The focus area of data science and artificial intelligence is one of the six key focus areas of the network. The focus areas are multidisciplinary communities in nature, with themes reflecting the global and societal challenges of our time. Their aim is to bring together experts from different fields to find new ways to collaborate in future research and to create innovative paths for education and societal impact.
Professor Jussi Kangasharju from the Faculty of Science has been the chair of the Data Science and Artificial Intelligence focus area since 2023. " Working with European partners has been interesting and rewarding, although cooperation also brings challenges due to the different rules and schedules of the universities. As the chair, I have been able to influence Una Europa-level issues, and the focus area has provided the faculty with new opportunities for students, such as a new initiative called Module Exchange, which allows students to choose online courses from three other Una Europa universities."
One of the first outputs achieved as a result of the fruitful cooperation has been the AI in Society MOOC online course, for which learners can choose additional content based on their own interests after the introductory module. The course has already been completed by over 2000 students, which indicates a growing interest in artificial intelligence.
The cooperation of the Una Europa Alliance has opened several opportunities for the students of the faculty to develop their international and interdisciplinary expertise at the network's universities. These opportunities include a summer school on artificial intelligence organized by Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, KU Leuven's Epilepsy Data Challenge on machine learning, and the DSAI Challenge workshop at Universidad Complutense de Madrid, where students got to work on ethical and responsible AI application ideas.
"Especially for doctoral researchers, Una Europa appears to be an excellent platform for growing their own international networks and drawing fresh and interdisciplinary perspectives for the development of their own research. However, I would like to show that the Una Europa network also offers interesting opportunities for even more experienced researchers," says Jussi.
Future plans of the focus area include further strengthening educational cooperation, and one of the biggest goals is to establish a new joint master's programme in applied data science, which aims to start in autumn 2027.