Dr Yashar Moshfeghi

Reader

Computer and Information Sciences

Contact

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Personal statement

I am a Reader (Associate Professor) in Artificial Intelligence and Data Science at the University of Strathclyde, where I have founded and lead the NeuraSearch Laboratory. Our laboratory bridges human intelligence to artificial intelligence by operating at the forefront of Neuroscience, Data Science, and AI.

Within the NeuraSearch Laboratory, our focus is on the development of cutting-edge Recommender Systems and Information Retrieval Systems. We specialize in harnessing Natural Language Processing, Language Modeling, Machine Learning, and Deep Learning techniques to create innovative solutions. Specifically, we concentrate on identifying, understanding, and modelling brain activities related to complex information search processes.

These innovative areas of research have yielded more than 90 publications to date, including peer-reviewed journals and full conference papers. Our research has a wider appeal beyond academia, fostering collaborations with various companies through initiatives like KTP, KE, and consultancy projects.

If you are a highly motivated individual seeking opportunities for PhD, Post-doc, Fellowships (e.g. Newton International Fellowship, Marie-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship, etc.) or short-term projects (e.g., ERASMUS, Commonwealth, etc.) within the dynamic environment of the NeuraSearch Laboratory, I encourage you to reach out. Your enthusiasm for advancing knowledge in these fields would be a valuable addition to our collaborative and forward-thinking team.

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Teaching

Current Modules: 

  • Fundamentals of Machine Learning for Data Analytics
  • Advance Machine Learning Techniques

Past Modules:

  • Big Data Fundamentals
  • Big Data Tools and Techniques
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Research Interests

My research vision has been to develop the underlying and core technology of "pro-active" information systems, which has an essential and challenging data science task: accurately infer and predict the immediate information needs of users by processing, analysing, and learning from abundant big data gathered from various sources including brain activation data gathered via MRI and EEG devices. My research interests and expertise are in line with Neuroscience, Information Retrieval, Natural Language Processing, Data Mining, Machine Learning and Deep Learning. My interests, however, are extended beyond Information Retrieval and pertain to rigorously understanding the world of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence.

Professional Activities

Generative AI: Overview, Implications, and Harms
Speaker
2026
Doctoral School Multidisciplinary Symposium (DSMS) 2025
Speaker
28/8/2025
Strategic Themes: EPSRC Critical Mass Programmes to Drive a Sustainable Future
Participant
30/1/2025
EPSRC Scoping Worskhop (Critical mass)
Participant
30/1/2025
Internal PhD Examiner
Examiner
2025
Kotchapuhun Boonkong
Host
2025

More professional activities

Projects

Overcoming Multilevel Information Overload (Horizon Europe MSCA Staff Exchanges)
Moshfeghi, Yashar (Principal Investigator)
01-Jan-2026 - 30-Jan-2026
UDLA 2527 University of Strathclyde | Barrie, Danielle
Kist, Cassandra (Principal Investigator) Moshfeghi, Yashar (Co-investigator) Barrie, Danielle (Research Co-investigator)
01-Jan-2025 - 01-Jan-2029
UKRI2005: DA EPSRC IDLA - University of Strathclyde 2025 / S251622-107
Moshfeghi, Yashar (Co-investigator)
01-Jan-2025 - 30-Jan-2030
The Prison Blueprint: How Colonial Incarceration Forged Modern Racial Injustice
Sanjurjo-Ramos, Jesus (Principal Investigator) Belton, Lloyd (CoPI) Moshfeghi, Yashar (Co-investigator) Izaguirre, Yaimara (Co-investigator) Thompson-Brown, Beverley (Co-investigator) Barcia, Manuel (Researcher) Bardes, John (Researcher) Basques, Messias (Researcher) GONZALEZ ARANA, Roberto (Researcher) Guyatt, Nicholas (Researcher) Gyollai, Daniel (Researcher) Jardine, Cara (Researcher) Mantilla Morales, Valeria Sofia (Researcher) Moss, Kellie (Researcher) Naranjo, Consuelo (Researcher) Piacentini, Laura (Researcher) Sabala, Vanesa (Researcher) Sarmiento Ramirez, Ismael (Researcher) Bhopal, Aneel Singh (Fellow) Surwillo, Lisa (Researcher) Weaver, Beth (Researcher)
This flagship project encompasses various initiatives to examine the historical origins of systemic racism and class discrimination in contemporary criminal justice systems by bringing together historians, computer scientists specialising in AI, criminologists, philosophers, and justice policy experts. Led by Dr Jesús Sanjurjo (University of Strathclyde) and Dr Lloyd Belton (University of Glasgow), our research is centred around the recent unearthing of a unique historical collection: Havana's Royal Prison Logbooks.

Spanning a century (1837-1937), these extraordinary manuscripts from one of the Atlantic's largest colonial prisons contain detailed records of thousands of men, women, and children, both free and enslaved. By connecting this rich historical data with contemporary policy, we aim to directly inform current debates on prison reform and the enduring legacies of racial injustice. The initiative is generously funded by the University of Strathclyde, the University of Glasgow, the British Library's Endangered Archives Programme, the UKRI-ESRC Impact Acceleration Account, and the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities.

The project comprises the following research initiatives:

1. 'Using AI for Tracking Systemic Racism in Historical Carceral Systems', co-led by Dr Sanjurjo, Dr Moshfeghi, and Dr Belton, 1/02/25 → 31/07/25, funded by a University of Strathclyde's Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Research Grant, £2,000.00.

2. 'Havana’s Royal Prison Logbooks (1836-1898): Digitisation, Preservation and Dissemination', co-led by Dr Sanjurjo, Dr Moshfeghi, Dr Belton, and MSc. Izaguirre, 1/10/25 → Ongoing, funded by the British Library's Endangered Archives Programme (pilot), £15,000.00, https://eap.bl.uk/project/EAP1676

3. 'To contain the diffusion of pernicious ideas. The systematic imprisonment of Black sailors in Cuba and the United States, 1830-1850' ['Para contener la difusión de ideas perniciosas: Encarcelamiento sistemático de marineros negros en Cuba y Estados Unidos, 1830-1850'], co-led by Dr Belton, Dr Sanjurjo, MSc. Izaguirre, in partnership with Dr John Bardes, 1/05/25 → Ongoing, internally funded.

4. 'Using AI to Track Systemic Racism in Historical Carceral Systems', ESRC Impact Acceleration Account (IAA), co-led by Dr Sanjurjo, Dr Moshfeghi, and Dr Belton in partnership with Beverley Thompson-Brown OBE, 01/11/25 → Ongoing, funded by an ESRC Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) Award, £14,769.96.

5. 'Historical Prison Systems in The Atlantic World and Their Impact on the Construction of Contemporary Penitentiary Models', I-LINK Programme of the CSIC and the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities Scheme, led by Prof Consuelo Naranjo, co-led by Prof Consuelo Naranjo (CSIC-Madrid) and Dr Sanjurjo, 1/01/2026 → Ongoing, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities' I-LINK Scheme, €30,000.00
01-Jan-2025
Using AI for Tracking Systemic Racism in Historical Carceral Systems
Sanjurjo-Ramos, Jesus (Principal Investigator) Moshfeghi, Yashar (Co-investigator)
This project seeks to create an interdisciplinary and collaborative platform to address the use of AI-driven "proactive" information systems in tracking systemic racism in the genesis of modern carceral systems in the Atlantic World. By bringing together the expertise of historians, computer scientists, software developers, political scientists and law experts, we aim to better understand the impact that historical prison systems had in defining and perpetuating forms of interrelated racial, class and gender violence and discrimination in colonial and postcolonial societies of in the Americas, Europe and Africa.

Building on the ongoing research on Havana’s Royal Prison Logbooks, led by Dr Sanjurjo, and Dr Moshfeghi extensive experience in Natural Language Processing, Language Modeling, Machine Learning, and Deep Learning techniques to create innovative solutions, this project seeks to track the emergence of structural racism and mass incarceration as a system of governance across the Atlantic world and thereby historicise racial and class disparities in prison populations today.

In the long term, this project has the potential to fundamentally reshape our understanding of structural racism and violence in carceral systems by allowing researchers to track demographic shifts in prison populations over time. The anticipated outcomes of this project would be invaluable not only for historians and other academic scholars but also for policymakers, security services and third-sector organisations interested in prison reform. These outputs will lay a solid foundation for the second stage envisioned for this project, which we hope to undertake with a Horizon Europe (Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society cluster) grant.
01-Jan-2025 - 31-Jan-2025
Functional Materials Discovery Using Artificial Intelligence
Zollner, Malin (Researcher) Nematiaram, Tahereh (Principal Investigator) Moshfeghi, Yashar (Principal Investigator)
A research project aimed at discovering new functional materials, with a focus on small-molecule organic semiconductors, through machine learning and high-throughput screening to advance sustainable and innovative technologies—supporting applications such as organic photovoltaics for clean energy and medical biosensors for next-generation diagnostics.
01-Jan-2024 - 30-Jan-2027

More projects

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Contact

Dr Yashar Moshfeghi
Reader
Computer and Information Sciences

Email: yashar.moshfeghi@strath.ac.uk
Tel: 548 3256