The University of Oxford has announced a new strategic collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) which will focus on building a portfolio of new research projects relating to artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, cyber-physical systems, human-centred computing, and support to the university’s new “Lighthouse” Doctoral Scholarships.

This new university-industry collaboration, supported by a £7 million gift from AWS to the Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Division, will accelerate advances in AI and data science across the entire research portfolio of the university.

Professor Patrick Grant, University of Oxford pro-vice-chancellor (research), said: "Cloud computing is an essential part of modern research. A streamlined operating model for using cloud services will benefit all of our researchers. The Oxford Robotics Institute, the Cyber Physical Systems Group, and the Human Centred Computing group are leading the initial projects in the short term, but I look forward to growing the collaboration to bring research benefits across our research work more broadly."

Oxford University has a large and growing programme in data science, AI and robotics R&D. To support and inspire the research, students and staff, access to fast-moving, ‘state of the art’ large-scale computing resources is critical.

AWS, one of the leading global cloud providers, offers secure, reliable, scalable, low-cost cloud infrastructure that underpins millions of customers around the world and this collaboration will significantly accelerate the cloud-based research conducted at the university.”

Professor Ingmar Posner, head of Oxford’s Applied AI Lab and founding director of the Oxford Robotics Institute, said: "Reliable and scalable compute infrastructure is a cornerstone of a cutting-edge research agenda in robotics, data science and AI. The bold vision developed jointly by the university and AWS is geared not only towards enabling the sustainable provision of this infrastructure here in Oxford but to provide a blueprint of engagement for others to follow. This generous £7 million gift from AWS will enable us to start something truly exceptional - in terms of research here at Oxford but also looking ahead at enabling the broader research landscape."

Max Peterson, AWS, VP international sales world-wide public sector, said: "We are excited about this collaboration with the University of Oxford. With AWS, the University will be able to accelerate time-to-science as multiple, large experiments can be conducted in parallel with greater ease and in less time. And by driving cost down, researchers can dramatically increase the scale of computational experimentation.

"The collaboration demonstrates how academia can use the cloud to deliver excellent science with greater speed, flexibility and security, compared to using on premises data centres. Through our donation we will also support a new generation of researchers accessing cloud-native tools and technology for research through the University’s “Lighthouse” Doctoral Scholarships program."