Edwin Hancock graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in physics in 1977, a PhD in high energy nuclear physics in 1981 and a Doctor of Science degree by publication in 2008 from Durham University.
He commenced his research career in the field of high energy nuclear physics, working on bubble chamber experiments performed at CERN and SLAC between 1977 and 1984.
During this period he used partial wave analysis[3] to study the angular momentum resonances of Ʌ and Σ hyperons and was involved in the first determination of charm quark lifetimes.
He focused on how pattern recognition and machine learning can be performed using data in the form of graphs, trees and strings.
[21] In 2018 he received the Pierre Devijver Award from the International Association for Pattern Recognition.