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Two Innovation Fellowships awarded to support research into AI Skills

13 Jan 2025

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The British Academy has awarded over £180,000 in Innovation Fellowships to two academics to develop research projects in collaboration with the Department for Education.

The Innovation Fellowships is a dual route scheme, consisting of Route A: Researcher-led and Route B: Policy-led. The scheme provides funding and support for established early career and mid-career researchers in the humanities and social sciences to partner with organisations and businesses in the creative and cultural, public, private, commercial, or policy sectors. The fellowships are based in the UK and seek to address challenges that require innovative approaches and solutions that are relevant to the UK.

Researchers in Route B fellowships work with a policy partner, specified by the British Academy, around a specific scope, determined by the partner. The two researchers awarded in this round will work on the central topic of ‘AI skills across the UK’ with Skills England, an analytical and research unit within the Department for Education.

The Innovation Fellowships 2024-25 Route B: Policy-led (Digital Society) awardees are:

Please note: Awards are arranged alphabetically by surname of the grant recipient. The institution is that given at the time of application.


Dr Nisreen Ameen

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'Understanding AI Skills Inequalities in the UK: A Comprehensive Policy Approach – Artificial Intelligence (AI) Skills (DfE)'

Royal Holloway, University of London

£120,000

The UK faces a significant AI skills gap, with a shortage of diverse talent hindering the country's ability to fully leverage AI technologies and drive inclusive economic growth. This fellowship aims to address key challenges of AI skills inequalities in the UK by providing a comprehensive understanding of the gaps across regions and demographics. Through a mixed-methods approach, this project will investigate the root causes of these inequalities and explore strategies to bridge the identified gaps to create an innovative toolkit. It will examine international best practices in AI skills policy and lifelong learning for underrepresented groups to inform the development of a dynamic policy framework that can integrate changes in AI skills requirements as the technology evolves. The toolkit and policy framework developed based on the research findings will help policymakers implement strategies for equitable access to AI skills development opportunities and build a diverse, highly skilled AI workforce.


Dr Denis Newman-Griffis

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'Data-driven Visions for the Future of AI Skills and Training in the UK - Artificial Intelligence (AI) Skills (DfE)'

University of Sheffield

£60,607.20

As the AI landscape continues to evolve and AI skills shift from a technical specialism to an everyday tool, new visions are urgently needed for practical training in AI skills. Lacking a shared definition of AI in practice, fragmentary visions of AI training have developed organically in response to individual understandings of AI skills and needs. This fellowship will help create a shared definition and vision for AI skills in practice, through 1) collecting a new dataset of empirical evidence on current AI skills and training needs in the UK and 2) co-creating new, human-centred visions for the future of AI skills and training. By drawing on my experience as an interdisciplinary AI researcher and educator and my technical, pedagogic, and social science expertise, this fellowship will contribute to understanding current strengths and gaps in AI skills and informing policy to strengthen the future of AI skills in the UK.


The awards listed are those for the Innovation Fellowships 2024-25 Route B: Policy-led (Digital Society). Previous award announcements can be found on the Innovation Fellowships Scheme – Route B (Policy-led): past awards page.

Image credit: Nitat Termmee via GettyImages

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