Our Vision

I-X is Imperial’s flagship AI initiative bringing AI together with interdisciplinarity and grand challenges. Our centre is dedicated to using AI to disrupt and advance Science, Engineering and Mathematics and is underpinned by core support from Schmidt Futures.

Critical discoveries in the future will follow from the application and development of AI techniques to Engineering, Natural and Mathematical Sciences. Our planned and ongoing research extends from developing new generative language models for mathematical proof assistants, through to enhanced microscopy techniques.

Our Centre exploits both the possibilities offered by modern AI, and speeds the evolution of new types of AI solving the well-defined challenges of particular areas of Science and Engineering.

Imperial College was recently (May 2022) recognized in the government’s country-wide Research Excellence Framework (REF) as having a greater proportion of 4* “world-leading” research than any other university in the country. Imperial also ranked first in the UK for research outputs, first in Engineering and Computing, first in the UK for research environment, and first for research impact amongst research-intensive universities.

AI is at the heart of Imperial College’s 2020-25 academic strategy and is a key cross-cutting research theme. As a result, Imperial has committed a substantial investment to a flagship new interdisciplinary AI initiative called I-X. I-X builds on the expertise of >300 faculty across the university. As a new cross-departmental co-location campus themed on AI, I-X brings together Imperial’s strengths in both foundational and applied AI with our great interdisciplinary challenges: this trio of AI, interdisciplinarity and grand scientific challenges is core to our Schmidt Futures supported Centre.

Our Fellowship

Our centre will host over 130 years of time of Eric and Wendy Schmidt AI in Science Postdoctoral Fellows, a program of Schmidt Futures. Our prestigious fellows are given bespoke training and 1-on-1 career development support and join a collocated cohort of top scholars based in I-X. The fellowships are flexible and independent, allowing recipients to freely explore while drawing on expert faculty mentors of their choice. These fellowships have the aim of identifying excellent researchers and accelerating them in using AI to advance and disrupt Science or Engineering. Our fellows benefit from an Advanced Courses in AI Hub, pre-acceleration training material, appointment-specific faculty interview preparation and grant writing courses. The program is also supported by Imperial’s Chapman-Schmidt Fellowships and Imperial College Research Fellows and partners at AIMS with close partners including the CNRS and ICTP. 

 We believe that in receiving support for talented individuals our Fellows are privileged and with this comes a responsibility to create opportunities for others. We will foster a culture of respect and empathy for others and purposeful happiness. Kindness among scientists will be a key theme in our centre. We will create opportunities for, and work with. the local community and researchers and students from Lower and Middle Income Countries.

 More details of what our fellowship provides can be found here.