AI News

AI news from the Centre and the wider University.

Centre news 2025/26

ELLIS Manchester Summer School
11/12/2025

We are pleased to announce that our fourth annual ELLIS Summer School on Machine Learning for Healthcare and Biology will take place from 7-9 July 2026 in the Alan Turing Building at The University of Manchester.

For more information, please visit the ELLIS Manchester Summer School website.

Kaski Award as the ELLIS Institute launches
18/11/2025

AI Fundamentals’ close collaborators in Finland have launched the new ELLIS Institute. Several Manchester-based colleagues attended the high-profile AI Summit and AI Gala in Turku, where Professor Kaski was presented with the AI Leader of the Year award.

The Centre for AI Fundamentals looks forward to new activities as we continue our close relationship with colleagues in Finland.
We are recruiting!
11/11/2025

Join the Centre for AI Fundamentals as a Research Associate or Research Fellow in Machine Learning. There are three posts available. The closing date for applications is 1 December 2025.

The post-holder will work on a project from Professor Kaski’s UKRI Turing AI World-Leading Fellowship. Research here includes work to develop new principles and methods for Advanced User Modelling, sequential decision making and Automatic Experimental Design, with and without a Human-in-the-Loop.

For full details, please visit The University of Manchester jobs site.
Omar Rivasplata is 'The Expert'
01/11/2025

'Magnify' is a brand new regular research magazine from The University of Manchester and Omar is featured as the very first 'expert'. Omar was asked about his time at Google DeepMind and his reaction to the emergence of ChatGPT as well as his more general thoughts on the impact of AI in the future. You can read his interview on 'Magnify'.
Anirbit Mukherjee joins TMLR as Action Editor
25/10/2025

Transactions on Machine Learning Research (TMLR) is a new venue for dissemination of machine learning research that is intended to complement JMLR while supporting the unmet needs of a growing ML community. TMLR emphasizes technical correctness over subjective significance, to ensure that we facilitate scientific discourse on topics that may not yet be accepted in mainstream venues but may be important in the future. Anirbit joins colleagues Mauricio Alvarez and Michele Caprio on the TMLR Editorial Board.
Michele Caprio organising EurIPS workshop
10/10/2025

Still deciding between NeurIPS and EurIPS? Maybe this will help! We are delighted to announce that the 1st Workshop on Epistemic Intelligence in Machine Learning (EIML) will take place in conjunction with EurIPS 2025, this December in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The workshop will bring together researchers to discuss the foundations and applications of epistemic uncertainty in machine learning. This workshop seeks contributions from researchers across machine learning, statistics, philosophy of science, decision theory, and related disciplines to explore theoretical foundations, algorithmic innovations, and practical applications that center around epistemic uncertainty (EU). For full details including the list of speakers, please visit the EurIPS 2025 website.
Chen Chen joins our ELLIS Unit
01/10/2025

ELLIS Manchester are pleased to announce that Chen Chen has joined our ELLIS - European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems unit!

Chen is a lecturer in Computer Vision at The University of Sheffield and a core member of Insigen Research, Centre for Machine Intelligence and ShefAI. Chen is an ELLIS scholar in the ELLIS Robust Machine Learning Program and also holds an honorary fellow position at Imperial College London.

Chen's research expertise fits neatly within our unit and as we look to expand further, Chen will be a very valuable person to have around.
Michele Caprio to open prestigious SIPTA Seminar Series
01/09/2025

Dr Michele Caprio has been invited to open the prestigious SIPTA Seminar Series for the 25/26 academic year with a talk on 1 October 2025 (14:00 UK time). This series only hosts 10 seminars a year, making Michele’s invitation a real honour. Learn more about the SIPTA Seminars.

Centre news 2024/25

Jason Hartford to speak at NeurIPS 2025 CauScien Workshop
28/08/2025

Dr Jason Hartford will be presenting at the CauScien Workshop at NeurIPS 2025, one of the world’s leading AI conferences, on 6 December 2025. Discover more about the CauScien Workshop.
Anirbit Mukherjee selected for Early Career Highlights at IKDD CODS 2025
26/08/2025

Congratulations to Dr Anirbit Mukherjee for being selected for the "Early Career Highlights" of the ACM IKDD International Conference on Data Science (CODS) 2025, which will take place in December.
Mingfei Sun secures early access to the Isambard-AI AIRR service
14/08/2025

We are delighted to announce that AI-FUN researcher Dr Mingfei Sun has successfully secured early access to the UKRI AI Research Resource (AIRR). The project, titled “Leveraging Reinforcement Learning to Improve Decision-Making in Generative Models for Industrial Planning”, has been awarded 2000 GPU hours on the Isambard-AI AIRR service for a duration of three months.
Mauricio Álvarez lectures at Machine Learning Summer School in Perú
13/08/2025

Dr Mauricio A. Álvarez was the invited lecturer on Gaussian Processes and Bayesian Optimisation at the Machine Learning Summer School (MLSS) 2025 in Arequipa, Perú (2–13 August).
New Reader in Machine Learning for the Centre for AI Fundamentals!
10/08/2025

Congratulations to Mauricio A. Alvarez for his promotion to Reader in Machine Learning! A well-deserved recognition of the excellent work Mauricio has done since joining the Department of Computer Science as Senior Lecturer just three years ago.
RAEng Google DeepMind Research Ready Internships: 12 successful interns!
08/08/2025

This month, our 12 Royal Academy of Engineering Google DeepMind Interns have all successfully completed the 'Research Ready' internship programme!

Our team, led by Omar Rivasplata, selected the group from over 50 UK-based applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds and underrepresented demographics. Academic colleagues from across The University of Manchester's three Faculties devised AI-related research projects for the successful interns to select from and shortlisted candidates for their projects.

Alongside the academic and technical supervision, the 8 week programme included training in a range of AI-related topics (thanks to Jason Hartford, Julia Handl, Hongpeng Zhou, Rahul Singh Maharjan, Caterina Doglioni, Satya Prakash Dash) and additional complementary research skills and cohort activities. The programme concluded with a poster session where all of the interns had an opportunity to present their research.

We wish all of the interns well with their future studies and careers and hope to hear from you all in the future!
Omar Rivasplata reflects on Alan Turing’s legacy
01/08/2025

Dr Omar Rivasplata shared his reflections on the 75th anniversary of Alan Turing’s seminal paper "Computing Machinery and Intelligence", highlighting its influence on computer intelligence today and considering how AI continues to mould the future.

Read the article: The past, present, and future of computer intelligence.

Michele Caprio publishes novel paper titled 'The Joys of Categorical Conformal Prediction'
06/07/2025

Dr Michele Caprio has published a paper uncovering how Conformal Prediction not only represents uncertainty via the Conformal Prediction Region, but also exhibits, under minimal assumptions, intrinsic Uncertainty Quantification capabilities. To show this, he introduces a category-theoretic approach to Conformal Prediction. The paper can be downloaded from the following link:

The Joys of Categorical Conformal Prediction
Research Roles Available
30/06/2025

Researchers are invited to apply for the posts of Research Associate or Research Fellow in Machine Learning to work with AI Researchers in the Centre for AI Fundamentals at The University of Manchester. Please visit the University jobs page for full details. Applications close on 22/07/2025.
AI for Research event
25/06/2025

The Centre for AI Fundamentals hosted the AI for Research: How Can AI Disrupt the Research Process? event, bringing together a diverse and passionate community of researchers, academics, and technical staff at The University of Manchester to explore how AI is transforming the research process. Highlights included talks on topics such as Integrating AI into Research Workflows and Researching Ethics with AI, a panel discussion with AI experts, and interactive workshops.
Paper featured in TMLR
19/06/2025

Dr Anirbit Mukherjee's ex-advisee Matteo Tucat's 3rd year undergrad thesis has led to a collaborative paper which was accepted at Transactions on Machine Learning Research. This work invents "delta-GClip", a first-of-its-kind instance of an adaptive gradient algorithm that is simultaneously provably convergent to the global minima of MSE on any neural net at large enough width and competitive against the most popular deep-learning heuristics, even on transformers.
Centre for AI Fundamentals at the Osaka Expo
16/06/2025

The Centre for AI Fundamentals was very pleased to attend a fantastic trip with the Greater Manchester Japan Mission to the Expo 2025 Osaka. The Centre was represented by Dr Mingfei Sum, who joined receptions hosted by the British Embassy and Osaka City alongside the Manchester Day at Osaka Expo and the associated reception at the British Pavilion. Following on from this successful visit, we are looking forward to additional positive collaborations with our colleagues in Japan.
AI-Fun x Robotics liaison event
29/05/2025

The Centre for AI Fundamentals and the Centre for Robotics and AI co-hosted a liaison event featuring lightning talks and networking breaks where researchers, from Professors to PhD students, from both groups had the opportunity to learn about each other's research interests and uncover new collaboration opportunities.
AI-Fun x Maths liaison event
16/05/2025

The Centre for AI Fundamentals and the Department of Mathematics at The University of Manchester co-hosted a liaison event featuring lightning talks and networking breaks where academics and postdoctoral researchers from both groups had the opportunity to learn about each other's research interests and uncover new collaboration opportunities.
University of Liverpool visits Manchester
16/04/2025

Prof Andy Cooper, Dr Xenofon Evangelopoulos, and a small delegation of junior researchers from the University of Liverpool visited the Centre for AI Fundamentals in Manchester as guest speakers in the AI-Fun with ELLIS Seminar Series. Our guests and members of the Centre also attended a networking event designed to promote new connections and explore opportunities for collaboration.
Programme Manager job vacancy
01/04/2025

The Centre for AI Fundamentals is seeking a new Programme Manager. This is an excellent opportunity to be involved with a high-profile research Centre and the Faculty of Science and Engineering’s strategically focused Research Development and Innovation team. For full details, please see the vacancy listing on The University of Manchester Jobs site.
Anirbit Mukherjee joins CFE-CMStatistics 2025
13/02/2025

Anirbit Mukherjee has been appointed to the Senior Program Committee of the CFE-CMStatistics 2025 conference.
ELLIS Manchester Summer School: Registration open
08/02/2025

The 2025 ELLIS Manchester Summer School on Machine Learning for Healthcare and Biology is now open for registration. Initial speakers have been announced. For full details, visit the Ellis website.
Key paper: Global Convergence of SGD on Two Layer Neural Nets
06/02/2025

Anirbit Mukherjee and Pulkit Gopalani (University of Michigan) have published a key new paper in Information and Inference: a Journal of the IMA. You can see full details on our Research Explorer.
Research positions available in AI
15/01/2025

Applicants are invited for the posts of Research Associate or Research Fellow in Machine Learning to work with AI Researchers in the Centre for AI Fundamentals at The University of Manchester. Two posts are available and applications close on 7 Feb 2025. Please visit the University jobs page for full details.
AI-Fun welcomes new colleagues
01/11/2024

Isabel Machado joined us as an internal appointment in October as our new Project Officer and has really hit the ground running, with several projects already making excellent progress; Haripriya Harikumar joins as our new Postdoctoral Research Fellow, who will be a key part of Sami Kaski’s Turing AI World-Leading Fellowship; and Andi Zhang, who will take up a postdoctoral research position at Manchester working with the AI Hub in Generative Models.
AI-Fun and ELLIS at NeurIPS 2024
15/10/2024

Our Centre for AI Fundamentals and ELLIS Unit will be well-represented at the Neural Information Processing Systems Conference (NeurIPS) 2024, with a number of papers accepted and being presented in Vancouver from 10 to 15 December 2024. Visit NeurIPS's conference listing page for further details.
Research positions in Machine Learning
15/08/2024

Positions available for Research Associate or Research Fellow in Machine Learning. Please see ⁠full advertisement on our jobs website. Applications close 15/09/2024.
Dr Wanrong Wang joins AI-FUN
25/07/2024

Dr Wanrong Wang joins AI-FUN as a Research Associate working on the ELIAS project with Sustainable Futures.
Manchester-Heidelberg research fund awarded
15/07/2024

Anirbit Mukherjee has secured a bid for the Manchester – Heidelberg Research Fund, to research optimisation errors in scientific machine learning.
New Paper on PINNs published
01/07/2024

New research explores algebraic inclusion for improving Physics-Informed Neural Networks (PINNs). Read the paper.
New Senior lecturers at AI-FUN
15/06/2024

AI-FUN welcomes Dr Michele Caprio and Dr Omar Rivasplata to The University of Manchester as Senior Lecturers. Learn more about their research interests on our people page.
Research positions in AI at Manchester
07/06/2024

Positions available for Research Associate in Machine Learning at The University of Manchester. Applications close 25 June 2024.
AI-FUN researchers celebrate success
21/05/2024

Congratulations to AI-FUN researchers on recent successes. Manisha Dubey secures a DAAD AI-Net fellowship, Sabina Sloman's submission was accepted as an oral presentation at UAI 2024, and Jianhong Wang's abstract is accepted at ICML 2024.
Centre for AI Fundamentals officially launches
20/04/2024

Centre for AI Fundamentals formally launches at The University of Manchester. Read the full article on our news page.