BMBF establishes ELLIS as the European networking platform for AI researchers

The German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) is establishing ELLIS, the European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems, as a European and international networking platform for young AI researchers. This is part of the BMBF's AI action plan, which was presented by the Federal Minister of Education and Research, Bettina Stark-Watzinger, at Germany's AI strategy press conference on November 7th. As part of the Cyber Valley Community, ELLIS brings European research excellence to the German AI strategy.

The successful use of AI requires excellence and networking on a large scale. At ELLIS, European AI excellence meets a European network. This AI network is now officially supported by the BMBF. To ensure that Germany continues to use AI successfully in the future, the country wants to "seek even greater European and international cooperation", as stated in the BMBF's "Artificial Intelligence" action plan ((https://www.bmbf.de/bmbf/de/forschung/digitale-wirtschaft-und-gesellschaft/kuenstliche-intelligenz/ki-aktionsplan.html). Market size is essential for the global technology competition and excellent cross-border alliances are a strategic advantage. Targeted collaboration between German stakeholders at a European level with international partners is therefore at the heart of the AI strategy. ELLIS now plays a key role in this.

Ahead of the press conference, State Secretary Prof. Sabine Döring and Prof. Bernhard Schölkopf, Director of the Tübingen AI Center, the ELLIS Institute and the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems as well as Cyber Valley Speaker, discussed how Europe's strength in AI can be used and how the research challenges can be taken on.

ELLIS - Connecting AI talent across Germany and Europe

The European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems (ELLIS) is a pan-European AI network of excellence and part of the Cyber Valley Community. It has more than 1,000 members, 16 transnational research programs, a pan-European PhD program and 41 ELLIS units at world-class institutions such as the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, universities in Paris, the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford, ETH Zurich, EPFL in Lausanne and the Technion in Haifa. Founded in 2018, ELLIS aims to secure the international leadership of AI made in Europe by networking top researchers and creating a multi-center AI research laboratory.

Germany is strongly represented in ELLIS: Ten entities are located at leading institutions in Germany (Berlin, Darmstadt, Freiburg, Heidelberg, Jena, Munich, Potsdam, Saarbrücken, Stuttgart and Tübingen). Funded by the Hector Foundation in the amount of 100 million euros, the first ELLIS institute in Tübingen began operations in July. It is set to become a globally recognized center for pioneering basic research in the field of artificial intelligence.

Attracting and supporting the best young researchers

One focus of ELLIS is to attract, retain and connect outstanding young AI talent in Europe through the ELLIS PhD and postdoc program. It has attracted more than 7,000 applications from all over the world since its inception in 2020. Students benefit from joint supervision by two leading AI researchers at different institutions in Europe, giving them an excellent starting point for their career in modern AI research.

"Germany wants to create the basis for us to develop responsible European AI in science and application. This is precisely the goal of Cyber Valley and ELLIS, and we look forward to realizing this together", said Prof. Schölkopf.

ELLIS is embedded in Cyber Valley, Europe’s largest and leading research consortium in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) and modern robotics. Cyber Valley has a mission and a public mandate to advocate for entrepreneurship, research, development, application, and acceptance of technologies and methods in the field of intelligent systems.    

The Cyber Valley Community connects partners from science, industry, and society, along with AI researchers and entrepreneurs. The Cyber Valley GmbH is funded by the state of Baden-Württemberg and acts as the central organizer, service provider, and host for the Cyber Valley Community. While the GmbH operates from Stuttgart and Tübingen, Cyber Valley has a larger scope: As a national and European driving force, it attracts the best people from all over the world to create the future with AI. Cyber Valley envisions a future where the full potential of intelligent systems is leveraged for the greater good of the world.
www.cyber-valley.de 

Press Contakt
Hazel Rowland, Cyber Valley Media Manager 
Hazel.rowland@cyber-valley.de 

Website: ellis.eu 
For media: ellis.eu/formedia 

Press Contact
Barbara Weimer, ELLIS Communications Manager 
Barbara.Weimer@ellis.eu