On June 16, the first Horizon Europe‑funded projects under the Resource for AI Science in Europe (RAISE) were launched. These initiatives focus on developing foundation models for science in areas such as materials science, agriculture, environment, and climate. The launch was marked by a joint workshop in Brussels, organized in collaboration with the Helmholtz Foundation Model Initiative (HFMI), bringing together Europe’s emerging Foundation Models for Science (FM4Science) community.
Five projects presented their concepts during the event:
• GenMat, led by Politecnico di Torino (Italy), and SimuLingua, led by Flowphys (Norway), will develop foundation models in materials science.
• Evelyn, led by the Information Technologies Institute (Greece), will focus on environmental pollution.
• AgriScience, led by Wageningen University (Netherlands), will address agricultural sciences.
• EarthGenerator, led by Fondazione Centro Euro‑Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici (Italy), will work on Earth system modeling.
Discussions at the workshop highlighted key challenges and opportunities for the community, including:
• Building scientific data resources
• Optimizing computing infrastructures
• Strengthening collaboration between AI experts and domain scientists
• Identifying synergies and shared resources across projects
Beyond technical discussions, the workshop served as a community‑building exercise. For the first time, multiple projects were brought together in a joint kick‑off, enabling teams to connect, exchange experiences, identify common challenges, and begin shaping a shared FM4Science ecosystem.
Organizers noted that the enthusiasm and collaborative spirit throughout the event underscored the value of this approach. They expressed optimism that the connections established would develop into lasting collaborations.
Acknowledgment was given to partners including Helmholtz (and HFMI projects AqQua, HClimRep, 3D‑ABC, and Sol‑AI), the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, Jülich, EOSC, BDVA, and HADEA for their contributions. The five newly launched projects — AgriScience, EarthGenerator, Evelyn, GenMat, and SimuLingua — were wished success, with anticipation for the scientific advances their work will enable.
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