Northlight University has officially opened the Meridian Institute for Applied AI, a cross-faculty research centre focused on the responsible application of artificial intelligence in healthcare, agriculture and public services.
Led by Professor Amara Osei, the institute brings together 40 researchers from the faculties of Computing, Medicine and Environmental Science. Its first flagship project, Harvest Signal, uses computer vision to detect crop disease up to two weeks earlier than manual inspection.
"We want AI research that leaves the lab," said Professor Osei at the opening ceremony. "Every project at Meridian is paired with a community or industry partner from day one."
The institute offers six fully funded PhD positions each year and a new MSc in Applied AI starting next spring.