Digital Nexus

As part of our new fundraising campaign we want to invest substantially and ambitiously in our physical campus on the North Haugh. This includes the development of a new epicentre for Scotland's leading Computer Science team, situated at the heart of the Science and Medicine Campus.

The creation of the Digital Nexus Building will enable our globally renowned computer scientists and students to further collaborate with scholars in medicine and across the sciences. This will facilitate a rich exchange of ideas, foster innovations that transcend traditional academic boundaries, and bring wide-reaching benefits to society.

Highlights of the power of Computer Science at St Andrews include:

Sustainable distributed AI: As AI systems become ubiquitous and personalised, we are exploring algorithms that learn from limited data, can evolve their knowledge over time, and are able to explain their decision-making.
Protecting fertility: Developed in a clinical setting, our Fertility Calculator helps couples navigating a fertility journey involving assisted conception, and is especially targeted at maintaining fertility after cancer and other treatments.
Shaping the future of multicore computing: Our pioneering research aims to improve multicore technology. We have already developed techniques - adopted by major companies - which enhance performance, security and cost-effectiveness.
Solving complex problems: We are tackling complex, real-world problems using constraint programming and digital twin technologies. We are collaborating with outside organisations to optimise processes such as nursing schedules for the NHS and electric bus operations in Turkey.
Shedding light on visual impairment: We are contributing to a global effort to address Cerebral Visual Impairment (CVI), which affects individuals' ability to process visual information accurately. Our teams are creating innovative solutions such as virtual reality programmes and collaborating with educators, parents and practitioners to better understand and support those with CVI.

Our vision

Our Digital Nexus Building will:

Integrate a remarkable group of talented researchers at all stages of their careers
Drive collaboration and foster engagement with partners across the University
Grow and diversify our outreach activity, including dedicated Gateway to Science and summer programmes
Be an architectural landmark, the centrepiece of a revitalised Science and Medicine campus.

digital nexus, plan, map, st andrews, view

Artists' impressions of the redeveloped campus on the North Haugh

How you can support us

Fuel research breakthroughs, empower curious minds, drive scientific progress and pave the way in our science and medicine masterplan with this ambitious £55 million project.

Case studies

Discover how St Andrews' research is transforming the world.

Over the past 25 years, St Andrews has been at the forefront of mathematical oncology through its development of quantitative and predictive models to understand cancer growth and treatment. In the last five years, the University has refined an innovative in silico multi-scale, individual-based modelling approach that analyses the spatiotemporal dynamics of cancer cells as they invade the local tissue and spread to distant sites of the body.

Through this innovative approach, our mathematicians can theoretically predict the growth and spread of a patient’s cancer and its response to treatment (chemotherapy, radiotherapy, immunotherapy).

Through computational simulation, it is possible to anticipate the onset of drug resistance based on data from a patient’s unique cancer cell characteristics. The goal is to incorporate this model into clinical settings, where it can inform the design of optimal combination chemotherapies and treatment strategies for individual cancer patients.
Dr Maggie Ellis of the University’s School of Psychology & Neuroscience has achieved significant advancements in dementia treatment through collaboration with Professor Arlene Astell of the University of Reading.

Their research stemmed from the recognition that individuals with advanced dementia possess a desire to communicate and engage with others, despite their lack of language and understanding of speech. Recognising the need for alternative means of communication, Ellis and Astell embarked on research to explore innovative approaches through means other than speech.

They drew on the practice of 'intensive interaction', where imitation of nonverbal behaviour is used to increase communication with children with severe learning disabilities. When applying this to patients with dementia, they adapted interpersonal interactions to tap into any remaining capacity for nonverbal behaviour and imitation - hence creating the term 'Adaptive Interaction'.

Notably, sessions employing Adaptive Interaction revealed a higher frequency of smiling and imitation in individuals with advanced dementia compared to standard attempts at verbal interaction. The research highlighted that by identifying and responding to nonverbal communicative cues, caregivers and family members gain access to a previously unrealised method of interaction. Most importantly, those individuals with dementia can, once again, experience human connection with their loved ones.

Ongoing research through recent collaboration with Dr Oggie Arandelovic, of the School of Computer Science, has developed an artificial intelligence-based tool that quantifies the degree of participant engagement in Adaptive Interaction sessions. This approach, based on machine learning, has shown that the positive effects of Adaptive Interaction can be measured with an objective, quantitative approach.

Read more about this pioneering research
The University of St Andrews is at the forefront of digital reproduction and restoration. Collaborations between the University's academics and external institutions have been able to create accurate digital reconstructions of locations that were previously thought lost or destroyed.

Work in this area has included the Laconia Acropolis Virtual Archaeology project (LAVA), which enabled students to engage with realistic archaeological excavation without visiting the dig site itself. This interdisciplinary project was led by colleagues from the Schools of Classics and Computer Science.

A collaboration across Art History, History, Music, Classics, and Computer Science resulted in the creation of a digital reconstruction of St Andrews Cathedral, which has been in ruins since the 16th century. This project not only preserves the cathedral's heritage but also showcases the University's commitment to interdisciplinary innovation in digital restoration.

Through this work, the University has engaged new audiences in the digital humanities.

Read more about digital restoration projects
Abstract algebra – a complex branch of pure mathematics – is essential to subjects such as pure mathematics, computer science, physics, chemistry, and engineering.

Researchers at the University of St Andrews, led by Dr Olexandr Konovalov, have significantly advanced the field by integrating their work on mathematical structures into leading computational abstract algebra software. Their contributions are part of ongoing research at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Computational Algebra (CIRCA) and involve enhancing the Groups, Algorithms, Programming (GAP) system – a versatile software that aids complex mathematical calculations.

Their efforts have not only accelerated computations in GAP but also facilitated its integration into broader systems like SageMath and the CoCalc collaboration platform. This integration has had a significant impact upon abstract algebra teaching around the world, empowering teachers to adopt more investigative and student-centred approaches.

The team's commitment to sharing insights has contributed to the widespread improvement of teaching practices and access to advanced mathematical concepts.

Read more about the research at St Andrews

Digital Nexus

Our vision

How you can support us

Case studies

Personalised cancer treatment

Rethinking dementia with Adaptive Interaction

Engaging new audiences through digital restoration

Speeding up abstract algebra