WHAT’S NEXT ?

/ MID-TERM PROJECTION - 2 YEARS

Human Resources

For the next couple of years, we plan to support the momentum in AI established during the past two years by our Institute, until the end of the probationary period. We will, in particular, renew the startup program

Additional research engineers and for an additional year, and we plan to hire one or two addian assistant professor tional research engineers and an assistant professor, for which the budget is secured. In order to keep enhancing Renew the junior Chairs the research activity of the Institute, we also would like to and open new more evaluate and renew, if appropriate, the junior Chairs whose positions will come to an end in 2023 and open one or two more new Chairs before the end of 2023. These new Chairs will naturally require additional resources (PhD's, post-docs, bonus, etc.).

Scientific strategy

From the scientific point of view, we envision that these new Chairs will pursue the interdisciplinary opportunities of the Institute. For all these additional actions, we estimate the need for complementary funding of €3M from PIA, which is in accordance with the recommendations of the jury after the initial evaluation.

Need for complementary funding from PIA: €3M

Education

Regarding education, a few additional new courses developed during the last two years will be opened by 2023 (introductory course in AI for Humanities, degree in AI & Health with the national Connected Campus initiative, etc.), and will complete our training offering.

A unique place on the Inria campus

We also plan, in the coming two years, to find a dedicated and unique place on the Inria campus to welcome our team of engineers, and our scientific visitors. This place could also be used to present the Institute’s research demonstrators and serve as a co-working place for PhD students and researchers from the Institute and associated companies.

/ LONG-TERM PROJECTION - 10 YEARS

In the long term, we want to expand both the thematic scope and the size of our Institute to reach the expectations of our local, national, and international partners.

Increase the number of Chairs

Firstly, we plan a realistic but significant increase in the number of Chairs of the Institute. This increase should in particular balance the planned retirements of some of our chairholders (11 retirements before 2030) by allowing young and new researchers to benefit from a chair. Chairs may be renewed, based on the scientific committee’s evaluation of a report presenting the achievements of the chair in the first term and the new research questions to be addressed. The number of renewals for the same chair will be limited to two. We therefore plan to bring to an end one or two Chairs each year (e.g., due to retirements, lack of results, etc.), and in the meantime, to recruit between two and four new chairholders per year. Thus, within 10 years, the Institute should have about 60 chairholders for research, education, and innovation. The expected budget for this plan is estimated around €6.5M/year, starting from 2024. Part of this budget will be directly supported by private partner companies. In this regard, a new model of chair is envisioned, co-constructed between a researcher and a company sharing a common AI research project. In accordance with the growth plan for the Chairs, we also aim at widening the scope of the Institute’s research topics by developing a few new themes. In particular, we aim to hire new Chairs on cybersecurity, robotics, digital humanities, and digital ethics, to reinforce interdisciplinarity within the Institute. We also intend to strengthen the core AI axis by welcoming new researchers in key fields such as NLP, Deep Learning, edge AI, or explainable AI. Within 10 years, the Institute should have about 60 chairholders Expected budget for this plan: around €6.5M/year A new model of chair: co-constructed between a researcher and a company sharing a common AI research project New Chairs on cybersecurity, robotics, digital humanities, and digital ethics

Enhance the engineering team of the Institute

Secondly, we plan to enhance the engineering team of the Institute, since it is a key element in the collaboration with private companies and local authorities, and encourages multidisciplinary collaborations. Having a team of trained AI engineers is an efficient way to increase the collaboration capacity of chairholders while allowing research products to be transferred to large companies or startups.

Create new education programs

Finally, in accordance with the massive demand from students, partners, and the new phase of the French national AI plan, our ambition is to create new education programs, based on those developed within the network of 3IA Institutes. Possible actions may include the massification of introductory AI courses using digital platforms, advanced AI courses dedicated to specific professions (Medicine, Biology, Aeronautics,