Professor Dave Cliff

Professor Dave Cliff’s work on the design of autonomous computerised trading agents is frequently of interest to the media.

The challenge of developing software to outperform people on the stock market was one of Professor Cliff’s main tasks in his most recent role as a director in Deutsche Bank’s FX Complex Risk Group before he joined the University in November 2005.

Professor Cliff joined the University’s School of Electronics & Computer Science (ECS), to lead the new Science and Engineering of Natural Systems group (SENSe) which will develop ECS’ research into the science and engineering of computational methods. His aim is to further an understanding of biological and other natural systems, and to undertake research into the development and application of novel computational tools and techniques that are inspired by natural systems.

After spending seven years as an academic, initially at the University of Sussex and then MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab and then another seven as an industrial researcher, he welcomes a return to academia.

He commented: ‘Having spent seven years in both sectors, I now feel that many of the most exciting opportunities lie in academia.’

Professor Cliff has a Bachelors degree in Computer Science from the University of Leeds, and masters and PhD degrees in Cognitive Science from the University of Sussex. His early research was in computational neuroscience/neuroethology studying visual control of gaze and flight in airborne insects and using artificial evolution to automate the design of autonomous robots. In 1996, while working as a consultant for Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, he invented the seminal "ZIP" trading algorithm, one of the first of the current generation of autonomous adaptive algorithmic trading systems which began his involvement in working on automating trading processes for the financial world.

He decided to join ECS because he believes that it is a leader in naturally-inspired computing techniques and has excellent links with industry.

He commented: ‘ECS is the best place in Europe for this kind of work. We are already leaders in our field in terms of our unique combination of skills. It is difficult to think of any other comparable groups anywhere in terms of skills and expertise.’

Through SENSe, Professor Cliff aims to develop ECS’ capability so that it becomes the leading group in Europe, if not the world, in naturally-inspired computing techniques. He will do this through developing its learning and teaching capabilities and its research collaborations with industry.

He anticipates a rapid period of growth. Key appointments have already been made: Dr Richard Watson has joined from Harvard University and Dr Seth Bullock has joined from the University of Leeds and a team including Klaus-Peter Zauner, Srinandan Dasmahapatra and Terry Elliott has been formed. Recruitment will begin in early 2006 for a new MSc and a series of short courses to train academics in this field.

Professor Cliff is author or co-author on over 70 academic journal or conference publications, holds five patents, and is inventor or co-inventor on over 25 further patent applications currently submitted for review at the Patent Office. He has undertaken advisory and consultancy work for a number of major companies in media, finance, and IT, and also for the UK Government. He has given well over 100 invited keynote lectures and seminars; and he and his work have frequently been featured both in print and in broadcast media: in the past few months his work has been the topic of articles in the New Scientist magazine, The Financial Times (London) newspaper, and The Economist magazine.