Sciencepreneurship Summer School 2024 on Sustainability & AI: Empowering Entrepreneurial Innovators

by elias_admin | May 27, 2024 | Events, News

Sciencepreneurship Summer School 2024 on Sustainability & AI: Empowering Entrepreneurial Innovators

The Sciencepreneurship Summer School: Sustainability & AI took place from April 29 to May 3, 2024, in Lausanne, Switzerland. Its aim was to help participants turn scientific innovations into real-world businesses.

The summer school focused on addressing important issues related to the translation of scientific advancements into tangible societal impact through entrepreneurship. Key focal points included:

Understanding the societal benefits of scientific discoveries and navigating the journey from lab to market.
Building teams, securing funding, engaging advisors, and establishing legal frameworks.
Recognising and overcoming common entrepreneurial challenges through risk mitigation strategies.

The summer school offered participants a comprehensive framework to leverage the societal impact of scientific breakthroughs. It all kicked off with participants showcasing their scientific innovations and teaming up to co-found ventures,fostering collaborative innovation. Throughout the program, a series of informative talks, hands-on workshops, and lively social events guided teams in shaping their science-based businesses. Keynote speakers shared insights and expertise, fueling the journey of these budding entrepreneurs.

Overall, the event aimed to equip participants with the knowledge and skills to make a difference in the world through science-based entrepreneurship, while also fostering valuable networking opportunities. A significant benefit of the event was the opportunity for attendees to build networks and meet potential co-founders.

Heartfelt gratitude is extended to the esteemed speakers whose invaluable contributions enriched the discourse, and to all those involved in making the event a success:

Nettra Pan, Oryl Tarun, William Cockayne, Luis Huber, Michelle Tschumi, Max-André Haas, Eva Luethi, Nicola Leuenberger, Aziz Belkhiria, Michael Linder, Till Schlotter, Alexandre Gachet.

The success of the Sciencepreneurship Summer School: Sustainability & AI would not have been possible without the support of our partners:

HPI School of Entrepreneurship, Kellerhals Carrard Startu & VC Desk, QBIT Capital, ETH AI Center, Hasso Plattner Institute, Zürcher Kantonalbank, EPFL – Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne.

About the Sciencepreneurship community

The Sciencepreneurship community, a grassroots movement uniting entrepreneurial scientists, experienced sciencepreneurs, and ecosystem players, shares a collective passion for translating scientific discoveries into real-world applications for a better and more sustainable world. Since 2023, the community has proudly hosted the annual Sciencepreneurship Summer School, a premier event convening a distinctive cohort of entrepreneurial graduate students, seasoned sciencepreneurs, and ecosystem players.

For more information: https://sciencepreneurship.ch/

ELIAS Consortium held a successful 3rd project meeting in Amsterdam

by elias_admin | Mar 27, 2024 | News, Press Release

ELIAS Consortium held a successful 3rd project meeting in Amsterdam

Amsterdam, Netherlands – March 20-21, 2024

The ELIAS Consortium achieved a significant milestone as it convened for its 3rd project meeting in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Hosted by the University of Amsterdam, this gathering brought together project partners from various institutions to collaborate and drive forward initiatives shaping the future landscape of artificial intelligence (AI) with a special focus on sustainability.

Over the course of two days, the ELIAS Consortium engaged in impactful discussions and innovative deliberations, exploring key topics that ranged from advancing AI-driven design for sustainable systems to ensuring the trustworthiness and transparency of AI applications.

Among the highlights of the meeting were dynamic conversations focused on minimising energy consumption, fostering inclusive economic growth and democracy protection, and establishing robust frameworks for the ethical implementation of AI. These discussions underscored the collective commitment of the ELIAS Consortium to advancing the frontiers of AI research and fostering scientific excellence in Europe, with a strong emphasis on its potential for positive societal impact.

Prof. Dr Nicu Sebe, the Coordinator of the ELIAS project, remarked, “The 3rd project meeting of the ELIAS Consortium has been a resounding success, with vibrant exchanges of ideas and fruitful collaborations among our esteemed partners. We are excited about the innovative outcomes that have emerged from this assembly and look forward to further advancing our shared goals in the field of AI research for sustainability.

The ELIAS Consortium expresses its gratitude to the University of Amsterdam for hosting this pivotal gathering and extends appreciation to all participants for their valuable contributions.

For more information about the ELIAS Consortium and its initiatives, please visit http://www.elias-ai.eu/

Press Release: ELIAS 3rd Project Meeting – 27/03/2024

AAAI Bridge Programme: Collaborative AI and Modelling of Humans

by elias_admin | Mar 15, 2024 | Events, News

AAAI Bridge Programme: Collaborative AI and Modelling of Humans

Image source: Freepik

Vancouver, BC, Canada – 21 February, 2024

On February 21, 2024, the AAAI Bridge Program convened at the Vancouver Convention Centre to explore the intersection of AI and human modelling in an initiative aimed at fostering collaboration between artificial intelligence (AI) systems and human users. This workshop, aptly named the AAAI Bridge Programme: Collaborative AI and Modelling of Humans (CAIHu), drew together leading experts and researchers from diverse disciplines to address one of the most pressing questions in AI today: How can humans and AI systems effectively collaborate to tackle complex real-world problems?

The programme, organised in coordination with the ELLIS Robust Machine Learning and Human-centric Machine Learning Research Programmes, received substantial support from various entities, including the EU H2020-funded ELISE project and the CIFAR Pan-Canadian AI Strategy. ELIAS, in collaboration with its partners Finnish Center for Artificial Intelligence FCAI, Aalto University, ELLIS Alicante, University of Manchester, as well as ELLIS Unit Helsinki, Delft University of Technology, University of Alberta, Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute and UK Research and Innovation, played an important role in supporting and organising this significant workshop.

“We need collaborative AI tools to solve tough problems, and these tools work better when they incorporate data and knowledge about humans,” emphasised professor Samuel Kaski, Director of FCAI and Professor at Aalto University.

The workshop featured keynote addresses from prominent figures such as Microsoft’s Chief Scientific Officer, Eric Horvitz, who underscored the critical need for interdisciplinary collaboration in advancing AI research.

Reflecting on the success of the programme, co-organiser Sammie Katt, a postdoctoral fellow at FCAI, emphasised the value of bringing together diverse communities to exchange ideas and perspective and the significance of bridging the gap between disparate research domains.

The programme also included informative sessions, including a tutorial on user modelling for cooperative AI, led by Samuel Kaski and doctoral researcher Sebastiaan de Peuter. The tutorial delved into the intricacies of collaborative AI and the imperative of improving user modelling to enhance human-AI interactions.

One notable aspect of the tutorial was the exploration of preference learning, which seeks to infer underlying objective functions from user preferences. Kaski and de Peuter showcased the potential of leveraging insights from cognitive science to refine user modelling techniques, ultimately leading to more accurate inferences and better recommendations.

With nearly 400 registrations and enthusiastic participation from the AI research community, the CAIHu Bridge Program marked a significant step forward in fostering collaborative research initiatives aimed at harnessing the full potential of AI-human collaboration.

As the programme concluded on a high note, discussions turned towards the possibility of future recurring events, indicating the continued momentum towards advancing collaborative AI research and modelling of human behaviour.

Read here the orginal article: Bridge program at AAAI focused on collaborative AI and modelling of humans

More information on the programme and panels can be found here: Collaborative AI and Modeling of Humans (CAIHu 2024)

Sciencepreneurship Summer School 2024: Sustainability & AI

by elias_admin | Mar 11, 2024 | Opportunities

Sciencepreneurship Summer School 2024: Sustainability & AI

April 29 – May 3, 2024 ― Lausanne, Switzerland

Rolling admissions – deadline March 22, 2024

Apply here

accomodation included | travel grants available | course credit (1 ECTS)

Aim

The aim of this summer school is to address the following questions by sharing knowledge, experiences, and pitfalls about how to transform scientific advances into societal impact through entrepreneurship:

How can science be directly valuable for society and scale from lab to market?
How to get and choose the right team, funding, advisors, and legal setup?
What are common pitfalls in this process, and how to avoid them?

Program

The program of this summer school is tailored to provide the participants with a framework to develop the societal impact of scientific advances.

First, participants present a scientific innovation and form co-founding teams. 👩‍🔬🧑‍🔬
Then, putting the school its lectures, workshops, and socials into practice, teams shape their science-based business. 🚀
Finally, participants pitch their work to a jury, receive feedback, and compete for a prize. 🏆

I'm Interested

View detailed schedule

Entrepreneurial graduate students from any institute

The Sciencepreneurship Summer School focuses on enhancing the exchange between entrepreneurially interested graduate students – mainly PhD students – from EPFL, ETH Zurich, and other leading institutes from around the world. Participation is highly competitive and the total number of participants is limited with admissions on a rolling basis.

The organizing committee is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive summer school. We encourage all students with an interest to apply. If you have any questions regarding eligibility, feel free to reach out.

Got any questions? You can reach us on arnout.devos@epfl.ch

"

Apply here

ELIAS Consortium Member Nuria Oliver Joins International Scientific Expert Advisory Panel on Advanced AI Safety

by elias_admin | Feb 23, 2024 | News

ELIAS Consortium Member Nuria Oliver Joins International Scientific Expert Advisory Panel on Advanced AI Safety

Nuria Oliver, Director of ELLIS Alicante and Vice-President of ELLIS, has been selected to join an esteemed international advisory body tasked with providing expert insights for the “International Scientific Report on Advanced AI Safety.” Representing Spain, Nuria Oliver joins 32 experts from 30 nations, as recently announced by the Department of Science, Innovation & Technology of the British Government.

The first-of-its kind report will drive an up-to-date, science-based understanding of the safety and risks of cutting-edge advanced AI systems. Announced at the AI Safety Summit in November 2023, the UK has commissioned Canadian computer scientist Yoshua Bengio, a Turing Award-winning AI academic and member of the UN’s Scientific Advisory Board on AI, to chair the report. The report will serve as a reference point and working tool in upcoming AI safety summits.

The panel members will advise the Chair on the content of the report and are expected to share and promote its findings in their own countries, ensuring that they may guide policymakers and technologists to make informed decisions regarding AI safety. The first publication is expected to take place in the Spring of 2024 and a second iteration will be released at the end of the year. The report is set to become a landmark publication on the most advanced scientific research about the risks and capabilities of frontier AI development. It aims to cement the scientific community’s drive to ensure that discussions on AI safety remain an international collaborative endeavor, bringing together global expertise and diverse perspectives.

Aside from Nuria Oliver, members of the Expert Advisory Panel represent all continents, including Dr. Hiroaki Kitano, CTO of Sony; Amandeep Gill, UN Tech Envoy; Dame Angela McLean, Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government and Saif M Khan, senior adviser to the secretary for critical and emerging technologies at the US department of commerce. A full list of panel members is available here.

Nuria Oliver, renowned for her over 25 years of research experience in human-centric AI, will contribute her expertise to the panel. Her participation aligns closely with the mission of ELLIS Alicante, a non-profit private foundation dedicated to responsible AI for Social Good. ELLIS Alicante advocates for transparent, user-centric AI development, focusing on critical issues such as algorithmic fairness, privacy, and the societal impact of AI.

Nuria Oliver, renowned for her over 25 years of research experience in human-centric AI, will contribute her expertise to the panel. Her participation aligns closely with the mission of ELLIS Alicante, a non-profit private foundation dedicated to responsible AI for Social Good. ELLIS Alicante advocates for transparent, user-centric AI development, focusing on critical issues such as algorithmic fairness, privacy, and the societal impact of AI.

Nuria Oliver, renowned for her over 25 years of research experience in human-centric AI, will contribute her expertise to the panel. Her participation aligns closely with the mission of ELLIS Alicante, a non-profit private foundation dedicated to responsible AI for Social Good. ELLIS Alicante advocates for transparent, user-centric AI development, focusing on critical issues such as algorithmic fairness, privacy, and the societal impact of AI.

Remarkably, Dr. Oliver is not only a distinguished figure within ELLIS but also holds an important role in the ELIAS Consortium, further underscoring her commitment to collaborative efforts in advancing AI research and innovation and addressing AI safety challenges and ensuring the positive impact of AI on society.

ELLIS Alicante, our partner in ELIAS, will also contribute to identifying use cases demonstrating AI solutions for Trustworthy AI, with a particular focus on addressing the challenges of responsible AI use in online advertising.

For more information:

Read the related press release issued by our ELLIS Unit Alicante in Spanish and in English.

For more information about research conducted at the ELLIS Unit in Alicante, please visit this website. ELLIS Alicante is a non-for-profit private research foundation focused on ethical and responsible AI for social good. Hence, it is also known as the Institute of Humanity-centric AI.

Contact

For media inquiries or interview requests, please contact info@ellisalicante.org or pr@ellis.eu.