Goldsmiths receives Turing Network Development Award

Goldsmiths, University of London is among the first-ever successful applicants to The Alan Turing Institute’s Network Development Awards.

The Alan Turing Institute announced today (2 February 2022) that it has made awards to 24 UK universities including Goldsmiths. Each university demonstrated its own particular research excellence and a track record of translation in data science, AI, or a related field. The awards are intended to enhance each applicant’s involvement with the Institute’s network of university partners.

The group of successful universities will be awarded up to £25,000, to: 

• Establish or grow an engaged and diverse community working (at all career stages) in data science and AI research and innovation at the university, who are aware of and engage in the potential opportunities and initiatives available across the Turing network.
• Identify and establish links between Institute priority areas and areas of interest and expertise at the university. 
• Host activities and initiatives that are open to the wider data science and AI research and innovation community and/or local and regional communities, to form new links and collaborations. 
• Map the university’s expertise and strengths in each of the Institute’s priority areas and those considered of national strategic importance (in data science and AI) not yet covered by the Institute.
• Design plans for how the network will become sustainable for the future.

Adrian Smith, 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."

Dr Larisa Soldatova, project co-lead and Reader in Data Science in the Department of Computing at Goldsmiths, said: "We are delighted to be networking with The Alan Turing Institute through this award. Goldsmiths has a diverse and engaged community of researchers at all career stages and students, working in AI.

"This award will support the development and growth of a network in creative and human-centric AI (CAI) – the areas that are of pivotal importance to the breadth and depth of skills and expertise, the development of future generation of AI and data science specialists, for public engagement, and for influencing industry and societal views."

Professor Frederic Leymarie, project co-lead said: "Building on Goldsmiths Computing’s distinctive and pioneering approach to AI and Creativity in the Arts. Goldsmiths Network Development Award will be focussed on hosting symposium events covering AI and Art, Cinema, Music and the wider topic of Human Centric AI, covering psychology, user interface design, sociology and ethics. With contrasting speakers these events should stimulate debate and seed future projects."  

Professor William Latham, project co-lead said: “There will in addition be exhibitions of high quality works by artists, designers, developers, using and developing AI tools and techniques, which we will curate and present on site at Goldsmiths, in the fashion of our past events, such as the Creative Machine series" [Creative Machine and Creative Machine 2].

Further details of the announcement and all 24 universities receiving awards.

The Alan Turing Institute is the UK’s national institute for data science and artificial intelligence.

The Institute is named in honour of Alan Turing, whose pioneering work in theoretical and applied mathematics, engineering and computing is considered to have laid the foundations for modern-day data science and artificial intelligence. The Institute’s goals are to undertake world-class research in data science and artificial intelligence, apply its research to real-world problems, driving economic impact and societal good, lead the training of a new generation of scientists, and shape the public conversation around data and algorithms.

turing.ac.uk

This news story is based on an original press release from The Alan Turing Institute.