Durham University has welcomed the UK Government’s decision to designate North East England as an AI Growth Zone, describing it as a major opportunity to harness the region’s academic strengths to boost skills, jobs and innovation.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Karen O’Brien said the move would attract businesses keen to collaborate with local universities and retain skilled graduates. “Durham is a world-leading university that is proudly part of our city, county and region—driving innovation, boosting skills, raising aspirations and playing a key part in the transformative AI sector,” she said. The university sees the Growth Zone as complementary to its plans for the Durham Innovation District, developed with Durham County Council as a hub for data-intensive businesses.
The Growth Zone is expected to create thousands of jobs spanning construction, research, data engineering and AI safety, while driving productivity across industries including healthcare, energy, finance and manufacturing. Access to advanced AI infrastructure will also fuel research in areas such as drug discovery, climate change and safer technology.
Durham’s research credentials are already well established. Its Computer Science Department and Institute for Data Science are pioneering hybrid intelligence techniques that combine human expertise with AI to enhance cybersecurity, and developing explainable AI tools for healthcare, including cancer detection and emergency risk assessments. The university is also part of the £12 million National Edge AI Hub, focused on the resilience of AI in edge devices, and contributes to collaborative projects laying new mathematical foundations for AI.
Durham has secured significant research funding. A £1 million EPSRC grant supports its role in the Erlangen Programme for AI, aimed at creating safe and reliable systems, while additional EPSRC backing underpins its work in the INFORMED-AI hub on trustworthy AI. Beyond pure AI research, its Energy Institute was awarded £1.84 million to develop physics-informed AI for virtual power plants, contributing to the UK’s Net Zero goals.
The university is also committed to widening participation in AI careers through initiatives such as the TechUp project, which supports under-represented groups, and skills training via the N8 Centre of Excellence in Computationally Intensive Research. Its Leverhulme Centre for Algorithmic Life examines the social impact of AI, while its Advanced Research Computing unit supports work with the Bede supercomputer.
Regional leaders see the Growth Zone as transformative. North East Mayor Kim McGuinness said it would put the region “at the forefront of the next technology revolution,” attracting billions in investment. Technology Secretary Liz Kendall said the initiative would deliver jobs, enterprise and economic growth.
The Growth Zone forms part of a wider strategy to establish the North East as a leading European data centre hub. Newcastle University has set out plans to help generate more than 5,000 jobs and attract up to £30 billion of private investment through sites at Blyth and Cobalt Park.
Durham University is continuing to build partnerships, hosting events such as its ‘AI for Science Day’ to connect researchers and industry. With strong academic expertise, government backing and coordinated regional efforts, the North East is now positioned to become a UK leader in responsible AI innovation and inclusive skills development.
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