Professor Katie Atkinson

Can you tell us about your role and any research you are involved with?

I am interested in developing explainable AI techniques and getting these used in practice to solve real world problems, particularly in the fields of law and chemistry. I do this work in my role as Professor of Computer Science through which I also enjoy engaging students in projects to get hands-on with challenging AI tasks with industrial partners with whom I collaborate.

I have another role in the university as Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Director of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Sustainability Research. This role is focused on leading the University's newly-established interdisciplinary research centre, which is aimed at bringing together and supporting researchers with different types of knowledge, experience and skills from across a wide range of disciplines. The centre also engages with national and international experts from academia and industry, with the overall aim of convening teams to drive forward impactful research contributing to outcomes for the UN's Sustainable Development Goals.

My research is enriched through engaging with a wider international community working on shared research interests. Through my interactions with these external communities, I have been appointed to a number of external roles, such as panel member for Lawtech UK, Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Artificial Intelligence and Law journal, and member of the Artificial Intelligence Advisory Board of the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice (CEPEJ).

I have found working in academia to be very rewarding through being able to contribute new knowledge and techniques on an exciting area of research in science and engineering, and share this learning with the next generation. The journey has not always been smooth, with stumbling blocks arising in experiments, funding and curveballs from the external environment. But these have all provided me with learning points that I have been able to take forward on the exciting and challenging path to developing future innovations.

Find out more about Katie here.