Sainsbury Wellcome Centre Core Grant Renewal (360G-Wellcome-318818_Z_24_Z)

Together, the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre and Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit seek to understand mechanisms of intelligence in brains and machines, by leveraging synergies between neuroscience and machine learning. To achieve our goal, we have assembled outstanding experimentalists, theorists, mathematicians and engineers, in an exceptional environment that promotes collaboration, bold science, innovation and progressive research culture. Our discoveries are helping explain how individuals perceive, make decisions, reason, navigate, organise knowledge, choose goals and act in dynamic environments, and how learning shapes these processes; while simultaneously advancing algorithms and theories behind their artificial analogues. This knowledge is prerequisite for understanding cognitive and psychiatric symptoms and developing more robust, ethical AI systems. Our impact extends beyond scientific discoveries and new technologies. We are committed to nurturing the next generation and increasing diversity in STEM through unique, interdisciplinary PhD programmes, early career support, and targeted outreach across the UK and Low- and Middle-Income countries. Our successful knowledge transfer has seeded the creation of companies at the forefront of solving health and educational challenges. These externally-engaged, cross- disciplinary efforts address the global challenges of understanding how brains generate cognition and behaviour, shaping the future of intelligent systems and improving research culture, thus driving positive societal impact.