Companies collaborating with researchers at Copenhagen Science City-partner, University of Copenhagen, can expect additional value for their research and development work. At a recently opened centre for Artificial Intelligence, AI specialists plan to join forces with researchers who have deep knowledge of other scientific fields. This should create new opportunities for accelerating scientific breakthroughs and rethinking business models.

Analysing mountains of data

Across sciences the new SCIENCE AI Centre at Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, will analyse and interpret data sets that are too big or complex for unaided humans to analyse. This could include questions in anything from cancer research to autonomous vehicles and intelligent web services.

Companies invited

The centres commercial arm, the Industrial Data Analysis Service (IDAS), invites companies to present projects where complex or large data sets stand in the way of solving the problem. Even where the data stems from scientific fields that have nothing to do with computer science.

Interface between brains of flesh and brains of silicon

The IDAS specialists have a deep understanding of AI, so they will act as interface between the complex AI systems and researchers in anything from physics to food science, says Mads Nielsen, Head of the university’s Department of Computer Science and initiator of SCIENCE AI Centre.

These are not plug and play systems yet. We have researchers and students who understand the systems. Partnering these with scientists who are able to articulate the problems, becomes crucial to solving societal problems”. Mads Nielsen, Head of Department of Computer Science, University of Copenhagen. Initiator of SCIENCE AI Centre.

Reaching out to more than 100 researchers in seven disciplines

Researchers at the centre plan to share the newest research within artificial intelligence with more than 100 researchers distributed at seven departments and several more at regional hospitals and at the Faculty of health and Medical Sciences. This will strengthen data analysis and not least the interpretation of data across sciences. It might even erase the traditional boundaries between fundamental and applied science.

Artificial Intelligence is especially useful because it eases the transition from analysis to problem solving. Once an AI has analysed a problem, it automatically becomes a programme for solving all subsequent problems of a similar nature”. Mads Nielsen, Initiator of SCIENCE AI Centre.

New locus for student and industry collaboration

Nielsen has particular hopes for seeing his own students working alongside students from other disciplines. He also looks forward to seeing students as well as tenured research staff improving their collaborative efforts with industry.

ABOUT SCIENCE AI Centre:

The centre includes 14 entities across 7 departments at the Faculty of Science that all work with different aspects of artificial intelligence. The centre has approx. 100 affiliated researchers.

The departments are:

• Department of Computer Science
• Department of Mathematical Sciences
• Niels Bohr Institute
• Department of Biology
• Department of Food Science
• Department of Food and Resource Economics
• Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences

ABOUT Copenhagen Science City:

Copenhagen Science City is an innovation district in the heart of the Danish Capital.
The district is home to a university, a university hospital, a university college and 350 innovative companies. 42,000 researchers, students and staff work inside an 800-metre radius. State-of-the-art research facilities are easily accessible for academic and commercial collaborators.