- Boštjan Golob, Rector of the Universty of Nova Gorica
- Dejan Flašker, Acting Director-General, Directorate for Innovation and Digitalisation in Education and Science
- Gregor Majdič, Rector of the University of Ljubljana
- Leon Cizelj Director of Institute Jozef Stefan
- Mojca Dolinar, Director of Meteorology, Hydrology and Oceanograpy Office, ARSO
- Aleš Bošnjak, Director of IZUM
14.30 -15.30 Round table on “Shaping the Future of AI in Science: Funding Strategies and Opportunities”
It will explore how AI is reshaping science and how funding strategies can support this transformation. The discussion will look at both “AI for Science” - using advanced AI methods to accelerate scientific discovery, and “Science for AI”, where complex scientific challenges can help drive the development of more capable AI systems. Panelists from Slovenia, the European Commission, the United States and China will compare approaches to research funding, AI infrastructure, dedicated institutes and public–private collaboration, while also addressing questions of European technological sovereignty, access to models and data, and the need to preserve human understanding and scientific judgement as AI increasingly accelerates the production of scientific results. The panel will ultimately ask what kind of AI-enabled scientific ecosystem we want to build, and what funding mechanisms and incentives are needed to get us there.
Panelists
- Dejan Flašker, Acting Director-General, Directorate for Innovation and Digitalisation in Education and Science
- Jon Jona Javoršek, Jozef Stefan Institute, Head of the Centre for Network Infrastructure and SLAIF Work Package on Outreach and Dissemination
- Shana Impens, Project Officer at the European Research Executive Agency (REA), managed by the European Commission (online participation)
- Sascha Caron, particle physicist, Professor Radboud University. Co-chair for Astronomy and Fundamental Physics of the Horizon Europe-funded SCIANCE project (Shaping AI in Science, by Scientists, for Europe - a coordination and support action launched to lay the foundational framework for the RAISE program) (online participation)
- Jure Zupan, particle physicist, Professor at the University of Cincinnati
- Lili Yang, astroparticle physicist, Professor at Sun Yat-sen University, China
Moderator
- Gabrijela Zaharijas, astroparticle physicist, Professor at the University of Nova Gorica, coordinator of the MSCA COFUND project SMASH