Research on artificial intelligence

Description of the theme

The politically determined agreement states that ”DKK 59.3 million has been allocated to DFF with the purpose of supporting research on artificial intelligence with a special focus on responsible development and use of the technology. The funds are intended to strengthen research efforts in Denmark in the field, including early, basic research – among other things with the aim of influencing the development of artificial intelligence. The overall initiative will, inter alia, support research projects that address ethical issues and research projects that focus on explainability in mathematical models to better understand their application (and/or research projects that manage to address both aspects).

Overall, the initiative aims to contribute to Denmark being able to maintain and attract research talent in an increasingly intensified international competition for technological development, including in relation to responsible artificial intelligence. Moreover, the initiative should support the development of research-based solutions with a focus on citizens’ rights, dignity, and independence.”

According to The Danish National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence from 2019, artificial intelligence can be briefly described as systems based on algorithms (mathematical formulae) that, by analysing and identifying patterns in data, can identify the most appropriate solution. The vast majority of these systems perform specific tasks in limited areas, for example control, prediction, and guidance. The technology can be designed to adapt its behavior by observing how the environment is influenced by previous actions.

It is possible to apply for research projects within a budgetary framework of up to DKK 5,000,000 excluding overhead/administration expenses. Within the upper budget limit of DKK 5,000,000 excluding overhead/administration expenses, research projects of various sizes can be applied for and granted.

The following theme-specific requirements apply to your application:

• Your application must include at least one PhD student or postdoctoral candidate. This requirement is intended to support the political intention to maintain and attract research talent.
• In the appendix to your project description, you must account for the ways in which your application addresses the call’s theme of artificial intelligence as well as how your application supports the intention to maintain and attract research talent.

Applicant and Co-PI

The project must be lead by an applicant and a named Co-PI. The applicant is main responsible towards the fund in the event of a grant.

As applicant as well as Co-PI you must have obtained a PhD degree (or similar qualifications, e.g. positive assistant professorship evaluation) at the time of the application deadline. Both the applicant’s and the Co-PI’s previous results will be assessed in relation to their career path and in relation to the scientific challenges of the project applied for. If you, as the applicant, are not an associate professor and have not been awarded a positive associate professor assessment (“lektorbedømmelse”) and the project involves the education of researchers, you must account for how the relevant supervision will be provided, and how the research student’s scientific association to the project will be ensured.

The applicant and the Co-PI must enter into a relevant and binding collaboration on a joint research project. The distribution of roles between the applicant and the Co-PI in the research project must appear clearly from the application.

Application requirements

The research project must be run by multiple researchers, including both an applicant and a Co-PI. Your application must include at least one PhD student or postdoctoral candidate (see above under ”Description of the theme”). This requirement is intended to support the political intention to maintain and attract research talent.

The research project must be characterised as being a coordinated and mutually binding collaboration on a well-defined research question. The research activities must establish synergy among any sub-projects.

The research project must be of a high, international standard and involve international collaboration to a relevant extent. If the research project is embedded in a specific, local context, it is expected that the project argues for the potentially limited internationalisation. In all cases, DFF expects applications to relate to the international state of the art within their area.

You can apply for funding for embedded PhD and postdoctoral scholarships, if these are well integrated into the project and fulfil a clear, independent function within the research project. Embedded postdoctoral candidates must have obtained their PhD or achieved equivalent qualifications, e.g., a positive assistant professorship evaluation (”adjunktbedømmelse”), within the last 4 years at the time of the application deadline. Periods of leave must be deducted (see section 5.3.5 in the thematic Call for Proposals). If a named postdoctoral candidate is a PhD student at the time of application, the application must include a declaration from the student’s supervisor, stating that the student is expected to submit the PhD thesis within 6 months after the application deadline. If the application includes requests for funding for unnamed PhD students and/or unnamed postdoc candidates, the application must include an account of the proposed recruitment process.

There must be a sufficiently balanced relationship between the roles of all listed project participants (scientific/academic staff, technical/administrative staff, and whether funded or not), and the concrete role of the participants must be accounted for and justified.