The UvA has a well-established ecosystem for entrepreneurship and technology transfer, which provides support for early-stage and (venture-)funded startups, as well as for public-private partnerships with more established companies. For anyone running a startup, avoiding distractions is absolutely critical. The ELIAS Node Amsterdam should therefore offer concrete value whilst minimising overhead associated with engagement. The ELIAS Node is also envisioned to offer programmes, funding, and sciencepreneurial training which could equip researchers in its “valorisation” mission.

Organisations involved:

• University of Amsterdam
• Innovation Center for Artificial Intelligence
• Thematic Technology Transfer 
• Caempus
• Innovation Exchange Amsterdam
• LAB42

Head(s): Jan-Willem van de Meent is an Associate Professor at the University of Amsterdam. He is also an Assistant Professor (on leave) at Northeastern University.

Coordinator(s): Adela Pranindiati is a Project Leader at the University of Amsterdam. She is also the ELLIS unit Amsterdam Coordinator.

The vision of the ELIAS Node Barcelona is to establish Catalonia as an innovation hub in AI in Southern Europe. Through collaboration with other nodes in the ELIAS Alliance, we aim to share and adopt best practices in knowledge transfer, entrepreneurship, and innovation. The node will help unify the AI ecosystem in Catalonia and strengthen the interaction between scientific actors and the business sector, generating significant socio-economic impact. By internationalising our valorisation programme and sharing experiences with other nodes, we aspire to drive the development of AI-based startups and position the region as a leader in research and innovation in Europe.

Organisations involved:

• Computer Vision Center
• SADE Business School
• PRUAB (UAB Research Park)
• Pompeu Fabra University
• Barcelona Supercomputing Center
• Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya

Head(s): Dimosthenis Karatzas, PhD, is the Associate Director of the Computer Vision Centre (Barcelona). He is also the co-director of the ELLIS Unit Barcelona and leads the RDI-IA Network. He has founded two spin-off companies.

Coordinator(s): Sergi Besonias is the coordinator of the RDI-IA Network, which involves AI innovation research in Catalonia. He has experience in the field of Venture Building and the entrepreneurial world.

The node will act as a hub for AI sciencepreneurship in Cambridge. Its underpinning vision is to leverage Europe’s strengths in academic research, particularly in AI and machine learning, to create innovative solutions that address global challenges while upholding European values of privacy, ethics, and responsible innovation. It wants to foster a collaborative ecosystem where academia, industry, and government work together to translate cutting-edge research into practical applications. The node will provide an interface for researchers and students to connect with sources of advice and support to develop and scale their ideas.

Organisations involved:

• University of Cambridge
• Cambridge Innovation Capital
• Innovate Cambridge
• Deeptech Labs
• University of Manchester

Head(s): Professor Neil Lawrence is DeepMind Professor of Machine Learning at the University of Cambridge and Senior AI Fellow at the Alan Turing Institute. He sits on the boards of the AISTATS foundation, ELLIS, and the Scientific Advisory Council of arXiv. His research focus is on challenges of deploying AI in the real world.

Jessica Montgomery is the Director of ai@cam, a new University of Cambridge strategic mission to develop AI technologies that serve science, citizens, and society. She leads research and policy programmes tackling the real-world challenges associated with developing and deploying AI for societal benefit.

The node’s vision is to establish ELLIS Munich as an ELIAS Node that connects research and industry, leveraging Munich’s rapidly expanding AI ecosystem engaged in open-source foundation models. We focus on building an integrated, end-to-end process that links all stakeholders—from research collaboration to scaling spin-offs in accelerators. The node is envisioned as a pivotal hub for entrepreneurship and open-source foundation models. Our coordinating role will bridge academia, startups, and industry, connecting scientists with experts and organisations that can advance their projects.

Organisations involved:

• Helmholtz Munich
• Technical University of Munich
• Ludwig Maximilian University Munich
• TUM Venture Labs (AI and Software)
• Applied AI 
• Nucleate 

Head(s): Fabian Theis is the Head of the Computational Health Centre, Director of the Institute for Computational Biology at Helmholtz Munich.

Daniel Cremers is Professor of Computer Vision and Artificial Intelligence at the Technical University of Munich.

Björn Ommer is Professor of Computer Vision and Learning at LMU Munich.

Coordinator(s): Emma van Holthe (Helmholtz Munich) and Arielle Helmick (Technical University Munich), coordinators of ELLIS Munich, will also administer the ELIAS Munich Node.

The vision for the node is to become one of Europe’s leading ecosystems for entrepreneurs that drive AI and tech innovation, bridging the gap between academia, startups, and industry. The node aims to foster an environment where research excellence translates into impactful, real-world applications, empowering entrepreneurs and innovators to tackle societal challenges such as climate change and healthcare through digital technologies. By connecting the best minds from different fields and sectors, the node’s objective is the commercialisation of technologies, creating sustainable businesses and strengthening Europe’s position as a global leader in AI-driven innovation.

Organisations involved:

• Hasso Plattner Institut

Head(s): The ELIAS node is led by Frank Pawlitschek, an experienced founder and director of the HPI Engine. With extensive experience in sustainable technology and entrepreneurship, Frank guides students and researchers in transforming innovative ideas into impactful startups.

Coordinator(s): Gregor von Dulong is an engineer who is passionate about startups and has expertise in product development.

Building on Tübingen’s thriving ecosystem, the ELIAS Node Tübingen will foster value creation literacy in academia and education through interdisciplinary courses, it will start a new innovation track for PhD and MSc thesis projects and build a local community on open-source foundation model research as a key component of AI-preneurship. It aims to collaborate with other ELIAS nodes on societal projects, especially in integrating AI into education. The objective of the ELIAS Node Tübingen is to build a future of AI “made in Europe,” combining academic excellence with entrepreneurial vision across a network of incubators and startups to drive value creation through AI.

Organisations involved:

• Uni Tübingen
• MPI Tübingen
• ELLIS Tübingen
• Cyber Valley GmbH 
• ESMT Berlin
• ESB Business School 

Head(s): Matthias Bethge is a professor at the University of Tübingen and the director of the Tübingen AI Centre as well as an ELLIS Fellow. He leads the Entrepreneurship and Tech Transfer initiatives within the ELIAS project, focusing on advancing the application of AI research to real-world problems.

Wieland Brendel is a team lead at the Tübingen AI Centre and an ELLIS Fellow. He joined the Max-Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems as an independent Group Leader and co-founded a machine learning startup focused on visual quality control.

Coordinator(s): Nina Peters is a coordinator at the Tübingen AI Centre. She administers the ELIAS Alliance as well as the ELIAS Node Tübingen.