LIV.INNO kick off meeting held for final cohort of students
A kick off meeting for the final cohort of LIV.INNO students who started their PhDs at the beginning of October 2025 has taken place in Liverpool.
It was the first chance for the four students who started this year and their supervisors as well the directors and managers of the Centre for Doctoral Training to meet each other in person. This new cohort of students added to the first three cohorts totalling 32 students makes this one of the largest training initiatives in data intensive science at the University of Liverpool.
The event started with a welcome address from LIV.INNO Director Prof Carsten Welsch and this was followed by a talk by former Deputy Director Dr Andreea Font about Research and Innovation where she detailed some of the research which is being undertaken and explained to the students how they might achieve innovation.
LIV.INNO Centre Manager Naomi Smith during her talk.
A talk on some of the more practical aspects of operating the centre from Centre Manager Naomi Smith followed, before the new students were then asked to introduce themselves and each spoke briefly about what they have done previously and the research they are about to start carrying out as part of LIV.INNO.
Deputy Director Dr David Hutchcroft gave a comprehensive overview of the training and events plan for the centre including the many lecture modules which will be available and some of the events which are planned. These include an outreach symposium for industry in 2026 and a researcher skills course which will be delivered in the second semester of this year.
Students listening to a presentation.
Data Science Fellow Dr Alex Hill (who is also a former student of the predecessor to LIV.INNO – LIV.DAT) gave a talk where he explained his varied role and talked about some the research he hopes to undertake and events he hopes to organise. He also talked about opportunities which are afforded from the centre’s links with industry, including the opportunity to undertake an industrial placement while enrolled on the LIV.INNO program.
The LIV.INNO model of training students will continue beyond this year, with the training of future cohorts including a stronger element of AI and machine learning techniques, reflecting the strategic shift in research priorities across the centre.