Baden-Württemberg Provides Over Three Million Euros in Funding for bwHPC AI Research

In a move to strengthen research in Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Ministry of Science, Research, and Arts of Baden-Württemberg has approved a funding exceeding three million euros. The "Strengthening of AI Infrastructure" (SKII) initiative aims to enhance AI research capabilities through the procurement of hardware and software as well as services to support innovative AI research projects with the aim to improve the AI capabilities of central HPC infrastructure accessible to all researchers in the state. The funding has started in January 2024 and will continue until June 30, 2025.

All bwHPC cluster sites will profit from this funding and invest in the GPU-capabilities of existing or future clusters, namely in Freiburg (NEMO 2), Tübingen (BinAC 2), Heidelberg (Helix) and Ulm (JUSTUS 3), as well as Karlsruhe (bwUniCluster2.0).

"Whether in medicine, quantum technology, or at the intersection of humanities and computer science, AI applications are indispensable in the research and teaching at our state universities," stated Minister of Science Petra Olschowski (Green Party). "To remain internationally competitive, we are expanding the computing capacity for AI research." [1]

Michael Weber, Chairman of the State Rectors' Conference and President of the University of Ulm, welcomed the initiative, stating, "With the expansion of the AI infrastructure, young researchers can conduct their research projects faster and more effectively, which will also accelerate the technology transfer to the economy - this new program is a win for the entire state." [1]