January: New government-funded AI scholarships launch at the University of Bristol | News and features

The Spärck AI scholarships, named after pioneering British computer scientist Karen Spärck Jones, offer fully funded master’s degrees at nine leading UK universities specialising in artificial intelligence and STEM subjects. 

Through industry exposure and structured cohort activities, participants will gain multifaceted skills and the network needed to shape responsible, high-impact AI development across research, government, and industry. 

The University of Bristol will be joining eight other universities on the initiative, developing a community across partnership universities that will strengthen the AI ecosystem in the UK and increase the value of the programme to the selected scholars. 

Applicants will be able to study on four new MSc programmes launching at the University of Bristol for the 26/27 academic year: 

• MSc in Artificial Intelligence 

• MSc in Engineering with Artificial Intelligence 

• MSc in Artificial Intelligence for Business 

• MSc in Artificial Intelligence for Medicine and Health 

These programmes provide technical foundations in modern AI while fostering a critical understanding of its limitations, societal and environmental impact, and ethical challenges.  

Contributing to the University of Bristol’s growing reputation as a destination for cutting-edge, interdisciplinary AI research, education, and innovation, this announcement joins a series of major AI initiatives announced over the past year. 

The University is home to the most powerful university-based supercomputer anywhere in the world. Launched in July, the £225m Isambard-AI facility, built and run by Bristol Centre for Supercomputing (BriCS) in close partnership with HPE and NVIDIA, can process in one second what it would take the entire global population 80 years to achieve.  

The University is also set to develop a multimillion-pound new National AI Data Facility as part of the Government’s AI for Science Strategy announced in November. 

Professor Evelyn Welch, Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Bristol, said: “We welcome the launch of this exciting new scholarship programme and are pleased to support the initiative as an anchor partner. 

“We have a decades-spanning history of AI advancement, including via the Bristol Centre for Super Computing, a Centre for Doctoral Training in AI and two national AI Research Hubs, bolstering our pedigree in this field. 

“The Spärck AI scholarships will help us train the next generation of AI experts at the University of Bristol, a university deeply involved in advancing research and innovation in this transformative field.”