Project

Pioneer Centre for AI

Serge Belongie, University of Copenhagen

Grant amount: DKK 350,000,000

The ambition of The Pioneer Centre for AI is to create societal impact through the application of artificial intelligence in areas such as health and biotech, energy, infrastructure as well as climate and biodiversity.

The Centre is the result of a unique collaboration between the Danish National Research Foundation, four private foundations and five Danish universities.

“The unique character of the Pioneer Centre for AI comes through in the way in which we work with the grand challenges. The challenges we will confront are not merely a matter of big data and bigger models; rather, they are high-touch, messy, deeply human problems, for which tech is but one component, situated alongside vital contributions from social science, participatory design, journalism, public policy, and beyond”, explains Director of the Pioneer Centre for AI, Serge Belongie.

Serge Belongie is an internationally renowned AI researcher from the US. In connection with the establishment of the Pioneer Centre for AI, he became a Professor at Department of Computer Science, University of Copenhagen, where the Centre is based. The other universities involved with the Centre are the Technical University of Denmark, the IT University of Copenhagen, Aalborg University and Aarhus University.

The Pioneer Centre for AI is the first of several Pioneer Centres in Denmark initiated by the Ministry of Higher Education and Science, with the purpose of conducting fundamental research at the highest international level, with a focus on solving some of society’s major challenges. With its focus on societal challenges, people and design, the Centre is expected to challenge and change the way artificial intelligence creates value for Denmark.

The Pioneer Centre for AI is established in close collaboration between (and with co-funding from) the Ministry of Higher Education and Science, Danish National Research Foundation, the Carlsberg Foundation, the Lundbeck Foundation, VILLUM FONDEN, the Novo Nordisk Foundation and the five participating universities.

A total of more than DKK 350 million has been allocated to the Centre over the next 13 years. The Novo Nordisk Foundation has granted DKK 54 million of the total amount.

Read more about the Pioneer Centre for AI here (external link in English): https://di.ku.dk/english/news/2022/the_danish_pioneer_centre_for_ai_marks_its_official_opening/.