The North East’s reputation as a major hub for space, data
science and the digital industries has received a further boost with the
announcement of a new £1.3 million Centre for Doctoral Training in the field of
data intensive science.
The Centre – which will be known as NUdata – will be run by
Northumbria and Newcastle Universities. It will be supported by over 40 industrial
partners across range of sectors within the region, UK and across the globe.
The Government is keen to make the UK a leader in artificial
intelligence and data science and there is an urgent need for data scientists
qualified at PhD level across all sectors. The Department of Business, Energy
and Industrial Strategy asked research councils to support the development of these
crucial roles.
The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) has now announced the funding of five new centres for
doctoral training in data intensive science across the UK at a cost of £6.5
million – including almost £1.3 million to NUdata to train 21 PhD students over
the next six years.
Researchers at both Northumbria and Newcastle Universities are
already gathering, analysing and interpreting vast amounts of big data in the
fields of solar physics, space physics, cosmology and astrophysics to unravel
the secrets of our Universe.
They joined forces on a bid to create a new centre which
would draw on this world-leading expertise to train a new generation of
scientists in artificial intelligence and data science using astronomy as its inspiration.
The universities have attracted more than 40 industrial
partners to the centre, including Amazon’s Alexa, the BBC, Britishvolt, GSK
GlaxoSmithKline, Marks and Spencer, the Met Office, the National Audit Office, Northumbrian
Water, Ordnance Survey, Procter & Gamble, Tesco and the World Food
Programme – all of which rely heavily on big data to deliver their services.
Professor James McLaughlin, Head of Northumbria University’s Solar and Space Physics research group, led
the bid to create the NUdata centre.
He said: “Our vision is to train students in STFC science
and data science in a city renowned for both. We will train a new generation of
PhD students to address the data challenges presented by STFC frontier research,
as well as applying those skills to different sectors of the broader economy.
“Businesses are absolutely reliant on big data to succeed,
and so industrial involvement is at the heart of this new centre for doctoral
training.
“In designing these new PhDs we have made a deliberate
effort to work with a range of companies from household names, large
multinationals, government-type organisations and local SMEs. Given the city’s reputation
for the data and digital sectors, we hope that this Centre for Doctoral
Training will provide a key contribution to the levelling up agenda and put the
UK at the forefront of artificial intelligence and the data revolution.”
Professor
Tamara Rogers, Professor of Computational Astrophysics at Newcastle
University and Newcastle University’s NUdata lead added: “The UK faces a
shortage of skills in managing, visualising, analysing and interpreting large,
complex datasets and high rates of data flow. These skills are increasingly
needed across a wide range of sectors as complex data analysis underpins many
aspects of society.
“Driven by the need to handle the ever-increasing data rates
and high-performance computing generally, our new Centre for Doctoral Training
is in a strong position to contribute to developing these skills by training
the next generation of PhD-qualified data specialists.”
Professor Grahame Blair, Executive Director of Programmes at
the Science and Technology Facilities Council, said: “Big data is the linchpin
of big science. This funding will bring on the next generation of data science
experts, to ensure the UK research and innovation sector continues to thrive.
“When processing and analysing huge quantities of data, a
vital step on the road to scientific discoveries, scientists gain invaluable
skills which could also help with industrial and societal challenges.
“These exciting research projects take the expertise gained
during frontier research in astronomy and particle physics, to find solutions
and techniques which can also be applied in industry and society.”
Students at NUdata will learn a thorough grounding in
computational and data science techniques, machine learning, deep learning
algorithms and big data challenges based on astronomy-related data before
moving on to a six-month placement, choosing to work with one of the many
business partners.
The placements will help them to gain explicit knowledge of
the industry as well as additional expertise in data intensive techniques and
their application. It will also mean that graduates of NUdata have the skills
required to work either in industry or academia.
Northumbria and Newcastle Universities have a
long-established tradition of working collaboratively for the benefit of people
living in the city and beyond. This partnership approach has been strengthened
even further through the Collaborative Newcastle Universities Agreement (CNUA) – combining the Universities’ collective power, expertise and
world-leading research.
NUdata is one of several joint Centres for Doctoral Training
between the two universities, which also includes the successful ONE Planet Doctoral
Training Partnership and ReNU which is helping create a new generation of specialists capable of tackling the
most challenging problems in renewable energy.
For more information or details on how to apply for a PhD at
the centre, visit the NUdata web pages or follow @NUdataCDT on Twitter.
