Lecturer	Michael Bronstein
Degrees	Schedule C1 (CS&P) — Computer Science and Philosophy Schedule C1 — Computer Science Schedule C1 — Mathematics and Computer Science Hilary Term — MSc in Advanced Computer Science
Term	Hilary Term 2025  (18 lectures)

Overview

The course will appeal to students who want to gain a better understanding of modern deep learning and will present a systematic geometric blueprint allowing them to derive popular deep neural network architectures (CNNs, GNNs, Transformers, etc) from the first principles of symmetry and invariance. The focus will be on general principles that underpin deep learning as well as concrete examples of their realisations and applications. The course will try to tie together topics in geometry, group theory and representation learning, graph theory, and machine learning into a coherent picture. It ideally targets students in CS & Math cohort or CS students with a strong mathematical background.

Learning outcomes

● Understand the theoretical geometric principles of symmetry, invariance, and equivariance underlying modern deep learning architectures ● Understand various deep neural network architectures (CNNs, GNNs, Transformers, DeepSets, LSTMs) and be able to derive them from first principles ● Learn different applications of the methods studied in the course and understand problem-specific choices

Taking our courses

This form is not to be used by students studying for a degree in the Department of Computer Science, or for Visiting Students who are registered for Computer Science courses

Other matriculated University of Oxford students who are interested in taking this, or other, courses in the Department of Computer Science, must complete this online form by 17.00 on Friday of 0th week of term in which the course is taught. Late requests, and requests sent by email, will not be considered. All requests must be approved by the relevant Computer Science departmental committee and can only be submitted using this form.