University Assistant Professor and Deputy Director, Centre for Human-Inspired AI (CHIA)
Teaching lead: Mathematics and Programming (Design Tripos) and AI for Sustainability (CHIA)
Co-Director, MPhil in Architecture and Urban Studies
Director, Cambridge Collective Intelligence and Design Group
Director, University of Cambridge climaTRACES Lab
Biography
Dr Ramit Debnath is a University Assistant Professor and Deputy Director of the Centre for Human-Inspired AI (CHIA). Ramit is an elected member of the Methods Advisory Group (MAG) of the UK Government. He leads the Cambridge Collective Intelligence and Design Group and climaTRACES Lab, and has a visiting academic role at Caltech, where he co-leads the Climate and Social Intelligence Lab. He is a faculty affiliate of the Earth System Science, Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, leading the Stanford-Cambridge Inclusive Ordering Initiative. He is the Maths and Programming teaching lead for the DesignTripos course, and AI for Sustainability Module leader for the MPhil in Human-Inspired AI (CHIA).
Dr Debnath's research involves designing responsible and human-centric AI systems to advance climate action and environmental sustainability at urban and regional scale. This niche and rapidly emerging field is pivotal for mitigating global emissions and ensuring that AI is developed safely and for the public good. For further information, visit his research group: https://www.collectivedesign.group.cam.ac.uk
Ramit has a background in electrical engineering and computational social sciences, with a MPhil (ESD) and a PhD from the University of Cambridge as a Gates Scholar. He is a Fellow and Director of Studies of Churchill College. He was awarded the inaugural Cambridge Zero Fellowship.
Research
Ramit's research advances computational social science methodologies for climate and environmental sustainability, see here: https://www.collectivedesign.group.cam.ac.uk
Ramit serves as an Associate Editor for npj Climate Action (Nature), Energy Research and Social Sciences (Elsevier), Humanities and Social Science Communications (Nature) and PLOS Global Health. He is editorial board member for Cell Press's iScience.
Ramit receives research funding from the UKRI EPSRC and ESRC, the MasterCard Foundation, the Minderoo Foundation, and others. His research outputs regularly appear in Nature, Nature Climate Change, Nature Human Behaviour, Royal Society Transactions, The Lancet Planetary Health, amongst others.
Publications
Teaching and Supervisions
Course leader: Paper 1.5 Math and Programming (Year 1) Design Tripos
Module leader: Qualitative and Quantitative Research Methods, MPhil in Architecture and Urban Studies
Module leader: AI for Sustainability, MPhil in Human-Centred AI
MPP - Fundamentals of ML for public policy (POLIS/BIPP)
Ramit supervises undergrad, MPhil and PhD students, see current student list here: https://www.collectivedesign.group.cam.ac.uk/team.html
Other Professional Activities
Panel member - UKRI, NSF (USA), NSF (Swiss), EU Horizon
Member - EDITS, IIASA; Climate Social Science Network (Brown University)
Departmental level - Chair of IT Committee; Degree Committee
University level - Steering committee member (Centre for Human-Inspired AI; Cambridge Centre for Data-driven Discovery, and Cambridge Centre for Climate Repair) and Cambridge Zero.
