North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, 19 May 2026. North Rhine-Westphalia will become home to a new unit within the European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems (ELLIS), one of Europe’s leading networks for artificial intelligence research. The newly approved ELLIS Unit NRW brings together leading AI researchers and large-scale computing infrastructure across the region to advance open-source foundation models, trustworthy machine learning and AI applications for real-world environments.
The founding institutions of the ELLIS Unit NRW are RWTH Aachen University, Bielefeld University, the Ruhr University Bochum, the University of Bonn, the University of Cologne, TU Dortmund University, Forschungszentrum Jülich and Paderborn University. The unit builds on existing AI infrastructures in the region, including the Lamarr Institute for Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, one of Germany’s national AI competence centers, the RWTH Center for Artificial Intelligence and Forschungszentrum Jülich, home to the Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC), which hosts the AI Factory JAIF, as well as Europe’s first exascale supercomputer, JUPITER. It is coordinated by ELLIS FellowProf. Dr. Juergen Gall (University of Bonn) together with a board of co-directors from the participating institutions, including Prof. Dr. Bastian Leibe (RWTH Aachen University), Prof. Dr. Barbara Hammer (Bielefeld University), ELLIS Fellow Prof. Dr. Asja Fischer (Ruhr University Bochum), Prof. Dr. Aleksandar Bojchevski (University of Cologne), Prof. Dr. Katharina Eggensperger (TU Dortmund University), Dr. Jenia Jitsev (Forschungszentrum Jülich & LAION) and Prof. Dr. Axel-Cyrille Ngonga Ngomo (Paderborn University).
Open foundation models and applied AI research
A central focus of the unit is the development and study of open-source generalist foundation models as core building blocks for machine learning research. Researchers will investigate how such models can be trained openly, made more reliable and adapted safely to different application domains. The unit also aims to strengthen research on trustworthy AI, particularly in areas such as healthcare, autonomous systems or critical infrastructure, where AI systems must operate under uncertainty, rare events or sensitive real-world conditions.
A second research track focuses on the transfer of machine learning methods into application domains including healthcare, sustainable agriculture and embodied AI systems such as autonomous robots. Researchers within the unit combine expertise in robotics, computer vision, natural language processing, healthcare AI, and neuro-symbolic systems.
Large-scale infrastructure for European AI research
The ELLIS Unit NRW combines one of Europe’s largest regional AI ecosystems with major computing infrastructure at Forschungszentrum Jülich, including Europe’s first exascale supercomputer JUPITER, as well as connections to international open-source initiatives such as LAION. The unit will include over 40 principal investigators and more than 300 doctoral researchers and postdoctoral scientists across North Rhine-Westphalia. Planned activities include joint research initiatives, doctoral training, ELLIS summer schools, and collaborations with industry and public-sector partners. The long-term goal is to establish a sustainable European AI ecosystem that combines foundational research, open scientific collaboration, and real-world applications.
ELLIS was founded to strengthen excellence in European AI research and to create internationally competitive research hubs across the continent. With the addition of the NRW Unit, the network continues to expand its scientific capacity across Europe.
North Rhine-Westphalia is one of Europe’s largest industrial and scientific regions, with longstanding collaborations between universities, research centers, and industry partners. The new ELLIS Unit is intended to provide a shared framework for these activities and to increase international visibility for AI research developed in the region.