Results of Call 1st Artificial Intelligence Call with support from Google

The collaboration agreement between FCT and Google will result in the provision of US$2 million in Google Cloud platform credits over a two-year period for R&D projects.
In this first edition, the Call on ethics in artificial intelligence and natural language processing.

FCT has published the preliminary results of Call Advanced Computing Projects: Artificial Intelligence in the Cloud 2022. Eleven projects were approved for access to Google Cloud platform credits, totaling USD 799,364 (US dollars), earmarked for this year. The Call resources Call of a collaboration agreement between FCT and Google to support research in Artificial Intelligence in Portugal.

The list of projects recommended for access to computational resources is available on the Call page, as well as a summary of the Results.

The first edition of Call guarantee access to 11 advanced computing projects to Google Cloud platform credits for 12 months. The projects are distributed as follows, according to Call preferred areas:

• 36% for natural language processing
• 18% for ethics in artificial intelligence.

In terms of scientific field, the distribution is as follows:

• 90% are in exact sciences and engineering
• 10% in life sciences and health.

All researchers leading funded projects work in Portugal, most of whom are men, representing 82% of the total. Geographically, 55% of projects are associated with institutions in the Lisbon region, 27% in the north, and 9% in the south and islands.

The application submission period ran from March 30 to May 30 this year. Applications were evaluated by an external evaluation panel, according to the Call preferred scientific areas. The lists, sorted by type of access, were approved at an evaluation panel meeting. The success rate of Call, considering applications of both types, was 100%.

This collaboration with Google complements the existing support provided by FCT within the scope of RNCA – National Advanced Computing Network, which provides high-performance computing resources through its network of operational and visualization centers. Next year, we intend to launch the second edition Call this Call projects in cloud-based artificial intelligence and extend the initiative to more national users.