[12/03/2024] The Informatics-led training centres are to develop the next generation of highly skilled graduates in areas of machine learning systems and quantum computing. The achievement follows the launch of three doctoral training centres in Artificial Intelligence (AI) last year. The UK’s centres for doctoral training will be funded by more than £1 billion from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), business partners and universities. They will support training and research in applied AI, quantum technologies, future telecommunications and engineering biology, across the UK. Machine learning systems The EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Machine Learning Systems, led by the University’s School of Informatics, will train students across machine learning – the foundation of modern AI methods and computer systems – which is critical to how AI methods are effectively implemented. The result will be PhD graduates capable of advancing real-world AI capability across a spectrum of industries and platforms including medical devices, mobile phones, networked systems and data centres. Quantum computing The University’s School of Informatics will lead the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Quantum Informatics (QI CDT) in collaboration with the Universities of Oxford and Strathclyde, Heriot-Watt University and University College London. The Centre will provide advanced training in the structure, behaviour and interaction of hardware, software and applications in quantum computing – based on small-scale technology that enables high performance, rapid processing. Engineering design The School will also support the new Centre for Doctoral Training in Sensing, Processing and AI for Defence and Security (SPADS) which is aimed at enabling a safer society, addressing the opportunities and threats inherent in emerging and disruptive technologies in the context of the challenging global security environment. It will equip graduates with skills in engineering hardware design, sensing and data processing and AI and will be led by the University’s School of Engineering in partnership with Heriot-Watt University, with further support from the Schools of Mathematics. We need more skills in Scotland and the UK to ensure that we are at the forefront of technological development that improves our lives, creates meaningful jobs, and ensures our planet flourishes. In training almost six hundred graduate students over the next decade in the most modern, relevant and attractive fields of science, engineering and mathematics, these Centres for Doctoral Training together show how the breadth and the quality of work carried out in the University sits at the heart of our future prosperity. Professor Iain Gordon Head of the College of Science and Engineering, University of Edinburgh As innovators across the world break new ground faster than ever, it is vital that government, business and academia invests in ambitious UK talent, giving them the tools to pioneer new discoveries that benefit all our lives while creating new jobs and growing the economy. Michelle Donelan Science and Technology Secretary The Centres for Doctoral Training announced today will help to prepare the next generation of researchers, specialists and industry experts across a wide range of sectors and industries. Professor Charlotte Deane Executive Chair of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, part of UK Research and Innovation Related links CDT website on the Informatics website Sensing, Processing, and AI for Defence and Security Publication date 12 Mar, 2024
