This week we hosted 6 year 12 students for a summer placement through In2Science. We had a jam packed schedule over the five days they were with us.

On Monday we met the students for the first time. We toured the campus, talked to different students on the CDT about their projects, and started to learn python (something new for most of the students!)

On Tuesday we began the projects that the students would be working on through the week. One project was focussed on the detection of diabetes patients, and the other focussed on predicting mortality in heart failure patients both using machine learning. We also discussed the ethics of medical AI and attended a meeting with one of the CDT directors.

On Wednesday one of the CDT students gave a presentation about writing personal statements for UCAS (a session the students found particularly helpful). We then went out into town for lunch followed by (a very rainy) escape hunt around Leeds where we managed to stop an AI from the future going rouge (phew!). The students then attended our weekly journal club where we discussed how we can stop AI from continuing existing biased medical practice.

On Thursday the students had to get down to business on the projects - getting ready to present on Friday. Dr Kieran Zucker came in to talk about public understanding of AI and how that might affect its implementation in healthcare settings (another favourite for the students and hosts!). And the CDT directors joined us for a Q&A where the students asked questions ranging from “what’s it like studying computing at Leeds?” to “how has AI research changed during your career?”.

On Friday the students had a last chance to finish their projects before they presented at a mini conference attended by the CDT students and directors. Everyone we very impressed by the work they had completed in just a week and their understanding of machine learning methods and ethics.

Overall we had a fantastic week enjoyed by bother the hosts and students. Feedback from the students included:

“The CDT team were nice, informative, explained things clearly”

“It was really insightful and useful and I loved every aspect of it”

“Thank you for such a great experience… Thanks for making us feel so welcomed and comfortable in such little time”

Blog written by: Mary Paterson and Sian Carey