The main objective of the lorAI project is to upgrade the Kempelen Institute of Intelligent Technologies (KInIT) to a leading R&I institution in low resource artificial intelligence (LRAI) in Slovakia and Europe. The lorAI consortium has been carefully crafted to “team” premier European AI research institutes, with different organizational models and budget structure, and unique national experience and history – ADAPT (Ireland), DFKI (Germany) and CERTH (Greece).
lorAI fully addresses the Teaming for Excellence call and its expected outcomes and impacts. The core of lorAI’s impact stands on three pillars:
Cross-cutting themes support the strategic position of the CoE combining advanced partners’ experience from different countries, articulating the interdisciplinary research across all relevant sectors, and guaranteeing the long-term sustainability of the CoE.
LRAI represents a global research challenge yet is also relevant to the EU region by developing efficient AI operating with limited resources to increase AI availability (for society and industry) and environmental sustainability. Despite tackling the low complexity and computational costs of AI, Centre of Excellence will explore AI applications for the NLP and Green environment (i.e., domains of energy usage optimization, anomaly detection).
Multiple activities will significantly increase capacities of the CoE and later of the wider community. High profile candidates from abroad will be attracted (in conjunction with acquisition of prestigious grants). Research Areas of the CoE will combine cutting edge, interdisciplinary AI research with high socioeconomic topics and impact. The CoE will offer training in research excellence, efficient research management, and talent engagement.
The exploration of new topics will be encouraged under CoE’s research (incl. Pilot research project), stressing interdisciplinarity, exploitation, and practical impact. LRAI in itself is a potent source of new topics. CoE will be advised by scientific and industry representatives to assess the research focus of the CoE.
With a holistic oversight and sustainability in mind, lorAI will maximise the reuse and transfer of CoE’s assets and reach of opportunities within the R&I ecosystem. New CoE projects will seek synergy with existing ones, as will the training activities. Attention will be paid to the uptake of advanced technologies and knowledge transfer, unlocking the commercialization potential, and strengthening the sustainability of the CoE.
CoE personnel will be trained in funding acquisition and management. The CoE will seek and support candidates for various grants to boost the poor performance of Slovakia in the different schemes. The CoE will actively network Slovak AI researchers with international partners for grant preparation, knowledge transfer and excellent research.
The CoE will act as a role-model for other institutions, integrate best practices of R&I management from advanced partners and project these onward to Slovak R&I players. The CoE will advise on strategies, reforms, and legislation (national and EU). It will showcase best research practices, qualitative research management, and culture of openness and transparency.
Enhance synergies with European networks and initiatives. Advanced partners will gain access to talent circulation and mobility opportunities; benefit from networking, brand awareness, and access to Slovak R&I players; and improve their own R&I processes, inspired by KInIT’s upgrades. lorAI will draw in other Slovak R&I players. The CoE will leverage involvement in AI collaboration networks and projects across Europe.
Project initialised – bodies and processes defined.
Sustainability measures designed and strategy for reforms proposed, Technology transfer desk established.
Talent acquisition, career pathing, training and care set up.
Project review I.
First CoE conference launched.
Mid-term update on the sustainability strategy and processes. Project review II.
CoE is fully established as a role model for R&I ecosystem in Slovakia.
Project review III.
Pilot research project finished.
Project concluded, transition to post-project phase finalised. Project review IV.
An independent, non-profit center for research talent, catalyzing the knowledge economy of Central and Eastern Europe. KInIT brings together industry and academia in the field of intelligent technologies. During its existence, KInIT has secured funding from multiple European and national projects, and built partnerships with 90+ organisations across 25 European countries. Recognised by the Slovak government as a new model for R&I in Slovakia.
A world-leading Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for AI-driven digital content technology hosted by Trinity College Dublin. ADAPT brings together 400+ academics and industry partners and has extensive experience coordinating EU research projects, having secured over €50M in competitive funding since 2015.
Germany’s leading AI research institution and the largest AI research centre in the world by both staff and externally acquired funding. DFKI operates as a non-profit public-private partnership, internationally recognised as a blueprint for research organisation, and currently runs 500+ funded projects with academic and industrial partners.
One of the largest research centres in Greece and among the top 20 in Europe for attracting Horizon Europe funds, with 800+ EU grants to its name. CERTH combines unique research infrastructure with a strong track record in technology transfer, dissemination, and translating science into real-world impact.
Mária Bieliková
Lead and Researcher, Director General at KInIT
Simon Ostermann
Project Coordination, Researcher at DFKI
Symeon Papadopoulos
Researcher, Principal Investigator at CERTH
George Karantaidis
Postdoctoral Researcher, Project Manager at CERTH
Michal Kompan
Chief Research Officer
Owen Conlan
Strand Leader
Eva Power
Programme manager
Jakub Šimko
Lead and Researcher
Mária Bieliková
Lead and Researcher, Director General at KInIT
Michal Kompan
Chief Research Officer
Diana Lokere
Chief People & Culture Officer
Juraj Podroužek
Lead and Researcher
Viera Rozinajova
Lead and Researcher
Jakub Šimko
Lead and Researcher
Marián Šimko
Lead and Researcher, Deputy Director General
Martin Tamajka
Technology Lead
Ivan Sokáč
Chief Operating & Strategy Officer
Jana Bieliková
Grant Office Lead
Veronika Rajner
Project Manager
Dominika Chodúrová
Project Administrator
Wanda Pribylincová
Marketing Manager
Symeon Papadopoulos
Researcher, Principal Investigator at CERTH
George Karantaidis
Postdoctoral Researcher, Project Manager at CERTH
Dimosthenis Ioannidis
Researcher Responsible for nZeB Smart Home services
Spiros Nikolopoulos
Senior Researcher
Evangelia Perperi
Dr Chemical Engineer, Head of Extroversion Directorate, MSCA NCP
Katerina Papadopoulou
Chem. Engineer MEng, Head of TTO
Ioulietta Lazarou
Neuropsychologist-Postdoc Researcher
Marija Jankovic
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Technical Project Manager
Keeping lorAI on track, on budget and true to its mission.
Coordinating four partners into one coherent, accountable, and ethically sound project, covering finances, risk, data protection, and knowledge management.
WP1 keeps lorAI running efficiently, transparently, and responsibly, from coordination and financial planning to quality assurance, risk management, and IPR strategy. The executive board and WP leads drive regular coordination, guided by a Project Governance and Procedures Manual and a Project Financial Plan, while progress and risks are reviewed at project, board, and advisory levels. A designated Data Protection Officer and Ethics Officer safeguard data and ethics standards, and the WP also lays the groundwork for the CoE’s long-term IPR strategy.
Building a CoE that thrives long after the project ends.
Setting the long-term strategy, governance, and infrastructure that will make the CoE financially sustainable and a lasting R&I role model.
WP2 shapes the CoE’s long-term direction, covering financial sustainability, R&I process reform, and infrastructure planning. A sustainability strategy ties together all excellence programmes as contributors, from talent and funding to outreach, with annual financial plans and a dedicated transition strategy for life after the project. An R&I assessment led by ADAPT drives process improvements across the CoE, while an upgraded grant management office standardises project administration and knowledge reuse. Industry and scientific advisory boards provide ongoing guidance, and a research engineering team plans infrastructure upgrades. The CoE will also share its know-how with other R&I institutions, positioning itself as a role model in the ecosystem.
Growing the CoE’s people, from first hire to ERC grantee.
Attracting and supporting researchers at every career stage, from early-stage talent to senior recruits and future ERC grant holders.
WP3 strengthens how the CoE attracts, onboards, and develops its people. Talent acquisition support covers refined recruitment processes, HRS4R certification efforts, and relocation guidance for new hires and their families, backed by a buddy programme and personalised onboarding. Dedicated efforts target early-stage researchers through visibility on academic and social platforms, thesis supervision, and MSCA doctoral network proposals, while senior researcher recruitment reaches out to postdocs and the Slovak diaspora abroad. A Career Development Framework offers self-assessment tools, competence models, and personalised consultations to guide long-term career pathing, and a dedicated ERC support scheme pairs promising candidates with experienced mentors and proposal-writing assistance.
Growing skills, opening doors and building the next generation of researchers.
Building the CoE’s training, mobility, and PhD programmes to raise skills and grow talent, from first-year students to senior staff.
WP4 develops the people-facing capabilities that keep the CoE excellent. A dedicated training desk standardises training materials and lecturer expertise, raising skills across hard, transferable, project management, and innovation topics for CoE staff, while also offering training to external audiences such as C-level managers and industry partners. Mobility support extends the existing PhD exchange programme to postdocs and senior researchers, with a catalogue of opportunities spanning academia and industry, funded stays, and staff exchanges with advanced partners. An ESR desk organises the PhD programme, mentorship, and doctoral mobilities, integrating with the AIDA doctoral academy, while an upgraded internship programme engages undergraduate and high-school students to grow the pipeline of future researchers.
Advancing robust AI when resources are limited.
Researchers from all four lorAI partners collaborate on methods for robust low-resource AI, addressing limitations in data, labels and computational resources.
WP5 drives the project’s core research, developing guidelines and a common framework for assessing the robustness of low-resource AI models, then advancing methods to strengthen it, from transfer learning and parameter-efficient fine-tuning to generative AI, uncertainty quantification, and knowledge-enhanced machine learning. These results are brought together into reusable, production-ready components and platforms for scientists, industry, and policymakers, and showcased through engaging public demonstrators such as an adversarial AI game, a green energy forecasting tool, and a bias detector for Slovak texts.
Turning research into real-world impact.
Building the CoE’s capacity to transfer knowledge and technology to industry, through a dedicated Technology Transfer desk, flagship assets and startup support.
WP6 builds the CoE’s bridge between research and market impact. A Technology Transfer desk drives go-to-market strategies, IPR processes, and market outreach, while a catalogue of assessment services (covering AI ethics compliance, model robustness, and risk identification) is offered to partners across sectors. A dedicated process for nurturing startups gives them access to the CoE’s technology and network through arrangements such as equity, consultancy, or licensing, and high-potential research outputs are packaged into reusable flagship assets, models, datasets, tools, and demonstrators, to accelerate industry uptake.
Making sure lorAI’s work is seen, shared and connected.
Growing the CoE’s visibility, international network, and policy voice, through strategic communication, dissemination, and a signature annual conference.
WP7 extends the CoE’s reach and influence. A dedicated communication strategy covers branding, the project website, social media, and public science outreach, anchored by an annual AI-themed conference bringing together government, academia, industry, and civil society. Dissemination efforts push research results into premier scientific venues and open science practices, while international networking strengthens ties with foreign researchers and the Slovak diaspora abroad. Quadruple helix engagement builds connections with Slovak and regional industry, government, and civil society partners, and a policy advising team formulates CoE positions and strengthens ties with EU initiatives and policymakers.
KInIT will attract PhD students, postdocs, and senior researchers from abroad by promoting open positions internationally and drawing on Slovak expat researcher networks, supported by structured relocation and administrative guidance. The hiring process is built on transparency, standardised selection procedures and equality.
Employees will be supported through active, individually tailored career pathing, with HR career consultants and team leads helping researchers assess their strengths and explore research and engineering career paths.
The existing PhD mobility programme will be extended to postdocs and senior researchers, enabling joint research visits and specialised lab work at advanced partner institutions (DFKI, CERTH, ADAPT), as well as summer schools, doctoral consortia, and industry secondments.
Drawing heavily on advanced partners’ experience, training will strengthen research excellence and support skills across LRAI expertise, transferable skills, grant preparation, project management, and innovation/IPR skills, personalised through individual training plans for all seniority levels and roles.
Building on KInIT’s existing three-track PhD programme lorAI will expand capacities, integrate it into the AI Doctoral Academy (AIDA), and introduce a new interdisciplinary PhD track, while fully drawing on the Mobility, Training, and Career Development EPs. The internship programme for pre-PhD talents will also be expanded, including a research competition awarding mobilities.
The CoE will set up a Technology transfer desk, working closely with the IP Helpdesk, PATLIB, and EDIHs, to support and promote the translation of scientific results into the market through a standardised IPR process. Impactful LRAI applications will be actively pursued and showcased to industry, while systematically bringing companies and start-ups into project consortia.
The CoE will undergo an external R&I assessment by advanced partners, adopting measures across research management, IPR, Open Science, HR, and infrastructure to become a competitive, flexible, open (living) lab environment. Beyond its own reform, the CoE will share its know-how and process blueprints to advise other R&I institutions.
The CoE back-office will monitor national and EU-level AI and R&I initiatives, strengthening KInIT’s existing advisory activities and standardising its policy advising process. An interdisciplinary work group will formulate CoE policy positions on responsible and competitive R&I, communicated to policymakers or published as stances, leveraging connections to the European AI Office and networks.
KInIT’s marketing team will be strengthened to support researchers in increasing the reach and impact of research activities, using visuals, videos, blogs, events, and social media, alongside dissemination at top peer-reviewed venues and the ongoing Better_AI_meetup events. Activities will engage the full quadruple helix and young people.
The CoE will deepen international connections of the Slovak R&I ecosystem by initiating international grant proposals with foreign institutions, including Slovak players as consortia members and leveraging existing partnerships and networks.
| Project title | Low Resource Artificial Intelligence |
| Acronym | lorAI |
| Grant agreement ID | 101136646 |
| Programme | HORIZON.4.1 – Widening participation and spreading excellence |
| Call for proposal | HORIZON-WIDERA-2023-ACCESS-01 |
| Topic | HORIZON-WIDERA-2023-ACCESS-01-01-two-stage – Teaming for Excellence |
| Project start | 1 March 2025 |
| Project end | 28 February 2031 |
| Duration | 72 months |
| Coordinator | Kempelen Institute of Intelligent Technologies (KInIT) |
| Country of coordinator | Slovakia |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.3030/101136646 |
| Maximum EU contribution | 13,999,950.00 € |
| Funding rate | 100% of eligible costs |
| Grant form | Budget-based action grant |
| Granting authority | European Research Executive Agency (REA) |
| Funding scheme | HORIZON-CSA – HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions |
As a Teaming for Excellence action, lorAI combines Horizon Europe funding with complementary investment supporting the long-term development of KInIT as a Centre of Excellence.
The approved Description of Action identifies 17,224,950.00 € in complementary funding commitments. This comprises 13,999,950.00 € from the Slovak public funding framework, together with private-sector commitments of 3,225,000.00 €.
Complementary funding focuses on long-term investment in research infrastructure, knowledge transfer, talent and human resources, datasets, and the development of premises and equipment required for the Centre of Excellence.
| Section | Recommended content |
|---|---|
| Basic information | Project title, project/ITMS code and beneficiary |
| Duration | Project implementation start and end dates |
| Funding | Total eligible costs, amount of the non-repayable financial contribution and co-funding sources |
| Link to lorAI | Explanation that the project provides complementary funding for lorAI CoE activities or capacities |
| Activities | Main supported activities or investments |
| Results | Expected measurable outputs and benefits |
| Updates | Relevant implementation progress and achieved results |
| Contact | Contact person or general project email address |
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
