Secure Memory & Persistent Security
Encrypted and integrity-protected memories for emerging non-volatile, disaggregated and fabric-attached memory systems, with ultra-low-overhead crash recovery.
Welcome to OSCAR
Oxford’s dreaming spires — Radcliffe Camera & All Souls
Securing the computing systems of the future
The Oxford Secure Computer Architecture Research group investigates the security and privacy of future computing systems — and devises radical, security-by-design approaches to protect them.
Part of
- Department of Engineering Science
- University College, Oxford
- Hardware AI Governance Lab (HAIGL)
- Oxford Martin AI Governance Initiative
About the group
Interdisciplinary research at the boundary of architecture and security
Oxford Secure Computer Architecture Research (OSCAR) group is part of the Engineering Science Department at the University of Oxford.
OSCAR group members investigate the security and privacy aspects of future computing systems, and devise radical approaches to protect our future computing systems. OSCAR members work on interdisciplinary projects that span the areas of computer architecture and computer security, with focus on formal guarantees and security-by-design principles.
Research themes
Security by design, from silicon to system
Our work spans processors, memory, accelerators and the systems that connect them — always with formal guarantees in mind.
Trusted Accelerators & Confidential Computing
Bandwidth-efficient security for GPUs, scalable cryptographic access control for third-party accelerators, and attestation across heterogeneous CPU–GPU execution.
Emerging Architectures & AI Systems
Chiplet-based designs, compute-in-memory, privacy-preserving computing and hardware foundations for trustworthy and verifiable AI governance.
80
Publications
2014 – 2026
29
Top-tier papers
ISCA · MICRO · HPCA · ASPLOS
10
Granted US patents
as of April 2026
7
PhD graduates
now at Apple, AMD, Intel & academia
3
Best paper nominations
MICRO’23 · IEEE VR’22 · ICS’21
Announcements
All opportunities
We are recruiting
OSCAR is actively recruiting for DPhil studentships and post-doctoral positions. Come and work on the next generation of secure hardware in the heart of Oxford.
DPhil Studentship at OSCAR
We are actively recruiting for DPhil positions at OSCAR in the following areas:
- Chiplet-based Architectures
- Novel Compute-in-Memory (CiM) Architectures
- Privacy-Preserving Computing
Postdoctoral Research Associate Position at OSCAR
We are actively recruiting for PDRA positions at OSCAR. Successful applicants usually have 3+ publications in reputed computer architecture venues.
- Chiplet-based Architectures
- Novel Compute-in-Memory (CiM) Architectures
- Privacy-Preserving Computing
OSCAR Director
Professor Amro Awad
Associate Professor in Electrical Engineering (Digital Technologies), University of Oxford Tutorial Fellow, University College · Co-Director, Hardware AI Governance Lab (HAIGL)
Amro’s research is focused on architectural innovations to enable secure computing systems. Before moving to Oxford, he led the Secure and Advanced Computer Architecture (SACA) research group at NC State as a tenured Associate Professor, with industrial stints at HP Labs, AMD Research and MediaTek USA, and at US government labs including Los Alamos, Sandia National Laboratories and the Air Force Research Labs.
- IEEE TCCA HPCA Hall of Fame inductee
- Ten granted U.S. patents (as of April 2026)
- Associate Editor, ACM TACO · IEEE TDSC · IEEE CAL
- Bennett Faculty Fellowship & Goodnight Early Career Awards (2023)
- PC Chair, IEEE ICCD’22 · General Chair, IEEE IISWC’19
- Founder of ConfAD · Founding member, IEEE MLCAS
Latest research
All publications
Recent publications
Life at OSCAR
Research in the heart of Oxford
OSCAR is based in the Department of Engineering Science, a short walk from the Radcliffe Camera and the Bodleian Library. Our director is a Tutorial Fellow at University College — founded in 1249 and the oldest college of the University — giving group members a home in one of Oxford’s most historic communities.
- 1249Foundation of University College, Oxford
- Top-rankedEngineering Science is consistently among the world’s leading engineering departments
- Global networkCollaborators across NC State, Sandia, AMD, ETH Zürich, Kuwait University and beyond
Join us
Build the secure hardware of tomorrow, at Oxford
We welcome outstanding DPhil candidates, postdoctoral researchers and visiting scholars who share our passion for secure and trustworthy computing.