Collaboration is key. Working with global partners, we are fast tracking AI solutions to transform businesses and lives. With over 60 years of experience in researching Artificial Intelligence technologies, we use our world-leading expertise to solve complex challenges and advance real-world innovation, in collaboration with industry. Our industrial partners enhance their AI and technical capabilities by leveraging our research excellence across sectors such as finance, robotics, healthcare and sustainable energy.Whether you are a small or large enterprise aiming to optimise your operations, augment your Research and Development resources, or understand and apply innovative technologies to your business challenges, we welcome the opportunity to understand your needs and explore partnership pathways. Work with us Our engagement opportunities range from short projects to multi-year strategic partnerships, explore ways you can work with us below. Collaborative projects Short, immediate-impact projects tailored to your needs, leveraging research expertise from students and researchers. Technical services and consultancy Access specialist advice, technical services and research facilities to solve problems or develop your project. PhD placements, secondments and student projects Partner with MSc students on smaller research challenges or engage a PhD researcher on a three- to four-year strategic project. We can also arrange internships, placements and secondments to access specific expertise. Strategic partnerships and innovation labs Work alongside academics and technical experts to address major challenges, drive innovation and grow your business over a multi-year partnership. Want to partner with us? Get in touch with our Business Development team to discuss the different ways you can work with us. Contact us via our webform APRIL The AI Hub for Productive Research and Innovation in Electronics will develop AI tools to accelerate the development of key components such as new semiconductor materials, complex microchip designs and system architectures, leading to faster, cheaper, greener and overall more power-efficient electronics. CHAI The Causality in Healthcare AI Hub aims to develop AI that can empower decision-making tools to improve challenging tasks such as the early prediction, diagnosis and prevention of disease, and to improve the safety of such technology in healthcare. BRAID Bridging Responsible AI Divides (BRAID) is a programme designed to drive responsible innovation in AI by fully integrating arts and humanities research. The Arts and Humanities Research Council funded programme is led by the University (with support from Edinburgh Innovations) in partnership with the BBC and the Ada Lovelace Institute. As well as integrated arts and humanities research more fully into the Responsible AI ecosystem, the six year programme is dedicated to bridging divides between academic, industry, policy and regulatory work on responsible AI. AI4BI The UKRI AI Centre for Doctoral Training in Biomedical Innovation (AI4BI) offers Life Sciences companies the opportunity to co-create translational AI research, from targeted knowledge exchange to full co-creation of transformative biomedical AI research. Industry-focused PhD projects utilise AI and data-driven solutions to address real healthcare challenges, advancing diagnostics, drug discovery and clinical decision making. Existing partnerships SteatoSITE SteatoSITE is the world’s first data commons for research into MASLD, one of the most common types of chronic liver disease. The pioneering project integrates digital pathology, hepatic RNA-sequencing and 5.67 million days of electronic health records from 940 patients. It advances medics’ ability to group patients to better treat them, discover biomarkers and develop drugs. Crucially, it is fostering collaborations in the NHS AI adoption and digital pathology to create AI-driven tools for immediate use. Centre for Investing Innovation The partnership between the University and aberdeen group, is addressing challenges facing the investment and asset management sector across three main areas: sustainability, thematic investing and innovating investing. A recent project is harnessing generative AI to create a research companion and support the firm’s investment research process. The Centre is hosted by the Edinburgh Futures Institute and has been co-developed with the School of Mathematics and the School of Informatics. NeurEYE The NeurEYE project uses AI and retinal imaging to detect early signs of dementia during routine eye tests. By analysing nearly one million anonymised retinal scans linked to NHS patient records, the team aims to give optometrists a scalable diagnostic tool, improve patient outcomes, and potentially save the NHS over £37 million per year. The project came out of NEURii, a partnership, between global pharmaceutical, philanthropic, health data and medical research organisations and the University of Edinburgh. FUJIFILM Biotechnologies A longstanding collaboration between the University of Edinburgh and biomanufacturing company FUJIFILM Biotechnologies has led to the launch of a new protein purification platform designed to make the production of biological medicines faster and more straightforward. AI2 As AI becomes more widely used in high-stakes settings such as healthcare and transport, accurately pricing and underwriting AI-related risks remains a significant challenge. The AI2 project aims to develop frameworks for understanding, measuring, and insuring against those risks, enabling safer and broader adoption of AI in industry. The £2m UKRI Prosperity Partnership is led by the University of Edinburgh alongside AXA, the University of Warwick's WMG, and the University of Oxford. Image credit: APRIL: Vic - stock.adobe.com; BRAID: Hanna Barakat & Archival Images of AI + AIxDESIGN / Better Images of AI / Data Mining 3 / CC-BY 4.0; NEURii: Andrew Perry; Omecu: NicoEINino - stock.adobe.com; SteatoSITE: lapeepon - stock.adobe.com This article was published on Wednesday 3 June 2026
