Thirty colleagues appointed as Turing Fellows for 2021-22 academic year

We are delighted to announce the appointment of 30 academic colleagues from our University as Turing Fellows. Eighteen are joining The Alan Turing Institute, the UK’s national institute for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, for the first time.

The appointments are among 400 announced today from across the Institute’s 13 university partners, following a call which took place earlier this year. The new 12-month fellowships start on 1 October 2021.

The wide-ranging research expertise of the new Fellows at Southampton encompasses all faculties and includes colleagues from Mathematical Sciences, Engineering, Biological Sciences, Electronics and Computer Science, Chemistry, Ocean and Earth Science, Winchester School of Art, Geography and Environmental Science, Economics, Social and Political Sciences, Physics and Astronomy.

Turing Fellows are scholars with proven research excellence in data science, artificial intelligence (AI) or a related field whose research would be significantly enhanced through active involvement with the Turing network of universities and partners.

Turing Institute Director and Chief Executive Adrian Smith said, “It gives me great pleasure to welcome this new group of Fellows. This cohort is incredibly multidisciplinary and diverse. They will bring a rich range of expertise and ensure we continue to do world-leading, impactful research.”

Professor Mark Spearing, Vice President (Research and Enterprise), commented on the importance of Data Science and AI for the university, saying “Almost all areas of our academic endeavour are being radically changed by the development of data science”.

New Turing Fellow, Christine Currie, Professor of Operational Research in the School of Mathematical Sciences, expressed her happiness at the appointment: “Being appointed as a fellow of The Alan Turing Institute is a great privilege and I am really looking forward to making the most of the opportunities for developing new collaborations with other data scientists, as well as the Turing’s support for widening the impact of my research.”

Dr Owen Rackham, Associate Professor of Systems Biology within the School of Biological Sciences, who is also a new Turing Fellow, commented: “Data is an essential currency in biological research, but what matters is transforming this data into meaningful and actionable insights. For this reason, I am particularly excited to be involved with the Turing Institute to work more closely with the exciting developments taking place in artificial intelligence and ultimately to use these to find new ways to understand and treat human disease.”

Dr Erengul Dodd, Associate Professor of Actuarial Science in the School of Mathematical Sciences, and also a new Turing Fellow explained: “My research focuses on the application of statistical modelling, inference and prediction to actuarial, demographic and health data under model uncertainty. The Turing brings leading researchers and non-academic partners together to work on practical problems relevant to my research area. Being able to work with these potential partners on challenging problems is not only very exciting but also gives me an opportunity to help policymakers make better decisions on matters related to my research.”

Returning Turing Fellow, Mike Wald, Professorial Fellow – Education in the School of Electronics and Computer Science, added: “Being a Turing Fellow has benefited collaborations and networking due to The Alan Turing Institute’s worldwide reputation.”

Full list of Turing Fellows at Southampton

• Dr Selin Ahipasaoglu, Mathematical Sciences
• Dr Thomas Blumensath, Engineering
• Professor Jacek Brodzki, Mathematical Sciences
• Dr Stefano Coniglio, Mathematical Sciences
• Dr Christine Currie, Mathematical Sciences
• Dr Alex Dickinson, Engineering
• Dr Erengul Dodd, Mathematical Sciences
• Dr Rob Ewing, Biological Sciences
• Dr Kate Farrahi, Electronics and Computer Science
• Professor Jeremy Frey, Chemistry
• Professor Bharathram Ganapathisubramani, Engineering
• Dr Thomas Gernon, Ocean and Earth Science
• Dr George Konstantinidis, Electronics and Computer Science
• Professor Pauline Leonard, Sociology, Social Policy and Criminology
• Professor Ben MacArthur, Mathematical Sciences
• Professor Sunil Manghani, Winchester School of Art
• Dr Stuart Middleton, Electronics and Computer Science
• Dr Helen Ogden, Mathematical Sciences and S3RI
• Dr Owen Rackham, Biological Sciences
• Professor Sarvapali Ramchurn, Electronics and Computer Science
• Dr Matthew Ryan, Politics and International Relations
• Dr Ruben Sanchez-Garcia, Mathematical Sciences
• Professor Francesco Shankar, Physics and Astronomy
• Dr Sebastian Stein, Electronics and Computer Science
• Professor Andrew Tatem, Geography and Environmental Sciences
• Dr Pamela Ugwudike, Economics, Social and Political Sciences
• Professor Mike Wald, Electronics and Computer Science
• Professor Ling Wang, Engineering
• Professor David Woods, Mathematical Sciences and S3RI
• Dr Alain Zemkoho, Mathematical Sciences