ELSA IS FUNDING INNOVATIVE INDUSTRY PROJECTS ON SAFE AND SECURE AI

For the second time, the network of excellence ELSA – European Lighthouse on Secure and Safe AI is calling on up-and-coming start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises to collaborate with ELSA’s top experts in the field of secure and safe artificial intelligence and receive up to 60,000 euros in funding from the European Union. Applications are open until September 22, 2024.

Following a successful first call last year, ELSA is once again looking for small and medium-sized enterprises and start-ups that want to develop secure AI applications and cooperate with the Network of Excellence in the categories “Methodology”, “Software/Tools” and “Benchmarks”. The focus is on the use cases addressed in the ELSA research programs: health, autonomous driving, robotics, cyber security, multimedia and document intelligence. However, all proposals that tackle high-impact social and economic challenges with the help of machine learning will also be considered. This includes, in particular, projects that deal with new developments such as large language models and foundation models.

Seven selected companies will have the opportunity to participate in a six-month program after completing the application process and will receive

• Up to € 60,000 (lump sum) funding from the EU for the development of AI/machine learning applications
• Visibility via ELSA’s website and social media channels as well as the opportunity to network in the ELSA and ELLIS community

Scientific advisor:
Applicants need a scientific advisor, who they should look for at the beginning of the application process and who must be part of the ELSA network or at least be an ELLIS member. The advisor will support the SMEs during all phases of the project, starting with a letter on why they support and advise the SME’s project in the application phase. The role of the scientific advisor is strictly advisory, meaning that the advisor cannot participate in the project work, nor receive funding from it or any remuneration. No previous formal links between your company and the scientific advisor are allowed. This means that the advisor has to be independent (a NDA will not be considered as a formal link).

Applications stopped
Applications stopped in September 2024. Since then, the selection process has started. We shared a little bit more about it in our second article.