Seed funding for innovative AI projects: Connectom Fund closes the fifth call for proposals 2025
The Connectom Networking and Innovation Fund has received the first applications for seed funding for joint research between members of hessian.AI and researchers from other universities. This fund, which is financed by the state of Hesse, offers financial support of up to EUR 100,000 per project.
Focus of submitted projects
The projects submitted cover a broad spectrum, including
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) research: This extends beyond computer science to include disciplines such as law, art and medicine.
- Application of AI: Universities integrate AI into various applications, particularly in medicine and in teaching and learning environments.
- Networking: New collaborations between hessian.AI members and other scientists are promoted through joint research and the organization of conferences and workshops.
Topics of the projects
The submitted applications deal with a variety of topics, including
- Basic research on AI: The focus is on optimization and explainability of AI models.
- AI in medicine: This area is particularly well represented.
- Current topics such as the AI Act: This topic can also be found several times in the applications.
- Finance: Several applications were also received in this area.
Who has applied for funding?
Those eligible to apply include professorial members of hessian.AI and DEPTH junior research group leaders. It is particularly pleasing that at least one woman is among the applicants in 17 of 33 Connectom applications. This ratio is above average compared to the gender ratio among professors, which underlines the efforts to achieve a better gender balance in science.
Next steps
The evaluation and selection of funded projects will be carried out by a selection committee made up of representatives from all participating universities. On the hessian.AI website, you can find information on the projects from the last round to gain an impression of the funded projects: Click here.
We are looking forward to the results of the evaluation and the new collaborations that will emerge from these projects!
