Calling on Researchers and Companies to Deliver Innovation in the AI for Media Sectors

Deadline: 30-Nov-22

The AI4Media Open Call #2 invites entrepreneurs, companies, research organisations and researchers that develop and integrate applied research in the field of AI, to develop new research and applications addressing AI for the media sectors, and contribute to the enrichment of the existing pool of research and technological tools.

AI4Media Objectives

The main objective of the AI4Media – Open Call #2 is to engage entrepreneurs, companies (e.g., SMEs, mid-caps) and researchers that develop and integrate applied research in the field of AI, to develop new and innovative research and applications for AI. Such developments must contribute to the enrichment of the pool of research and technological tools to be made available – via AI4Media – on the AI4EU (AI-on-Demand) platform.

Open Call Tracks

Open call tracks AI4Media Open Call #2 targets two types of projects, divided into tracks:

• Track #1: RESEARCH
  • Targets higher education and research institutions, academia and researchers to increase the value of the AI4Media ecosystem by expanding, developing and integrating new research in AI media domains. Projects funded under the Research track will run for 12 months and receive up to €50.000 each.
• Track #2: APPLICATION
  • Targets entrepreneurs, companies (micro-SMEs, SMEs, mid-caps) to develop innovative AI applications for the media sector by building on the research coming out of AI4Media or by adopting AI solutions to the media sector. Projects funded under the Application track will run for 9 months and receive up to €50.000 each.

Funding Information

A total of €1,000,000 has been budgeted for the two planned AI4Media open calls. For Open Call #2, a total of €500.000 will be made available, funding up to 10 projects, five for each track:

• RESEARCH track: 5 projects with up to €50.000 per project.
• APPLICATION track: 5 projects with up to €50.000 per project.

Benefits

• Financial support
  • Equity-free funding of up to €50.000 per project.
• Market-driven Services
  • Dedicated boot camps and online events to support market take-up of developed applications.
• Business Support
  • Business support to promote innovations by SMEs and demonstrate them to cluster organisations and media stakeholders.
• Coaching
  • All projects will be allocated a coach to support the work developed and the integration into the AI4Media network
• Visibility and promotion
  • Major visibility, promotion and networking opportunities are offered as part of the AI4Media project and related networks.

Research Challenges

• C1-R Reinforcement learning and the challenge of generalization.
• C2-R Evolutionary learning and the challenge of evaluating quality.
• C3-R Scarce data and the cross-media transfer of knowledge.
• C4-R New decentralised collaborative learning paradigms for AI.
• C5-R Quantum Reinforcement Learning for classical data processing.
• C6-R Frugal cross-modal representation for media research.
• C7-R Broadening the spectrum of Interpretable AI.
• C8-R Standardising AI datasets and model creation.
• C9-R Novel AI-powered enablers for social media research.
• C10-R Social media alert system to avoid the attention gathering loop.
• C11-R Representative and Inclusive Depictions of AI.
• C12-R-OPEN Open Research Challenge.

Application Challenges

• C1-A Realising a hybrid AI application in AI4EU Experiments.
• C2-A AI global support to informative content production.
• C3-A New learning methods for music overcoming scarce data.
• C4-A AI for suggesting visually appealing images based on text.
• C5-A Recommender Systems to Support Exploratory Research with Media.
• C6-A AI for automated testing and sound synthesis.
• C7-A-OPEN Open Application Challenge.

Eligibility Criteria

The AI4Media – Open Call #2 will fund projects implemented by single entities (groups of entities are not eligible) that are considered eligible under H2020 rules. The following type of entities are invited to submit their innovative research or application ideas:

• European mid-caps, SMEs, and micro-SMEs (as defined in EU law – EU recommendation 2003/3611 ).
• Individual entrepreneurs and individual sole-traders (established in an eligible country, eligibility is about the person’s residence and not origin).
• European secondary and higher education establishments, research institutes and other not-for-profit research organisations.

The following additional conditions apply:

• The participating organisations should not have been declared bankrupt or have initiated bankruptcy procedures at the time of applying.
• The organisations or individuals applying should not have convictions for fraudulent behaviour, other financial irregularities, and unethical or illegal business practices.
• There should not be any conflict of interest with any of the AI4Media partners (beneficiaries),
• Applicants already funded under the AI4Media Open Call #1 are not eligible to participate in Open Call #2.
• Eligible countries:
  • Single legal entities established in any of the following countries are eligible to participate in the AI4Media – Open Call #2:
    • The Member States(MS) of the European Union (EU), including their outermost regions.
    • The Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT) linked to the Member States.
    • H2020 associated countries (those that have signed an agreement with the EU as identified in Article 7 of the Horizon 2020 Regulation): according to the updated list published by the EC.
    • UK applicants are eligible under the conditions set by the EC for H2020 participation at the time of the deadline of the call.
• Financial eligibility:
  • Each application may receive a maximum of up to €50.000.
  • The total amount requested must represent 100% of the project costs (including indirect cots). All proposals will be required to provide a justification of the planned costs and resources of the project.

For more information, visit https://www.ai4media.eu/open-call-2/