Over 4000 free audio and video lectures, seminars and teaching resources from Oxford University.
Skip to Content Skip to Navigation

Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences (MPLS)

Relevant Links

The Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences (MPLS) Division is one of the four academic divisions of the University of Oxford. We have over 6,000 students and research staff, and generate over half of our funding from external research grants.
The MPLS Division's 10 departments and 3 interdisciplinary units span the full spectrum of the mathematical, computational, physical, engineering and life sciences, and undertake both fundamental research and cutting-edge applied work. Our research addresses major societal and technological challenges and is increasingly interdisciplinary in nature. We collaborate closely with colleagues in Oxford across the medical sciences, social sciences and humanities.
Today's scientific research not only crosses traditional subject boundaries, but also transcends national boundaries: MPLS scientists collaborate with researchers from around the world, and play leading roles in many international projects.

Series associated with Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences (MPLS)

A Mathematician's Holiday
Ada Lovelace Symposium - Celebrating 200 Years of a Computer Visionary
Algebra of Programming
Back Garden Biology
Big Questions - with Oxford Sparks
Biology: The Whole Story
Building a Business: Moving Your Product to the Market
Caging Schrödinger's Cat - Quantum Nanotechnology
Careers in Chemistry: Academia
Careers in Chemistry: Beyond Academia
Chemistry for the Future: Clean Energy
Chemistry for the Future: Human Health
Chemistry for the Future: Incredible Machines
Chemistry for the Future: Meet the Scientists
Chemistry for the Future: Solar Fuels
Chemistry for the Future: Strange Substances and Structures
Chemistry Spotlight Lectures
Christmas Science Lectures
Cultural Heritage Forum
Darwin 200
Department of Engineering Science Centenary Lectures
Department of Engineering Science Lectures
Department of Materials
Department of Statistics
Earth Sciences
Enterprising Women
Exploring Spoken Word Data in Oral History Archives
Federated Logic Conference (FLoC) 2018
Good Natured
Hinshelwood Lectures 2018 - Soft Interfaces: A Journey Across Scales
Hinshelwood Lectures 2019 - Shedding New Lights to Light-Matter Interactions
Inside Oxford Science
International Conference on Functional Programming 2017
Mathematical Institute
Maths + Cancer
Models of Consciousness
Musical Abstracts
Open Science
Oxford Kafka24
Oxford Physics Academic Lectures
Oxford Physics Public Lectures
Oxford Physics Research
Oxford Physics Short Talks and Introductions
Oxford Sparks: bringing science to life
Physics then and now – the life and work of Don Perkins
Proving the Negative (PTNPod): Swanning About in Cyber Security
Quantum Mechanics
Scientific Computing for DPhil Students
So you want to study Chemistry?
Stargazing
Strachey 100: an Oxford Computing Pioneer
Strachey Lectures
Study Skills
Sutton Trust Chemistry Summer School
The Hinshelwood Lectures: Bioinspired Materials
The Medtronic Lectures in Biomedical Engineering
The Oxford Reproducibility School
The Oxford Solid State Basics
The Physics of Fine-Tuning
The Secrets of Mathematics
The World of Art
Theoretical Physics - From Outer Space to Plasma
Valentine's Day at Oxford
# Episode Title Description People Date
583 The Decade of the Wimp Dr. Rocky Kolb (Chicago) discusses the theoretical reasons to expect dark matter to be a Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP), and the prospects for finding one. Rocky Kolb 04 Oct 2016
582 Astrophysical Probes of Dark Matter Dr. Justin Read (Surrey) explains the astrophysical evidence for dark matter, and our prospects for getting more information about its nature and interaction by looking at nearby dwarf galaxies. Justin Read 04 Oct 2016
581 Creative Commons Optimization (3.3) In this lecture, Professor Trefethen discusses NEOS and COIN-OR, constraints and linear programming, and quadratic programming and linear constraints. Nick Trefethen 03 Oct 2016
580 Creative Commons Optimization (3.2) In this lecture, Professor Trefethen discusses Newton's methods for minimizing a function of several variables. He then moves on from Newton's method to practical optimization. Nick Trefethen 03 Oct 2016
579 Creative Commons Optimization (3.1) In this lecture, Professor Trefethen discusses Newton's methods for 1) a single equation, 2) a system of equations, and 3) minimizing a function of 1 variable. Nick Trefethen 03 Oct 2016
578 Creative Commons Dense Linear Algebra (2.5) In this lecture, Professor Trefethen provides a demonstration of Chebfun. Nick Trefethen 03 Oct 2016
577 Creative Commons Dense Linear Algebra (2.4) In this lecture, Professor Trefethen discusses matrix factorizations and SVD. Nick Trefethen 03 Oct 2016
576 Creative Commons Dense Linear Algebra (2.3) In this lecture, Professor Trefethen discusses floating point arithmetic and backward error analysis. Nick Trefethen 03 Oct 2016
575 Creative Commons Dense Linear Algebra (2.2) In this lecture, Professor Trefethen discusses QR factorization, the computation of the QR factorization, and linear least-squares. Nick Trefethen 03 Oct 2016
574 Creative Commons Dense Linear Algebra (2.1) In this lecture, Professor Trefethen discusses matrices, vectors and expansions, including orthogonal vectors and matrices. Nick Trefethen 03 Oct 2016
573 Creative Commons Sparse Matrices and Iterative Methods (1.4) In this lecture, Professor Trefethon provides a definition of numerical analysis and provides an overview of matrix iterations, including a discussion on the Lanczos iteration. He also reviews various numerical software tools and information sources. Nick Trefethen 03 Oct 2016
572 Creative Commons Sparse Matrices and Iterative Methods (1.3) In this lecture, Professor Trefethen discusses preconditioned CG and also provides examples of preconditioners Nick Trefethen 03 Oct 2016
571 Creative Commons Sparse Matrices and Iterative Methods (1.2) In this lecture, Professor Trefethen discusses the topic of conjugate gradients and the convergence of CG. Nick Trefethen 03 Oct 2016
570 Creative Commons Sparse Matrices and Iterative Methods (1.1) In this lecture, Professor Trefethen first provides an overview of the field of linear algebra and optimization. Secondly, he discusses the question of how fast we can solve Ax=3Db? Thirdly, he discusses sparse matrices Nick Trefethen 03 Oct 2016
569 The Canary in the Coal Mine: could seabirds be the warning signs for our oceans? Dr Annette Fayet tells us about the Manx Shearwater; a little seabird that makes a huge journey. Annette Fayet 28 Sep 2016
568 The Jenkin Lecture - Engineering Tomorrow's Therapies Professor Constantin Coussios (Magdalen), Professor of Biomedical Engineering, gives the 2016 annual Jenkin Lecture, on 17th September 2016. Constantin Coussios 21 Sep 2016
567 Digital health Professor Lionel Tarassenko CBE FREng FMedSci (St John’s), Head of the Department of Engineering Science, gives a lecture for the department of Engineering Science Alumni Weekend on September 17th 2016. Lionel Tarassenko 21 Sep 2016
566 Roger Heath-Brown a Life in Mathematics Roger Heath-Brown is one of Oxford's foremost mathematicians. Roger Heath-Brown, Ben Green 17 Sep 2016
565 'Light' Part 3 - How does sunlight damage DNA? Once we've received our genetic make-up from our parents our genomes are stable, right? What causes mutations in our DNA as we live and grow, and how do our cells repair damage? Catherine Green 03 Aug 2016
564 'Light' Part 2 - Harnessing a single photon What's the use of just one photon, the smallest bit of light? And what does it take to study it? Joelle Boutari 27 Jul 2016
563 'Light' Part 1 - Connecting to the internet through your lights Can we receive information through our lighting? Dominic O'Brien 25 Jul 2016
562 New Frontiers in Cosmology In the fourth part of their discussion, Joe Silk and John Peacock conjecture about future developments in cosmology. What part of cosmology is most likely to be fruitful? This discussion was conducted at Trinity College, Oxford, on May 12, 2016. John Peacock, Joe Silk 13 Jul 2016
561 Dark Energy and the Multiverse In the third part of their discussion, Joe Silk and John Peacock consider approaches to dark energy. Should we accept the multiverse, or wait for a theory of quantum gravity? John Peacock, Joe Silk 13 Jul 2016
560 New Data and New Work In the second part of their discussion, Joe Silk and John Peacock discuss possible future sources of data and developments in cosmology. They conjecture about the search for dark matter and its impact on astronomy. John Peacock, Joe Silk 13 Jul 2016
559 New Statistics and Prediction In the first part of their discussion, Joe Silk and John Peacock compare approaches to statistics and how these bear on predictions in cosmology, including Weinberg’s prediction of the cosmological constant. John Peacock, Joe Silk 13 Jul 2016
558 Practical Fine-Tuning In the fourth part of their discussion, Luke Barnes and David Sloan look for ways the fine-tuning problems can lead to advances in physics. Luke Barnes, David Sloan 13 Jul 2016
557 Comparing Theories In the third part of their discussion, Luke Barnes and David Sloan puzzle over the way we compare theories, and whether there can be a theory that doesn’t have some unexplained posits. Luke Barnes, David Sloan 13 Jul 2016
556 New Approaches to Probability In the second part of their discussion, Luke Barnes and David Sloan go over the difference between frequentist and bayesian statistics, and how this difference applies to astrophysics and cosmology. Luke Barnes, David Sloan 13 Jul 2016
555 What Is Fine-Tuning? In the first part of their discussion, Luke Barnes and David Sloan come up with a working understanding of fine-tuning. They also discuss various examples of fine-tuning in physics. This discussion was conducted at Trinity College, Oxford, on May 13, 2016 Luke Barnes, David Sloan 13 Jul 2016
554 'Senses' Part 3 - Seeing across the galaxy How can you spot what's happening in space billions of light years away from right here on Earth? Garret Cotter 08 Jul 2016
553 Modelling genes: the backwards and forwards of mathematical population genetics - Alison Etheridge In this lecture Professor Alison Etheridge explores some of the simple mathematical caricatures that underpin our understanding of modern genetic data. Alison Etheridge 06 Jul 2016
552 'Senses' Part 2 - Getting a feel for surgery How do you train surgeons to do complex surgeries? How do you measure a trainee's progress? How can you accurately simulate the look and feel of surgery? Patrick Garfjeld Roberts 29 Jun 2016
551 'Senses' Part 1 - When the senses collide Can sounds change how things taste? How can we alter our experiences by taking advantage of how our senses mingle? Charles Spence 27 Jun 2016
550 'Land, Sea and Air' Part 3 - What happens when we fly Oxygen levels are slightly lower when you fly on commercial airlines, so what effects does this have on people? Can it cause any problems? Thomas Smith 17 Jun 2016
549 Creative Commons Quantum Sensors sans Frontier Physics Colloquium 10th June 2016 delivered by Professor Swapan Chattopadhyay Swapan Chattopadhyay 16 Jun 2016
548 Creative Commons The Origins and Evolution of Exoplanet Atmospheres and Oceans 3rd Annual Lobanov-Rostovsky Lecture in Planetary Geology delivered by Professor Raymond T Pierrehumbert. Raymond T Pierrehumbert 15 Jun 2016
547 The Prime Number Theorem Oxford Students discuss the Prime Number Theorem. Aled Walker, Simon Myerson, Sofia Lindqvist, Jamie Beacom 15 Jun 2016
546 Creative Commons Strachey Lecture: Quantum Supremacy Dr Scott Aaronson (MIT, UT Austin) gives the 2016 Strachey lecture. Scott Aaronson 14 Jun 2016
545 'Land, Sea and Air' Part 2 - The state of the oceans What's in the deep ocean? And how can we study these remote and extreme ecosystems? And how is climate change affecting ocean ecosystems? Alex Rogers 10 Jun 2016
544 Creative Commons Space Engineering at Harwell Dr Anna Orlowska, Science, Technology and Facilities Council gives a talk on the Space Engineering at Harwell. Anna Orlowska 01 Jun 2016
543 Creative Commons Hypersonic to Hypervelocity Spacecraft Heat Transfer Professor Matthew McGilvray gives a talk on heat transfer issues involved in space flight re-entry. Matthew McGilvray 01 Jun 2016
542 Creative Commons Cooling the Mid-Infrared Instrument Paul Bailey, University of Oxford, gives a talk about cooling one of the instruments on the James Webb Telescope. Paul Bailey 01 Jun 2016
541 Creative Commons Paving the Path for Human Space Exploration: The Challenges and Opportunities The 42nd Maurice Lubbock Memorial Lecture: ‘Paving the Path for Human Space Exploration:The Challenges and Opportunities’ presented by Lauri N. Hansen, Director of Engineering, NASA Johnson Space Centre. Lauri N. Hansen 01 Jun 2016
540 'Land, Sea and Air' Part 1 - How mountains are made How do we discover the origins of mountains? Mike Searle 27 May 2016
539 The 3rd Workshop in the Physics of Fine Tuning-discussion The 3rd Workshop in the Physics of Fine Tuning - Stars, Galaxies, and the Multiverse, audience and panel discussion John Peacock, Joe Silk, Adrianne Slyz 27 May 2016
538 How do Galaxies know when, where and how quickly to form stars? The 3rd Workshop in the Physics of Fine Tuning - Stars, Galaxies, and the Multiverse, Adrianne Slyz (Oxford) talks about How do Galaxies know when, where and how quickly to form stars? Adrianne Slyz 27 May 2016
537 The Limits of Cosmology The 3rd Workshop in the Physics of Fine Tuning - Stars, Galaxies, and the Multiverse, Joe Silk (Oxford, IAP; John Hopkins) talks about The Limits of Cosmology Joe Silk 27 May 2016
536 Observer Selection and Fine-Tuning Puzzles in Cosmology The 3rd Workshop in the Physics of Fine Tuning - Stars, Galaxies, and the Multiverse, John Peacock (Edinburgh) talks about Observer Selection and Fine-Tuning Puzzles in Cosmology John Peacock 27 May 2016
535 String Theory, Holography and Quark-Gluon Plasma Members of the Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics hosted the ninth Saturday Morning of Theoretical Physics on 21st May 2016. Talk 3 by Dr Andrei Starinets. Andrei Starinets 24 May 2016
534 String Theory and Particle Physics Members of the Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics hosted the ninth Saturday Morning of Theoretical Physics on 21st May 2016. Talk 2 by Professor Andre Lukas. Andre Lukas 24 May 2016
533 String Theory: Then and Now Members of the Rudolf Peierls Centre for Theoretical Physics hosted the ninth Saturday Morning of Theoretical Physics on 21st May 2016. Talk 1 by Professor Joseph Conlon. Joseph Conlon 24 May 2016
532 Creative Commons Bionic Hearing: the Science and the Experience Physics Colloquium 20th May 2016 delivered by Ian Shipsey Ian Shipsey 24 May 2016
531 'Learning' part 3 - Learning from Nature How can Chemistry take inspiration from nature to create cleaner and more efficient ways of producing and using Hydrogen as a source of clean energy? Kylie Vincent 24 May 2016
530 Unveiling the Birth of Stars and Galaxies The 2016 Hintze Biannual Lecture delivered by Professor Robert Kennicutt Robert Kennicutt 18 May 2016
529 Creative Commons Testimonies on Nazi Forced Labour and the Holocaust Building Digital Environments for Research and Education Cord Pagenstecher 16 May 2016
528 Creative Commons Researching Holocaust survivors in Greece through the Visual History Archive Issues and debates in the research use of testimony Kateřina Králová 16 May 2016
527 Creative Commons Forced alignment using FAVE and DARLA Powerful language technology tools and methods to support oral history research Josef Fruehwald 16 May 2016
526 Creative Commons Using forced alignment and HTML5 media syntax to share speech archive data Powerful language technology tools and methods to support oral history research John Coleman 16 May 2016
525 Creative Commons Building an open sound archive The case of the Grammo-foni (Gra.fo) project Silvia Calamai 16 May 2016
524 Creative Commons Oral Histories of Hidden Children in Denmark during the Holocaust Narratives, Identity and Trauma Sofie Lene Bak 16 May 2016
523 Creative Commons Language Technologies: INTER-VIEWS A Search and Annotation Tool for Oral History Henk van den Heuvel 16 May 2016
522 Creative Commons Language Technologies: ELAN A short introduction to the ELAN annotation and processing suite of tools Sebastian Drude 16 May 2016
521 Creative Commons Increasing the Impact of Oral History Data with Human Language Technologies How CLARIN is already helping researchers Arjan van Hessen 16 May 2016
520 Creative Commons CLARIN Data, Services and Tools What language technologies are available that might help process, analyse and explore oral history collections? Dieter van Uytvanck 16 May 2016
519 What We Cannot Know - Marcus du Sautoy Science is giving us unprecedented insight into the big questions that have challenged humanity. Marcus du Sautoy 16 May 2016
518 Creative Commons Oral History Collections How to exploit the multidisciplinary potential of Oral History narratives Stef Scagliola 16 May 2016
517 Creative Commons Oral History as Research Data Interviews, collections, archives, data and history - a view from the UK Data Archive. Louise Corti 16 May 2016
516 Creative Commons From Search to Exploration Barriers and opportunities in using oral history archives as data resources Jakub Mlynář 16 May 2016
515 'Learning' part 2 - Stimulating learning Can a little electrical stimulation help people learn quicker? And how would technology that does this be used? And why would you want to use this over medicines? Roi Cohen Kadosh 13 May 2016
514 ECHO, ECHo, Echo, echo... When echoes overwhelm Landau damping Physics Colloquium 6th May 2016 delivered by Professor William Dorland William Dorland 11 May 2016
513 Our Place in the Cosmos Astrophysicist and bestselling author Mario Livio delivers a speculative talk about humans place in the cosmos. Mario Livio 10 May 2016
512 Capitalizing on diversity: Outcomes of planet formation as initial conditions for life Michael R. Meyer, Institute for Astronomy, Department of Physics, ETH Zurich, delivers a talk about planet formation and conditions for life to exist. Michael Meyer 10 May 2016
511 Where and how might we search for life? From planet demographics to biosignatures Professor Suzanne Aigrain is an expert exoplanet researcher. In this talk she will outline the methods for detection and characterisation of exoplanets in the context of finding planets that might harbor life. Suzanne Aigrain 10 May 2016
510 'Learning' part 1 - Sleep for success Sleep is really important. But do we realise how important it is, particularly for helping us think straight? Are teenagers lazy? Are their body clocks different? Christopher-James Harvey 05 May 2016
509 Power People: what are we doing with all that energy? Did you know that you are in charge of a power station? It's true. Every time you flick a light switch, a power station somewhere in the UK will respond and generate that little bit of extra power you need for your light. Phil Grunewald 05 May 2016
508 'Relationships' part 3 - Networks: the science of connections What is a network and how can you use mathematics to unravel the relationships between a variety of different things? How can this understanding then be applied to a range of different settings? Mason Porter 29 Apr 2016
507 Bioinformatics at the heart of biology and genomics medicine The Ninth annual Florence Nightingale Lecture, given by Professor Dame Janet Thornton, European Bioinformatics Institute, Cambridge. Held on Thursday 21st April 2016. Dame Janet Thornton 27 Apr 2016
506 'Relationships' part 2 - New fathers How do new fathers form relationships with their children? What is the unique role of a father? What do they contribute to the development of their children? What is male post-natal depression? Anna Machin 22 Apr 2016
505 What Can We Learn from Planetary Surveys? In the fourth part of their discussion, Suzanne Aigrain and Michael Meyer discuss how we move from observations of exoplanets to conclusions about their types and formation. This discussion was conducted at Trinity College, Oxford, on February 12, 2016. Suzanne Aigrain, Michael Meyer 20 Apr 2016
504 Is Our Solar System Special? In the third part of their discussion, Suzanne Aigrain and Michael Meyer discuss ways in which our solar system is unusual in its makeup and formation. This discussion was conducted at Trinity College, Oxford, on February 12, 2016. Suzanne Aigrain, Michael Meyer 20 Apr 2016
503 Fine-Tuning and the Scientific Process In the second part of their discussion, Michael Meyer and Suzanne Aigrain talk about the way they, as working physicists, think of fine-tuning in complex planetary systems. This discussion was conducted at Trinity College, Oxford, on February 12, 2016. Suzanne Aigrain, Michael Meyer 20 Apr 2016
502 Telescope Design and the Search for Life In the first part of their discussion, Michael Meyer and Suzanne Aigrain lay out the conditions for habitability on an exoplanet and challenges of looking for such planets. This discussion was conducted at Trinity College, Oxford, on February 12, 2016. Suzanne Aigrain, Michael Meyer 20 Apr 2016
501 Life in the Universe: Where and How Can We Find It? In the fourth part of their discussion, Mario Livio and Joe Silk talk about the way planetary systems form and the preconditions for life-bearing planets to exist. This discussion was conducted at Trinity College, Oxford, on February 12, 2016 Joe Silk, Mario Livio 19 Apr 2016
500 Testability, Physics, and the Multiverse In the third part of their discussion, Mario Livio and Joe Silk ask: could our theories exceed our ability to test them? Have they already? This discussion was conducted at Trinity College, Oxford, on February 12, 2016. Joe Silkl, Mario Livio 19 Apr 2016
499 Biosignatures and the Search for Life In the second part of their discussion, Joe Silk and Mario Livio go over biosignatures: things which, if observed, would be evidence for life. This discussion was conducted at Trinity College, Oxford, on February 12, 2016. Joe Silk, Mario Livio 19 Apr 2016
498 Life in the Universe: The Fermi Paradox In the first part of their discussion, Joe Silk and Mario Livio consider the chances of life elsewhere in the universe. They talk about the Fermi paradox and responses to it. This discussion was conducted at Trinity College, Oxford, on February 12, 2016. Joe Silk, Mario Livio 19 Apr 2016
497 Run for Your Light You may have heard the word “quantum” bandied around a lot. But what does it mean? In this animation we take a look at how the photon – the quantum particle of light – is being harnessed to help create new technologies like quantum computers. Robert Taylor, Steven Kolthammer, Josh Nunn 12 Apr 2016
496 What Makes You Tick? How do you know when it's time to wake up or go to sleep? More powerful than any alarm are your circadian rhythms. Christopher James-Harvey, Stuart Peirson, Russell Foster 12 Apr 2016
495 Shedding Light on the Situation Light is more than just light bulbs and sunshine! Researchers at the University of Oxford use different types of light to learn more about all sorts of interesting things. Jena Meinecke, Chris Rennick, Brianna Heazlewood, Clarence Yapp 12 Apr 2016
494 'Relationships' part 1 - People and plants: balancing conservation and commerce How can working with people to understand how they use their local plants be used to protect them when industry moves in? How do we find and conserve areas of high 'bioquality'? William Hawthorne 12 Apr 2016
493 Explaining Fine-Tuning Ard Louis in conversation with George Ellis. Part four - Explaining Fine-Tuning. George Ellis, Ard Louis 12 Apr 2016
492 Fine Tuning in Biology Ard Louis in conversation with George Ellis. Part three - Fine Tuning in Biology. George Ellis, Ard Louis 12 Apr 2016
491 Possibility Spaces Ard Louis in conversation with George Ellis. Part two - Possibility Spaces. George Ellis, Ard Louis 12 Apr 2016
490 Top Down Causation Ard Louis in conversation with George Ellis. Part one - Top Down Causation. George Ellis, Ard Louis 11 Apr 2016
489 Creative Commons The Unity of the Universe The Final Dennis Sciama Memorial Lecture delivered by Professor David Deutsch David Deutsch 09 Mar 2016
488 Engineering Defects in Diamond Physics Colloquium 26th February 2016 delivered by Professor Mark Newton Mark Newton 04 Mar 2016
487 Optical Microscopy and Spectroscopy of Single Molecules and Single Plasmonic Gold Nanoparticles Physics Colloquium 19th February 2016 delivered by Professor Michel Orrit Michel Orrit 04 Mar 2016
486 Fundamental constants and biology George Ellis of the University of Cape Town shows how we can use a space of possibilities to assess the fragility of life. This talk was part of the Consolidation of Fine-Tuning Project's first workshop, "Life in the Universe", on November 3, 2015. George Ellis 02 Mar 2016
485 Assessing Fine-Tuning in Physics: How Many? How Fine? How Come? Bernard Carr of Queen Mary University of London looks at sources of fine tuning in physics and their possible explanations. This talk was part of the Consolidation of Fine-Tuning Project's first workshop, "Life in the Universe", on November 3, 2015. Bernard Carr 02 Mar 2016
484 Strachey Lecture: Artificial Intelligence and the Future In this talk Demis Hassabis discuss's what is happening at the cutting edge of AI research, its future impact on fields such as science and healthcare, and how developing AI may help us better understand the human mind. Demis Hassabis 26 Feb 2016