Celebrating the achievements of the £33M UKRI Trustworthy Autonomous Systems Programme

The inaugural TAS Early Career Researcher (ECR) Awards were initiated to celebrate outstanding contributions made by PhD students and postdoctoral researchers to any area of Trustworthy Autonomous Systems research in the last three years.

2023 ECR Award winners

We are pleased to announce the 2023 awardees are:

Academic Research:      

Andriana Boudouraki, PhD student, Mixed Reality Lab, University of Nottingham

Knowledge Transfer:  

Balint Gyevnar, PhD student, CDT in Natural Language Processing, University of Edinburgh (not pictured)

Policy:

Anastasia Kordoni, Postdoctoral Researcher, Dept of Psychology, University of Lancaster

Public Engagement:

Eike Schneiders, Postdoctoral Researcher, Mixed Reality Lab, University of Nottingham

Responsible Research and Innovation:

Helen Smith, Postdoctoral Researcher, TAS Functionality Node,  University of Bristol

 

Each awardee will receive £4k to use towards relevant TAS-related research and professional development activities.

See below for further details about the 2023 Call.

 

2023 Call for applications – CLOSED

Call for applications, award criteria and guidance for applicants

Application form

Award Categories

We are seeking applications that demonstrate significant impact or potential impact in any of the following categories:

1. Knowledge Transfer

2. Policy

3. Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI)

4. Public Engagement and Outreach

5. Academic Research

 

Applicants may apply for an award in more than one category within the same application.

 

Funding

Four awards of up to £5k are available.  The administration and expenditure of the award will be managed via the award-holder’s home institution. The funding may be spent on activities directly related to the awardee and their research, for example, conference attendance to present TAS-related work, training activities, placements or visits, costs for interns, and other research-related activities, subject to financial approval.

 

All award expenditure should be incurred between 1 Oct 2023 and 31 Jul 2024.

 

Eligibility

Applicants should:

• Be either a PhD student or an early stage postdoctoral researcher at any UK institution or eligible research organisation at the time of application
• Be engaged in research in Trustworthy Autonomous Systems
• Have made a significant contribution to one or more of the award categories in the past 3 years
• Have a letter of support from a relevant member of staff.

 

How to apply

Applicants should complete the 2023 ECR Awards Application form, including a short CV and letter of support, and send their application to Alison Tebbutt (A.M.Tebbutt@soton.ac.uk).

 

Application deadline:          12.00 pm, Wed 31 May 2023

 

Applications are welcomed from across the research community. The TAS Hub’s work and decision-making are underpinned by its Equality, Diversity and Inclusion principles.  Applicants are encouraged to contact the TAS Hub directly to discuss any adjustments they may need to participate in the scheme.

 

Selection

Applications will be evaluated on the basis of the information provided in the application form by a panel of Trustworthy Autonomous Systems experts. The selection process will take into consideration:

• The alignment of the applicant’s contribution with Trustworthy Autonomous Systems
• The significance of the impact or potential impact of their contribution
• Evidence of Responsible Research and Innovation
• The supporting statement
• The applicant’s career stage
• The relevance of the proposed funding use.

 

The awards will be announced in July 2023. Winners will be invited to receive their award at a forthcoming TAS event (to be confirmed).

 

Guidance for applicants

Further information is available in the Call document.

For any queries about the scheme, please contact Alison Tebbutt, TAS Skills Manager (A.M.Tebbutt@soton.ac.uk).