Course summary

The information provided on this page was correct at the time of publication (November 2024). For complete and up-to-date information about this course, please visit the relevant University of Oxford course page via www.graduate.ox.ac.uk/ucas. The Autonomous Intelligent Machines and Systems (AIMS) Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) provides graduates with the opportunity to develop in-depth knowledge, understanding and expertise in autonomous intelligent systems. The programme provides a comprehensive, state-of-the-art view of autonomous intelligent systems, combining theoretical foundations, systems research, academic training and industry-initiated projects and thus mixing both practical and theoretical aspects of intelligent machines and systems. The first year (first two years if studying part-time) is oriented towards developing your knowledge base. You will need to take a number of courses during your first year (over two years if studying part-time). Your day will comprise of lectures each morning with laboratory sessions each afternoon. You will undertake two ten- to twelve-week mini-projects, precursors to your DPhil study, to hone your research skills and shape your main research area (if studying part-time, you will take one in your first year and the other in your second year). You will meet your supervisor regularly to assess progress and discuss academic issues. Years two to four (three to eight if studying part-time) see an increasing emphasis on individual research. You will be encouraged to develop projects based on your own research ideas within the four key research themes of Machine Learning, as a unifying core; Robotics & Vision, Control and Verification, and Cyber-Physical Systems (eg sensor networks). Training will continue in academic reading, writing and presentation skills, business and commerce (to include innovation and IP curatorship and entrepreneurship), career development and planning, and ethics and law, where the societal implications of autonomous systems will be considered. Research seminars are used to discuss papers, for rehearsing conference talks and for building links between groups. An annual workshop gives the opportunity to present research to students, industrial partners and invited researchers from other universities. Industrial collaborators are invited to share their latest problems and market trends and to discuss opportunities for future collaboration. If studying full-time, you will spend one or two months over the second or third summer in an industrial lab to gain experience in industry-led projects and expanding your horizons by engaging in an AIMS topic that is not your main one. If studying part-time, it is recommended that you take on an internship between years four and six. After the end of the internship, further interaction will be encouraged by inviting your industrial supervisors to join your group in Oxford for short periods. You will also be encouraged to take demonstrations of your systems to companies, government departments, as well as schools. In the fourth year, the cohort help organise the annual workshop, inviting keynote speakers, participating in the program committee, reviewing papers submitted by second and third year students, and publicising the workshop to universities and industrial partners beyond those directly involved in the CDT.