UCL partners with Facebook AI Research to deliver PhD programme

UCL has agreed a four-year research partnership with Facebook AI Research (FAIR), enabling PhD students to spend time at both UCL Computer Science and Facebook. This new strategic partnership between UCL and FAIR, sees Facebook's PhD programme launch in the UK for the first time. Commenting Graca Carvalho, Strategic Alliances Director at UCL Computer Science, said: "The collaboration has been developed over the last 12 months and it will provide a 'unique opportunity' for PhD students, benefiting equally from UCL Computer Science, recognised as a top-ranking institution in the Research Excellence Framework, engaging in high-quality research, and FAIR, a word-leading industry AI research laboratory." In the coming year four UCL PhD students will join the new research AI programme; it is hoped students will continue to benefit from the UCL programme over the next four years. Each of the UCL students will be assigned FAIR mentors based at the FAIR London site, well known for its work in 3D computer vision, knowledge intensive and multilingual Natural Language Programming (NLP), and reinforcement learning (RL). While the partnership's focus will be on attracting students with interest in those areas, it will also welcome those conducting research in emerging areas of AI, as well as students from diverse backgrounds. Professor Steve Hailes, Head of Department at UCL Computer Science, said: "The creation of a PhD programme based partly in UCL Computer Science and partly in FAIR offers students a unique opportunity to see the world from two perspectives: building on the depth of expertise in UCL's Centre for Artificial Intelligence based in our Department to undertake world-class academic research, and gaining an understanding of how to have real-world impact.