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Winners of the JTS Grassroots Grants

Electrical engineer Ming Cao tackles the ethical, legal, and societal aspects surrounding AI, as head of the ELSA Lab for Technical Industry.

The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) offers new opportunities for healthcare. From analysing medical scans to predicting disease progression, AI can support doctors in making complex decisions. But how reliable are these models? And how can we ensure that AI enriches medical practice without losing the human factor?

Interaction was the focus of the 12th edition of the International Conference on Multimodality. The event took place from October 29 to 31 at the House of Connections in Groningen. Organizers and UG researchers Janina Wildfeuer and Francesco Possemato look back. ‘Above all, the conference was about making new connections.’

Associate Professor Mirjam Plantinga sees it as her mission to paint a realistic picture of artificial intelligence (AI). She is project leader at the ELSA AI Lab Northern Netherlands (ELSA-NN), a lab dedicated to the responsible development and application of AI in healthcare. In this edition of the JTS Scholars, she talks about the (im)possibilities of artificial intelligence. ‘When implementing AI, we must not lose sight of the fundamental questions of care.’

Challenge-based, interdisciplinary, and society-oriented education. That’s what the Summer Schools are all about, co-organized by the Schools for Science & Society. The participants and lecturers, each with very different backgrounds, bring together a wide range of perspectives. ‘That diversity leads to a broad range of solutions to societal challenges.’

The European Union recently decided that an AI Factory will be established in the former Niemeyer building in Groningen. Ronald Stolk, senior advisor for IT collaborations and programme leader for the digitization of the Nij Begun economic agenda, and Bart Verheij, Professor AI and Argumentation at the UG and digitization figurehead at the Faculty of Science and Engineering, explain how the project came about. They also reflect on the academic backgrounds and social opportunities.

Raffaella Carloni develops artificial limbs, including the bionic leg for which she received the 2024 Ben Feringa Impact Award. ‘I am fascinated by robotics and dream of replicating the remarkable abilities of the human body.'

The EU wants to better arm itself against the improper use of data by large, mostly American, tech companies. To this end, regulations are being drafted and money is being invested in European projects such as the recently announced AI Factory in Groningen. The UG is committed to having full control by 2030 over who has access to our data, which systems are used to process it, and under what conditions this is done.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is being used in more and more areas, including industry. But how can we develop algorithms that are technologically advanced without losing sight of human values and practical applications? In this episode of JTS Scholars, Christos Emmanouilidis, Associate Professor at the University of Groningen, discusses the collaboration between the university, industry, and societal partners in research on human-centered AI.

Are you a researcher at the University of Groningen and curious what the Jantina Tammes School is and can do for you? Join us for a monthly 30-minute online session to discover that.

What is it like to build a career outside the university as a PhD? This question was central during the PhD Meet & Greet, organized by the Jantina Tammes School of Digital Society, Technology and AI. Companies and PhD candidates exchanged experiences at House of Connections about career opportunities in the field of digital innovation.

Finding new medication for diseases like cancer and HIV takes time, a lot of time. That is why Muhamed Amin, Assistant Professor at University College Groningen, takes a different approach. In this edition of JTS Scholars, he explains how he develops AI algorithms to identify suitable drugs in large databases.

It is final: the AI Factory will be established in Groningen. The European Union will provide funding for this project. Previously, both the Economic Agenda of Nij Begun and the government had already allocated funding to the project. The factory will be equipped with a centre of expertise and a supercomputer.

Applications for the current round are now open. Interested candidates can apply until Friday the 7th of November 2025 before 17:00.

The Jantina Tammes School of Digital Society, Technology and AI is offering individual 'JTS Grassroots Grants' for researchers, staff and PhDs of the University of Groningen to organise interdisciplinary activities.

'People keep promoting the belief that generative AI provides universal tools that are capable of much more,’ says Michael Biehl, Professor of Machine Learning. ‘Sooner or later, the genAI bubble will burst,’ he is certain. But that doesn’t mean all of AI should be thrown out with the bathwater.

The sold-out European Researchers' Night, a science festival for all the curious, provided a rich palette of science last Friday. This year, the programme was organised a bit differently, with activities comfortably spread across four floors Forum Groningen and its rooftop. Covering topics from tinnitus and biodiversity to destructive leaders and data washing, here’s a recap of the multifaceted Night.

Digital communication is not just about text. Non-verbal expressions also play a major role. Janina Wildfeuer, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Arts, researches this ‘multimodality’ of digital communication. In the third episode of our series on the JTS Scholars, she explains how knowledge of this field can, among other things, help in detecting online fake news.

The Groningen Digital Business Centre (GDBC) is very proud to announce the fifth edition of the GDBC Thesis Award Digital Business. This annual award is intended for graduate Master students of the University of Groningen who have written a thesis on a topic related to the field of digital business. The GDBC wants to encourage student candidates from all faculties of the University of Groningen to submit their thesis.

Recently, ASML acquired an 11 percent share in Mistral AI, a French company. Ming Cao, Professor of Networks and Robotics at the University of Groningen, explains why a chip-machine factory requires AI.

Autonomous systems that utilize AI are ubiquitous, ranging from Google search queries to smart traffic lights. However, we must be careful using them, says philosopher Herman Veluwenkamp. ‘When autonomous systems are developed, too little attention is paid to the question as to whether the choices they make are fair, and in many cases there is a lack of democratic control.’ He hopes to change that by means of a rating model.

We live in an era of destructive leaders. During European Researchers’ Night, Alette Smeulers, professor of international crimes, delves into the minds of so-called ‘strongmen’. What makes their leadership so destructive, and how can we understand what drives them? A preview of the science festival on September 26.

Dutch traffic regulations are not equipped for self-driving cars. That is the conclusion of UG researcher Nynke Vellinga. In this episode of the JTS Scholars, she talks about her research into the legal framework of autonomous vehicles. ‘If we allow self-driving cars, we need to adapt the entire system.’