ELLIS and CIFAR Join Forces to Expand ELLIS PhD & Postdoctoral Program in AI Research

Building on a shared commitment to scientific excellence and societal impact, this partnership aims to provide ELLIS PhD students with unparalleled access to and collaboration with leading researchers in AI.

Since its inception in 2020, the ELLIS PhD and Postdoctoral program has brought together over 200 expert advisors from across Europe, spanning diverse fields from AI theory to applications in health, robotics, and environmental sciences. This program offers three distinct tracks - Academic, Industry, and Interdisciplinary - enabling students to work with advisors across disciplines, institutions, and countries, fostering an outstanding and dynamic, pan-European research experience. With over 8,000 applications and a selective acceptance rate that is generally below 10%, the program has built a prestigious reputation.

CIFAR is the first non-European organisation whose members have been invited to join the PhD program's pool of advisors. Under the new collaboration, CIFAR Fellows and Canada AI Chairs will join ELLIS advisors, offering students the opportunity to work across Europe and North America. This cross-continental model will elevate the program's research excellence, empowering top researchers to mentor the next generation of AI leaders.

Bernhard Schölkopf with Nobel Prize laureate Geoff Hinton, founding director of the CIFAR LMB program (at the time, called ’Neural Computation and Adaptive Perception’).

“To build a positive future with AI, we need world-class science. The single most important factor for this is the quality of talent we attract. The ELLIS network was founded with this purpose in mind, and the CIFAR-ELLIS collaboration agreement will make us even more attractive for young scientists,” says ELLIS President Bernhard Schölkopf.

• Learn more about the ELLIS PHD & Postdoctoral Program

• Learn more about the CIFAR LMB Program