Last modified on April 16, 2025
Researchers and innovators invited to shape Europe’s AI Strategy in Science
From cutting-edge foundation models to specialised AI applications, the AI landscape in the EU is dynamic. It is driven by research, emerging technologies and a thriving ecosystem of startups and scaleups. The European Commission has recently launched the AI Continent Action Plan to boost the European Union’s AI innovation capabilities through actions and policies around five key pillars:
- Strengthen Europe’s AI and supercomputing infrastructure with a network of AI Factories.
- Create Data Labs, bringing together and curating large, high-quality data volumes from different sources in AI Factories.
- Foster AI adoption in strategic EU sectors (Apply AI Strategy to be launched in the coming months)
- Strengthen AI skills and talents through initiatives such as AI fellowships schemes and the upcoming AI Skills Academy, but also educational and training programmes to prepare the next generation of AI specialists and supportthe upskilling and reskilling of workers
- Help businesses comply with the AI Act through the AI Act Service Desk, central point of contact and hub for information.
To further shape these initiatives, the Apply AI Strategy will serve as a blueprint for the full adoption of AI in EU strategic sectors (including mobility and automotive) and will establish links to the European Strategy for AI in Science, which will be adopted at the same time. The European Strategy for Artificial intelligence (AI) in Science aims to make it easier for EU scientists to unlock the full potential of AI to enhance their research activities, developing new AI tools for science, and contributing to the overall AI ecosystem in the EU. This strategy will explore the challenges and opportunities around AI in science and the most effective policy interventions to accelerate this transition.
The strategy will address different policy aspects such as coordination with Member States; adaptation of funding instruments; facilitating access to infrastructure and tools; modernising the scientific data ecosystem; and developing communities on the use and development of AI in the different scientific domains, skills and training policies, etc.
The strategy will therefore capitalise on AI to facilitate more and better science, increasing the research and innovation (R&I) capabilities of the EU. It will namely lead to the creation of a European AI Research Council, which will take the form of a Resource for AI Science in Europe (RAISE) and pool resources for scientists developing and applying AI in the EU.
To inform the drafting of the Strategy, the Commission has launched a consultation that aims to gather relevant and diverse inputs to support the development and implementation of a robust and forward-looking AI in science strategy for the EU. It invites researchers and academic organisations, funders, research infrastructure, European R&I companies, and start-ups to contribute to a call for evidence and a targeted questionnaire (both open until 5 June 2025).
In line with the Commission’s better regulation policy to develop initiatives informed by the best available knowledge, the call for evidence invites submissions of relevant published and pre-print scientific research, analyses and data that synthesise the current state of knowledge in relevant fields. The questionnaire aims to gather perspectives regarding AI and its impact on science.
A second consultation invites all interested parties to share their views on the Cloud and AI Development Act. A third public consultation on Data Union Strategy will be launched in May.