The Alan Turing Institute has appointed four new Directors of Science and Innovation to its senior scientific leadership team, tasked with addressing some of the biggest issues facing society.
The announcement, made today (Wednesday 14 February), is a key milestone in implementing the Turing’s new strategy which shapes how the Institute will use data science and AI for social good.
The Turing’s work is centred around three grand challenges focusing on environment and sustainability, health, and defence and national security, backed by a continued commitment to fundamental AI and data science research.
The challenge-led approach will also see the Turing carry out a programme of activity to ensure the UK has a fair and equitable digital society where data science and AI improves productivity and economic growth.
Professor Marc Deisenroth will lead the Environment and Sustainability Grand Challenge which aims to find solutions to decarbonisation and environmental systems. Professor Deisenroth joins the Turing from UCL where he is the Google DeepMind Chair of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning and part of the UNESCO Chair on Artificial Intelligence.
Dr Andrew Duncan joins the Turing from Imperial College London to lead the Turing’s Fundamental Research. Dr Duncan has been a senior lecturer in the Department of Mathematics at Imperial College London and was Lead Scientist in the defence division at UK technology company Improbable. He has previously been a group leader for the Data Centric Engineering Programme at the Turing.
Professor Aldo Faisal will head up the Grand Challenge in health which aims to improve the nation’s health and wellbeing. He is a Professor of AI and Neuroscience at Imperial College London and the Founding Director of the UKRI Centre in AI for Healthcare and the UKRI Centre in AI for Digital Healthcare. He also holds a UKRI Turing AI Fellowship and holds a Chair in Digital Care at the University of Bayreuth in Germany.
Professor Tim Watson will lead the Defence and National Security Grand Challenge which aims to ensure data science and AI plays a part in protecting the UK and our allies from security threats. Professor Watson joined the Turing in January 2022 to take up the role of Programme Director of Defence and Security. He is also Director of the Cyber Security Centre at Loughborough University.
Dr Kedar Pandya, Executive Director, Cross-Council Programmes at UKRI, said: “We welcome this next step in the Turing’s delivery of their new strategy. These four new Directors of Science and Innovation will help the Turing go even further in harnessing UK expertise to solve pressing global challenges.”
Government Chief Scientific Adviser, Dame Angela McLean said: “I am excited by the potential of AI to change our world for the better. These are all areas where AI is starting to have an impact and I am looking forward to seeing what these grand challenge areas can deliver under the leadership of the new directors.”
Demis Hassabis, Co-Founder and CEO, Google DeepMind, said: "I congratulate The Alan Turing Institute on the appointment of these four new Directors to its senior scientific leadership team. We are living through a time of tremendous progress in the field of Artificial Intelligence, and will need their energy and insight to make sure its promises are shared by all. Turing himself once put it best, 'We can only see a short distance ahead, but we can see plenty there that needs to be done.'”
Later this year, the directors will announce their priorities for their respective areas of challenge-led science and innovation. They will deliver these priorities alongside a range of key national and international partners.
The aim of the priorities, known as missions, is to ensure that society benefits from the positive impact of AI and data science while minimising the risks that emerging technologies can pose.
Professor Mark Girolami, Chief Scientist at The Alan Turing Institute, said: “Harnessing the power of data science and AI to address these global challenges is going to require a remarkable effort but we’re confident that we can make meaningful progress with the expertise of our new science and innovation directors. We’re determined to make a significant and lasting impact on the nation’s health, our environment and the safety of our citizens.”
The Turing has also appointed Professor Jon Crowcroft and Professor Mike Wooldridge as special advisers to the executive to further boost the Institute’s scientific leadership.
Dr Jean Innes, Chief Executive of The Alan Turing Institute, said: “This is an important year for our AI ecosystem, as we come together to ensure powerful new technologies help us find solutions to society’s greatest challenges and I warmly welcome these exciting new appointments to our scientific and organisational leadership.
“Combined with our existing capabilities and challenge-led approach to science and innovation, this marks an exciting new chapter for the Turing as we play our part working with colleagues in academia, civil society, industry and government.”
