Document Actions

You are here: FRIAS News Current News New format for AI research: …

New format for AI research: Freiburg receives ELLIS-Unit

Hardly any other field of study is currently as popular as research on artificial intelligence. The European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems (ELLIS), focuses on an AI-sub-discipline, on machine learning. In order to strengthen AI research all over Europe, the initiative has established 17 ELLIS units, one of them in Freiburg.

Professor Wolfram Burgard, director of the research lab for Autonomous Intelligent Systems and FRIAS senior fellow, is part of the Freiburg ELLIS unit as well as Professor Thomas Brox, director of the Computer Vision Group, Professor Frank Hutter from the Machine Learning Lab, junior professor Dr. Joschka Bödecker, who is in charge of the Neurobiotics Lab, and junior professor Dr. Abhinav Valada, director of the Robot Learning Lab.

 The newly established ELLIS unit allows FRIAS to sharpen its profile and to further develop its competences in the area of AI research that have been brought to the institute by last year’s research focus. The group “Responsible Artificial Intelligence”, whose members are next to ELLIS member Wolfram Burgard neurologist Dr. Philipp Kellmeyer, philosopher Professor Oliver Müller and Silja Vöneky, professor for international and comparative law, discusses the ethical and normative questions that arise when human beings and intelligent systems start to interact. The research focus continues its work as a SALTUS! Group until 2021.

 This is what the ELLIS programme takes up. In the next five years, a total of 10 AI fellowships shall be granted: They allow scientists to pursue their research interests on AI topics for a period of up to twelve months.

 ELLIS was initiated in 2018 with the aim of strengthening the AI research and promoting junior researchers in Europe. There was a strong competition for being accepted to the ELLIS programme that will support its units with 200 million Euros in total. Next to the University of Freiburg, German universities of Tübingen, Saarbrücken, and Darmstadt were selected.

Click here to read the official press release (in German).

2019/12/18