Friday 3 January 2025

WMG researcher wins prestigious EPSRC award

Congratulations to Dr Xingyu ZhaoLink opens in a new window, from WMG at the University of Warwick’s Safe Autonomy research group, who has been awarded the EPSRC’s prestigious New Investigator AwardLink opens in a new window (NIA).

The purpose of the NIA scheme is to address a gap identified in the funding landscape and support researchers to develop their own research vision.

Dr Xingyu ZhaoLink opens in a new window, Assistant Professor in Safety-Critical Systems, was praised for his project entitled: "Harnessing Synthetic Data Fidelity for Assured Perception of Autonomous Vehicles."

The project focused on scenario-based virtual testing for Autonomous Vehicle (AV) safety, developing a rigorous framework to define and quantify synthetic data fidelity, and explore how this impacts public confidence.

By advancing synthetic data and AV safety research, Dr Zhao’s research supports industry innovation, shapes safety standards, and ultimately enables the safe deployment of autonomous vehicles.

Dr Zhao explained: “It is a tremendous honour to receive the EPSRC New Investigator Award. This recognises years of dedication and passion for Safe AV research.

“I am really excited for the opportunities ahead, and to make a meaningful impact globally by building the public’s trust in an AI-powered world.”

Dr Zhao is looking for a new Research Fellow to join his team. Find out more and apply here: Research Fellow in Safe AI (109974-1224) - University of Warwick.Link opens in a new window Applications close on 19^th January.

Find out more about Safe Autonomy research at WMG here: Safe Autonomy Research Group | WMGLink opens in a new window