[Fellows-Southampton] FW: Turing awarded major government funding

Thu Dec 20 09:26:02 GMT 2018

See below, including a meeting on Jan 14th to find out more.

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Professor Elena Simperl
Electronics and Computer Science
University of Southampton
email: e.simperl at soton.ac.uk
twitter: https://twitter.com/esimperl
www: http://elenasimperl.eu
telephone: +44 2380 59 7692
mobile: +44 7900 666705

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From: Institute Director [InstituteDirector at turing.ac.uk]
Sent: Wednesday, December 19, 2018 9:10 AM
To: Institute Director
Subject: Turing awarded major government funding

Dear staff and researchers,

I am delighted to share with you the news that the Turing is part of two winning bids for more than £48 million of new funding through the Strategic Priorities Fund, announced today by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

The funding is awarded to two research programmes detailed in the press release below and will be undertaken in partnership with a number of research councils and other organisations, including a new collaboration with the British Library.

These programmes have been shaped over the past few months by a core project team drawn from across the Institute. All communications related to the programmes and their funding have been strictly embargoed until now and so it is with real pleasure that we are able to share and celebrate this news with you today.

We are organising a staff talk on the Strategic Priorities Fund programmes on Monday 14 January; please register now<https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/staff-talk-strategic-priorities-fund-tickets-53725577649> to confirm your place either in person or remotely. This talk will be an opportunity to hear about the funding that supports these programmes, the scope of the programmes themselves and opportunities to get involved with the £39.3 million AI programme with EPSRC. The talk will be recorded and made available afterwards for those who cannot attend. In the meantime we encourage you to read the attached FAQ for staff and researchers (to be available on Turing Complete<https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fturingcomplete.topdesk.net%2F&data=01%7C01%7CE.Simperl%40soton.ac.uk%7C50b3c54cc16e444c9ee308d66591d43b%7C4a5378f929f44d3ebe89669d03ada9d8%7C1&sdata=L%2FrTBosSz0bws1fg8jc%2BBpRqqILdgsftzCL8pjT%2Bp88%3D&reserved=0> shortly) with information on the newly-funded research programmes and what this news means for the Institute.

My sincere thanks go to all the team for their hard work in bringing about this substantial funding for research in the Institute. I would particularly like to thank Alan Wilson who has been instrumental in securing the funding and will be leading their delivery in his role as Director, Special Projects.

See below the press release which will be published shortly on turing.ac.uk/news<https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.turing.ac.uk%2Fnews&data=01%7C01%7CE.Simperl%40soton.ac.uk%7C50b3c54cc16e444c9ee308d66591d43b%7C4a5378f929f44d3ebe89669d03ada9d8%7C1&sdata=QN8phYfulV0k705oiCg2nxo1i2Pp8nkrPYMFZ5yczQg%3D&reserved=0>.

If you have any immediate questions, please let me know.

Kind regards,

Adrian Smith
_____________________________
Adrian Smith
Institute Director
institutedirector at turing.ac.uk<mailto:institutedirector at turing.ac.uk>
_____________________________
The Alan Turing Institute
British Library
96 Euston Road
London NW1 2DB
turing.ac.uk<https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fturing.ac.uk%2F&data=01%7C01%7CE.Simperl%40soton.ac.uk%7C50b3c54cc16e444c9ee308d66591d43b%7C4a5378f929f44d3ebe89669d03ada9d8%7C1&sdata=Fj1av8SI9%2BZ6rbzuuKb0rBkLStqX3qA80Wk84R48g%2Fs%3D&reserved=0>
@turinginst

PRESS RELEASE – embargoed until 19.12.18

The Alan Turing Institute to spearhead new cutting-edge data science and artificial intelligence research after £48 million government funding boost

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has today announced funding for two major new research programmes in artificial intelligence, both led in collaboration with The Alan Turing Institute.

The first programme will undertake and apply data science and artificial intelligence research with the goal to transform four key areas of science, industry and government, and the second is a pioneering collaboration with the British Library and other partners using data science and artificial intelligence to analyse the human impact of the industrial revolution.

The programmes will be funded through the Strategic Priorities Fund, which is delivered by UKRI in order to drive an increase in high quality multi- and interdisciplinary research and innovation.

Adrian Smith, Director of The Alan Turing Institute, commented:

“From using machine learning to improve healthcare, to analysing the vast amounts of data generated every day in industry, government or research, artificial intelligence and data science are fast-growing areas of science which stand to have a major impact on the UK’s industrial future.

“The announcement from UKRI today represents a substantial investment in artificial intelligence which will both catalyse existing research efforts and enable new scientific advances which will benefit the UK. We look forward to working with all our partners and the broader academic community to tackle these important research questions.”

Minister for Digital, Margot James, said:

“We are determined to make sure the UK remains at the forefront of cutting-edge technologies and through our modern Industrial Strategy we are working with industry, business and academia to develop innovation that will change people’s lives for the better.

“Artificial Intelligence and data are at the heart of our plans to make the UK the best place in the world to start and grow a digital business as we continue to build a Britain that is shaping the future.”

UK Research and Innovation Chief Executive, Professor Sir Mark Walport, said:

“Artificial intelligence and data technologies developed in the UK will have a positive impact across society.  For example, they can diagnose and treat illness, manage and minimise power usage and reduce crime.

“Through the Strategic Priorities Fund, UKRI is bringing together policy makers, academia and business to drive collaborations that will tackle some of the key challenges we face.”
The new programmes awarded funding today are:

  *   AI and Data Science for Engineering, Health, Science and Government (led by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council [EPSRC])
The Alan Turing Institute, via the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and in collaboration with a number of other research councils, have been awarded a £39.3 million research programme into technologies of AI that will provide an all-pervading underpinning of future development in many sectors.

This programme will support a range of objectives covering four high-priority areas, with the aim to transform:

  *   engineering and urban planning, through the development of ‘digital twins’, digital replicas of physical systems.
  *   health, through applying machine learning to assist in the detection and diagnosis of illness, and the planning and personalisation of medical treatment the physical and life sciences, through applying AI to the vast amounts of data generated by scientific research.
  *   criminal justice, through developing the technical tools as well as the ethical foundations to prevent crime, identify and rehabilitate offenders, and improve the operation of the criminal justice system.
This programme is being led by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) in collaboration with The Alan Turing Institute, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), Medical Research Council (MRC), Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). It includes policy support from the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice.

Researchers at The Alan Turing Institute will work across some of these challenges with government departments, such as the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice. In addition, the outcomes of this programme will support the policy development of other government departments, such as the Department for Transport, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs and the Department of Health and Social Care. This programme will ensure that the UK meets the AI needs of the Industrial Strategy and stays competitive internationally.

  *   Living with Machines (led by the Arts and Humanities Research Council [AHRC])
The Alan Turing Institute and the British Library, together with researchers from a range of universities, have been awarded £9.2million funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) for a major new inter-disciplinary research project. ‘Living with Machines’, which will take place over five years, is set to be one of the biggest and most ambitious humanities and science research initiatives ever to launch in the UK.

The project will see data scientists from The Alan Turing Institute working with British Library curators, historians, geographers and computational linguists with the goal to devise new methods in data science and artificial intelligence that can be applied to historical resources, producing tools and software to analyse digitised collections at scale for the first time.

In recognition of the significant changes currently underway in technology, notably in artificial intelligence, the project will use the century following the first Industrial Revolution, and the changes brought about by the advance of technology across all aspects of society during this period, as its focus point.

The partners for this important new research project are The Alan Turing Institute, the British Library, and the University of Cambridge, the University of East Anglia, the University of Exeter, and Queen Mary University of London.

Notes to Editors

Look out for updates on the Living with Machines and AI and Data Science for Science, Engineering, Health and Government projects on the turing.ac.uk<https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fturing.ac.uk&data=01%7C01%7CE.Simperl%40soton.ac.uk%7C50b3c54cc16e444c9ee308d66591d43b%7C4a5378f929f44d3ebe89669d03ada9d8%7C1&sdata=Y2%2BsHeFNYySKvjDmVcY%2F6Ez%2F%2F3rinVsT1xqfARXpNSk%3D&reserved=0> website.

Further information on the Strategic Priorities Fund visit https://www.ukri.org/research/themes-and-programmes/<https://emea01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ukri.org%2Fresearch%2Fthemes-and-programmes%2F&data=01%7C01%7CE.Simperl%40soton.ac.uk%7C50b3c54cc16e444c9ee308d66591d43b%7C4a5378f929f44d3ebe89669d03ada9d8%7C1&sdata=wckkWo%2B%2F5aunjVP1%2BFyNxmR5tWdipqYG8hTImJZCcNI%3D&reserved=0>

UK Research and Innovation is a new body which works in partnership with universities, research organisations, businesses, charities, and government to create the best possible environment for research and innovation to flourish. We aim to maximise the contribution of each of our component parts, working individually and collectively. We work with our many partners to benefit everyone through knowledge, talent and ideas.
Operating across the whole of the UK with a combined budget of more than £7 billion, UK Research and Innovation brings together the Arts and Humanities Research Council; Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council; Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council; Economic and Social Research Council; Innovate UK; Medical Research Council; Natural Environment Research Council; Research England; and Science and Technology Facilities Council.

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