Neil Ghani
Neil Ghani | |
|---|---|
| Education | Pembroke College, Oxford University of Edinburgh (PhD) |
| Known for | Category theory; type theory; programming-language semantics; machine learning |
| Notable work | Theory of containers |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Computer science |
| Workplaces | University of Leicester University of Nottingham University of Strathclyde |
Neil Ghani is a British computer scientist known for applying category theory to type theory, the semantics of programming languages and machine learning. He was a professor of Computer Science at the University of Strathclyde and head of its Department of Computer and Information Sciences from 2017 to 2023.[1] He is a cofounder and chief science officer of Kodamai, a Glasgow-based AI agent company.[2][3][4] In 2026 Kodamai and the University of Edinburgh were awarded an Innovate UK Knowledge Transfer Partnership on security and privacy assurance for Kodamai's agent platform, with Ghani named as the industrial supervisor.[4]
Career
Ghani studied mathematics at Pembroke College, Oxford and completed a PhD in computer science at the University of Edinburgh in 1995.[5] He held posts at the University of Leicester and the University of Nottingham before joining Strathclyde in 2008, where he cofounded the Mathematically Structured Programming group.[6]
Research
Ghani's research has included applications of category theory to type theory and programming-language semantics. With Thorsten Altenkirch and Michael Abbott he developed the theory of containers, a categorical characterisation of strictly positive data types.[7] He has also worked on induction-recursion, parametricity and fibrational models of dependent type theory, and led EPSRC projects at Strathclyde including Theory and Applications of Induction Recursion and Homotopy Type Theory: Programming and Verification.[8] More recently he co-authored a categorical semantics of gradient-based learning algorithms in terms of lenses, parametrised maps and reverse derivative categories.[9]
References
- ↑ "Prof Neil Ghani". University of Strathclyde. Retrieved 4 August 2026.
- ↑ "About us". Kodamai. Retrieved 9 August 2026.
- ↑ "Workforce Amplified: technical whitepaper". Kodamai. Retrieved 9 August 2026.
- 1 2 "KTP Associate Agentic AI Security and Privacy Research Engineer". University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 9 August 2026 – via jobs.ac.uk.
- ↑ "Curriculum Vitae for Professor Neil Ghani" (PDF). Glaive Research. Retrieved 4 August 2026.
- ↑ "Mathematically Structured Programming". University of Strathclyde. Retrieved 4 August 2026.
- ↑ Abbott, Michael; Altenkirch, Thorsten; Ghani, Neil (2005). "Containers: Constructing strictly positive types". Theoretical Computer Science. 342 (1): 3–27.
- ↑ "Neil Ghani". UK Research and Innovation, Gateway to Research. Retrieved 4 August 2026.
- ↑ Cruttwell, Geoffrey; Gavranovic, Bruno; Ghani, Neil; Wilson, Paul; Zanasi, Fabio (2022). "Categorical Foundations of Gradient-Based Learning". Programming Languages and Systems (ESOP 2022).
External links
- Neil Ghani at DBLP