The European Commission has announced the extension of ELSA (European Lighthouse on Secure and Safe AI) for an additional 12 months.

ELSA is one of only nine “Networks of Excellence” funded by the European Union to support research in key technologies, including Machine Learning, Cybersecurity, Privacy, and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence (AI). ELSA focuses on foundational research on the security and safety of machine-learning-based Artificial Intelligence. After the European Commission’s decision, the network will extend its work until the end of August 2026.

Lancaster is heavily involved with the ELSA project, with the School of Computing and Communication’s Professor Plamen Angelov leading on the three-year Work Package on human agency and a Grand Challenge on Human-in-the-loop decision-making, with the Lancaster-based elements having received a total of just under €500,000 funding over the course of the project’s initial run.

Professor Angelov said: “The extension of ELSA is a recognition of the importance, timeliness and excellence of the research performed by the consortium. We are excited that the Work Package and Grand Challenge focused on the need for interpretable and explainable AI solutions and led by Lancaster will continue for another year, moving from research labs to innovation through the network of SMEs.”

ELSA officially started on 1^st September, 2022. It is a growing network comprising 26 founding members (including Lancaster) dedicated to outstanding research and innovation in safe and secure Artificial Intelligence. Since its founding, ELSA has created leading research and resulted in high-impact results. The European Commission has extended the Lighthouse until 31^st August, 2026. This decision is, in part, a reaction to the increasing need for more research into AI’s so-called “Foundation Models” (large, pre-trained neural networks which can act as a basis for more specialised AI applications), the recent EU Act on AI, and other rapid developments within the field.

ELSA supports Europe’s goal to strengthen its role in AI technology research as well as its safe development. The Lighthouse is committed to delivering excellent research. Of the more than 220 ELSA-acknowledging papers on diverse AI topics, ranging from robust Bayesian networks to explainable AI, ethics, and AI Governance, a significant number have been presented at top-tier venues, such as CVPR, NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, IJCNN, and journals such as Nature. Lancaster University researchers contributed 22 of these papers, with 15 being submitted to the top publications and conferences in the field.

On the extension of ELSA’s funding, Professor Dr Mario Fritz, ELSA Coordinator and Faculty at CISPA Helmholtz Center for Information Security, said: “With the extension of ELSA, the European Commission has enabled a diverse network of excellent researchers to carry on their outstanding work and strengthen Europe’s position within the landscape of groundbreaking foundational AI research and innovation. We are excited about the opportunity to keep adding value to European research – through our own work as well as funding mobility, startups, and SMEs.”