RAISE launches: a virtual European institute to accelerate AI in science
At the European AI in Science Summit in Copenhagen, the European Commission and the Danish Presidency of the Council of the EU announced the pilot of RAISE - the Resource for Artificial Intelligence Science in Europe. Led by Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen and Commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva, this new virtual institute will coordinate compute, data, talent, and funding to push AI-enabled research across the continent.
The pilot is funded with €107 million under Horizon Europe. The goal is clear: speed up scientific breakthroughs in areas like cancer treatment, environmental science, and earthquake impact prediction, while reinforcing Europe's competitiveness and technological sovereignty.
What RAISE is (and why it matters for researchers)
RAISE is a virtual institute that pools key AI resources across EU Member States and the private sector. It is a flagship initiative under the Apply AI Strategy and the European Strategy for AI in Science, built to support both frontier AI development and practical use of AI in scientific workflows.
For labs and research groups, this means easier access to compute, better data foundations, stronger talent networks, and clearer funding paths. The approach builds on Europe's strength in coordinated action and shared infrastructure.
Key elements
- Computational power: Dedicated access time to AI Gigafactories, backed by a €600 million contribution from Horizon Europe, with priority for EU-funded projects through collaboration with the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU).
- Data: Support to identify strategic data gaps and to gather, curate, and integrate the datasets scientists need to train and evaluate AI models.
- Excellence and skills: €75 million in the pilot for Networks of Excellence and Doctoral Networks to train, retain, and attract top AI and scientific talent to Choose Europe.
- Research funding: The Commission plans to double Horizon Europe's annual investments in AI to over €3 billion, including doubling AI-in-science funding. The first step of the pilot includes a €3 million Coordination and Support Action to connect the AI-in-science community and guide RAISE's development, plus a new ERA Action to coordinate with Member States.
What you can do now
- Prepare compute-ready workflows to make use of reserved AI Gigafactory slots; align with EuroHPC centers on resource needs and timelines.
- Map your domain's critical data gaps; plan contributions to shared, well-documented datasets with clear licensing and provenance.
- Track calls for Networks of Excellence and Doctoral Networks; build consortia that bridge methods (AI) and domains (e.g., life, materials, climate).
- Design projects that translate AI advances into measurable scientific outputs (benchmarks, reproducible pipelines, open models) that fit Horizon Europe criteria.
Next steps
RAISE will be built in phases to match the pace of AI research and the needs of the scientific community. Following the pilot, the Commission will work with Member States, research institutions, and industry to expand RAISE under the next long-term EU budget (2028-2034) and secure sustainable governance and pooled resources.
Background
In October 2025, the Commission launched the European Strategy for AI in Science to strengthen scientific leadership and competitiveness by supporting AI adoption in research. It contributes to the AI Continent Action Plan and was presented alongside the Apply AI Strategy focused on business and industry.
In November 2025, the European AI in Science Summit gathered researchers, business leaders, investors, and policymakers in Copenhagen. The program featured expert contributions and workshops across life science, materials science, planet and climate science, society and community, science for AI technologies, and policy for AI in science.
Useful links
- Horizon Europe funding overview
- Curated AI courses by job role (for researchers and data scientists)
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