Periodic Reporting for period 1 - AI4theSciences (Artificial Intelligence for the Sciences)
Berichtszeitraum: 2020-10-01 bis 2022-09-30
The Artificial Intelligence for the Sciences (AI4theSciences) cofund Project is an innovative, interdisciplinary and intersectoral PhD program conducted by Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL). AI4theSciences Cofund project participates in the development of an interdisciplinary research community composed of all PSL laboratories at the cutting edge of the use of artificial intelligence techniques in their own disciplines. As a founding member of 3IA PR[A]IRIE and the ELLIS Paris unit, PSL is recognised at the highest international level for its work in mathematics and computer science, at the core of AI and Machine Learning.
AI4theSciences is a flagship project for PSL University. It will be an emblematic example to all the PSL scientific community that EU projects are accelerators of career development, advance and transfer knowledge.
The AI4theSciences programme will train a new generation of scientists highly sought-after both by private sector and academia, at the interface of AI and other academic fields, and aware of ethical and social issues related to AI. A global strategy for developing AI and its applications has been devised by the French President, planning in particular the creation of 4 leading AI Institutes in France. The PSL Graduate Transverse Program on AI, to which the AI4theSciences programme will contribute, is part of a major component of one of the four selected Institutes: PR[AI]RIE 3IA Research Center. The AI4theSciences Cofund reinforces this Graduate Transverse Program and therefore contributes to this national plan on AI and its applications. More specifically, the PSL Graduate Transverse and the AI4theSciences programmes aim exactly at fostering pluridisciplinary researches and training of specialists of various academic fields equipped with the latest AI technologies adapted to their own field, as required both by the private sector and our university.
AI4theSciences is a flagship project for PSL University. It will be an emblematic example to all the PSL scientific community that EU projects are accelerators of career development, advance and transfer knowledge.
The AI4theSciences programme will train a new generation of scientists highly sought-after both by private sector and academia, at the interface of AI and other academic fields, and aware of ethical and social issues related to AI. A global strategy for developing AI and its applications has been devised by the French President, planning in particular the creation of 4 leading AI Institutes in France. The PSL Graduate Transverse Program on AI, to which the AI4theSciences programme will contribute, is part of a major component of one of the four selected Institutes: PR[AI]RIE 3IA Research Center. The AI4theSciences Cofund reinforces this Graduate Transverse Program and therefore contributes to this national plan on AI and its applications. More specifically, the PSL Graduate Transverse and the AI4theSciences programmes aim exactly at fostering pluridisciplinary researches and training of specialists of various academic fields equipped with the latest AI technologies adapted to their own field, as required both by the private sector and our university.
The report takes stock of the first call operated within the AI4theSciences Cofund program. It describes the selection process followed to recruit 15 PhD students (evaluation procedure, selection committees) composing the first cohort and mentions any potential deviation from the evaluation procedure.
The recruitment process started on the 1st of June 2020 with an internal call for PhD projects open to PSL researchers and ended on the 5th of May 2021 with the selection of the 15 laureates composing the first cohort and their validation by the Executive Board during a harmonization meeting.
Given the novelty and the uniqueness of the project, one of the major risks for the first cohort was to face low quality applications and a very low number of applications. At the end, 303 potential candidates contacted the Management Team and 247 applied, which is quite satisfactory.
The overall quality of the applications was extremely high (coming from top ranked universities, including many experiences in research departments and conference papers) and it created a very stimulating and fair competition. The selection process went quite smoothly and all current members of the Cofund committees (Executive Board, Selection Committee) expressed their intention to be part of the next call recruitment campaign selection.
A total of 23 PhD students were recruited in two cohorts, the first one composed of 14 PhD students started to arrive in September 2021 (some delays were caused by the Covid pandemic), the second one with 9 students arrived in September 2022. An important communication effort has been made, first internally at the University of Paris Sciences et Lettres, to bring up thesis projects on the use of AI in science, or on the analysis of the impact of AI on our societies, and then externally to attract the best foreign students on the proposed projects. See reports D2.1 and D2.2. The recruited students were immediately immersed in a program-specific environment including a weekly course/seminar completely dedicated to them allowing them to increase their technical skills in AI technology, as close as possible to their needs, and French language courses organized by levels in order to obtain a certification. Those of the first cohort have benefited from a particular coaching in the construction of their data management plans, ethic assessments, and career management plans. Valorisation activities ("welcome days", a workshop dedicated to their work) have been organized. See report D3.1. A similar program is planned for the students of the second cohort (obviously mixing the two cohorts whenever it is possible). Other dissemination activities are planned for this year (the time for the students of the first cohort to make advances in their research). See also D3.1.
3 PhD grants could not be allocated during the second call for application. As explained in report D2.2 this is due to a fewer number of applications and late withdrawals. This is certainly partly due to the effects of the covid pandemic (it was more difficult to obtain a large diversification in the project proposals, potential foreign student candidates of the second cohort have been more impacted by the crisis than their predecessors). We hope to have a one-year extension to give us a chance to provide these funds through a third cohort.
The recruitment process started on the 1st of June 2020 with an internal call for PhD projects open to PSL researchers and ended on the 5th of May 2021 with the selection of the 15 laureates composing the first cohort and their validation by the Executive Board during a harmonization meeting.
Given the novelty and the uniqueness of the project, one of the major risks for the first cohort was to face low quality applications and a very low number of applications. At the end, 303 potential candidates contacted the Management Team and 247 applied, which is quite satisfactory.
The overall quality of the applications was extremely high (coming from top ranked universities, including many experiences in research departments and conference papers) and it created a very stimulating and fair competition. The selection process went quite smoothly and all current members of the Cofund committees (Executive Board, Selection Committee) expressed their intention to be part of the next call recruitment campaign selection.
A total of 23 PhD students were recruited in two cohorts, the first one composed of 14 PhD students started to arrive in September 2021 (some delays were caused by the Covid pandemic), the second one with 9 students arrived in September 2022. An important communication effort has been made, first internally at the University of Paris Sciences et Lettres, to bring up thesis projects on the use of AI in science, or on the analysis of the impact of AI on our societies, and then externally to attract the best foreign students on the proposed projects. See reports D2.1 and D2.2. The recruited students were immediately immersed in a program-specific environment including a weekly course/seminar completely dedicated to them allowing them to increase their technical skills in AI technology, as close as possible to their needs, and French language courses organized by levels in order to obtain a certification. Those of the first cohort have benefited from a particular coaching in the construction of their data management plans, ethic assessments, and career management plans. Valorisation activities ("welcome days", a workshop dedicated to their work) have been organized. See report D3.1. A similar program is planned for the students of the second cohort (obviously mixing the two cohorts whenever it is possible). Other dissemination activities are planned for this year (the time for the students of the first cohort to make advances in their research). See also D3.1.
3 PhD grants could not be allocated during the second call for application. As explained in report D2.2 this is due to a fewer number of applications and late withdrawals. This is certainly partly due to the effects of the covid pandemic (it was more difficult to obtain a large diversification in the project proposals, potential foreign student candidates of the second cohort have been more impacted by the crisis than their predecessors). We hope to have a one-year extension to give us a chance to provide these funds through a third cohort.
First of all, the AI4theSciences programme will train a new generation of scientists highly sought-after both by private sector and academia, at the interface of AI and other academic fields, and aware of ethical and social issues related to AI.
The subjects of the PhD projects will be carefully selected in order to answer the requirement of the European and international labour market and to propose career opportunities also outside the academic sector.
Thanks to the Career Development Plan elaborated with the supervisor and HR Department, PhD students will identify and define their needs, monitor and update them, all along the three years of Doctoral studies (transferable skills, secondments, trainings, mentoring/tutoring, etc.). The aim is to offer additional tools for the professional and personal development of young researchers. The non-theoretical and non-research related activities in the programme aim at reinforcing the personal qualities of the PhD students that they will need in the next stages in their career as team managers knowing how to work with others, as ethics-responsible researchers aware of research standards, requirements and of funding opportunities. PhD Students’ knowledge of transferable skills will be evaluated. Intensive follow-up will be provided in the last year of the PhDs to prepare their coming professional life.
PhD students will all have job opportunities from private partners, and be invited to the PhD Talent Career Fair, and to participate to MT180, and the PSL AI Thesis Prize, organised since 2019.
The field of research of the programme, the quality of the recruitments, the quality of the trainings, as well as the close follow-up and opportunities given to the doctoral students (by the teams of the programme, by the supervisor and co-supervisor, by the PSL Alumni), under the supervision of the Management Team, will help to make doctoral students of the AI4theSciences programme professionals of excellence.
The subjects of the PhD projects will be carefully selected in order to answer the requirement of the European and international labour market and to propose career opportunities also outside the academic sector.
Thanks to the Career Development Plan elaborated with the supervisor and HR Department, PhD students will identify and define their needs, monitor and update them, all along the three years of Doctoral studies (transferable skills, secondments, trainings, mentoring/tutoring, etc.). The aim is to offer additional tools for the professional and personal development of young researchers. The non-theoretical and non-research related activities in the programme aim at reinforcing the personal qualities of the PhD students that they will need in the next stages in their career as team managers knowing how to work with others, as ethics-responsible researchers aware of research standards, requirements and of funding opportunities. PhD Students’ knowledge of transferable skills will be evaluated. Intensive follow-up will be provided in the last year of the PhDs to prepare their coming professional life.
PhD students will all have job opportunities from private partners, and be invited to the PhD Talent Career Fair, and to participate to MT180, and the PSL AI Thesis Prize, organised since 2019.
The field of research of the programme, the quality of the recruitments, the quality of the trainings, as well as the close follow-up and opportunities given to the doctoral students (by the teams of the programme, by the supervisor and co-supervisor, by the PSL Alumni), under the supervision of the Management Team, will help to make doctoral students of the AI4theSciences programme professionals of excellence.