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Convocation: Panel Discussion and Annual Review of 2025
23 February 2026 - 23 February 2026
6:00PM - 9:00PM
Durham University Business School, The Waterside Building, Riverside Place, Durham DH1 1SL
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Free
Our Vice-Chancellor and Warden, Professor Karen O’Brien, invites you to join her on Monday 23 February 2026 on campus for this year’s annual meeting of Convocation.
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The Vice-Chancellor will share highlights from 2025, a look forward to 2026 and our Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost, Professor Mike Shipman will chair a thought-provoking panel discussion about how our research expertise will play a key part in unlocking the potential of AI.
On conclusion of the evening’s formalities, there will be light refreshments served and the opportunity for socialising and networking with alumni.
Doors open at 5.30pm for a 6pm prompt start.
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- For further details on Convocation, including who is eligible to attend, please visit our governance pages.
Speakers
Dr Sarah Heaps
Associate Professor, Department of Mathematical Sciences
Dr Heaps is a Bayesian statistician whose research focuses on time-series analysis and latent variable modelling. She was Assistant Co-Director of the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Cloud Computing for Big Data, and has led and contributed to major research grants, particularly involving multivariate time-series analysis. She has given invited seminars across the world, including at Duke and Columbia Universities, and the Flatiron Institute in New York.
Dr Travis LaCroix
Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy
As well as his position within our Department of Philosophy, Dr LaCroix is a Fellow of our Institute for Medical Humanities, faculty affiliate of the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society (University of Toronto), and Co-Director of the Academic Placement and Data Analysis project. His research explores philosophical questions within complex social systems, including ethically-aligned artificial intelligence; social dynamics, norms, and conventions; and the philosophy of autism.
Professor Hubert Shum
Professor of Visual Computing, Department of Computer Science
Professor Shum specialises in modelling spatio-temporal visual information with responsible AI. He has published over 200 papers and led research funded by EPSRC, the Ministry of Defence, Royal Society, and Innovate UK. His multidisciplinary work spans space technology, healthcare, and the arts. He is Co-Director of Durham Space Research Centre, a Fellow of the Wolfson Research Institute, and a steering group member of the Centre for Visual Arts and Culture.