Our Turing Liaison team recently funded a number of PhD students to go to the 2024 Alan Turing PhD Connect Conference. This is one of the range of approaches we are taking to bridging the gap between the Turing’s goals and the University’s research and academics who reflect these goals.
Supporting PhD students to make connections and discover new collaborations through the Turing will hugely benefit students and the wider data science and AI community, and is an important part of our objective. Below are some statements from the students we funded about their experience at the conference.
Damien Wang
I am Damien, a first-year PhD student from University of Bristol and SWDTP who specializing in psychology and artificial intelligence. The past two days at PhD Connect 2024 have been incredibly fulfilling. I had the opportunity to explore a wide range of PhD projects in AI and data science, engaging in discussions with other attendees and collaboratively tackling problems by leveraging our diverse backgrounds.
Conversations with peers and insights from the panel discussions were truly enlightening. I was also fortunate to represent my group during the Mini-DSG session and deliver my own poster presentation. These experiences have boosted my confidence and skills in presenting, and I’m grateful for the valuable feedback I received on my research.
This two-day journey has inspired me to push forward with even greater motivation. A heartfelt thanks to the Alan Turing Institute and everyone I met along the way!
Ming Chen
The PhD Connect 2024 conference was an incredible opportunity to engage with peers, learn from industry experts, and explore real-world applications of data science and AI. My research interests include learning sciences and emerging technologies in language learning. I would say that one of the highlights for me was participating in group research discussions, which broadened my understanding of AI’s role in addressing societal challenges.
I also appreciated the networking opportunities and the chance to discuss my research with fellow attendees and professionals from diverse sectors. Another interesting part of the conference is the Research Karaoke, which is a great experience for people to have fun and practise doing presentations.
Jizhao Niu
I am grateful to The Jean Golding Institute for funding my attendance at the conference. It was a fantastic opportunity to meet many PhD students from Bristol and beyond, engaging in discussions on health sciences-related projects.
A highlight for me was the training session on how to pitch research effectively, which provided valuable insights and practical skills. We worked as a team to sell an item to other groups, which was both enjoyable and educational.
I learned the importance of tailoring research presentations to audiences with diverse backgrounds — a skill I look forward to applying in the future!
Jingrong Bai
During the conference, we got insightful points on AI-human by Piotr Mirowski from DeepMind. Then, we interacted with the group work and presented karaoke, which was good for us to connect with other PhD students across the UK, also, learned how to prepare a good presentation by Beatriz Costa Gomes. Last but not the least, we shared our research ideas through the poster session. All in all, it is a valuable experience for me to know the AI field and meet all of the awesome people, really appreciate all of the speakers, organizers and students.
Zia Saylor
Perhaps my favorite session was the one on day 2 morning of the conference when we discussed the principles of a good academic presentation. Focusing on basics like practice, maintaining relevancy to the audience, and ensuring that materials were packaged in an alluring way were key methods discussed. Looking at the AI aspect of our learning opportunities, much of the conference consisted of hands-on opportunities to engage with the materials, from designing a workflow that would integrate AI into academia without infringing on the rights and words of academics to developing a mechanism to integrate data on building pricing into an AI cost estimation algorithm that could be made. This enabled us as students to learn more about AI in its many forms and potential for interdisciplinary applications.
Jay Liu
It has been a wonderful journey for me to attending the 2024 Alan Turing AI PhD Conference at Horizon Leeds. It is my first time travelling to Leeds, a fantastic city with fancy malls and restaurants. I am grateful for the great opportunity and generous funding for the program!
I am a PhD student in Finance at the University of Bristol Business School, focusing on understanding the effects of AI and algorithmic decision making in the financial markets. I believe the conference can further improve my understanding on AI and the application of AI on interdisciplinary research!
Zhengzhe Peng
Attending the PhD Connect Conference organized by the Alan Turing Institute was an enriching experience. I particularly appreciated the diverse perspectives shared during interdisciplinary discussions on data science applications. The keynote sessions inspired new ideas for integrating AI into my research, while the networking opportunities allowed me to connect with peers tackling similar challenges. I gained valuable insights into emerging methodologies and practical approaches that will enhance my PhD work.
Boyang Yu
This conference let me engage with the Mini-data group to explore data science applications in real-world challenges, which is what I’m doing as a PhD. I enhanced my presentation skills and learned to communicate complex ideas to a broader audience, inspired by a standout example from the presenter (Dr Beatriz Costa Gomes). I saw some very nice posters and great to have a picture with one of my most favourite poster (and its owner).
Ding Li
Attending the 2024 Turing Phd connect conference is such an unforgettable experience. I have met a bunch of bioinformatics students from various universities and institutions sharing their research with AI and Machine Learning. The poster and presentation session left me with impression on how research from other fields could help with my own PhD project. During the session, I discussed with Mr Muizz who is also from University of Bristol, but another school of Engineering Mathematics, and heard about how he applied AI on topology of insects’ wings in traditional species classification and phylogeny. It would never happen if there were no such an opportunity.
Kerstin Nothnagel
Attending the Alan Turing Institute PhD Connect Conference was an incredible experience. Highlights included Dr Piotr Mirowski’s inspiring keynote on human-machine collaboration and the ‘Mini Data Study Group,’ where we tackled real-world challenges like ICU surge prediction and cancer forecasting.
This event was a perfect prelude to my upcoming ATI funded UK-Italy Trustworthy AI Visiting Researcher Programme in Milan, where I’ll collaborate with global researchers to explore ‘Global AI Policies and Regulations and Their Impact on Healthcare.’ The project is reinforced by the importance of unifying AI policies to ensure technology benefits everyone equally, closing economic gaps rather than widening them.