European Lighthouse of AI for Sustainability

Project Information

ELIAS

Grant agreement ID: 101120237

DOI

10.3030/101120237

EC signature date 30 June 2023

Start date 1 September 2023

End date 31 August 2027

Funded under

• Digital, Industry and Space

Total cost

€ 11 030 575,01

EU contribution

€ 11 030 575,00

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI TRENTO
Italy

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ELIAS (European Lighthouse of AI for Sustainability)

Reporting period: 2023-09-01 to 2024-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

ELIAS will address key scientific questions about how AI can reduce computational costs, serves to model effects of policy decisions on society, and impacts individuals. ELIAS will strive for a deep integration of the fundamental research that takes place in academia and the more applications-focused research from industry.
ELIAS builds on and expands the highly successful and internationally recognized European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems (ELLIS). ELIAS will further develop the excellence criteria and the pillars in ELLIS and implement actions that will support AI researchers and young talents at different stages of their careers. Furthermore, ELIAS will develop a Sciencentrepreneurship track, with the purpose of attracting and empowering talents at the interface of scientific innovation and business and establish original AI solutions that move towards a sustainable long-term future for our planet, contribute to a cohesive society, and respect individual rights.
The outcome of ELIAS will be to establish Europe as a leader in AI research in which impact on the environment, society and the individual are integral considerations during development. We will measure the success of this endeavor in terms of key indicators, including the number of new cross-institutional collaborations, the number of cross-disciplinary collaborations, the number of industry-academic partnerships, publications in top conferences and journals, patents, and the number of projects that have resulted in deployed technologies.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

In the first year all participants worked towards the creation of a Network of Excellence connecting researchers in academia with practitioners in the industry to differentiate Europe as a region where AI research builds towards a sustainable long-term future for our planet, contributes to a cohesive society; and respects individual preferences and rights.
During the first reporting period, the main objective of the project activities was to deliver the first version of innovative algorithms, methodologies, tools and applications, focusing on the three areas of interested related to AI research for sustainability: in particular, (i) AI for sustainable planet, (ii) AI for a sustainable society and (iii) trustworthy AI for individuals.
Furthermore, in this period the partners defined the requirements for the seven AI use cases that will be considered to demonstrate the application of the aforementioned algorithms into practical application of interest to industry and society.

The network also focused on establishing the first steps toward fostering the new generation of european AI talents in sustainability by (i) extending the PhD and mobility programme for PhD students to tackle fundamental challenges in Sustainable AI and encourage joint supervision of PhD students by interdisciplinary teams; (ii) strengthening the industrial Phd opportunities to maximize the economic and social impact; and (iii) organizing and supporting events dedicated to the training in Sustainable AI. Moreover the project aimed at reinforcing the world-class European AI community towards building-up the AI Lighthouse on sustainability by increasing the number of ELLIS fellows/scholars working on sustainability; extending the community to underrepresented countries and organizing scientific workshops and events to reinforce and strengthen the new centre of excellence on sustainable AI.
Moreover, one of the objectives was to support AI Research in Startups and Industry by focusing on building up a sciencepreneurship track through establishing a new strategic pan-european alliance in innovation and science supporting internship programs within industry and organizing events that bring together entrepreneurial ecosystems and academia.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

ELIAS is advancing AI research aimed at fostering sustainable technologies across various domains. This includes developing computational models that incorporate domain-specific knowledge for efficient modeling of physical and chemical systems, creating fast approximations to costly computations to support areas like climate simulations, and improving energy efficiency within green AI frameworks by optimizing both data usage and computational parameters. ELIAS’s work extends to real-world applications, ensuring that the developed AI solutions provide robust, interpretable, and widely applicable systems, particularly where human interaction is integral. To tackle complex societal challenges, ELIAS's methods offer solid mathematical guarantees, providing a reliable foundation for applications in diverse, unpredictable environments.

In building a community focused on Sustainable AI, ELIAS is expanding the ELLIS PhD with a special track and encouraging interdisciplinary PhD co-supervision. Internships in aligned companies and mobility programs for postdoctoral researchers also bolster diverse, balanced career development pathways. Through dedicated events like workshops and symposia, ELIAS supports the growth of young researchers.

Aiming to create a virtual excellence center in Sustainable AI, ELIAS connects leading European institutions, extending its reach through mobility programs and joint scientific workshops. With a focus on gender balance, interdisciplinarity, and inclusion of underrepresented regions, ELIAS is establishing a wide-ranging network of institutions and research groups from multiple disciplines, building innovative solutions that respond to planetary and societal needs.

ELIAS is also expanding Europe’s AI research excellence networks by forming a European Innovation Alliance, initially comprising 12 local networks with plans for further expansion. Through dedicated summer schools, research competitions, and awards for entrepreneurial academics, ELIAS is enhancing collaborative opportunities to translate research into market-ready solutions. This initiative not only attracts top talent and supports spin-offs but also aims to increase the impact of AI research across European society.