Simulated Research and Development Project Proposal

Module aims

Effective AI R&D projects are informed by the state of the art in core and competing AI methodologies, analysis of the use case from technical, human and business perspectives, and the need to maximise progress within time and resource constraints. Students will learn how to assess these factors and present clear and convincing Project Proposals for business decision-makers or academic grants.

Learning outcomes

Upon successful completion of this module you will be able to:

  •  Analyse the knowledge landscape for research projects and proposals
  •  Identify opportunities for research/commercial projects
  •  Formulate a robust and realistic research plan
  •  Communicate and persuade people to support your ideas and plans
  •  Express the impact of your work to stakeholders
  •  Engage critically with debates on the ethics of AI

Module syllabus

Simulated Project task:  the hypothetical project will be in the same broad area as the MRes research project, and defined by the supervisor, and reviewed/ approved at the same time as the main project.
The project should allow the student to draw on the technical and theoretical areas where they are gaining deeper knowledge of AI as part of their research, but must have a distinct use case, requiring choice of an original and different AI approach and project design. The simulated R&D task complexity will represent a short project of 12-24 months effort. 

As to scope, whichever sector the project is in, this module will offer learning opportunities in: 

  • Academic literature search methods and critical evaluation of the literature and its gaps
  • Identifying the prior art in a field from other sources (patents, open source software, open registers of ongoing research and protocols etc).
  • Assessing data sources – relevance, quality, governance, and considering ethical aspects
  • High quality research design
  • Project management and resource planning in research
  • Evaluating AI performance
  • Pathways to impact
  • Writing and presenting persuasive R&D proposals

Assessments

Ethics and AI report    10%
Background report    45%
Final report        45%

Module leaders

Dr Yingzhen Li
Dr Amani El-Kholy