Ireland
Prof. Barry O'Sullivan PhD, FAAAI, FAAIA, FEurAI, FIAE, FICS, MRIA is an award-winning academic and founding director of several internationally-focused and world-leading research organisations. He is an internationally regarded expert in artificial intelligence, constraint programming, AI ethics and policy. He contributes to several global Track II diplomacy efforts related to the geopolitics of AI, especially in their responsible use in intelligence and international security domains. He is a full professor at the School of Computer Science & IT at University College Cork and has served as a member of its Governing Body. He is founding Director of the Insight SFI Research Centre for Data Analytics at UCC and Director of the SFI Centre for Research Training in AI. He is founding Editor-in-Chief of ACM AI Letters. Prof. O'Sullivan is a Fellow and a past President of the European AI Association. He is also a Fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) and a Fellow of the Asia-Pacific AI Association. In 2018 Prof. O'Sullivan was appointed Vice Chair of the European Commission’s High-Level Expert Group on AI which developed the EU's approach to Trustworthy AI. He served as advisor to the EC's Joint Research Centre and currently serves as EU delegate to the Global Partnership on AI. In 2019 Prof. O’Sullivan was appointed by Ireland’s Minister for Health to the Health Research Consent Declaration Committee. In 2020 he was appointed Chair of the Oversight Board of Health Data Research UK (North). In 2021 he was appointed by the Minister for Health as Chair of the National Research Ethics Committee for Medical Devices. In 2022 he was appointed by the Minister for Trade Promotion, Digital & Company Regulation to the Enterprise Digital Advisory Forum and to the Governments's AI Advisory Council In 2024. His awards include: Fellow of the European AI Association (2012), UCC’s Leadership Award (2013), ACP Distinguished Service Award (2014), Science Foundation Ireland Researcher of the Year (2016), UCC Researcher of the Year (2017), elected to the Royal Irish Academy (2017), Fellow of the Irish Computer Society (2018), Fellow of the Irish Academy of Engineering (2019), IPEC-EATCS Nerode Prize (2020), Science Foundation Ireland Best International Engagement Award (2021), Fellow of the Asia-Pacific AI Association (2022), Fellow of the Association for the Advancement of AI (2022), European AI Association’s Distinguished Service Award (2023). Prof. O’Sullivan has been involved in winning and overseeing over €500m in R&D funding.
I hold the Chair of Constraint Programming in the School of Computer Science & IT at UCC. University College Cork has played a pivotal role in the development of computing. George Boole, first professor of mathematics at what was then Queen’s College Cork, developed the formal foundations of propositional logic, which underpins the hardware and software of all modern digital computers. The school’s ethos reflects this tradition, emphasising scientific development and exploitation of knowledge, fully integrated with teaching, public engagement, and practical application for the benefit of society and the wider economy. The school has 90 staff including 30 academic faculty and 40 post-doctoral researchers. At present there are 60 PhD students, which is set to increase to over 100 in the coming three years as part of the school’s dynamic research activity. In addition to PhDs, the school offers a portfolio of undergraduate and taught postgraduate degrees. In the 2020 QS World University rankings, the discipline of computer science is in the range 201-250, the third highest in Ireland.
The Governing Body is the ultimate decision-making body in the University. As the Council of University Chairmen (UK) has stated: "The Governing Authority is “unambiguously and collectively responsible for overseeing the institution’s activities, determining its future and fostering an environment in which the institution’s mission is achieved.” I am an elected member of the 2019-2024 Governing Body from the constituency of Professors/Associate Professors. UCC's Governing Body is chaired by Catherine Day, former Secretary-General of the European Commission (2005-2015).
UCC's MSc in Data Science & Analytics, jointly offered by the Department of Computer Science and the Department of Statistics, provides an education in the key principles of this rapidly expanding area. The combination of sophisticated computing and statistics modules will develop skills in database management, programming, summarisation, modelling and interpretation of data. The programme provides graduates with an opportunity, through development of a research project, to investigate the more applied elements of the disciplines.
ACM AI Letters (AILET) is envisioned to become the premier rapid-publication venue for impactful, concise, and timely communications in AI. Bridging a crucial gap between traditional conferences and journals, ACM AI Letters will feature short peer-reviewed contributions that accelerate knowledge dissemination across academia and industry. This unique publication prioritizes theoretical breakthroughs, algorithmic innovation, practical real-world applications, and critical societal implications, including ethics, policy, and responsible AI. It also introduces a distinctive space for rigorously reviewed opinion pieces and policy briefs, promoting swift engagement with contemporary issues shaping the AI landscape.
Inspired by the broad agenda of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), ACM Journal on Computing and Sustainable Societies (JCSS) aims to publish significant and original research from a broad array of computer and information sciences, social sciences, environmental sciences, and engineering fields that support the growth of sustainable societies worldwide, especially including under-represented and marginalized communities. JCSS aims to explicitly promote interdisciplinary research work including new methodologies, systems, techniques, applications, behavioral, qualitative, and quantitative studies that addresses key societal challenges including sustainability, gender equality, health, education, poverty, accessibility, conservation, climate change, energy, infrastructure and economic growth, among others. We also welcome research on the ethics of technology, especially from a critical perspective, that explores limitations and concerns with technology-led solutions for sustainable societies. The journal will be published quarterly. To ensure strong research contributions, the journal will review papers based on focus areas corresponding to the research areas they draw upon. The key focal areas are: - AI, ML and Data Science for Sustainable Societies - Computing systems and IoT for Sustainable Societies - Human-Computer Interaction, Design and Critical Perspectives - Development, Economics and Policy - Sustainability, Environment and Climate Change - Technology, Media, and Social Practice
I'm a visiting professor at Northwestern's Computer Science Department in the McCormick School of Engineering working with colleagues at the Roberta Buffett Institute for Global Affairs. I specifically focus on technical and policy issues related to AI in international security, counter-terrorism, intelligence, and military contexts. Northwestern Computer Science is an ideal hub for highly interdisciplinary computer science education and research. With numerous collaborations across disciplines at Northwestern's top-ranked schools, students and faculty have the power to explode the possibilities of computer science. The department, which has radically expanded its faculty and moved to state-of-the-art facilities to support its vision, also fosters a culture of inclusion, mentorship, and student support. This combination offers our students and researchers an experience like no other.
The Insight SFI Centre for Data Analytics is a joint initiative between Dublin City University, National University of Ireland at Galway, University College Cork, and University College Dublin. Insight was established in 2013 by Science Foundation Ireland and Irish industry with funding of €88m and has approximately 500 researchers and staff. At Insight we combine the skills of leading researchers with cutting-edge technologies from diverse research areas. We work closely with industry partners to develop next-generation data acquisition and analytics solutions for important and diverse application areas.
The SFI Centre for Research Training in Artficial Intelligence was established in March 2019 with funding of over €14 million from Science Foundation Ireland and an additional €3.3 million from indusry and the academic partners. It is Ireland's national centre for PhD-level training in AI and will train more than 120 PhDs across four cohorts, with an intake of 30 students per annum for the next four years. The centre brings together five of Ireland's seven universities and a team of almost 60 supervisors across the country.