Research, Innovation and Knowledge Exchange in The School of Computing and Digital Technologies

The School of Computing and Digital Technologies currently conducts research and innovation aimed at developing and applying expertise in areas such as: robotics, artificial intelligence, computer vision, natural language processing, conversational agents, security, Internet of Things, interactive systems, augmented reality and virtual reality, data analysis, design and development.

The research brings cutting edge technologies and techniques to real world problem settings and works closely with other disciplines, including health, biomedical, and engineering. This enables the School to use its expertise and knowledge in applied settings through collaborations and external partnerships. This applied research and knowledge exchange respects the central import of inter-disciplinary collaboration, and focuses upon:

• Enriching human well-being through the development and innovation of health technologies addressing evidenced needs. This work creates and identifies technologies that have the potential to address and transform health related challenges for professionals and the public.
• Business Digital Innovation aimed at informing and enhancing business practices with state-of-the-art methods, practices and technologies. This is informed through Applied Software Engineering research based on developing and adopting innovative digital products, services and business processes.
• Societal and Organisational motivated research informing and realising safe, secure and ethical practice, amongst professionals and learners. This is of particular relevance with the widespread use of AI-based tools, the ethical use of data, gamification to achieve positive behavioural changes and sustainability.

All staff are encouraged to engage in research and innovation and are supported through a variety of schemes. The School encourages the formation and development of research groups, with a view to developing sustainable research themes.

Research staff and students

The School has 55 members of staff actively engaging in RIKE activities, out of which 21 have Significant Responsibility for Research including 1 Professor and 4 Associate Professors. The School is also home to 36 PhD students.

• Alessandro Di-Nuovo is Professor of Machine Intelligence, and he is the leader of the Smart Interactive Technologies (SIT) Research Laboratory within the School of Computing and Digital Technologies. He has unique interdisciplinary expertise and cross-sectorial experience on developing novel approaches for responsible embodied AI to make a positive impact and improve people lives, particularly by co-create intelligent robotics applications in health and wellbeing.
• Chris Roast is an Associate Professor in Human-Computer Interaction and the School’s RIKE Lead.
• Marjory Da Costa Abreu is an Associate Professor in Ethical Artificial Intelligence and a Transforming Lives Fellow.
• Ning Wang is an Associate Professor in Robotics and AI and a Transforming Lives Fellow.
• Sue Beckingham in as Associate Professor in Teaching and Learning and a National Teaching Fellow.

External funding

In 2023/24 the School led funded research and knowledge transfer with a total value over £3.5m (and another £2m supporting other SHU research and innovation).

Explore some of our research projects

Self-Funded PhD Proposals

Explore our self-funded research proposals offered by some of our research colleagues in the School of Computing and Digital Technologies.

Contact us

To discuss the Schools's research, email Chris Roast