The annual in-house award, initiated by former Niab Trustee Bentley Nelstrop, celebrates exceptional contribution to innovation and enterprise by an individual or a team from within Niab.
He was nominated by his colleagues for his dedication and excellence in making a significant impact to the organisation, moving Niab ahead of many other UK agricultural institutes in AI and plant phenotyping, while growing Niab’s Data Science team from one person in 2020 to six permanent staff and many students in 2025.
Accepting the award, Professor Zhou said: ‘I’m honoured to receive this staff award and I want to thank my colleagues who nominated me and also Bentley for selecting me from a very strong field of candidates.’
Niab CEO, Professor Mario Caccamo explained why Ji was nominated: ‘This is a well-deserved award for Ji.’
‘He has played a crucial role in pioneering digital phenotyping and AI-driven approaches across many projects and departments at Niab, and the UK research sector as a whole. His work in high-throughput field phenotyping, remote sensing, and machine/deep learning has led to substantial benefits to both Niab and the wider scientific community.
‘Ji has significantly enhanced Niab’s reputation through collaborations with institutions across Europe, Africa, Asia, and the US. His contributions extend to grant review panels for numerous funding bodies and leadership in major infrastructure projects, such as PhenomUK.’
‘His work exemplifies the values of Niab.’
‘We're living in a fast-changing world, AI has the potential to have big positive impacts for farmers and I’m delighted for the support Niab has shown in developing the data sciences team here. This award is just part of that recognition. I hope the team I'm leading and the team members who are dedicating data science, phenotyping and AI can help Niab thrive.’ finished Professor Zhou.