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The School of Informatics at Edinburgh possesses a combination of breadth and strength of research unparalleled elsewhere in the UK and competitive worldwide.
Edinburgh was the only University in the UK awarded the top 5*A rating in Computer Science in the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise. With 87.1 research active staff submitted for assessment, we are also the UK's biggest research group in this area. Our teaching was rated as 'excellent' in the last Teaching Quality Assurance exercise.
The research environment is thriving, attracting a research grant income of £5m per annum.
Research is carried out within Research Institutes, which are administratively lightweight and facilitate boundary-crossing research. Institutes provide a community for fruitful exchange between researchers in closely related areas. Most contain several research groups, each focusing on a coherent research theme.
Below is a list of the Institutes and a brief description of their research field.
INSTITUTE FOR ADAPTIVE AND NEURAL COMPUTATION
Theoretical and empirical study of brain processes and artificial learning
systems, drawing on neuroscience, cognitive science, computer science,
computational science, mathematics and statistics.
CENTRE FOR INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS AND THEIR APPLICATIONS
Basic and applied research and development in knowledge representation
and reasoning. Through its applications institute (AIAI) it works with
others to deploy the technologies associated with this research.
INSTITUTE FOR COMMUNICATING AND COLLABORATIVE SYSTEMS
Basic and applied study of communication among humans and between humans
and machines using text, speech, and graphics for interactive dialogue.
INSTITUTE FOR COMPUTING SYSTEMS ARCHITECTURE
Architecture and engineering of future computing systems: performance
and scalability; innovative algorithms, architectures, compilers, languages
and protocols.
INSTITUTE OF PERCEPTION, ACTION AND BEHAVIOUR
Linking computational action, perception, representation, transformation
and generation processes to real or virtual worlds: computer vision, mobile
and assembly robotics, music perception and visualization.
LABORATORY FOR FOUNDATIONS OF COMPUTER SCIENCE
Developing and applying foundational understanding of computation and
communication: formal models, mathematical theories, and software tools.
Certain important research areas are studied by several institutes from different points of view. In some cases Research Programmes have been organized as less formal cross-institute collaborative research groupings.
SOFTWARE ENGINEERING
Applies a wide range of methodologies and techniques to
software engineering problems: empirical studies; applications of AI
techniques, computer science,
mathematics, and cognitive science.
BIOINFORMATICS
Bioinformatics at Edinburgh includes research within Informatics, Biology
and Biomedicine. It investigates a wide spectrum of problems at a variety
of levels of detail. For example: understanding gene regulation and embryo
development; analysing genetic variation ; understanding the forces that
shape gene and genome evolution; understanding of the development and functioning of specific neural structures.
SYSTEM LEVEL INTEGRATION
SLI will make possible new forms of system, integrating transduction,
computation and communication on a single chip. The design, analysis and
correct implementation of SLI devices presents new research challenges,
and the programme aims to bring relevant expertise within Informatics to
bear on selected problems in the area.
PROCESSES, EVENTS AND ACTIVITY
The representation and reasoning with and about plans, processes, events,
activity and behaviour is a common theme that is being explored by almost
any Institute within Informatics and in related areas within the University.
A wide range of approaches and techniques are being employed. This
collaboration is to help exchange between the various groups and approaches.
REASONING
The aim of the Reasoning Programme is to promote interaction between
all the researchers in the School of Informatics at the University of Edinburgh
who are studying reasoning. This covers both automated and interactive
work on the mechanisation of reasoning and investigations into the reasoning of
human and other animals.
http://www.edinburghstanfordlink.org/
The Human Communication Research Centre (HCRC) at the University of
Edinburgh has secured funding from the Scottish Economic Development Agency,
known as Scottish Enterprise, to fund collaborative activities with the
Center for the Study of Language and Information (CSLI) at Stanford University.
The funding is for five years. The activities will encompass basic and
strategic research, training and technology transfer in speech and language
processing. The aim of Scottish Enterprise in funding this link is to produce
a sustainable research pipeline, feeding from pure research through research
prototypes to eventual commercial exploitation upon which long term, stable,
economic development in Scotland can be based. The first round of funding
will be of up to £2m to be distributed as grants, with an additional
£2.5m allocated for a second round of grant applications.
INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH COLLABORATION IN DEPENDABILITY
DIRC is seeking effective solutions to the challenging problems concerning
the dependability of large, complex systems. These systems are composed
of computers, and the people and organisations that directly depend on
these computers. Five Universities are involved in the collaboration: City
University (London), Edinburgh University, Lancaster University, University
of Newcastle upon Tyne (the project leader), York University.
INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH COLLABORATION IN ADVANCED KNOWLEDE TECHNOLOGIES
The AKT project is an Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration funded
by the UK's Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. Its six-year,
multi-million pound programme brings together internationally-recognised
research groups from the Universities of Southampton, Aberdeen, Edinburgh,
Sheffield and the Open University under the directorship of Professor Nigel
Shadbolt, to develop and extend a range of technologies to provide integrated
methods and services through the knowledge lifecycle of capture, modelling,
reuse, publishing and maintenance; services taking knowledge from cradle
to grave.
informatics has strong links to and interactions with a wide variety of other disciplines. The School contributes to a number of interdisciplinary research units, both within the University of Edinburgh, and beyond.
HUMAN COMMUNICATION RESEARCH CENTRE
An interdisciplinary research centre bringing together theories and
methods from several formal and experimental disciplines to understand
better how people communicate.
NATIONAL e-SCIENCE CENTRE
Established to lead, stimulate and sustain the development of e-Science
in the UK, to contribute significantly to its international development
and to ensure that its techniques are rapidly propagated to commerce and
industry.
Other Associated Centres
CENTRE FOR SPEECH TECHNLOGY RESEARCH
CENTRE FOR NEUROSCIENCE
RESEARCH
CENTRE FOR FUNCTIONAL IMAGING STUDIES
INSTITUTE FOR SYSTEM LEVEL INTEGRATION
THE EDINBURGH VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT CENTRE
EDINBURGH PARALLEL COMPUTING CENTRE
CENTRE FOR FORENSIC STATISTICS AND LEGAL REASONING
We offer a wide variety of undergraduate and postgraduate courses and degrees with sponsorship schemes available at all levels.
Our degrees combine fundamental scientific understanding of information and computation, together with development of the practical skills and engineering methodologies needed to implement robust and reliable hardware and software systems. Our courses offer a wide choice of material drawing on mathematics, engineering, physics, commerce, telecommunications, linguistics, sociology and psychology as well as our core disciplines.
With its strong research environment, Informatics is the ideal place for postgraduate study. Prospective research students have the freedom of proposing their own research project, provided they have identified a suitable supervisor from within the School.
Our students graduate with a solid scientific understanding that allows them to adapt to changing technologies, together with the practical skills required to analyse, design, implement and maintain computer-based systems. They are in demand for jobs across industry, commerce, the arts and academia. Some have founded and now run multi-million pound businesses.
The taught Masters degrees are one-year courses in advanced skills, with a six-month taught component and a six-month project. Students can study:
Visit http://www.inf.ed.ac.uk/ or contact Diana Sisu, tel +44 131 651 3248 or by e-mail diana. sisu @ ed.ac.uk .
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