Professor Peter Edwards

PhD CITP FBCS FIET FRSA

Principal & Vice-Chancellor

51cg

Email Address: p.edwards@abdn.ac.uk
School/Department: Principal's Office

Biography

Professor Peter Edwards became Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the 51cg on 1 November 2025.

He joined the 51cg as a postdoctoral fellow in Computing Science in October 1988, before moving into his first academic position as a Lecturer in 1991.

His academic research focuses on the design of intelligent information infrastructures that promote transparency and accountability in computational systems, on which he has published widely. Much of this work has been interdisciplinary in nature, involving collaborations across fields including medicine, law, geography, transport studies, food science, and design. He has served as Principal Investigator on major UK Research Council awards valued at over £20m, including the eSocial Science Research Node PolicyGrid (ESRC, 2006–2012) and the UK Digital Economy Research Hub dot.rural (EPSRC, 2009–2015).

In his nearly four decades at the University he has also held a range of senior leadership roles, including Head of Computing Science, Head of the College of Physical Sciences Graduate School, Director of the Northern Research Partnership Graduate School (a collaboration among the Universities of Aberdeen, Dundee, and Robert Gordon), Head of the School of Natural and Computing Sciences, Vice-Principal for Regional Engagement, and Acting Senior Vice-Principal.

Professor Edwards is Chair of the University Senate, a member of the University Court and a member of the Board of the University's Development Trust SCIO. His external roles include membership of the Board of Opportunity North East, the Aberdeen City Region Deal Joint Committee, and the North East Scotland Investment Zone Joint Committee.

He is a Fellow of the British Computer Society, the Institution of Engineering & Technology and the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce.

Principal's Office Contacts

Heather Crabb - Head of Principal's Office

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Email:

J Ross Anderson - Governance & Executive Support Officer

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Email:

Julia Garrow - Personal Assistant to Principal and Vice-Chancellor

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Email:

Fiona Beedie - Admin Assistant (8.30am to 1.45pm)

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Email:

Qualifications

PhD Computational Chemistry
1990 - University of Leeds

Memberships and Affiliations

Internal Memberships

Senate - Chair
University Court - Trustee
Governance & Nominations Committee - Member
51cg Development Trust SCIO - Trustee

External Memberships

Opportunity North East - Director
Aberdeen City Region Deal Joint Committee - Member
North East Scotland Investment Zone Joint Committee - Member
North East Scotland Regional Economic Partnership - Member
Universities Scotland Main Committee - Member
Universities Scotland Lead Member for Regional Economic Development & Engagement
Cruickshank Botanic Gardens Trust - Chair
Strachan & Duthie Webster Trust - Trustee
Sir John Marnoch Memorial Trust - Trustee
The Robert Nicol Trust - Trustee
C B Davidson Bequest - Trustee
Newbattle Abbey College Trust - Director

Latest Publications

Embedding AI-Enabled Data Infrastructures for Sustainability in Agri-Food: Soft-Fruit and Brewery Use Case Perspectives
2024 - Published
Markovic, M., Li, A. H., Ayall, T. A., Watson, N. J., Bowler, A. L., Woods, M., Edwards, P., Ramsey, R., Beddows, M. A., Kuhnert, M., Leontidis, G.
Sensors, vol. 24, no. 2024, 7327
Contributions to Journals: Articles
- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [OPEN ACCESS]
Farm Explorer: A Tool for Calculating Transparent Greenhouse Gas Emissions
2024 - Published
Markovic, M., Germano, S., Garijo, D., Edwards, P., Li, A., Ayall, T. A., Ramsey, R., Leontidis, G.
Contributions to Journals: Conference Articles
- [ONLINE]
- [OPEN ACCESS]
Model pruning enables localized and efficient federated learning for yield forecasting and data sharing
2024 - Published
Li, A. H., Markovic, M., Edwards, P., Leontidis, G.
Expert Systems with Applications, vol. 242, pp. 1-12
Contributions to Journals: Articles
- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [OPEN ACCESS]
- [ONLINE]
Model Pruning Enables Localized and Efficient Federated Learning for Yield Forecasting and Data Sharing
2023 - Published
Li, A., Markovic, M., Edwards, P., Leontidis, G.
Working Papers: Preprint Papers
- [ONLINE]
- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [OPEN ACCESS]
Using Knowledge Graphs to Unlock Practical Collection, Integration, and Audit of AI Accountability Information
2022 - Published
Naja, I., Markovic, M., Edwards, P., Pang, W., Cottrill, C., Williams, R.
IEEE Access, vol. 10, pp. 74383 - 74411
Contributions to Journals: Articles
- [ONLINE] DOI:
- [OPEN ACCESS]

View My Publications

Research

Research Overview

Intelligent information infrastructures that promote transparency and accountability in computational systems. My interests span models of provenance, trust, information quality, transparency and accountability and the realisation of these in the context of the web, the internet of things, and autonomous systems. My work has a strong applications focus in areas as diverse as food safety, transport, smart cities, logistics and healthcare; interdisciplinary collaborations have included Medicine, Law, Geography, Transport Studies, Food Science, and Design.

Research Areas

Computing Science

Supervising

View Research Area

Research Specialisms

Knowledge and Information Systems
Information Management
Internet Technologies
Artificial Intelligence
Intelligent Systems

Our research specialisms are based on the Higher Education Classification of Subjects (HECoS) which is , published under the licence.

Past Research

Enhancing Agri-Food Transparent Sustainability - EATS
(Aberdeen, Dundee, SRUC, Nottingham)
EPSRC: EP/V042270/1, 2022-2024

Funding and Grants

Enhancing Agri-Food Transparent Sustainability - EATS
EPSRC, 2022-2024

PROoFD IT!: Provenance of Food Delivery through IoT
EPSRC Internet of Food Things Network+, 2019

Realising Accountable Intelligent Systems - RAInS
EPSRC: EP/R033846/1, 2019-2022

Trusted Things & Communities: Understanding & Enabling a Trusted IoT Ecosystem
EPSRC: EP/N028074/1, 2016-2019

Trust & Privacy in Smart City IoT Solutions
Royal Society of Edinburgh - Taiwan Ministry of Science & Technology, 2017-2019

The Food Sentiment Observatory: Exploiting New Forms of Data to Help Inform
Policy on Food Safety & Food Crime Risks (with Food Standards Scotland)
ESRC: ES/P011004/1, 2017-2018

Smart Routing
Innovate UK, 2016-2017

Food Safety Assurance: Combining Provenance & The Internet of Things
IT as a Utility Network+ & Food Standards Agency, 2015-2016

Social Media: Developing Understanding, Infrastructure & Engagement
ESRC: ES/M001628/1, 2014-2016

dot.rural Digital Economy Research Hub
EPSRC (with AHRC, ESRC, MRC): EP/G066051/1, 2009-2015

Trusted Tiny Things
EPSRC IT as a Utility Network+, 2013-2014

Creativity @ Home Award
EPSRC, 2012-2014

A Trusted Mobile Platform for Self-Management of Chronic Illness in Rural Areas - TRUMP
EPSRC - India DST: EP/J00068X/1, 2011-2014

SmartTourism
SFC Horizon Fund, 2011-2014

PolicyGrid II: Supporting Interdisciplinary Evidence Bases for Scientific
Collaboration and Policy Making
ESRC: ES/F029713/1, 2009-2012

BEhaviour for Well-being, Environment and Life - BE-WEL
ESRC (with BBSRC, MRC), 2009-2010

eInfrastructure for Social Sciences
ESRC: RES-149-25-1063, 2006-2009

SwarmCloud
JISC, 2008-2009

PolicyGrid: Semantic Grid Tools for Rural Policy Development & Appraisal
ESRC: RES-149-25-1027, 2006-2009

Access Grid Node Competition - Equipment Award`
ESRC, 2006

Pilot Semantic Grid Service for Environmental Modelling
ESRC: RES-149-25-0011, 2003-2005

Teaching

Teaching Responsibilities

I am not currently involved in teaching activity, other than PhD supervision.

Publications

Update

51cg

Biography

Principal's Office Contacts

Qualifications

Memberships and Affiliations

Latest Publications

Embedding AI-Enabled Data Infrastructures for Sustainability in Agri-Food: Soft-Fruit and Brewery Use Case Perspectives

Farm Explorer: A Tool for Calculating Transparent Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Model pruning enables localized and efficient federated learning for yield forecasting and data sharing

Model Pruning Enables Localized and Efficient Federated Learning for Yield Forecasting and Data Sharing

Using Knowledge Graphs to Unlock Practical Collection, Integration, and Audit of AI Accountability Information

Research Overview

Research Areas

Computing Science

Research Specialisms

Past Research

Funding and Grants

Teaching Responsibilities

Embedding AI-Enabled Data Infrastructures for Sustainability in Agri-Food: Soft-Fruit and Brewery Use Case Perspectives

Farm Explorer: A Tool for Calculating Transparent Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Model pruning enables localized and efficient federated learning for yield forecasting and data sharing

Model Pruning Enables Localized and Efficient Federated Learning for Yield Forecasting and Data Sharing

Using Knowledge Graphs to Unlock Practical Collection, Integration, and Audit of AI Accountability Information

Prototyping an IoT Transparency Toolkit to support Communication, Governance and Policy in the Smart City

From transparency to accountability of intelligent systems: Moving beyond aspirations

FlyTrap: A Blockchain-based Proxy for Authorisation and Audit of MQTT Connections

The Accountability Fabric: A Suite of Semantic Tools For Managing AI System Accountability and Audit

On Evidence Capture for Accountable AI Systems

Towards Accountability Driven Development for Machine Learning Systems

A Semantic Framework to Support AI System Accountability and Audit

Sensing the City: Designing for Privacy and Trust in the Internet of Things

Integrating Internet of Things, Provenance and Blockchain to Enhance Trust in Last Mile Food Deliveries

Governance and Accountability in Internet of Things (IoT) Networks

Who Trusts in the Smart City? Transparency, Governance and the Internet of Things

User Privacy Risk Analysis For The Internet of Things

Made-up Rubbish: Design Fiction as a Tool for Participatory Internet of Things Research

Semantic Modelling of Plans and Execution Traces for Enhancing Transparency of IoT Systems

Enhancing Transparency of MQTT Brokers For IoT Applications Through Provenance Streams

TravelBot: Utilising social media dialogue to provide journey disruption alerts

Linking Abstract Plans of Scientific Experiments to their Corresponding Execution Traces

Understanding factors influencing public transport passengers' pre-travel information seeking behaviour

Public Sector Internet of Things Deployments: Value, Transparency, Risks and Challenges: Data for Policy 2019

Recording Provenance of Food Delivery Using IoT, Semantics and Business Blockchain Networks

Towards automated privacy risk assessments in IoT systems

Build an app and they will come? Lessons learnt from trialling the GetThereBus app in rural communities

Capturing the Provenance of Internet of Things Deployments

Towards Transparency of IoT Message Brokers

Challenges of Open Data Quality: More Than Just License, Format, and Customer Support

The challenge of quality in social computation

Linking open data and the crowd for real-time passenger information

Semantic Stream Processing for IoT Devices in the Food Safety Domain

Modelling Provenance of Sensor Data for Food Safety Compliance Checking

Social Media Data in Research: Provenance Challenges

Digital Innovation Through Partnership Between Nature Conservation Organisations and Academia: A Qualitative Impact Assessment

An Access Control Model for Protecting Provenance Graphs

Interrogating Capabilities of IoT Devices

SC-PROV: A Provenance Vocabulary for Social Computation

QUAL: A Provenance-Aware Quality Model

Development of a Digital Tool to Overcome the Challenges of Rural Food SMEs

The Transport Disruption Ontology

TravelBot: Journey Disruption Alerts Utilising Social Media and Linked Data

Trusted Tiny Things: Making Devices in Smart Cities More Transparent

What Does this Device Do?

You'll Never Ride Alone: The Role of Social Media in Supporting the Bus Passenger Experience

Providing Older Adults With Real-time Passenger Information via SMS

A digital tool to overcome the challenges of rural food SMEs in Scotland

Lessons learnt from the deployment of a semantic virtual research environment

Developing SMiLE (Smart Micro-logistics for the Rural Economy): evidence from Scotland

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Books and Reports

Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings

Contributions to Conferences

Contributions to Journals

Working Papers