The University of Oxford is set to broaden its AI in Science Fellowship Programme through a new initiative supporting early career faculty at African and Indian universities.
The new Oxford Schmidt Africa-India AI in Science Faculty Fellowship (AI2-Ox SFF) Programme, developed in partnership with the Oxford India Centre for Sustainable Development (OICSD), the Africa Oxford Initiative (AfOx), and Somerville, along with three other Oxford colleges, will fund 18 faculty research fellows over the next five years, starting in 2025.
AI2-Ox SFF builds on Oxford’s existing Eric and Wendy Schmidt AI in Science Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme, which has already welcomed 25 fellows. AfOx, which facilitates equitable collaborations between Oxford and African universities, and the OICSD, established through a historic agreement with the Government of India in 2013, will play crucial roles in implementing the programme.
Dr Siddharth Arora, OICSD Programme Director
The new AI2-Ox SFF extension specifically targets early career faculty in permanent positions, with a specific focus on advancing their research using cutting edge AI tools.
Dr Siddharth Arora, Programme Director of the OICSD said, ‘The Oxford India Centre for Sustainable Development and Somerville college are excited to be a part of the new Oxford Schmidt Africa-India AI in Science Faculty Fellowship. We look forward to working closely with our colleagues at AfOx and the wider University to identify and support exceptional early-career faculty from India and Africa working on using AI to accelerate progress in other scientific fields.’
Dr Anne Makena, Co-director – AfOx Initiative
Dr Anne Makena, Co-Director of the Africa Oxford Initiative, and Somerville alumna, commented that, ‘AfOx is delighted to partner with OICSD and colleagues across the University to expand the AI in Science programme to African researchers. We are excited to work with our extensive network across the continent to advance access to AI tools and technologies for researchers addressing critical challenges. The researchers will bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise that will enrich research across Oxford University.’
The AI2-Ox SFF programme will adopt a unique ‘1+1+1’ year structure, recognising the value of providing holistic support for collaboration both in Oxford and in their home institutions with the ambition to support six new research fellows annually. Each fellowship will last three years and provide the tools and training needed to apply state-of-the-art AI and machine learning methods in each researcher’s particular area of scientific interest.
Fellows will be supported by Oxford throughout the programme, initially remaining at their home institutions (with teaching commitments bought out) to develop AI training and research programmes. They will then transition to resident status in Oxford, hosted by collaborators and integrated into Oxford colleges to expand their networks and contribute to university research and engagement activities. Throughout the programme, fellows will work closely with Oxford colleagues to maximise their research impact, including developing research software and pursuing additional grant funding.
Fellows will benefit from:
- Bespoke training in AI and machine learning methods
- Research software engineering training and support from the OxRSE group
- Mentoring from leading Oxford researchers
- Career and professional development support
- Opportunities to build strong academic networks
The initiative represents a collaborative effort between multiple Oxford institutions, including four colleges – Somerville, along with Linacre, Mansfield, and Reuben – embedding the fellows in a wider, vibrant research community to explore collaborative opportunities outside of their host department.
This expansion aims to address a critical gap in research development, particularly for scientists in the global south, as well as fostering strong cross-disciplinary collaborative links for academic colleagues in Oxford. The programme will facilitate knowledge and skills sharing between Oxford and institutions in India and Africa, by enabling researchers to engage with the university while maintaining their positions at their home institutions.
Professor Ben Lambert, Programme Director for the Eric and Wendy Schmidt AI in Science Postdoctoral Fellowships at Oxford said, ‘We are excited about the expansion of our relationship with Schmidt Sciences whose new generous funding allows us to welcome AI in Science Faculty Fellows from partner institutes in Africa and India to Oxford. By providing these early career Fellows with training in AI and professional skills and buying them out of their teaching duties at home institutions, this will allow them to develop their professional networks and their research programmes to flourish.’
Dr Arora concluded, ‘We believe this fellowship programme will help accelerate the use of AI to solve complex problems facing our world today, enable multidisciplinary research, support talented researchers and in the process, create new bridges of research collaboration between India, Africa, and Oxford.’