Farming robot to help care for crop plants and reduce chemical use

Photo of Small Robot Company’s ‘Tom v4’ agritech robot

A pioneering autonomous robot is set to help farmers better monitor the health status of individual crop plants and reduce herbicide use. Experts from the National Robotarium, the UK’s world-leading centre for robotics and artificial intelligence, and the James-Hutton Institute will use Small Robot Company’s ‘Tom v4’ agritech robot to remotely scan agricultural fields to…

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Tech ethics expert announced for Edinburgh keynote

Photo of broadcaster and author Stephanie Hare

The broadcaster and author Stephanie Hare is to deliver the keynote talk at this year’s Scotsman/University of Edinburgh data conference, on Wednesday 27 September 2023. The ‘DataFutures, AI Futures’ conference takes place at the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh and will explore challenging themes, including how data and AI are shaping the future of…

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Healthcare robot with ‘sense of touch’ could reduce infection spread

picture of group shot of touchlab team

A first-of-its-kind robot which gives clinicians the ability to ‘feel’ patients remotely has been launched as part of a Finnish hospital pilot by deep tech robotics company Touchlab, a new tenant of the world-leading centre for robotics and artificial intelligence the National Robotarium. Controlled by operators wearing an electronic haptic glove, the Välkky telerobot is…

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Teach Data Literacy: A Guide for Primary Teachers

A Teach Data Literacy: a guide for primary teachers launched on Wednesday 7th of June, designed as a resource developed by the Data Education in Schools team to support teachers to enhance opportunities for all to build the skills and habits of mind relevant to data problem-solving. It outlines various core concepts in data literacy…

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DDI hubs to lead purpose-driven banking centre

Photo of NatWest Group chief executive Alison Rose and Edinburgh University principal Peter Mathieson. Image by Adam Hollingworth.

The Data-Driven Innovation hubs Edinburgh Futures Institute and the Bayes Centre are to lead the creation of a new centre for purpose-driven banking. The centre is a partnership between NatWest Group and the University of Edinburgh, and will draw on expertise from more than 100 academics across the whole of the university. The centre builds…

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Wildcat conservation plans informed by expert collaboration

Image of a wildcat

A five-year project assesses Scottish wildcat population and proposes measures to safeguard the species. This multi-partner project has established long-term plans to secure the future of the critically endangered wildcat in Scotland. Their findings suggest that there are too few wildcats for their populations to be sustainable, and the current wild population is no longer…

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Using proteomics to understand infectious disease response in aquaculture

Image of a school of fish.

Due to unprecedented challenges, Scottish salmon farms witnessed high losses of fish in 2022, double of the previous year, data from the Fish Health Inspectorate has shown. At the same time, and in spite of this, Scotland produced more farmed fish than ever before. Despite universal adoption of vaccination programs and an unrelenting focus on…

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£35.5m award supports next phase of Roslin Institute research

Picture of Roslin Innovation Centre at the Easter Bush Campus

The Roslin Institute in Edinburgh is benefiting from a share of £376m to support its research into pioneering animal bioscience. The strategic funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, part of UKRI, will support research into genes and traits for healthy animals and prevention and control of infectious diseases. It will enable Roslin’s…

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Students deliver challenge think tank

picture of participants in the students as change agents think tank

The University of Edinburgh’s Students as Change Agents (SACHA) initiative held its first think tank on 4 May 2023. Students were welcomed to Dove Cot Studios in Edinburgh by SACHA’s director, Ruth Donnelly, for sessions covering climate and the environment, student growth, and experiential learning. At the lively event, attendees were encouraged to move between…

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