Deadline: 30th November 2022

The AI4Media Open Call #2 invites entrepreneurs, companies, research organisations and researchers who develop and integrate applied research in the field of AI, to develop new AI-oriented research and applications for the media sectors and contribute to enriching the existing body of research and technological tools.

AI4 media objectives

The main objective of AI4Media - Open Call #2 is to engage entrepreneurs, companies (p. . These developments should contribute to enriching the set of research and technological tools to be made available - via AI4Media - on the AI4EU (AI-on-Demand) platform.

Open call trails

AI4Media Open Call tracks #2 targets two types of projects, divided into tracks:

• Track 1: RESEARCH
  • Targets higher education institutions e the AI4Media ecosystem by expanding, developing and integrating new research in AI media domains. The funded research projects will last 12 months and will receive up to €50,000 each.
• Track no. 2: APPLICATION
  • It is aimed at entrepreneurs, companies (micro-SMEs, SMEs, mid-caps) to develop innovative AI applications for the media sector, taking advantage of research from AI4Media or adopting AI solutions for the media sector. The projects funded under the application will last 9 months and will receive up to 50,000 euros each.

Financing information

A total of €1,000,000 has been budgeted for the two planned AI4Media open calls. For Open Call #2, a total of €500,000 will be made available, funding up to 10 projects, five for each track:

• RESEARCH track: 5 projects with up to €50,000 per project.
• APPLICATION RANGE: 5 projects with up to €50,000 per project.

Benefits

• Financial aid
  • Non-capital funding of up to €50,000 per project.
• Market-orientated services
  • Dedicated training camps and online events to support market acceptance of the applications developed.
• Commercial Support
  • Support for companies to promote innovations by SMEs and demonstrate them to cluster organisations and the media.
• Training
  • All projects will be assigned a coach to support their work and integration into the AI4Media network.
• Visibility and promotion
  • Great visibility, promotion and networking opportunities are offered as part of the AI4Media project and related networks.

Research challenges

• C1-R Reinforcement learning and the challenge of generalisation.
• C2-R Evolutionary learning and the challenge of evaluating quality.
• C3-R Scarce data and knowledge transfer between media.
• C4-R New decentralised collaborative learning paradigms for AI.
• C5-R Quantum Reinforcement Learning for classical data processing.
• C6-R Frugal multimodal representation for media research.
• C7-R Broadening the spectrum of Interpretable AI.
• C8-R Standardisation of AI data sets and creation of models.
• C9-R New artificial intelligence enablers for social media research.
• C10-R Social media alert system to avoid the attention-gathering loop.
• C11-R Representative and Inclusive Representations of AI.
• C12-R-OPEN Open Research Challenge.

Application challenges

• C1-A Realising a hybrid AI application in AI4EU Experiences.
• C2-A Global AI support for the production of information content.
• C3-A New music learning methods overcoming scarce data.
• C4-A AI to suggest visually appealing images based on text.
• C5-A Recommendation Systems to Support Exploratory Research with Media.
• C6-A AI for automated testing and sound synthesis.
• C7-A-OPEN Open application challenge.

Eligibility criteria

AI4Media - Open Call #2 will fund projects implemented by single entities (groups of entities are not eligible) that are considered eligible under H2020 rules. The following types of entities are invited to submit their innovative research ideas or applications:

• European mid-caps, SMEs and micro-SMEs (as defined in EU legislation - EU Recommendation 2003/3611).
• Sole proprietors and individual entrepreneurs (established in an eligible country, eligibility is about the person's residence and not their origin).
• European secondary and higher education establishments, research institutes and other non-profit research organisations.

The following additional conditions apply:

• Participating organisations must not have been declared bankrupt or have started bankruptcy proceedings at the time of the application.
• Organisations or individuals applying must not have convictions for fraudulent behaviour, other financial irregularities and unethical or illegal business practices.
• There must be no conflict of interest with any of AI4Media's partners (beneficiaries),
• Applicants already funded by AI4Media Open Call #1 are not eligible to participate in Open Call #2.
• Eligible countries:
  • Single legal entities established in any of the following countries are eligible to participate in AI4Media - Open Call #2:
    • The Member States (MS) of the European Union (EU), including its outermost regions.
    • Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) linked to the Member States.
    • Countries associated with H2020 (those that have signed an agreement with the EU as identified in Article 7 of the Horizon 2020 Regulation): according to the updated list published by the EC.
    • UK applicants are eligible under the conditions established by the EC for participation in H2020 at the time of the call deadline.
• Financial eligibility:
  • Each application can receive a maximum of €50,000.
  • The total amount requested must represent 100% of the project costs (including indirect costs). All proposals must provide a justification of the planned project costs and resources.

For more information, visit https://www.ai4media.eu/open-call-2/