As the title of this post suggests, this is a call for potential industry partners and/or collaborators to learn more about an exciting research opportunity, to register their interest, and, hopefully, to ultimately commit to participating.
Jump to the flyer below to read detailed information or read on for the headlines.
Background to this Opportunity
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). At the end of 2022, UKRI announced a significant opportunity for academic institutes and research organisations to apply for funding under “EPSRC Centres for Doctoral Training” in order to create a series of Centres for Doctoral which would be designed to meet contemporary skills needs.
City, University of London, and the University of Warwick are proposing an innovative CDT for Diversity in Data Visualization, to be known as DIVERSE-CDT that will seek to accomplish the following:
- Develop effective approaches to data analysis – identifying and creatively solve data problems & understanding solutions
- Train data analysts in innovative visual methods – up-skilling a generation of data scientists in diverse methods & domains
- Make data science research attractive to a diverse body of analysts & researchers – improving diversity in data science
- Work with a diverse set of partners to develop the centre – addressing the skills shortage & working on real world problems
Commercial Partners and Collaborators: What's in it for you?
For the academic leaders behind this bid, their ambition is to train 60 PhD students in diverse visual data science, design, and research methods over a period of 8 years in 5 cohorts.
They will apply to the EPSRC for £8M of funding. They have secured more than £1M investment from the two universities to support the CDT and seek a further £1M in investment in total from diverse partners with whom they can work to define data-driven research projects that involve two-way knowledge transfer and are informed by real-world data challenges and cutting edge research.
They are looking for partners in industry, the charitable & not-for-profit sectors, to help make this training programme happen.
They are seeking collaborators who can work with them to identify skills needs, to shape the training programme, or contribute directly (by part funding PhDs) or in kind (through mentoring, data sharing, setting data challenges or hosting internships).
They want, and indeed need, the PhD students to work in creative and innovative ways on real-world problems, to learn from these contexts, and to use their research skills and knowledge to explore real-world opportunities and deliver real-world solutions.
That’s where partners come in. Collaborating with the DIVERSE-CDT bid involves multiple opportunities and benefits:
- engagement with academic experts
- participating in hackathons and data challenges
- sharing data, software or equipment
- attending and hosting open days
- attending or giving seminars
- defining the problems on which students work
- applying the latest research to your data science
- offering mentoring or training
- gaining knowledge and capacity through internships
- co-funding studentships and advising students
Next steps...
I’ve expressed a strong interest in participating in some of the CDT programme teaching delivery and I’m therefore keen to help spread the word about this excellent opportunity for any other potential commercial partners and/or collaborators.
With a September 2023 deadline for submission, potential partners and collaborators would need to register their interest by the end of August.
If you would like to learn more about this opportunity, or discuss your potential involvement, please contact any of the academic leads listed below:
- Prof. Jason Dykes at City ([email protected])
- Prof. Stephanie Wilson at City ([email protected])
- Prof. Cagatay Turkay at Warwick ([email protected])
