The Government presents its various plan for analysis assist with AI after the criticisms of a whole lot of researchers | Technology | EUROtoday

The Minister of Science and Universities, Diana Morant, introduced on Tuesday on the Council of Ministers the brand new analysis assist plan with AI after the cancellation of the earlier proposal in full previous Christmas holidays. The new plan foresees an investable funding to 36 million “, according to some informative points shared by the Ministry. The new call will open in May, so all the details are not yet public. The original proposal was 31 million.

The initial plan forced the proposals to be coordinated between several universities or research centers to promote the application of AI in several areas. Now, “every collaborating entity will obtain financing immediately, as a substitute of by a central coordinating entity,” says sources from the Ministry. The duration of the projects will go from two to three or four years and the maximum amount will remain at 2 million for each. The entity that will manage the funds this will be the State Investigation Agency. This call will not be linked to European funds, which “will facilitate a extra versatile execution,” according to the Ministry.

These changes will force scientists to rebuild at least one part of their proposals, who had to improvise in the summer of 2023: “The same priority and objective thematic areas are maintained, which will allow the applicants for the previous call to take advantage of the work done,” says sources from the Ministry. There will be no privilege for the projects of the previous call. The government will not make public who had won in that call. Aids are open to both public and private centers that have R&D activity and do not have profit.

“It is an unprecedented dedication to analysis and college,” said Morant, who has insisted that they aim to “coaching, consolidation of a brand new analysis expertise very specialised in AI to make sure that Spain leads along with Europe the event of an moral and dependable the AI.” That is one of the objectives, according to sources from the Ministry: “The name will encourage the consolidation of a important mass of researchers in AI, since every undertaking may have one or two major researchers, a analysis group and a piece group.”

After the controversy for cancellation the government in 2024, the Government announced that there would be a new proposal. The scientific community never finished understanding the reasons for the suppression of the previous project. Morant blamed it in February basically to delays of the public administration that complicated the fulfillment of deadlines: “There have been sure inside issues that haven’t allowed us to unravel this name after we would have favored,” said Morant, who linked the problem to the European funds NextGen: “The delay made the call practically unusable because the results could not be given within the recovery plan. I could execute if we did it in November. ”

The initial explanation of the Government in December 2024 in a letter to the scientists who had presented were “survey circumstances”, without further details. That decision caused agitation and nerves among hundreds of researchers who had planned that part of the financing of their groups would come from that plan, which should have been granted a year ago. “The lack of convincing explanations and the reference to ‘Overcome circumstances’ are unacceptable and intensely irresponsible,” hundreds of affected wrote in a letter. The rector conference also expressed its discomfort in a letter to the Secretary of State for Science, Juan Cruz Cigudosa.

A talent attraction program

Morant has also announced the third call of the program attracts, endowed with 45 million euros, 15 million more than in the previous call. It is a plan that “started in 2023 to seize new scientists or return scientists from our nation leaders to develop their tasks in Spain,” Morant said.

The objective of attracts, whose endowment in this call comes from national budget and not from European funds, is to facilitate the incorporation of consolidated research talent, of international prestige and that has developed a relevant period of its professional activity abroad. “It has a really particular deal with researchers within the US and who’re being despised by the administration,” Morant added. In the final name, Morant stated, 420 requests from researchers had been obtained and 60 had been chosen.