Turing AI Pioneer Interdisciplinary Fellowships

Funding for researchers without a background in core AI research who want to develop advanced AI approaches to tackle a specific research challenge in their chosen field.

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is providing this opportunity for established researchers from across the UKRI remit without a background in core artificial intelligence (AI) research who want to build domain-relevant AI capability and develop advanced AI approaches to tackle a specific research challenge in their chosen field.

The fellow’s proposed programme of research is expected to:

• Demonstrate how AI can accelerate progress or unlock new capabilities in the applicant’s domain which would not be possible otherwise.
• Tackle problems that are recognised as urgent or high value by relevant academic or non-academic communities.
• Deliver solutions that could lead to new tools, services, or processes with significant impact.

The opportunity aims to support the delivery of the UK Government AI Opportunities Action Plan (AIOP) by investing in up to 12 Turing AI Pioneer Interdisciplinary Fellowships. Researchers without a background in core AI research will develop domain relevant AI capability, using it to advance progress against a challenge-driven research problem in their home domain. The opportunity will form part of a suite of investments supporting the government’s AIOP ambitions.

Applicants should have a vision of how the use of advanced AI techniques could enable potentially transformative new avenues in their research and that of their broader community. Applicants should benefit from the flexibility and time the fellowship will provide to enable them to build domain relevant AI skills and capability. Alongside the development of the fellow’s own AI skills and capability, research leadership skills, and future career direction, the fellowship should also deliver high-quality domain-specific research that embeds AI approaches.

Fellows will be expected to undertake professional development and upskilling activities in technical AI and demonstrate how their enhanced AI capability will be applied to drive transformative change within their discipline. While fellows are not expected to be leading AI experts by the end of the fellowship, they should be equipped to lead a team that can effectively apply interdisciplinary AI techniques to deliver world-class AI-enabled research outcomes.

Applicants should be established in their field, with a demonstrated ability to lead a research-focused group and drive research directions and the capability to drive broader adoption of AI approaches across their domain. Applicants are expected to frame their proposals around clearly defined, domain-specific research challenges, working closely with stakeholders across and beyond academia to develop a research programme with the potential for impactful outcomes through AI embedded approaches.

UKRI particularly welcomes proposals that support government missions, such as the Industrial Strategy, or are addressing domain specific research challenges in the following areas, where significant opportunities to accelerate progress through embedding AI exist:

• Engineering biology.
• Frontier physics.
• Materials science.
• Medical research.
• Quantum technology.

This is not an exclusionary list and proposals from other areas across UKRI remit including non-STEM disciplines are also welcome.

Applicants are encouraged to frame their proposals in terms of:

• The potential for AI to solve the identified challenge.
• The potential for AI to have an outsized impact and deliver impact on the domain in the near term.
• How the area builds on existing UK research strengths.
• How advancements in these areas will drive progress across government missions and Industrial Strategy sectors.

Applicants should collaborate with an established AI specialist or researcher. The collaborator will support the fellow’s development and collaborate on the planned research throughout the life of the fellowship. Research organisations should support potential applicants in identifying suitable collaborators. Applicants are expected to have identified a collaborator at the outline application stage and worked with them to ensure the proposed vision is realistic in the AI landscape. If invited to submit a full application, the applicant is expected to co-create the planned programme with the AI collaborator.

Fellows should build strong relationships and cross-sector collaborations with potential end users of their research to drive their research direction. This includes industry, policy makers, public bodies, charities and other groups. It is expected that fellows will continue to engage stakeholders throughout the duration of the fellowship.