ELLIS Annual Report 2025
The ELLIS Annual Report 2025 provides a comprehensive overview of our efforts to secure European sovereignty in AI through scientific excellence and cross-border institutional synergy.
Among the highlights covered in this report:
Network Scale and Recognition: Our community has grown to nearly 2,000 members. Notably, 217 ELLIS Members hold prestigious ERC grants, with 11 Members receiving new ERC Starting Grants in 2025.
Talent Cultivation: The ELLIS PhD & Postdoc Program experienced a 43% increase in applications, attracting applicants from 94 different countries and reinforcing our commitment to developing the next generation of AI researchers.
New ELLIS Institute Finland: The official launch of ELLIS Institute Finland in Turku established our second major research hub, providing the network with direct access to top-tier computing resources, including the LUMI supercomputer.
Representation at Leading Venues: ELLIS Members contributed 804 papers to NeurIPS 2025, representing 12.9% of the total conference proceedings. High output was also maintained at ICML (449 papers) and ICLR (520 papers).
EuroLLM-22B Release: ELLIS Members contributed to the development of EuroLLM-22B, a fully open 22-billion-parameter Large Language Model supporting all 24 official EU languages, highlighting Europe's capacity for sovereign AI development.
Interdisciplinary Partnerships: 2025 saw the formalisation of a Memorandum of Understanding with the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) to drive AI-driven discovery in the life sciences, as well as a partnership with the Max Planck Artificial Intelligence Network (MP-AIX) to expand doctoral training opportunities.
Establishment of a European Conference Stage: The inaugural EurIPS and ELLIS UnConference in Copenhagen addressed the long-standing need for a high-quality European venue for Machine Learning, attracting approximately 2,200 attendees.
ELLIS COO Celia Sánchez San Juan notes that
The Annual Report is a key deliverable that showcases the work and impact of the ELLIS network over a given year. It reflects the collaboration and achievements of the ELLIS community and is developed in close coordination with the ELLIS Board, the ELLIS team and our stakeholders. As a non-profit organisation, the report ensures transparency in our activities while strengthening organisational cohesion, fostering collaboration among members and reinforcing our overall value and impact.
We invite you to explore the full Annual Report to discover the network's key achievements and the scientific excellence, collaboration, and collective impact that define ELLIS.
Project Team
Funding Support
We would like to express our sincere appreciation to our financial supporters, the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems and the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts of Baden-Württemberg.
