Latest news

[15/11/2024] Scotland’s tech showcase, EIE25, started by the School of Informatics in 2008, will co-host the Tech Tour’s Growth Deeptech event next year, bringing later-stage companies and investors from across the EU to Edinburgh in May.

[01/11/2024] Following a robust process, our degree in Cyber Security Privacy and Trust achieved a full certification against the National Cyber Security Centre Standard, making it one of the few cyber security masters degrees in the UK that is fully certified by the NCSC, a part of GCHQ. In order to attain certification, students will have to choose 100 credits from specific course combinations.

[31/10/2024] A paper on the history of the early years of Artificial Intelligence at Edinburgh by Chris Williams, Vassilis Galanos and Xiao Yang was presented at the workshop on the History of AI in Europe at the 27th European Conference on Artificial Intelligence at Santiago de Compostela on 20th October. The paper is an outcome of a project led by Professor Chris Williams that followed on from the 60 years of Computer Science and AI at Edinburgh celebrations in 2023.

[27/10/2024] Professor Aggelos Kiayias, the Chair in Cyber Security and Privacy and the Director of the Blockchain Technology Laboratory, was awarded the 2024 BCS Lovelace Medal. The Lovelace Medal recognises people whose work has contributed to significant advances in computing.

[24/10/2024] Professor Subramanian Ramamoorthy was awarded the Turing AI World-Leading Researcher Fellowship. The £6 million grant will establish a bold new research centre that will aim to put human experience at the heart of AI and robotics research.

[16/10/2024] Dr Mohsen Khadem takes on the role of the industrial and translational lead for the Edinburgh-led MicroTex Hub, a multi-million Edinburgh-led initiative that will focus on speeding up the creation of new treatments for lung infections and inflammation.

[08/10/2024] Professor Geoffrey Hinton, who graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a PhD in Artificial Intelligence in 1978 has been awarded a Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on machine learning. He shares the 2024 award with Professor John Hopfield of Princeton University.

[08/10/2024] This year we celebrate Ada Lovelace Day by looking at the journey of Dr Sreedurga Gogulapati, a Google DeepMind Academic Fellow in the School of Informatics. Sreedurga joined the School in November 2023.

[30/09/2024] Yao Fu, a PhD student at the University of Edinburgh's School of Informatics, has been awarded the prestigious Rising Star in Machine Learning and Systems by the MLCommons Committee.

[23/09/2024] Professor of Robotics at the School of Informatics, Michael Mistry, has been selected into the second cohort of the Bayes Innovation Fellows for the potential to commercialise his research.

[13/09/2024] The School of Informatics, in collaboration with Bayes Centre and Inspace, is opening its doors to the public on Sunday, 29 September 2024. We are offering the visitors a unique opportunity to explore our spaces and learn about our history.

[09/09/2024] PhD students from the School of Informatics, Lauren DeLong and Raman Dutt have received the prestigious Alan Turing Enrichment Scheme Awards 2024, enhancing their research through interdisciplinary collaboration at the Alan Turing Institute.

[20/08/2024] A new initiative, in which Informatics Professor Sethu Vijayakumar plays a vital role, was announced at India's first GEN AI Conclave at Kochi in July. Professor Vijayakumar will act as the International Academic Chair for the project which aims to establish a Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Artificial Intelligence at the Digital Science Park in Kerala. This partnership will see the University of Edinburgh and the Alan Turing Institute working with the Digital University Kerala, under the aegis of the State Government of Kerala, India.

[09/08/2024] University AI fintech startup Aveni.AI, co-founded by Dr Lexi Birch from Informatics, has announced one of the largest Series A investments in a Scottish business this year, amounting to £11 million. The round was led by Puma Private Equity with participation from Par Equity, Lloyds Banking Group and Nationwide.

[07/08/2024] Alec Diallo, a postdoctoral Research Associate in the Mobile Intelligence Lab (ICSA) won the SICSA PhD Award for Best Dissertation in Scotland 2024 and Professor Ajitha Rajan won the SICSA Best Supervisor Award 2024. This is the first time Informatics winners triumphed in both categories.

[01/08/2024] Edinburgh University Formula Student (EUFS) once again dominated the Formula Student UK (FSUK) competition at Silverstone, winning an impressive array of awards for the seventh consecutive year. This remarkable achievement was powered by the cutting-edge contributions of students from the School of Informatics, who played a pivotal role in the team’s success.

[31/07/2024] Informatics researchers from the Quantum Software Lab will be involved in two out of five newly announced EPSRC-funded Quantum Software Hubs, collaborating with colleagues in Oxford and Heriot-Watt.

[18/07/2024] abrdn and the University of Edinburgh have announced a pioneering project out of their partnership Centre for Investing Innovation that will harness generative artificial intelligence (AI) to support the firm’s investment research process.

[04/07/2024] Yana Knight, an innovative cartoonist and illustrator affiliated with the University of Edinburgh, presented her pioneering AI-augmented artworks at the 29th International Symposium on Electronic Art. Knight's work fuses human creativity and artificial intelligence (AI) to develop new forms of non-linear visual narratives and experiences.

[24/06/2024] School of Informatics graduate, Elijah Hoole won an Inspire Launch Grow Award for his company RoadGauge Ltd, which aims to enhance the detection and management of common road problems, such as potholes. RoadGauge’s approach not only promises to streamline maintenance procedures but also aims to do so in an environmentally friendly way. The Award includes 10 free hours of legal expertise for the company.

[21/06/2024] Nina Kudryashova, Nikolay Malkin and Emily Allaway have been awarded one of the University of Edinburgh’s most prestigious fellowships. Dr Kudryashova is currently a Research Associate at the Institute for Adaptive and Neural Computation. Dr Malkin and Dr Allaway will join the School from the University of Montreal and Columbia University respectively.

[20/06/2024] Fiona McNeill and Judy Robertson from the School of Informatics will survey high school students in Scotland on how they use artificial intelligence (AI) in their schoolwork, aiming to give the first national picture on how this growing technology affects their day-to-day learning.

[08/05/2024] Dr Alex Taylor, Reader in Design Informatics is among 17 recipients of the Bridging Responsible AI Divides (BRAID) Fellowships announced on Tuesday, 7 May. The Fellows, appointed from universities across the UK, will apply research expertise from humanities and arts including data ethics, copyright law, digital design and qualitative analysis to address questions around the responsible use of AI.

[29/04/2024] Quantum Week Scotland, hosted by the Quantum Software Lab, took place in Edinburgh between the 15th and 19th of April and attracted more than 500 academics, researchers, students, globally leading quantum computing companies and government representatives who explored scientific advancements, innovation, and impact in the field of quantum computing.

[26/04/2024] John Sykes, a 3rd year Computer Science student won the 2024 targetjobs Undergraduate of the Year Award in the category of Software Engineering. This year's award ceremony took place on Friday 26 April in London’s Canary Wharf.

[23/04/2024] Jane Hillston, professor of Quantitative Modelling and former Head of the School of Informatics was presented with her MBE at an investiture ceremony held at Buckingham Palace on Friday 19 April 2024.

[18/04/2024] The School has been awarded the Athena Swan Silver Award; it was announced in March this year. The Athena Swan charter is a framework used to address gender equality and recognises a commitment to breaking down barriers to progression that affect people based on their gender. The School celebrated the achievement on 17th April.

[16/04/2024] 3rd year Informatics students have been working all semester on their System Design Projects - and on Wednesday 3rd April, the public were given the chance to see what they have accomplished at the annual showcase held in the Informatics Forum.

[10/04/2022] Professor Elham Kashefi was appointed a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

[08/04/2024] It is with deep sadness that we have learnt of the passing of our highly respected colleague, Ross Anderson. 

[13/03/2024] School of Informatics scientists have discovered how honeybees can decipher dances by their hive mates that relay directions to food. The findings reveal how, in the complete darkness of the hive, each bee uses its antennae to help interpret the information communicated through the dances.

[11/03/2024] Quantum Week Scotland will take place in Edinburgh between 15th and 19th April, comprising three major events: Quantum Computing Academic Industry Meeting day (AIMDay®), Quantum Computing Theory in Practice (QCTiP) workshop and the Quantum Software Lab’s first-anniversary celebration.

[08/03/2024] The School of Informatics is committed to improving gender equity. From Professor Helen Hastie, our Head of School, through to inspirational academics and members of staff in various roles, to research and taught students, women among us are all great ambassadors to the School. To encourage our staff and students to foster and advance women’s achievements, we asked them to tell us about women who inspire them, and why.

[12/02/2024] Ebtehal Alotaibi, an Artificial Intelligence and Robotics PhD student at the School of Informatics is on a mission to increase trust in autonomous vehicles since losing her aunt in a car accident caused by driver error. As founder of startup Pixconvey, she will trial a system which if successful will allow students at the University of Edinburgh Kings Buildings campus to order takeaway food delivered by robot.

[11/02/2024] On the 11th of February, we celebrate the vast contribution that women and girls have made to the scientific world. Although Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields are widely regarded as critical to national economies, so far, most countries, no matter their level of development, have not achieved gender equality in STEM.

[06/02/2024] Researchers from the School of Informatics will be involved in nearly half of the newly announced AI Hubs, further cementing the School’s place as a driving force in the development of AI in the UK.

[23/01/2024] Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, has visited the School of Informatics for the conclusion of the celebrations of 60 years of computer science and Artificial Intelligence (AI) research at Edinburgh.

[16/01/2024] Six colleagues from the School of Informatics were recognised at an event held in dedication of staff who have been with the University for 25 years or more.

[14/01/2024] Ava Khamseh and Heather Yorston, academics at the University of Edinburgh’s School of Informatics both recently completed 3-week intensive teaching periods at the UNESCO African Institute of Mathematical Sciences (AIMS).

[08/01/2024] Professor Ram Ramamoorthy and colleagues from UKRI TAS programme explore the challenges of specifying what trust for autonomous systems means in a recent article published in the Communications of the ACM.