The European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems (ELLIS) is an organization that was founded in 2018 with a clear mission: to unite Europe’s top scientists in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). Its primary goal is to establish leading research institutes to anchor the local AI ecosystem. ELLIS emphasizes the European strength in building diverse teams from varied academic traditions, contributing significantly to global AI development, a field often oversimplified as a competition mainly between the US and China.
Earlier this month, ELLIS announced a significant expansion in Central and Eastern Europe. Joining its existing sites in Bulgaria and Czechia, a new branch will open in Warsaw, Poland. This expansion is part of the organization’s broader strategy to enhance AI research and application across Europe.
The new Warsaw unit will be integrated into IDEAS NCBR, a Polish research and development center specializing in AI. IDEAS NCBR’s mission is to bolster AI technology development in Poland by fostering collaboration between academic and business sectors. This new branch marks the 41st in the ELLIS Society’s network, joining prestigious institutions like Cambridge and Oxford universities, ETH Zurich, and the Max Planck Institute.
Piotr Sankowski, CEO of IDEAS NCBR, highlights the increasing global interest in AI, pointing out the differing approaches to AI usage, especially in privacy and data acquisition, between regions like America and Europe. The Warsaw branch will concentrate on six key research areas:
Intelligent Algorithms and Learned Data Structures:
This area will delve into explainable algorithmic tools and learning data structures, focusing on data science and machine learning.
Efficient and Sustainable Machine Learning for Computer Vision:
This will concentrate on developing efficient machine learning algorithms specifically tailored for computer vision, including enhanced network computations and knowledge accumulation in continually trained models.
Machine Learning and Sequential Decision-Making:
Focusing on creating broadly intelligent agents that can be applied in real-world control systems.
Algorithmic Game Theory in Security:
This area aims to develop advanced management systems to protect critical infrastructures and state services from both physical and cyber threats.
Interpretable Artificial Intelligence:
Centered on creating machine learning models that provide clear and trustworthy explanations of complex AI systems.
Autonomous Agents and Alignment of Language Models:
Aiming to develop training protocols for artificial agents to gather informative learning data and align language models.
“The ELLIS Unit in Warsaw will be a benchmark for scientific excellence in machine learning research and innovation in Europe, bridging the gap between academia and business in Poland.
It will play a key role in shaping future generations of AI innovators through specialized training and educational initiatives. Its strategic position in the ELLIS network also makes it a key link supporting cooperation and exchange between the Western and Eastern European AI research community.
That is why it is worth for Poland to develop its own solutions in the field of machine learning and AI, and not to be doomed to import tools that are not fully compliant with our legal system or values.
“Within two years of the establishment of IDEAS NCBR, our teams of scientists have already achieved international success several times.
Their research work has qualified for the most important scientific conferences on artificial intelligence and cryptography. This shows that in the advancement of work on the development of AI, we are no longer behind the world leaders, and thanks to facilitated integration with teams of scientists from all over the continent, we can achieve even greater things.”
— Tomasz Trzciński, Professor at the Warsaw University of Technology and the Jagiellonian University, Director of the ELLIS Unit Warsaw and leader of the research group at IDEAS NCBR.
These focus areas align with ongoing research at IDEAS NCBR, which includes work on intelligent algorithms, data structures, zero-waste machine learning in computer vision, systems security, and data privacy. The establishment of ELLIS’s new branch in Warsaw is a testament to Europe’s active and diverse role in advancing AI technology, promising exciting developments in the field.
“For several years this effort was executed under the supervision of the ELLIS Society, and Poland can now be a part of this process.”
— Piotr Sankowski, associate professor at the Institute of Computer Science at the University of Warsaw
