Digital Education: Ethical and effective use of generative AI systems in Education and Training

Deadline: 27-May-25

The European Commission (EC) has launched the Ethical and Effective use of AI Systems in Education and Training Programme.

Themes and Priorities

• The rapid and widespread adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), including generative AI, has large-scale implications for education and training. The potential of generative AI practices in the coming years to transform essential cognitive practices is already tangible, and directly affects education and training systems.
• Projects under this Topic will aim to foster the organisational readiness and capacity of education and training institutions (at any level/s) and, more broadly, education and training systems, to leverage generative AI and ensure its adoption in an effective, inclusive, human-centred and ethical way. To pursue this objective, a strong focus should be placed on involving public education and training authorities (national, regional or local), to ensure higher transferability and mainstreaming potential of the outcomes of the projects.

Funding Information

• Funding Amount: EUR 13 000 000

Duration

• Projects should normally range between 24 and 36 months.

Eligible Activities

• Specific activities that can be funded
  • Methodologically robust research and analysis that would lead to identifying, mapping, and analysing effective existing uses and impact of generative AI in teaching, training, learning, and assessment at any level(s) of education and training;
  • Analysis to identify challenges and success factors in the deployment of generative AI;
  • Design and piloting of ethical, effective, purposeful, and pedagogically underpinned use of generative AI systems in teaching, training, learning and assessment at any level(s) of education and training;
  • Development of questionnaires or other assessment methods (including qualitative ones) for evaluating the ethical, effective, purposeful, and pedagogically underpinned use of generative AI systems;
  • Design of evidence-based materials and structured use cases of relevant generative AI systems in education and training practices that can be disseminated and easily implemented at organisational level;
  • Large-scale pilots, user experience and engagement studies in educational settings.

Expected Impact (Deliverables) 

• A structured and up-to-date overview and analysis of good practices in the use of generative AI systems in teaching, learning and assessment to inform Member States and stakeholders about initiatives and actions in the policy field.
• Increased understanding of the challenges and success factors of generative AI’s deployment in education and training, including also compliance with relevant EU and national level legislation, and the technological and pedagogical dimension.
• Increased knowledge and uptake of innovative approaches, methods and practices leading to the ethical, effective, and targeted pedagogical use of AI generative systems in teaching, learning and assessment at any level(s) of education and training.
• Adoption and upscale of quality methods for the critical use of generative AI systems in education and training at organisational level.
• Evidence and practice-based policy initiatives promoting the ethical and effective adoption of generative AI systems in education and training.
• Recommendations to inform further policy initiatives.

Eligibility Criteria

• In order to be eligible, the applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must:
  • be legal entities (public or private bodies) active in the fields of education and training, research and innovation or in the world of work.
  • be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.:
    • Erasmus+ Programme Countries:
      • EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs))
      • non-EU countries:
        • listed EEA countries and countries associated to the Erasmus+ Programme
    • For higher education institutions (HEIs) established in Erasmus+ Programme Countries: be holders of the ECHE certificate (Erasmus Charter for Higher Education).
• Specific cases 
  • Natural persons — Natural persons are not eligible (with the exception of self-employed persons, i.e. sole traders, where the company does not have legal personality separate from that of the natural person).
  • International organisations — International organisations are not eligible. The rules on eligible countries do not apply to them.
  • Entities without legal personality — Entities which do not have legal personality under their national law may exceptionally participate, provided that their representatives have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on their behalf, and offer guarantees for the protection of the EU financial interests equivalent to that offered by legal persons.

For more information, visit EC.