New Knowl­edge Hub on AI – HU kicks off lo­cal de­vel­op­ment

Circle U. aims to foster research and teaching around some of the big challenges and opportunities of our time: Climate, Democracy, Global Health and, soon, Artificial Intelligence. Through dedicated Knowledge Hubs, headed by Academic Directors and locally appointed Chairs, a growing number of joint interdisciplinary activities are taking shape. To kick-start work on the Hub dedicated to AI, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin organised a workshop, bringing together researchers from different fields and projects as well as administrative staff working with AI tools and technologies.

AI expertise at Humboldt-Universität

The first part of the workshop was dedicated to some of the key players in AI at Humboldt-Universität: Following a brief introduction by HU's Vice President for Academic Affairs and the local Circle U. project manager, flagship projects IMPACT, AI Skills and AI Campus gave brief insights into their work. Listening attentively were not only Humboldt colleagues, the Dean of Circle U.'s Open Campus, the Secretary General, the head of the Management Board and members of the central Brussels team, but also the recently appointed Academic Director of the new hub, Francesco Marcelloni from the University of Pisa.

Academic Director outlines his vision

Marcelloni, himself a professor of Data Mining and Machine Learning, then spoke about his vision for the Knowledge Hub. "The topic of AI should be addressed not only from a technical, but also from ethical, legal and other perspectives," he stressed. With this in mind, Marcelloni went on to explain: "In research, one goal will be to connect colleagues from the partner universities in order to submit joint proposals and get new projects funded." In the area of teaching, the hub director would like to promote double degree programmes and also offer an annual PhD-level summer school. Micro credentials, he added, could be a way to promote lifelong learning amongst a wider audience, while virtual events could engage the public in open discussions and contribute to the dissemination of knowledge around Artificial Intelligence.

What it means to be a Circle U. Academic Chair

For the hub to become operational, Academic Chairs will need to be appointed. Anne Enderwitz, professor of English Literature and Academic Chair at Circle U.'s Climate Hub, reported on her experience in this role. As a Chair located at HU, she was able to take two hours off her weekly teaching load and received a small budget to organize workshops and other activities. The biggest benefits of the role, she said, have been "meeting great people from across disciplines, getting to know my own institution much more closely, and being able to 'make things happen'." As an example, Enderwitz cited her past summer school "Reimagining Universities as Drivers of Sustainability", the topic of which was outside her usual work as a literature professor, but allowed her to tackle an important issue close to her heart. HU will launch an open call later this year to recruit its AI Chairs.

Brainstorming ideas for joint teaching and research

For the final part of the get-together, the group split in two to discuss ideas and hopes around teaching and research within the new Knowledge Hub. In the research sub-group, a linguist suggested finding common questions to build better large multilingual language models; an academic from the field of Library and Information Science voiced an interest in collaborative grant proposals and the idea of the hub as a scientific matchmaking structure was discussed. Next door, the group discussing teaching prospects expressed their interest in sharing resources and best practices amongst existing initiatives at the partner universities. They also brought up the potential of creating a joint AI Lab for students and adding AI topics to the Open Conversations agenda. At the end of the intense 90-minute event, the need to network and exchange further was evident. As one enthusiastic participant put it, however: "People leaving with the wish to continue the conversation is a good sign for the hub's potential!"

01.08.2024