Five million euros for research in the field of artificial intelligence (AI)

Gerald Joy Sequeira's postdoctoral work at CARISSMA focuses on research into AI methods for safety systems in (partially) automated vehicles. The focus is on the adaptability of these systems in the event of accidents, both about the accident scenario and the vehicle occupants. The use of modern sensor technology and AI algorithms to analyze data is intended to improve vehicle safety. A key challenge is the traceability of AI decisions, especially when it comes to airbag deployment. ‘I plan to collect extensive data through driving tests and simulations to recognize dangerous situations at an early stage,’ explains Sequeira.

From January 2025, he and nine other researchers who are at the beginning of their scientific careers will be accepted into the Graduate Centre of the Bavarian Research Institute for Digital Transformation (bidt), an institute of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities. Funding is provided for up to four years. It includes personnel funding for the postdocs, research funding, and support for networking and further qualification in the field of digitalization. The young researchers and their proposed projects were recommended for funding by a panel of experts from outside Bavaria.

The funding line aims to support particularly qualified early career researchers from the first or second year after their doctorate in developing a research profile and thus qualifying them to remain in academia. The Bavaria-wide Graduate Centre is coordinated by the bidt. With its diverse research projects and dialogue activities, it offers the best framework conditions for the planned projects.

‘Young, smart, innovative: the AI talents of today will have a decisive influence on our society of tomorrow. That is why we are supporting ten excellent postdocs and their AI projects with a total of around five million euros,’ announced Science Minister Markus Blume in Munich.