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Our world knows more and more supercomputers. But do not be mistaken: the most efficient – and perhaps more importantly: the most flexible – computing is done in the brain, human or otherwise. So what can we learn from how the brain computes? Charlotte Frenkel, recently recognized by NWO as one of the Netherlands' biggest AI talents and thus officially an ‘AiNed fellow’, intends to find out. This new grant allows Frenkel to start a team to research the possibilities of neuromorphic computer chips, inspired by the neocortex area in the brain.

At the end of 2022, the first call for the new North America Travel Grant for AI PhD candidates was opened. The Delft University Fund has made this new travel grant possible thanks to a donation from alumnus Felix Herrmann. Now, the first three grants have been awarded to Mubariz Zaffar (3DUU Lab), Mirko Baglioni (AI*MAN Lab), and Yiru Jiao (CityAI Lab).

Developments are rapid around data, algorithms, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI), especially since the launch of ChatGPT late last year. Software engineering is highly relevant here, because AI systems are essentially made up of software, and also because the two fields influence each other. A conversation about the relationship between AI and software with Geert-Jan Houben, pro-vice rector of AI, Data and Digitalisation, leader of the TU Delft AI Initiative and professor of Web Information Systems, and Arie van Deursen, professor of Software Engineering at TU Delft's Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS).

Mathijs de Weerdt has been promoted to full professor on Algorithms for Planning and Scheduling and will give his inaugural speech on June 7, 2023.

A team of TU Delft, University of Tacoma and University of Brasília wins second prize in US & UK governments' international Privacy Enhancing Technologies competition

From suggesting a better topological configuration of the energy grid, to detecting anomalies in the energy trade and suggesting more efficient energy trading strategies: there are countless ways in which AI can help streamline the energy transition. In fact: these are just the first three research directions Jochen Cremer and his team are investigating together with the Austrian Institute of Technology. To find out what other green pastures lie beyond these three approaches, this week TU Delft organized a Hackathon, together with the Austrian AIT.

An international consortium led by TU Delft researchers explored ChatGPT's capabilities in providing safety-related advice. Amongst them are TU Delft researchers Oscar Oviedo-Trespalacios, Helma Torkamaan, Steffen Steinert, and Genserik Reniers. They found that it is risky to rely on ChatGPT as a source of information and advice. The results are available in the preprint ‘The Risks of Using ChatGPT to Obtain Common Safety-Related Information and Advice’ in SSRN.

The ICAI Lab 'AI for Energy Grids' is one of 17 new ICAI labs recently launched as part of the NWO LTP ROBUST programme. The lab will research the application of AI to distribution networks. It will combine Alliander's considerable industrial capabilities with the academic strength of TU Delft, Twente University, Radboud University and the HAN University of Applied Sciences. The lab represents an excellent fit with TU Delft's ambitions to accelerate the energy transition.

Today, the NWO announced that it is awarding the ROBUST programme 25 million euros. ROBUST, an initiative from the Innovation Centre for Artificial Intelligence (ICAI), is a collaboration of 51 partners from industry, government, and the knowledge sector, including TU Delft. ROBUST's total budget is over 87 million euros, and with the new impetus from NWO, 17 labs and 170 PhD students will be added in 10 years.