ORBIT (the Observatory for Responsible Research and Innovation in ICT) has responded to the latest call for funding proposals from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

Universities around the country are applying for funding for cohorts of doctoral students to tackle some of the grand challenges in modern science. For the first time, the Research Council has specified that these Centres for Doctoral Training (CDTs) must incorporate training for each cohort of students on the principles of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI). ORBIT will work with these new CDTs both at the proposal design stage and in the provision of the training element.

Martin de Heaver, managing director of ORBIT, commented, “This call from the EPSRC represents a  major change in the landscape for responsible research and innovation. Requiring the new wave of Centres to train their doctoral students in RRI principles is an excellent way to begin building the next generation of researchers who understand these principles from the very outset of their careers.”

Professors Bernd Stahl of DMU and Marina Jirotka of Oxford University, co-founders of ORBIT, added, “ORBIT is happy to be working with these leaders of research in areas like artificial intelligence and machine learning to ensure that the UK’s position at the vanguard of responsible research and innovation is maintained and strengthened.”

Notes for editors

ORBIT is the Observatory for Responsible Research and Innovation in ICT. Led by Oxford and De Montfort Universities and funded in the launch phase by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), ORBIT provides policy advice, training on responsible research and innovation (RRI), consultancy, project assessment, support services, and an online community for ICT researchers.

Professor Marina Jirotka is Professor of Human Centred Computing at Oxford University and ORBIT investigator. She undertakes work focused on deepening societal comprehension of the impacts of technology and ameliorating negative effects by anticipating outcomes. She leads the human centred computing group, an interdisciplinary research group that aims to understand the ways in which technology affects communication, collaboration and knowledge exchange within scientific, work and home settings.

Professor Bernd Stahl is Professor of Critical Research in Technology and Director of the Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility at De Montfort University, Leicester, UK. His interests cover philosophical issues arising from the intersections of business, technology, and information. This includes ethical questions of current and emerging of ICTs, critical approaches to information systems and issues related to responsible research and innovation.

Martin de Heaver is managing director of ORBIT, formerly Executive Director at CPC and has founded and run a number of new and established enterprises. He has also been supporting new entrepreneurs as a judge and mentor at the London Business School since 2004. He has delivered research projects funded by EU frameworks 4/5 and 7 and InnovateUK, and is a former Visiting Senior Research Fellow at King’s College London.