Queen's University Belfast (QUB) has been named as one of the inaugural winners of the Alan Turing Institute's Network Development Awards for its research excellence and track record of translation in artificial intelligence.
QUB, through its work in AI and its leadership of the Global Innovation Institute, is directly linked to the ambitions of the Belfast Region City Deal, the £1bn (€1.2bn) investment plan from the UK government and Northern Irish executive to deliver 20 ambitious projects across life and health sciences, digital and creative industries and advanced manufacturing.
The university said its efforts would be "significantly enhanced" through its active involvement with the Alan Turing Institute's network.
Prof Roger Woods, Dean of Research in the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences at QUB, said: "AI is central to the University’s Strategy 2030 ambitions in secure connected intelligence.
"This award helps to underpin our ambitions to work collaboratively with humanities and medicine to provide a cohesive, inclusive community and a ‘one health’ vision by working more closely with the Alan Turing Institute."
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Award lead Prof Hui Wang, from the School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Queen’s, commented: “I am delighted that we have received this Award from The Alan Turing Institute. This will allow us to grow the data science and AI research and innovation community.
“Working with other UK universities through the network, we will also be able to identify complementary research projects, support knowledge exchange – all of this could lead to future collaborations, strategic alliances and partnerships. It’s an exciting opportunity which has the potential to transform research in this area.”
The Institute handed out awards to 24 UK universities, each of which will be granted £25,000 (€29,560) to further develop their work.
Adrian Smith, Alan Turing Institute director, said: “The awards reflect the demand across a range of sectors to work with the Institute. Data science and AI doesn’t stand still, and so we look forward to working together with this network of universities; exploring new ways to grow the UK’s dynamic research and innovation landscape.”
Prof Lynn Gladden, who is executive chair of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), commented: “[UK Research and Innovation's] ambition is to bring together expertise in both academia and business to retain and extend the UK’s reputation and leadership in AI.
“The Turing Network Development Awards are an important first step in networking UKRI investments and developing wider partnerships across academia and business with The Alan Turing Institute.”
(Pic: Getty Images)
