The Helmholtz Association is funding its research unit, the Helmholtz Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Unit (HAICU), with 11.4 million euros. Its headquarters will be in Munich.
All areas of modern research produce vast amounts of data every day. Artificial intelligence (AI) plays a major role in processing this data. The use of AI enables scientists to analyze and link the data, and draw the right conclusions from it. To make the most comprehensive use of the opportunities offered by artificial intelligence, the Helmholtz Association is expanding its field of applied AI. €11.4 million is being invested in the Helmholtz Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Unit (HAICU), which is being headquartered at the Helmholtz-Zentrum München. Several research units and a support group of experts will work here.
Bigger doesn't always mean better
The head of the nationwide research platform is Prof. Fabian Theis. As Director of the Institute for Computational Biology at the Helmholtz Zentrum München and Professor for Mathematical Modeling of Biological Systems at the Technical University of Munich, Prof. Fabian Theiswhat it means to have to deal with huge amounts of data:
"The proverbial big data is on everyone's lips these days, although bigger per se doesn't necessarily mean better. Bigger will only become a success when AI gets smarter with each new data point and the data can be increasingly sifted through and combined—and that's exactly what we're working on."
Prof. Matthias H. Tschöp, CEO of the Helmholtz Zentrum München, sees the project and the selection of Munich as the headquarters as further confirmation of Munich as the location for future-oriented top-level research in the life sciences:
“We are delighted and see this award as recognition for the activities we have already initiated in the field of the key technology of artificial intelligence and its application in biomedicine.”
HAICU is also strengthening its cooperation with industry and the two Munich universities.
The Helmholtz Association is well positioned for applied AI: it operates large research infrastructures for nuclear and particle physics, a supercomputer, satellite missions, and is involved in complex stem cell simulations. HAICU aims to leverage all of this data to become a global leader in applied AI.
