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

A bright turquoise graphic with a myth stamp.

Quantum computers are expected to only be good for certain specific tasks. A good analogy is the GPU in a computer, originally designed to do number-crunching to draw 3D graphics quickly, but now it's used to do AI stuff. Similarly, many imagine a future where some computers will have access to a 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 unexpected.

Quantum computing is better and faster for every problem/will replace classical computing... myth or fact? 4/4

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

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

Quantum algorithms that could break the cryptographic codes used in most of our computer systems & networks, exist. That's bad news! However, we're still a pretty long way from building quantum computers powerful enough to run these code-breaking algorithms, & 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!

Quantum computing will render current cryptographic standards obsolete... myth or fact? 3/4

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

A bright turquoise graphic with a myth stamp.

‘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!’’

Quantum computing is theoretical and far off... myth or fact? 2/4

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.

Happy #WorldQuantumDay! To celebrate, we spoke with Aleks Kissinger, Professor of Quantum Computing, to work out some myths from some facts about quantum computing. Scroll through to learn what is a myth and what is a fact, as well as some context for each answer! @worldquantumday.bsky.social 1/4

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, there are dark blue dots & lines that look like a computer board, & there is a circular photograph of Professor Srđan Čapkun.

On 12 May, Prof Srđan Čapkun @ethz.ch will deliver the Strachey Lecture ‘Hardening Digital Infrastructure: Resilient Positioning and Sovereign Smartphone Architectures’. Book now: https://shorturl.at/4OrL0
The Strachey Lectures are generously supported by OxFORD Asset Management.

Sosy 2026 THE 4TH SOLID SYMPOSIUM, london, 30 April & 1 May 2026

The fourth edition of the Solid Symposium is taking place between Thursday 30 April and Friday 1 May. The event will take place at City St George’s University (Clerkenwell Campus), London. Speakers include Emeritus Prof Sir Tim Berners-Lee & Prof Sir Nigel Shadbolt.
Register: sosy2026.eu

The annual OxBridge Women in CS Conference will take place on Saturday 9 May at the Mathematical Institute Oxford. There will be inspiring keynotes, networking opportunities, workshops & CV sessions. Register for free: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Departmental Lecturer Stefano Gogioso @stego.bsky.social suggests there is reason to worry, now we're closer than ever to the first quantum computer breaking encryption in a New Scientist article:
institutions.newscientist.com/article/2521...

Last Word - Robert Fox, Mary Rand MBE, Sir Tony Hoare, Biruté Galdikas - BBC Sounds John Wilson on theatre producer, an athlete, a computer scientist, a primatologist.

Emeritus Prof Bill Roscoe spoke on BBC Radio 4’s The Last Word about the life & work of Emeritus Prof Sir Tony Hoare, who sadly passed away in March. Bill discussed the inspiration behind Quicksort, one of the most widely used sorting methods in computing (starts 14:51) www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

A blue graphic with text reading ‘Good luck Evan! DPhil student Evan Albers races in today’s Men’s Reserve crew’. There is a photo of Evan with crossed arms in a blue sports top, there is also a faded blue graphic of water in the background.

Our DPhil student Evan Albers is racing in this year’s Boat Race as part of the Men’s Reserve crew. Good luck Evan! 

Tune in at 14:51 (BST) on Saturday 4 April to cheer him on!  

You can watch the livestream here: https://www.youtube.com/live/rm_2PR4ulb4

A salmon pink graphic with the Department of Computer Science logo at the top left and text reading 'We’re hiring: Research Associate on Online Algorithms. Full time fixed-term contract for up to 2 years. Grade 07RS: £39,424 - £41,636 per annum inclusive of Oxford University weighting. Application Deadline: 12:00 21 April 2026. @compscioxford #CompSciOxford'. There are also lines and dots pointing to the text that look like a computer board.

Recruiting:
We're hiring a Research Associate on Online Algorithms to join the project "Challenges in Competitive Online Optimisation" supervised by Professor Christian Coester.

Details & applications: my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...

#compscioxford #Recruiting #OxfordRecruitment

Digitalization strategy in service ecosystems: managing the interplay of tensions and empowerment Purpose. This study conceptualizes how the implementation of digitalization strategy acts as both an enabler and a catalyst for tensions within service ecosystems. It adopts a holistic, multi-actor pe...

DPhil student Alastair McCullough has co-authored the paper ‘Digitalization strategy in service ecosystems: Managing the interplay of tensions and empowerment’ published in the Journal of Service Management.

The paper is available to read: www.emerald.com/josm/article...

Can quantum computers now solve health care problems? We’ll soon find out. After 30 months of fast-paced innovation in quantum algorithms, six research groups are hoping to hit paydirt. But there can be only one big winner—if there is a winner at all.

Oxford-led Quantum Pangenomics, led by Associate Professor Sergii Strelchuk, is featured in @technologyreview.com. One of six finalists in the Wellcome Leap Q4Bio challenge, the project explores how quantum computing could transform genomic analysis. www.technologyreview.com/2026/03/19/1...

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.

Prof Srđan Čapkun (ETH Zurich) will deliver the Trinity term Strachey Lecture ‘Hardening Digital Infrastructure: Resilient Positioning and Sovereign Smartphone Architectures’ on 12 May. Book www.eventbrite.com/e/strachey-l...
The Strachey Lectures are generously supported by OxFORD Asset Management.

An Oxford blue graphic with salmon pink text reading 'Eid Mubarak from @compscioxford #compscioxford'. On the left of the graphic, there is an illustration of dots and lines that look like a computer board. On the top right of the graphic there are salmon pink illustrations of hanging lanterns with stars and a moon.

Eid Mubarak to all who are celebrating! We wish you a happy Eid al-Fitr. 🌙

#compscioxford #eidmubarak #eid

For #NeurodiversityCelebrationWeek, we spoke with our Learning Technologist Jenny Watson about what she's doing to provide an excellent, accessible learning experience in the department. It's important work in progress - we want students of all neurotypes to feel they belong & can thrive with us.

How evil can AI be? Some brave scientists are finding out | BBC Science Focus Magazine If we want to get good responses from AI, we may need to see what it does when we ask it to be evil

Do LLMs need a ‘finishing school’ to be trusted to give suitable feedback or is this just a superficial fix? Professor Mike Wooldridge discusses the possible ways of preventing harmful responses from LLMs in a BBC Science Focus article: www.sciencefocus.com/future-techn...

A salmon pink graphic with the pi symbol with a spiral around it of the pi numbers starting '3.1415926'. Around the outside of the spiral there is white text reading 'Happy Pi Day'. At the bottom of the graphic there are lines with connected dots that look like a computer board.

Happy Pi Day to all those using the wonderful mathematical constant: π 

Our courses are highly mathematical, so a strong foundation in maths is key for those applying to study with us. And who can complain about a foundation of pi? 🥧 #CompSciOxford #pi #worldpiday #PiDay

Episode 20: When one-size-fits-all medicine hurts women (with Blanca Rodriguez)

How do we move beyond the idea of the ‘average patient’ in medicine?

In this episode of The Digital Twin Theory, Professor Blanca Rodriguez explores how digital twins, AI and computational modelling can support more personalised, equitable healthcare.
Listen now:
open.spotify.com/episode/0RDN...

BBC Inside Science - Does new science get us closer to finding out how life on earth began? - BBC Sounds Molecular biologists find tiny self-replicating molecules which may be key to life origins

Professor Michael Wooldridge spoke to Tom Whipple for the BBC Radio 4 programme Inside Science about a central question in artificial intelligence - why the systems we have built are not the rational machines many researchers once envisaged. Listen here: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

While celebrating the Discover Computer Science graduation ceremony last Saturday, we asked the students what they’re curious about for the future of computer science. 

Let us know your computer science questions this British Science Week!

A grey-green background with text reading ‘What extraterrestrial and AI communication could share in common’ ‘By DPhil student Zandi Eberstadt’. There is then a pale blue curved text box with text reading ‘‘As AI systems develop persistent memory, extended interaction histories, and adaptive strategies that evolve across conversations, it is possible in theory that the boundary between message content and interpretive rules become less fixed than they are today.’’ and next to this there is a circular photo of DPhil student Zandi Eberstadt. Beneath this there is further text reading ‘DPhil the Future: discovering the future of computer science through the voices of our DPhil students’ ‘@compscioxford #CompSciOxford’.

Does AI communicate like an alien? DPhil student Zandi Eberstadt explores the potential similarities between extraterrestrial and AI communication in a new DPhil the Future article ‘What extraterrestrial and AI communication could share in common’ www.cs.ox.ac.uk/news/2512-fu...

A salmon pink graphic with the Department of Computer Science logo at the top left and text reading 'We’re hiring: Postdoctoral Research Associate in Computational Complexity. Full time fixed-term for 2 years starting from 1 September 2026. Grade 7: £39,424 - £47,779 p.a. inclusive of Oxford University weighting. Application Deadline: 12:00 13 March 2026. @compscioxford #CompSciOxford'. There are also lines and dots pointing to the text that look like a computer board.

Recruiting:
We're hiring a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Computational Complexity (up to 4 posts) to become a member of a research group with responsibility for carrying out research on the European Research Council Project METACOMP.

Details & applications: my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...

A photograph of the Department of Computer Science building blurred in the background with yellow flowers and foliage in the foreground. Over the photo there is a salmon pink box with text reading ‘Happy Holi from @compscioxford #compscioxford’.

Wishing a happy #Holi to everybody celebrating! ❤️🧡💛💚💙

BBC Radio 4 - The Artificial Human, Are Large Language Models a Dead End? Aleks and Kevin ask if the technology behind our most popular AI tools is a dead end.

LLMs: Useful tools or dead ends? Professor Mike Wooldridge weighs in on this episode of the BBC Radio 4 show The Artificial Human. Listen here: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
@alekskrotoski.bsky.social @drkevinfong.bsky.social

The next Strachey Lecture will take place on Tuesday 12 May, so add it to your diary!

The Strachey Lectures are generously supported by OxFORD Asset Management. #CompSciOxford #OxStracheyLec 2/2

Strachey Lecture: An AI stack: from scaling AI workloads to evaluating LLMs YouTube video by CompSciOxford

Missed out on being in the packed room for Professor Ion Stoica’s excellent Strachey Lecture? No problem, you can still dive deep into the realm of LLMs in the lecture ‘An AI stack: from scaling AI workloads to evaluating LLMs’, now available on our YouTube: youtu.be/8qbst9imPE4 1/2

A sand-coloured graphic with text reading ‘We're using AI to better understand wildlife populations’. Beneath the text there is a faded pink landscape with a line drawing of an aardvark and a camera on a tripod.

Ready for your close-up, aardvark? Academics from the department & @biology.ox.ac.uk are using a software tool called MorphoCam that uses AI to optimise crucial information gathering about wildlife populations through cameras on location. Happy #WorldWildlifeDay

Oxford × QRT Labs: investing in the next generation of scientific leaders through a unique multi-university partnership The University of Oxford has launched Oxford × QRT Labs as part of a major new long-term philanthropic partnership with Qube Research & Technologies (QRT), alongside Imperial College London and the Un...

Oxford has launched Oxford × QRT Labs as part of a major partnership with Qube Research & Technologies, alongside Imperial & Cambridge. The initiative will support 70+ early-career researchers across disciplines, investing in the next generation of scientific leaders. www.cs.ox.ac.uk/news/2510-fu...

If you missed Professor Wooldridge giving the Michael Faraday Prize Lecture, you can watch the recording via the link below.