AI for Research That Matters

This event is being held under the theme “AI for Research That Matters” and is led by the Centre for Machine Intelligence.

• Research that matters to the world: Sheffield researchers use AI to push the boundaries of what’s knowable, from materials discovery to medical imaging to the social sciences. This event showcases that work.

• Breakthroughs that matter to your work: practical, hands-on, and applicable to what you do each working day, whatever your discipline.

This event is designed to help researchers across the University of Sheffield discover how AI can enhance their own research. It is aimed at researchers who are curious about AI but haven't yet incorporated it into their work—whether they're in the arts, humanities, social sciences, engineering, or any other domain.

The day combines talks from Sheffield researchers and industry partners with hands-on afternoon workshops, giving attendees both inspiration and a genuine starting point. By the end of the day, you'll leave with a clearer sense of how AI could fit into your own research, practical experience with at least one tool or technique, and awareness of the support, infrastructure, and people here at Sheffield to help you take the next step. We aim to make AI feel less like a specialism and more like a practical capability that any researcher can draw on, helping to ensure that Sheffield's research continues to lead, whatever the discipline.

Sheffield's strategic vision defines research excellence not just by outputs, but by the culture that produces them: originality, ambition, openness, and a willingness to work across disciplinary boundaries. Whether you're exploring how machine learning could accelerate your analysis, or simply curious about what AI looks like in practice, this event is a space to ask questions, experiment, and connect with others doing the same.