about deepfakes.

You can watch the full panel discussion Professor Amir Kafshdar Goharshady took part in at the World Laureates Summit event 'AI Science Forum — Can AI Discover Anything?' on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C95XIZBnS8w

14/04/2026

Happy ! To celebrate, we spoke with Aleks Kissinger, Professor of Quantum Computing, to work out some myths from some facts about quantum computing. Swipe through to learn what is a myth and what is a fact, as well as some context for each answer!

Image descriptions:
1: A bright turquoise graphic with the text ‘Happy World Quantum Day To celebrate, we spoke with Aleks Kissinger, Professor of Quantum Computing, to work out some myths from some facts about quantum computing’. There is a photo of Professor Aleks Kissinger and a myth stamp and a fact stamp.

2: Text reading ‘Quantum computing is theoretical and far off’ ‘Myth or fact?’.

3: A bright turquoise graphic with a myth stamp.

4: Text reading ‘Context: ‘Quantum computers are here today and already capable of doing calculations that are impossible (or at least very difficult) on today's normal (super)computers... an exciting development from the past couple of years is that groups are starting to apply techniques to detect and correct errors in quantum computations, and they seem to be working. The key milestone still missing is a result that is both beyond classical reach and genuinely useful, but we might not be very far away!’’

5: Text reading ‘Quantum computing will render current cryptographic standards obsolete’ ‘Myth or fact?’

6: A bright turquoise graphic with a fact stamp and text reading ‘ish’.

7: Text reading ‘Context: ‘Quantum algorithms that could break the cryptographic codes used in most of our computer systems and networks, exist. That's bad news! However, we are still a pretty long way from building quantum computers powerful enough to run these code-breaking algorithms, and new kinds of cryptographic codes exist that are believed to be ‘quantum-secure’. However, many practical challenges remain in switching the whole world's computers over to using better cryptography, which make fixing the Y2K bug look easy!’’

8: Text reading ‘Quantum computing is better and faster for every problem/will replace classical computing’ ‘Myth or fact?’.

9: A bright turquoise graphic with a myth stamp.

10: Text reading ‘Context: ‘‘Quantum computers are expected to only be good for certain specific tasks. A good analogy is the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) in your computer, originally designed to do the specific kinds of number-crunching needed to draw 3D graphics quickly, but now it gets used to do all sorts of AI stuff. Similarly, many of us imagine a future where some computers will have access to a ‘Quantum Processing Unit’ (QPU), which the main computer will use to do certain tasks that it is uniquely very good at. Interestingly, once QPUs are here, then like with GPUs, we might end up using them for something nobody could have predicted.’’

13/04/2026

Recent global events have underscored how failures in isolation, redundancy, and control can jeopardise essential digital functions. A critical challenge remains: how do we harden systems for higher resiliency, personal and societal control while maintaining compatibility with existing ecosystems?

Professor Srđan Čapkun will explore this in the Strachey Lecture ‘Hardening Digital Infrastructure: Resilient Positioning and Sovereign Smartphone Architectures’ on Tuesday 12 May. The lecture will take place at 15:00 at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.

Srđan Čapkun is a Full Professor in the Department of Computer Science at ETH Zurich and the Scientific Director of the Zurich Information Security and Privacy Center (ZISC). His research spans system and network security, with a particular focus on trusted computing and wireless security, including secure positioning.

Make sure to book your ticket in advance: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/strachey-lecture-professor-sran-capkun-tickets-1984869779943?msockid=3eff2b3902f26b9912d83e1903156a93

The Strachey Lectures are generously supported by OxFORD Asset Management, who will be on site for networking opportunities.

Image description: A grey-blue background with text reading ‘Strachey Lecture: ‘Hardening Digital Infrastructure: Resilient Positioning and Sovereign Smartphone Architectures’ Professor Srđan Čapkun (ETH Zurich). Date and time: 12 May 2026 15:00 Location: Oxford University Museum of Natural History. The Strachey Lectures are generously supported by OxFORD Asset Management’. There is a logo for OxFORD Asset Management at the bottom of the graphic. On the left of the graphic there are dark blue dots and lines that look like a computer board, and on the right of the graphic there is a circular photograph of Professor Srđan Čapkun.

10/04/2026