Dr Taha Mansouri
School of Science, Engineering & Environment
Current positions
Senior Lecturer in AI
Biography
My work sits at the intersection of Responsible AI, Computer Vision, and Large Language Models, focusing on AI systems that are accurate, fair, explainable, and useful in real-world settings, because apparently “it works on a benchmark” is not the same as “it works for people.” I hold dual PhDs in Artificial Intelligence from the Ƭ, UK, and Information Technology Management from Allameh Tabataba'i University, Iran. With over 14 years of industry experience and an academic career that began in 2012, I bring a practical, impact-driven perspective to research, teaching, and collaboration. I joined the Ƭ as a Research Associate in 2019, became a Lecturer in AI in 2022, and Senior Lecturer in AI in 2026. My work includes externally funded and industry-facing projects as PI, Academic Lead, Academic Supervisor, and Co-I. I am also a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, lead the School’s High Performance Computing facilities, and chair the Salford AI Club, an inclusive community exploring AI in Higher Education.
I contribute to the wider academic community through review and committee service, including:
1- EPSRC Peer Review College
2- EDI Hub+ Flexible Fund Peer Review College
3- British Council International Science Partnerships Fund Review College
In 2024, I served on the Organising and Programme Committees for the 35th Annual Conference of the International Information Management Association (IIMA). I acted as Track Chair for Ethics in Digital, AI, Big Data, Data Science, and Marketing Science.
Highlights
- Research: Responsible/Trustworthy AI across computer vision, multimodal learning, and large language models.
- AI for Education: methods and tools to support reliable learning, assessment, and monitoring for all.
- Selected projects: Innovate UK Smart Grant (PI) developing ethical LLMs with the insurance industry (2024–2025); British Academy Pump Priming (Co-PI) WATCH-AI benchmarking tools for trustworthy general-purpose AI (2025).
- Translation & impact: AIMA: AI-Resilient Assessment (Innovate UK ICURe Exploit, 2026); MouldGuard using generative AI to support healthier homes (PI, 2025; commercialisation 2026).
- PhD supervision: open to applicants in trustworthy/multimodal LLMs, explainable computer vision, AI governance and auditing, and fairness in deployed systems.
Areas of Research
My research is driven by an AI for Good theme: building AI systems that are useful, trustworthy, and socially responsible. I work across computer vision, multimodal learning, and large language models, with a focus on fairness, bias, robustness, transparency, and accountability. I also develop AI for Education, designing methods and tools that support reliable learning, assessment, and monitoring for all.
1- Innovate UK (Smart Grant): Developing ethical large language models with the insurance industry (PI) (2024–2025)
2- Innovate UK (KTP): LLM-based solutions for motor insurance with Whichrate Ltd (Academic Supervisor) (2026–2028)
3- Innovate UK (KTP): Multimodal AI-based solutions for Interior Design with TSK Ltd (Academic Lead) (2026–2029)
4- Innovate UK (ICURe – Discovery): Ethical AI Auditing Tool (2025)
5- Innovate UK (ICURe – Explore & Exploit): AIMA: AI-Resilient Assessment Intelligence & Monitoring Assistant (2025–2026)
6- British Academy (Pump Priming): WATCH-AI: UK–EU Benchmarking Tools for Trustworthy General-Purpose AI (Co-PI) (2025)
7- University of Exeter (Internal Fund – Towards Inclusive AI): Investigating fairness in emotion recognition algorithms across cultures (Co-I) (2025)
8- Ƭ (Pump Priming): MouldGuard: Making Homes Safer and Healthier with Generative AI (PI) (2025)
9- Ƭ (IP&C): MouldGuard Commercialisation (PI) (2026)
10- Ƭ (SEE Centre Fund): Bridging the AI Adoption Gap in Underrepresented Communities (PI) (2026)
11- Ƭ (Pump Priming): Generative AI for Authentic Curriculum Design: A Retrieval-Augmented Approach (Co-I) (2026)
12- Evidential Ltd: Bias and Fairness Evaluation of ASR Models (Consultancy) (2024–2025)
13- World Privilege Ltd: Personalised AI Recommendation Engine (Consultancy) (2025)
(Additional project details, outcomes, and publications are available via the University research profile.)
Areas of Supervision
My supervision interests focus on AI, particularly computer vision, LLMs, and multimodal AI, with an emphasis on trustworthy and ethically grounded real-world applications.
Completed Doctoral Supervision
1- iCASE PhD on explainable computer vision
2- PhD on AI fairness
Current Research Students
1- PhD on machine vision for detecting livestock (cow) behaviours
2- MPhil on AI-based recommendation systems
3- MPhil on LLM-based modelling in deepfake contexts
4- PhD on AI governance
5- PhD on modeling ecological overshooting using AI
Research Staff and Associates
1- Ethical LLM development (completed)
2- AI for assessment design (completed)
3- MouldGuard (ongoing)
4- AI for curriculum design (ongoing)
5- Recommendation systems for an industrial collaborator in Manchester (completed)
6- Ethical ASR models for legal settings (completed)
I have led and developed modules across undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, including:
- Data Structures and Algorithms (BSc) – Module Leader (2022)
- Machine Learning and Data Mining (MSc) – Module Leader (2022)
- Big Data Tools and Techniques (MSc) – Module Leader (since 2023)
- Principles and Design of IoT Systems (MSc) – Module Leader (2023-2025)
- Applied Computer Vision (MSc) – Module Leader (starting in 2027)
Qualifications
-
PhD in AI
2024 -
PhD in Information Technology
2016 -
MSc in Information Technology
2006 -
BSc in Systems Engineering
2005 -
BSc in Business
2004
Recognitions
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Senior Fellowship in Advance HE