Google supports ANU School of Computing to advance AI research and education

Image: School of Computing's Dan Andrews, Nick Barnes, Peter Hoefner (Associate Director Education), Antony Hosking (Director), and Google's Marie Esfathiou (Senior Program Manager) (L-R)

The Australian National University (ANU) School of Computing has announced a new initiative, supported by Google Australia, to advance artificial intelligence research and education. The projects span robotics, formal verification, natural language processing, computer systems, and curriculum innovation reinforcing the School’s position at the forefront of AI research in Australia. 

Enabled by funding from Google to the ANU School of Computing, the initiative brings together six research and education streams led by ANU Computing academics, each tackling a distinct dimension of how generative AI (GenAI) is reshaping computing. 

AI-integrated computer science curriculum 

The support enables a School-wide initiative to reshape computer science education around the responsible and effective use of GenAI models. A flagship project in this effort, led by Professor Nick Barnes – Professor of Computer Vision and Associate Director for Academic Staff Development – is developing a new programming course for scientists and engineers that integrates generative AI throughout its pedagogy. The course will equip students from science and engineering disciplines with practical programming skills, using GenAI tools as collaborative coding partners rather than replacements for understanding. This work reflects the School’s conviction that AI amplifies the value of a rigorous computer science education, making foundational skills in computational thinking, systems design, and formal reasoning more important than ever. 

AI-powered robotics 

Professor Hanna Kurniawati, SmartSat CRC Professorial Chair for System Autonomy, Intelligence and Decision Making, and Dr Rahul Shome, Senior Lecturer in Robotics and AI, lead a research stream that explores the intersection of artificial intelligence and robotics. 

Professor Kurniawati, whose foundational work on planning under uncertainty earned the prestigious Robotics: Science and Systems Test of Time Award, brings deep expertise in general-purpose decision-making, enabling robust, long-term planning for robots in complex, partially observable and dynamic environments.

Dr Shome’s research focuses on task and motion planning for intelligent problem solving in human-centric settings, work for which he received an honourable mention for the IEEE T-RO King-Sun Fu Memorial Best Paper Award. Together, their work supported by Google will advance the development of AI-driven robotic systems capable of operating reliably in real-world scenarios. 

GenAI models for theorem proving and system verification

Associate Professor Michael Norrish, Computing Foundations Lead and one of the developers of the world-renowned HOL4 interactive theorem prover, is investigating how GenAI models can support formal theorem proving for software and system verification. With decades of experience at the intersection of formal methods, programming language semantics, and mechanised mathematics – including landmark contributions to the ACM Software Systems Award winning verification of the seL4 microkernel and the award-recognised CakeML verified ML compiler – Associate Professor Norrish’s work supported by Google aims to harness the power of Machine Learning to make rigorous, machine checked proofs more accessible and scalable for verifying critical computing systems. 

GenAI pipelines and data management 

Dr Shoaib Akram, Senior Lecturer and leader of the Vertically Integrated Computer Systems (VICS) research group, is working on GenAI pipelines and data management challenges. Dr Akram, whose research spans computer architecture, hardware–software co-design, and the optimisation of storage-intensive applications for modern data-centric hardware, brings a systems-level perspective to the challenge of building efficient infrastructure for large-scale AI workloads. Dr Akram’s work supported by Google will explore how to make GenAI pipelines more performant and resource-efficient at scale. 

Understanding and evaluating GenAI persuasion strategies 

Professor Jing Jiang, an internationally recognised expert in natural language processing and text mining, is leading research into understanding and evaluating the persuasion strategies employed by large language models. Professor Jiang, who previously served as Director of the AI and Data Science Cluster at Singapore Management University, has published extensively on topics including information extraction, sentiment analysis, question answering, and the evaluation of vision-language models. Professor Jiang’s work supported by Google addresses the critical need to understand how large language models influence human reasoning and decision-making – a question with profound implications for responsible AI deployment.

A shared vision

“This initiative, supported by Google Australia, reflects the breadth and depth of AI expertise across the School of Computing,” said Professor Antony Hosking, Director of the ANU School of Computing. “From robotics and formal verification to natural language processing and curriculum innovation, our researchers are working at the frontiers of how GenAI can be developed responsibly and deployed effectively. We are delighted to have Google’s support in advancing this work.”

“Investing in AI research and education at ANU is an investment in Australia’s digital future. We’re delighted to support ANU to help close the AI readiness gap and empower the next generation of scientists and researchers to learn, lead and innovate,” said Marie Efstathiou, Senior Program Manager at Google Australia.

The ANU School of Computing, part of the ANU College of Systems and Society, is ranked second in Australia and 37th globally for computer science and information systems according to the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025. ANU is also ranked first in Australia for AI, computer vision and machine learning, as well as for programming languages and for logic and verification, according to csrankings.org – placing the School among the world’s leading centres for the foundational and applied AI research and education that this initiative supports.

The ANU College of Systems and Society, home to one of the global leaders in the deep foundations of AI, computer vision and machine learning, is delighted to welcome this initiative. This work enhances and accelerates our work in advancing systems thinking for the good of humanity.