Posted: 18th March 2025

Three professors from the department have been shortlisted for a Vice-Chancellor’s Innovation and Commercialisation Award in the 'Excellence in Research and Innovation' category. 

Professors Bernardo Cuenca Grau, Ian Horrocks, and Boris Motik were recognised for their significant contributions to Oxford Semantic Technologies (OST), a spin-out company they co-founded in 2017 and that was recently acquired by Samsung. With OST they have helped to develop the knowledge graph technology that underpins Samsung’s Personal Data Engine, a key component of the AI powering the latest generation of Samsung smartphones and other devices.  

The Personal Data Engine offers a powerful way to combine complex data with background information, similar to how humans use memory and reasoning; this enables devices to integrate and understand information contextually, providing more insightful, secure, and personalised responses. 

We are truly honoured to be shortlisted for the University of Oxford Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Innovation and Commercialisation. This recognition reflects an extraordinary and exciting journey—from basic research to implementation, technology transfer, and entrepreneurial activity—culminating in the deployment of our work across millions of devices worldwide. This recognition is a testament to years of collaborative efforts and the supportive environment here at the University of Oxford. It’s incredibly rewarding to see our work acknowledged in this way. Professor Bernardo Cuenca Grau 

The Vice-Chancellor’s Awards celebrate excellence, dedication, and ambition across the University. This year, there were 160 award entries across 11 categories, involving 1,300 individuals. 

The winners and highly commended nominees will be announced at a ceremony at the Sheldonian Theatre in May. All are invited to the Awards Showcase on Tuesday 13 May in the Weston Library to learn more about the remarkable achievements of this year’s nominees. Further details can be found on the awards webpage: https://hr.admin.ox.ac.uk/vice-chancellors-awards