A team of artificial intelligence (AI) experts from Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton is challenging fantasy football managers across the world to take on their fiercely competitive machine learning algorithm.

Associate Professor Dr Sarvapali (Gopal) Ramchurn claims that his system, known as Squadguru, consistently outperforms millions of players in the popular the Fantasy Premier League game by tapping into the latest AI techniques

Last year, more than four million players around the world competed in the English Fantasy Premier League, tinkering with their squads to generate maximum points from their teams. In the game, shrewd dealings in the transfer market can make or break teams’ seasons and entrants scramble week on week to strengthen their sides as Premier Leagues stars go on and off the boil.

Squadguru has been tested on player data from previous seasons and produced teams which would have consistently ranked in the top one per cent of the Fantasy Premier League. Last season, a Squadguru generated team placed in the global top 60,000 of the game for most of the 38 gameweeks out of the millions of players.

“From Elon Musk to Stephen Hawking, everyone’s talking about AI taking over the world - is that now also true for Fantasy Football?â€? Gopal asks. “Come and take on the best AI engine for fantasy football, and see if you can beat the Squadguru!â€?

Fantasy managers can compete with Squadguru’s AI-fuelled 11 in a ‘Challenge the Squadguru’ league which is available in the free Fantasy Premier League game by entering league code 2917382-677658.

The Squadguru system was built using two steps. The first harnessed Bayesian Machine Learning techniques and five years of past football data to create and train a predictive model which forecasts the outcome of future matches and, more crucially, the performance of individual players. They next created a combinatorial optimisation algorithm which worked out the best transfers to make given the allowed budget and other constraints on teams that can be formed.

Gopal, a member of the University of Southampton’s Agents, Interaction and Complexity (AIC) research group, co-developed the algorithm with Dr Tim Matthews as part of his MSc project. This resulted in a publication at the world’s top AI conference back in 2012. Over the last five years, they have made significant improvements to the Squadguru and offered it as a free service for visitors to fantasyfootballfirst.co.uk. The system’s algorithms have been used to provide transfer advice to over 30,000 subscribers and helped optimise human teams’ performance.

“We’ve now got a robust implementation of the platform,â€? Gopal says. “The next step involves developing a mobile app to serve insights to users in real-time and allow them to do transfers automatically or on the go. We are always open to investors and we’ve had a few approaches this year.â€?

Students in Electronics and Computer Science (ECS) at the University of Southampton have demonstrated excellent satisfaction levels in National Student Survey 2017 (NSS).

Data published from the highly-esteemed assessment ranks Southampton second for overall satisfaction in Electronic and Electrical Engineering (EEE) out of all UK Higher Education Institutes.

The NSS 2017 found that 99% of EEE students and 90% of Computer Science students were satisfied or very satisfied with the overall quality of their course. These approval levels even peaked at 100% among MEng Electronic Engineering and MEng Computer Science students.

The strong NSS performance has been welcomed by senior leaders from the department and follows impressive previous results in the national survey.

Professor Paul Lewin, Head of ECS, says: “This is further confirmation that in ECS our staff provide high quality research-led education that is both intellectually challenging and more than meeting the expectations of our students. I would like to personally thank all ECS staff who have contributed to our undergraduate programmes over the last year; their continued hard work and dedication are largely responsible for this result.â€?

The National Student Survey has been conducted annually since 2005 by HEFCE and IpsosMori and asks final year undergraduates for feedback on their universities and courses. This year has seen substantial changes to the NSS, including the addition of three new sections that focus on the Student Voice, Learning Community and Learning Opportunities.

In Computer Science, the NSS 2017 found that 99% of students agreed that the IT resources and facilities provided have supported their learning well. 95% of MEng Computer Science students expressed they were satisfied or very satisfied with the teaching of their course and agreed that the course has challenged them to achieve their best work. Under Learning Opportunities, 95% of students agreed that their course has provided them with opportunities to apply what they have learnt.

In Electronic and Electrical Engineering, student responses ranked the subject second for teaching out of all UK Higher Education Institutes. 100% of MEng Electronic Engineering students were satisfied or very satisfied with the teaching of their course and agreed that staff are good at explaining things, that staff have made the subject interesting and that the course is intellectually stimulating and challenged them to achieve their best work. Electronic and Electrical Engineering students also reported that they were satisfied or very satisfied with the learning resources on their course in 93% of responses.

The excellent results in ECS correspond with high scores from students studying in Physics and Astronomy in Southampton, the other undergraduate subject area taught within the institution’s Faculty of Physical Sciences and Engineering.

Professor Bashir Al-Hashimi, Dean of Physical Sciences and Engineering, says: “I’m delighted with these results which evidence that our faculty is providing the highest quality student experience and learning. We have plans to build further on this success to the benefit of our students and staff.â€?

Expertise from Electronics and Computer Science (ECS) at the University of Southampton will help improve food and water security for people in sub-Saharan Africa in a new four-year interdisciplinary research project.

The £5m programme, funded by Research Councils UK (RCUK), is part of wider investment in one of the most ambitious international research programmes ever created.

Leading experts from the UK, and in developing countries across the world, are joining forces to tackle some of the most serious global challenges. £225m has been invested across 37 interdisciplinary projects to address challenges in fields such as; health, humanitarian crises, conflict, the environment, the economy, domestic violence, society, and technology. The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) Research Councils UK Collective Fund is supporting these latest projects with awards of between £2m to £8m.

‘Building research capacity for sustainable water and food security in drylands of sub-Saharan Africa’, the new £5m project driven by the University of Southampton, is being led by Professor Justin Sheffield of Geography and Environment and co-investigated by Dr Sarvapali (Gopal) Ramchurn from ECS.

The programme will connect scientists from Kenya, Ghana and Malawi with each other and UK researchers, to help set in motion water and food research projects aimed at benefitting the region. Sarvapali is leading on collaborations and networking with industry during the project and will be looking into the use of crowdsourcing technologies to map water bodies and agricultural land in sub-Saharan Africa.

“This is a great opportunity to grow the reach of ECS expertise beyond the western world and establish a long term collaborations with researchers in African universities,â€? he says. “By doing so, we aim to address water and food security problems that impact millions of people’s lives.â€?

Commenting on the funding award, Vice-President (Research and Enterprise) at the University of Southampton, Professor Mark Spearing, says: “This project is exemplary in bringing very high quality research to bear on a problem of global importance, with a strong group of international partners. I wish the team every success in delivering it and achieving its goals.â€?

The Global Challenges Research Fund aims to build upon research knowledge in the UK, and strengthen capacity overseas, to help address challenges, informed by expressed need in developing countries.

The University of Southampton has secured its place within the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Framework Agreement for the next three years.

This status is confirmation of the breadth and depth of research at the University with a current EPSRC portfolio of 146 grants worth over £211m.

The University’s Faculty of Physical Sciences and Engineering, which contains the Departments of Electronics and Computer Science and Physics and Astronomy together with the Optoelectronics Research Centre, is currently undertaking over £89m of this research across 65 current grants.

Professor Bashir Al-Hashimi, Dean of Physical Sciences and Engineering, says: “The EPSRC Framework Agreement is a significant outcome for the University and reflects the thriving research community that continues to grow in our Faculty. Our researchers are carrying out impactful research and making fundamental advances in their disciplines and with ongoing EPSRC support this successful environment will continue long into the future.â€?

Southampton is one of 12 universities in the EPSRC Framework Agreement. The scheme aims to provide a structured and systematic basis for discussions between the EPSRC and the University, to help identify activities they can work on together. The agreement doesn’t provide any extra funding, but helps to recognise opportunities to use existing EPSRC funding more flexibly.

Southampton’s continued inclusion comes after a review undertaken by the research council, which was been based on the analysis of all new grants awarded in the past three years, including all research grants, fellowship grants and training grants awarded following competitive peer review.

Professor Mark Spearing, Vice-President (Research and Enterprise), comments: “The strong relationship we have with the EPSRC is very important in helping us and them align our strategies, to ensure all research investment is delivering and impact is being seen and recorded. We look forward to another three prosperous years working together.â€?

Research at the Optoelectronics Research Centre currently receives the largest portion of EPSRC funding at Southampton, with 30 current grants worth over £48m including the £10m National Hub in High Value Photonic Manufacturing and the £6m Silicon Photonics for Future Systems programme grant.

Electronics and Computer Science at Southampton is currently undertaking £33m across 28 current grants, while the Department of Physics and Astronomy is progressing £7m of research in seven current projects.

Professor Themis Prodromakis is a leading researcher in electron devices and nanofabrication techniques with a focus on bio-inspired devices. He leads a twenty-strong interdisciplinary team at the University of Southampton and is Director of the Lloyds Register Foundation International Consortium for Nanotechnology, a global initiative for building a safer world with nanotechnologies.

This month, Themis’ work features in both Nature Nanotechnology and the New Scientist.

Introducing the nanoworld

Earlier this year researchers in Themis’ team, supported by the Lloyds Register Foundation, organised an international outreach event with the aim of bringing the nanoscale world and its importance to primary school students. They turned an Athenian hotel room into a cleanroom where 150 8-15yr-olds were introduced to nanotechnology.

Read more about the nanotechnology outreach activities in Nature Nanotechnology.

Brain box: Multitasking chips that can match the human mind

An article in New Scientist explores a radical new computing paradigm in which hardware simultaneously stores and processes information – not unlike networks of neurons in the brain. The article features Themis’ work considering whether memristors could lead to machines that can learn entirely on their own.

Read the full article in New Scientist (publication paywall applies).