The call: ARTIQ – Centres of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence (CE AI) announced by the NCN and the NCBR

The National Science Centre (NCN), in cooperation with the National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR), is proud to announce the ARTIQ call for proposals aimed at creating three Centres of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence (CE AI). 

With a wide range of possible applications, artificial intelligence (AI) is hailed as one of the most important technologies of the future. Its elements have already been around for many years, employed in tools such as internet search engines, navigation, predictive text or automatic translation apps. AI is expected to fundamentally change almost all aspects of our lives and economies, and activities designed to promote it have been defined by the European Parliament as a EU priority. At the end of 2020, Poland also adopted what is known as a “Policy for the Development of Artificial Intelligence from 2020”.

The objective of the call ARTIQ – Centres of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence (CE AI), organized jointly by the NCN and the NCBR, is to boost Poland’s potential in terms of artificial intelligence. The newly created CE AIs, headed by world-renowned leaders, will conduct basic and industrial research, R & D and pre-implementation work in the field.

Announcement

The CE AIs will be established at so-called host institutions, put in charge of providing research teams with all the conditions necessary to carry out their project. A list of available host institutions was published on the website of the NCBR in April, designed to make it easier for leaders to find an entity where a CE AI will be launched. Proposals may also be submitted in cooperation with other institutions, as long as they meet all the requirements listed in the call’s Terms and Conditions.

The host institution must declare its own contribution to the project. Its duties will also include financial and administrative coordination; to this end, a dedicated administrative coordinator should be hired.

To qualify as a CE AI Leader, applicants are expected to have earned their PhD degree up to 8 years before the start date of the call, demonstrate international experience and achievements in the field of artificial intelligence, including successful commercialization and business cooperation ventures, and should not have lived, worked, studied or carried out a grant in Poland in the two years prior to the submission deadline.

In the ARTIQ call, basic research will be funded by the NCN, while the NCBR will award resources for industrial research, R & D, pre-implementation, and the establishment of SPEs. The maximum amount of eligible costs funded by the NCN and the NCBR for a single project is 20 million PLN.

Only projects that have never been funded by the NCBR, the NCN or from any other sources can be submitted under the call. They should take 60 months to complete.

Information on how to apply and how funding will be awarded can be found in the call’s Terms and Conditions.

Proposals will be accepted between 20 September 2021 and 4 pm on 20 December 2021 and must be submitted electronically, via the LSI system available at https://lsi.ncbr.gov.pl.