Sheffield researchers explore AI for research that matters
Researchers from across the University of Sheffield gathered on 1–2 October for AI for Research Days 2026: two days of talks, workshops and networking co-organised by the Centre for Machine Intelligence (CMI), Dell Technologies and NVIDIA.
Held under the theme "AI for Research That Matters", the event was designed for researchers who are curious about artificial intelligence but have not yet built it into their work. PGRs, early career and established researchers from across the arts, humanities, social sciences, sciences, medicine and engineering, were joined by Professional Services colleagues to explore the art of the possible.
The programme paired case studies from Sheffield researchers with expertise from co-organisers NVIDIA and Dell Technologies, whose specialists joined researchers throughout the day. The aim was simple: give every attendee a clear sense of how AI could fit into their own research, hands-on experience with at least one tool, and a map of the people and support available at Sheffield to help them take the next step.
A wide view of AI in research
Professor Sue Hartley, the University's Vice-President for Research & Innovation, opened the day by setting out the role AI is playing in research at Sheffield. She reflected on how researchers across the University are already using AI to tackle important questions, on the opportunities to do more, and on the challenges the technology creates for research. Her remarks set the tone for a day focused on AI for research that matters, both to the wider world and to researchers' everyday work.
Mozhgan Kabiri Chimeh, Developer Relations Manager at NVIDIA, delivered the opening keynote, then joined other industry and university experts for a panel, "The Wide View: The Future of AI in Research", chaired by James Marshall, Director of the Centre for Machine Intelligence.
From Mars glaciers to museum collections
Across three parallel suites, Sheffield researchers and industry experts showed how AI is already changing work in their fields. The breadth of topics underlined that AI is not only a tool for computer scientists.
Talks ranged from self-driving labs for materials discovery, and machine learning for studying glaciers on Mars, to AI for medical imaging, and what clinical notes can reveal about loneliness and dementia. Still others showed how AI is helping museums catalogue their collections, and supporting research in journalism and the social sciences.
Hands-on workshops
The afternoon turned inspiration into practice. Hands-on workshops offered a grounding in AI tools and where to begin, practical techniques for literature searching, and guidance on building interdisciplinary AI collaborations. Dedicated networking time let attendees meet colleagues from other disciplines and the University's research support community.
The learning continues on Friday 2 October with a series of hands-on NemoClaw lab workshops. Led by the Research Software Engineering team and the NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute, this introduces NVIDIA NemoClaw, an open source stack for running always-on AI agents more safely inside secure, sandboxed environments.
Support for the next step
Researchers who want to learn more about AI in the context of their own work can connect with the Centre for Machine Intelligence to stay abreast of the latest developments.