The Alan Turing Institute

The Alan Turing Institute will build the mathematical and computational tools needed to extract useful predictions from vast, messy digital datasets. This matters because the world now generates more data than humans can meaningfully analyse. Hospitals hold millions of patient records, cities stream sensor data from traffic and energy grids, and scientific instruments produce terabytes of information daily. Without better algorithms, most of this data remains unused. The Institute will develop the foundational theory—the core mathematics and algorithms—that turns raw data into reliable knowledge. If the research succeeds, the impact will be broad but indirect. Better data science could accelerate drug discovery, make energy grids more efficient, improve weather forecasting, and help policymakers test decisions before implementing them. It could also strengthen the infrastructure people rarely think about: supply chains, water treatment systems, and communications networks. This is primarily fundamental science. The Institute is not building a specific product or solving a single problem. It is creating the theoretical and methodological groundwork that will make future applications possible—much as early work on probability and statistics eventually enabled everything from clinical trials to credit scoring.