UKRI-BBSRC Artificial intelligence in the biosciences community questionnaire 2021

BACKGROUND

The recently published UKRI statement of opportunity ’Transforming our world with AI’, sets out the broad cross-disciplinary and cross-sector opportunities to support artificial intelligence (AI) research and innovation in the UK.

To further explore the emerging potential of AI in relation to the biosciences, UKRI-BBSRC is seeking input from the community to help us understand future requirements and ensure AI can have transformative impact within the biosciences.

The questionnaire will cover the following overarching topics:

- Current landscape
- Opportunities and potentials
- People and talent
- Infrastructure

Artificial intelligence describes a suite of computational technologies and tools that aim to reproduce or surpass abilities of humans to undertake complex tasks like learning and problem solving, either with or without human intervention. For the purposes of this questionnaire, please consider AI as covering a wide spectrum of technologies with these capabilities that include, but are not limited to, approaches such as machine learning, deep learning, neural networks and other related technologies.

Responses from individuals, departments, HEIs, scientific societies, industry and other stakeholders with an interest in AI for the biosciences are welcomed. We would also particularly encourage responses from:

- Early career researchers
- Professional support staff
- Non-bioscience researchers working in related areas, such as mathematical and computational sciences

All information submitted to UKRI-BBSRC will be treated in confidence. Non-attributable comments from the questionnaire responses may be used as part of subsequent activities (e.g. to inform discussion with our advisory bodies or to contextualise future community engagement).

HOW TO COMPLETE THE QUESTIONNAIRE

The questionnaire contains 22 questions in total. We have supplied a Word Document with a full list of the questions, and suggest you use this to formulate your responses. The Word document is available in the 'downloads' section of the website.

The deadline for responses is 22 September 2021, 4pm.

We recommend only completing the online registration survey once you have all the necessary information. However, if you accept the recommended cookies you will be able to edit draft responses until the registration close date by returning to this page using the same device and browser used to submit the draft. Please ensure you click 'submit' to save either draft or completed responses. If you do not click 'submit' changes made to this page will not be saved. If you are required to submit multiple registrations, cookies must be cleared after the completion of each registration.

If you experience any problems in completing the questionnaire or require assistance in making your submission please contact tt@bbsrc.ukri.org.

We thank you in advance for your time and input.

Privacy Notice

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) understands the importance of protecting personal information and is committed to complying with the General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 (GDPR).

The information you have provided for the artificial intelligence in the biosciences questionnaire will be collated and anonymised prior to analysis and will not be attributable to individuals. Information gathered will be used by UKRI-BBSRC, alongside data gathered through other exercises, to:

- Provide a dialogue that facilitates strategy development
- Contact you for follow up questions regarding your submission
- Contact you regarding future engagement opportunities

If you do not agree to your data being used to this effect please let us know in your response (final question).

The personal data provided will be retained on our systems for as long as is required to carry out processing for the purposes outlined above. By providing your information you are consenting to its use as detailed above. You can access a copy of the UKRI Data Protection Policy here.

Section 1: About you

Question Title

* 1. Your details

First name

Last name

Organisation

Department

Question Title

* 2. Which of the following most closely describes your position?

Head of Department / Centre Director/ R&D Director

Chief Technology Officer/ Chief Scientific Officer

Professor / reader

Lecturer / research group leader

Facility manager

Technical Staff

Bioinformatician, Data Scientist, or Research Software Engineer

Research fellow

Research & Development scientist / Postdoctoral researcher

Engineer

Student

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 3. Who are you submitting this response on behalf of? (please select one)

Myself

My research group / team

My department

My organisation

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 4. What do you consider to be your broad area(s) of specialist knowledge? (select all that apply)

Ageing

Animal health

Animal welfare

Bioinformatics and computational biology

Bioenergy

Bioimaging

Biomedicine

Cell Biology

Computer Science

Crop science

Diet and health

Developmental biology

Engineering

Environmental science

Evolutionary biology

Immunology

Industrial biotechnology

Mathematical sciences

Microbial food safety

Microbiology

Neuroscience and behaviour

Pharmaceuticals

Plant science

Physics / biophysics

Regenerative biology and tissue engineering

Social science

Software development

Soil science

Stem cells

Structural biology

Synthetic biology

Systems biology (mathematical and/or computational modelling)

Technology development (software and/or hardware)

The 3 Rs (Replacement, Reduction and Refinement of animals in research)

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 5. Please describe the main area(s) of focus for your professional activities as relating to AI. (max 500 words)

For example (but not limited to):
- Research area(s)
- Motivation(s)
- Key scientific/biological questions and data types
- Expertise and experience in AI
- Involvement in AI software / method development or exploitation
- Involvement in community activities
- Training and provision of services

Section 2: Current landscape

The next set of questions is designed to provide a broad snapshot of the current landscape of AI within the biosciences.

Question Title

* 6. Please score the following statements how well from your perspective they reflect the current situation in your specific field(s) of research or sector.

	Agree	Somewhat agree	Neutral	Somewhat disagree	Disagree	N/A
It is easy to understand how to apply AI to my research	It is easy to understand how to apply AI to my research Agree	It is easy to understand how to apply AI to my research Somewhat agree	It is easy to understand how to apply AI to my research Neutral	It is easy to understand how to apply AI to my research Somewhat disagree	It is easy to understand how to apply AI to my research Disagree	It is easy to understand how to apply AI to my research N/A
AI has already transformed the way research and innovation is done in my field	AI has already transformed the way research and innovation is done in my field Agree	AI has already transformed the way research and innovation is done in my field Somewhat agree	AI has already transformed the way research and innovation is done in my field Neutral	AI has already transformed the way research and innovation is done in my field Somewhat disagree	AI has already transformed the way research and innovation is done in my field Disagree	AI has already transformed the way research and innovation is done in my field N/A
The outputs of AI research are trusted in my field	The outputs of AI research are trusted in my field Agree	The outputs of AI research are trusted in my field Somewhat agree	The outputs of AI research are trusted in my field Neutral	The outputs of AI research are trusted in my field Somewhat disagree	The outputs of AI research are trusted in my field Disagree	The outputs of AI research are trusted in my field N/A
Existing AI methods and tools adequately address our current needs	Existing AI methods and tools adequately address our current needs Agree	Existing AI methods and tools adequately address our current needs Somewhat agree	Existing AI methods and tools adequately address our current needs Neutral	Existing AI methods and tools adequately address our current needs Somewhat disagree	Existing AI methods and tools adequately address our current needs Disagree	Existing AI methods and tools adequately address our current needs N/A
There is a strong pipeline of the latest creative and novel AI approaches into my field or sector	There is a strong pipeline of the latest creative and novel AI approaches into my field or sector Agree	There is a strong pipeline of the latest creative and novel AI approaches into my field or sector Somewhat agree	There is a strong pipeline of the latest creative and novel AI approaches into my field or sector Neutral	There is a strong pipeline of the latest creative and novel AI approaches into my field or sector Somewhat disagree	There is a strong pipeline of the latest creative and novel AI approaches into my field or sector Disagree	There is a strong pipeline of the latest creative and novel AI approaches into my field or sector N/A
There is adequate provision of AI-focussed opportunities for training and continuing professional development in the UK	There is adequate provision of AI-focussed opportunities for training and continuing professional development in the UK Agree	There is adequate provision of AI-focussed opportunities for training and continuing professional development in the UK Somewhat agree	There is adequate provision of AI-focussed opportunities for training and continuing professional development in the UK Neutral	There is adequate provision of AI-focussed opportunities for training and continuing professional development in the UK Somewhat disagree	There is adequate provision of AI-focussed opportunities for training and continuing professional development in the UK Disagree	There is adequate provision of AI-focussed opportunities for training and continuing professional development in the UK N/A
There are good opportunities to network, collaborate and connect across disciplines for AI in the UK	There are good opportunities to network, collaborate and connect across disciplines for AI in the UK Agree	There are good opportunities to network, collaborate and connect across disciplines for AI in the UK Somewhat agree	There are good opportunities to network, collaborate and connect across disciplines for AI in the UK Neutral	There are good opportunities to network, collaborate and connect across disciplines for AI in the UK Somewhat disagree	There are good opportunities to network, collaborate and connect across disciplines for AI in the UK Disagree	There are good opportunities to network, collaborate and connect across disciplines for AI in the UK N/A
There are good opportunities to network, collaborate and connect across academics, businesses and end users for AI in the UK	There are good opportunities to network, collaborate and connect across academics, businesses and end users for AI in the UK Agree	There are good opportunities to network, collaborate and connect across academics, businesses and end users for AI in the UK Somewhat agree	There are good opportunities to network, collaborate and connect across academics, businesses and end users for AI in the UK Neutral	There are good opportunities to network, collaborate and connect across academics, businesses and end users for AI in the UK Somewhat disagree	There are good opportunities to network, collaborate and connect across academics, businesses and end users for AI in the UK Disagree	There are good opportunities to network, collaborate and connect across academics, businesses and end users for AI in the UK N/A
Appropriate computational infrastructure is available to meet my AI needs	Appropriate computational infrastructure is available to meet my AI needs Agree	Appropriate computational infrastructure is available to meet my AI needs Somewhat agree	Appropriate computational infrastructure is available to meet my AI needs Neutral	Appropriate computational infrastructure is available to meet my AI needs Somewhat disagree	Appropriate computational infrastructure is available to meet my AI needs Disagree	Appropriate computational infrastructure is available to meet my AI needs N/A
I have access to sufficient high quality data for use in AI (e.g. following FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and re-usable) guidelines)	I have access to sufficient high quality data for use in AI (e.g. following FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and re-usable) guidelines) Agree	I have access to sufficient high quality data for use in AI (e.g. following FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and re-usable) guidelines) Somewhat agree	I have access to sufficient high quality data for use in AI (e.g. following FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and re-usable) guidelines) Neutral	I have access to sufficient high quality data for use in AI (e.g. following FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and re-usable) guidelines) Somewhat disagree	I have access to sufficient high quality data for use in AI (e.g. following FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and re-usable) guidelines) Disagree	I have access to sufficient high quality data for use in AI (e.g. following FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and re-usable) guidelines) N/A

If applicable, please provide further specific comments on the current status of AI (particularly in the UK) within your field or sector, e.g. to add context to your answers to question 6 or to address aspects not highlighted above. (max 100 words)

Question Title

* 7. In order of importance, what do you view as the current key challenges to delivering your AI-related research goals? (max 50 words per answer)

1 (high)

5 (low)

Section 3: Opportunities and potentials

The following questions are intended to gather horizon scanning insights, ideas and perspectives. This section focuses on research and innovation, with later sections considering broader enablers (skills, infrastructure and data).

Question Title

* 8. What current or future AI technologies could deliver a substantial step change in current biosciences research capabilities, or deliver fundamentally new ones? (max 500 words)

For example:
- New AI methods or techniques addressing difficult challenges like analysing complex, sparse or multimodal data sets
- the potential for emerging developments in AI technologies and tools to deliver deeper insights or enable people to do research differently

Question Title

* 9. Where do you see exciting future AI-related opportunities or significant unmet bioscience research needs at the intersection between bioscience and AI? (max 500 words)

We would encourage you to consider potentially exciting and impactful nearer-term outcomes, as well as ambitious longer-term goals.

Question Title

* 10. In order of priority, what actions would you consider to be the most useful to support AI research in the biosciences over the next 5 years and briefly why? (max 50 words per answer)

1 (high)

5 (low)

Section 4: People and talent

This part of the questionnaire is intended to help us understand the current skills and social infrastructure supporting AI in the biosciences. Key issues raised previously include:

- The need to embed and facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration
- Ensuring continuing professional development opportunities across all career stages
- The need for professional technical support, e.g. from research technical professionals and research software engineers
- Challenges in recruitment and retention of different roles, skills and qualifications.

Current landscape

Question Title

* 11. What do you consider the gaps in current provision which, if addressed, would have the biggest impact? Please rank the importance of the following statements (1-8, high to low) in supporting the use of AI in your field.

Question Title

* 12. Are there any other key areas relating to people and skills not mentioned in the list above? If so, please provide a brief description (maximum 50 words).

Recruitment and retention

Question Title

* 13. What are your key skills needs relating to AI? Which do you find are most challenging to recruit and/or retain? (maximum 50 words)

Question Title

* 14. Relating to these skills, what qualifications/ level of experience do you find are most challenging to recruit and retain? (select all that apply)

	Recruitment	Retention
Apprenticeships (any level)	Apprenticeships (any level) Recruitment	Apprenticeships (any level) Retention
Up to A-level or equivalent	Up to A-level or equivalent Recruitment	Up to A-level or equivalent Retention
Undergraduate degree or equivalent	Undergraduate degree or equivalent Recruitment	Undergraduate degree or equivalent Retention
Postgraduate Masters degree or equivalent	Postgraduate Masters degree or equivalent Recruitment	Postgraduate Masters degree or equivalent Retention
Doctoral degree or equivalent	Doctoral degree or equivalent Recruitment	Doctoral degree or equivalent Retention
Postdoctoral experience	Postdoctoral experience Recruitment	Postdoctoral experience Retention
Group leader experience	Group leader experience Recruitment	Group leader experience Retention

You can use this text box to expand on the reasons for your choices or provide additional context.

Question Title

* 15. Where do you see the main challenges in recruitment and retention? (select all that apply)

	Recruitment	Retention
People with desired qualifications	People with desired qualifications Recruitment	People with desired qualifications Retention
People with sufficient experience	People with sufficient experience Recruitment	People with sufficient experience Retention
Diverse demographic backgrounds	Diverse demographic backgrounds Recruitment	Diverse demographic backgrounds Retention
Attracting international talent	Attracting international talent Recruitment	Attracting international talent Retention
Competitive salary	Competitive salary Recruitment	Competitive salary Retention
Competitive labour market for their skills, choosing positions elsewhere	Competitive labour market for their skills, choosing positions elsewhere Recruitment	Competitive labour market for their skills, choosing positions elsewhere Retention
Working environment not what was expected	Working environment not what was expected Recruitment	Working environment not what was expected Retention
Insufficient opportunities for career progression	Insufficient opportunities for career progression Recruitment	Insufficient opportunities for career progression Retention
Insufficient opportunities for personal development	Insufficient opportunities for personal development Recruitment	Insufficient opportunities for personal development Retention

You can use this text box to expand on the reasons for your choices or provide additional challenges not listed above.

Community engagement

Question Title

* 16. What types of activity would you like to see supported to promote more community-level discussions and activities for UK AI bioscience? What benefits could such activities provide? (max 200 words)

Section 5: Infrastructure

Data resources, software and computing platforms managed by skilled technical professionals all constitute important infrastructure that underpins the effective use of AI. We are not attempting to comprehensively map this landscape or replicate information already considered as part of the UKRI-BBSRC review of data-intensive bioscience and UKRI research and innovation infrastructure opportunity report, but are seeking community views on key future needs with a particular focus on AI in the biosciences.

Question Title

* 17. Please list the main software and computing platforms you currently use for AI specifically.

Question Title

* 18. In order of importance, what do you see as the most significant future needs or changes in the current UK landscape regarding data resources, software and computing platforms specifically to enable your AI research and/or innovation activities? (max 50 words per answer)

1 (high)

5 (low)

Question Title

* 19. Please use the text box to provide a brief description of any other key issues relating to data resources, software and computing platforms you would like to flag, or further commentary you would like to add for the points raised above (maximum 100 words).

Section 6: Wrap up

Question Title

* 20. Please use this space to provide any final comments you wish to make (max 250 words)

Question Title

* 21. Optional: To better understand the diversity of responses it would be helpful to get your response to the following questions

Which best describes your gender?

Which best describes your ethnicity?

Do you consider yourself to have a disability?

Question Title

* 22. Would you be happy for us to contact you again to:

	Yes	No
Provide updates on relevant activities?	Provide updates on relevant activities? Yes	Provide updates on relevant activities? No
Request further input?	Request further input? Yes	Request further input? No

We thank you for your time and input. Please note that you will not receive an email confirmation after submitting your responses. If you have any concerns please contact contact tt@bbsrc.ukri.org for confirmation.