Baden-Württemberg is establishing ten new professorships in the field of artificial intelligence. As part of the "Artificial Intelligence Baden-Württemberg" (KI-BW) funding programme, Ulm University is gaining a six-year junior professorship in the future-oriented research field "explainable artificial intelligence". The Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts is providing a total of 6 million euros in funding for AI junior professorships at the Universities of Freiburg, Heidelberg, Hohenheim, Constance, Mannheim and Ulm, as well as at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). The funding covers equipment for artificial intelligence methods and applications.
The junior professorship "Explainable Artificial Intelligence" strengthens the strategic development area "Cognitive Systems and Human-Technology Interaction" at Ulm University. Researchers in this field are working on developing innovative technologies for realising artificial cognitive systems and innovative concepts for human-technology interaction. "The research field 'explainable artificial intelligence' is becoming very important in terms of improving transparency in the field of artificial intelligence and increasing acceptance of such systems. The new junior professorship will play a vital role in establishing this field at Ulm University", says Ulm University President Professor Michael Weber, holder of a degree in media informatics.
The new junior professorship is scheduled to begin in the 2019/2020 winter semester. Depending on its focus, the junior professorship will either be assigned to the Institute of Artificial Intelligence or the Institute of Neural Information Processing.
The state is providing an additional 600,000 euros in funding over a period of four years for the junior professorship, and Ulm University will contribute around 300,000 euros for the fifth and sixth years.
"We are joining forces to make Baden-Württemberg an even stronger location for AI research. These new professorships serve to increase competence across the state. Developing methods for artificial intelligence and researching potential opportunities for application is pivotal for society, for science and for the economy - whether it be in data analysis, autonomous driving, smart homes, Industry 4.0 or science", says Minister of Science Theresia Bauer.
Ministerial press release