The University of São Paulo was one of six universities selected by the Schmidt Sciences Foundation to take part in the Global Fellowship Program for Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Science, which will be carried out in partnership with the I-X Centre for AI in Science of the Imperial College London.
The initiative will give scientists from countries in the Global South the opportunity to improve their research in artificial intelligence by working at I-X, the British institution’s main laboratory, as well as promoting the exchange of skills between the participating universities. This action is part of Imperial College’s strategy to establish a network in strategic global locations, creating centers that will serve as meeting points for fellowship holders and institutions, fostering partnerships between local researchers, industry, and civil society.
The program will include three USP fellowship holders, one from each area of knowledge – Humanities, Exact Sciences, and Biology, who will attend a two-year cycle, in a model designed to maximize the impact of the experience and the full focus on the research carried out. In the first year, the researchers will be based in London, working alongside groups of high-level scholars based at I-X and taking part in interdisciplinary research and training in AI skills. The following year will be spent working at their home institution, but free from other teaching responsibilities, to develop the project to apply artificial intelligence in their area of expertise. The invitation for applications should be published by the USP Agency of National and International Cooperation (Aucani) by the end of this year.
For USP’s president, Carlos Gilberto Carlotti Junior, “this partnership represents a significant milestone for our university and for the advancement of artificial intelligence research in Brazil. The University of São Paulo has already demonstrated its commitment to this area by recently creating the Center for Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (CIAAM), and now, with this international collaboration, we will be able to further expand our global impact. Participation in this program will allow our researchers to develop cutting-edge AI projects, benefiting from Imperial College’s infrastructure and expertise, while contributing their unique perspectives to solving scientific challenges relevant to our region. This is a critical step towards consolidating USP’s position as a leader in AI research and innovation in Latin America.”
In addition to USP, the other partners in the initiative are the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences, the Indian Institute of Science, the Indian National Centre for Biological Sciences, the University of Ghana, and the University of Technology Malaysia. Like USP, all the participating institutions already have ties with the Imperial College through research and exchange projects.
The Schmidt Sciences Foundation is a philanthropic organization dedicated to promoting the advancement of science and technology by identifying under-supported or unconventional areas of exploration and discoveries, aimed at accelerating and deepening the understanding of the natural world and developing solutions to global issues. Some of its priority areas are AI and Advanced Computing, Astrophysics and Space, Biosciences, Climate, and Scientific Systems.
“It is excellent that Schmidt Sciences has chosen this direction, as it meets a clear need: to develop AI for scientific issues relevant to the Global South,” says Nick Jones, dean of the I-X Center. “As well as offering opportunities for teachers from our partners in the Global South, this new action will enrich the skills and perspectives of our current fellows, connecting them across three continents,” he says.
English version: Nexus Traduções
