Advisory Board
Valuable support: Advisory Board comprising high-ranking experts in the field of artificial intelligence supports and advises the Zuse Schools.
What are the duties and objectives of the Advisory Board?
To support AI experts in Germany by providing AI know-how and promoting knowledge transfer, to set up an international expert network, to give the Konrad Zuse Schools of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence a national and international profile and to facilitate a regular culture of exchange: these are the tasks and objectives of the Advisory Board of the Zuse Schools. The founding members of the Advisory Board were appointed to their honorary positions by DAAD President Professor Joybrato Mukherjee in August 2022. Since their establishment in October 2022, the three Zuse Schools have been supported with recruiting AI experts and encouraging them to remain in Germany as a location for business by nine renowned AI experts from science, business, politics and professional associations. The Zuse Schools are each represented by an Advisory Board member that they proposed.
How does the Advisory Board carry out its work?
The Advisory Board convenes for two ordinary meetings per year. Its members update one another on the development of their respective Zuse Schools, discuss current needs in industry, society and science, and provide support with further developing the recruitment, training and supervisory activities on offer at the Zuse Schools. Topics for the Advisory Board meetings are raised by the Zuse Schools or their representatives in office, by the DAAD or by the funding provider. The Advisory Board represents the Zuse Schools at conferences and events as required.
Who are the members of the Advisory Board?
Professor Thomas Clemen
is professor of computer science at Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (HAW Hamburg) and the Advisory Board chairperson. He conducts research on multi-agent systems, among other things in connection with the spread of infectious diseases, the impacts of climate change, and smart sustainable cities. As a member of the Protection Commission of the federal minister of the interior, he advises the Federal Government on matters of national security and civil protection.
The Zuse Schools are the first example of such pooling of the AI expertise that is available in Germany. The Advisory Board will support the DAAD in raising their international and interdisciplinary profile.
Dr Clara Neppel
is the deputy chairperson of the Advisory Board and senior director of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in Europe. The holder of a PhD in computer science, she has more than 20 years of experience in AI-related innovations, from research and development to entrepreneurship and standardisation.
My goal is to establish the Zuse Schools as globally acknowledged centres of excellence for trustworthy and robust AI made in Germany.
Professor Aimee van Wynsberghe
is the director of the Institute for Science and Ethics, Humboldt professor of applied ethics of artificial intelligence at the University of Bonn and a member of the European Commission’s high-level expert group on artificial intelligence. In addition, she is co-president of the Foundation for Responsible Robotics.
As a newcomer to Germany, I’m thrilled to be a part of shaping the Zuse Schools’ vision for AI made in Germany. Having an AI ethicist on the Advisory Board shows the DAAD’s commitment to a plurality of voices. I aim to include reflections from my research focus, sustainable AI and environment justice.
Dr Sebastian Harrach
is managing director of the Information and Intelligence research field at the Technical University of Darmstadt and for over ten years has been a lecturer in the use of AI, technology assessment and start-ups. Furthermore, Dr Harrach has established an incubator and a technology centre to support AI start-ups. Dr Harrach represents the Zuse School ELIZA on the Advisory Board.
I believe in Europe’s ability and responsibility to shape the future of the way AI is leveraged and monetised – and I believe in the importance of Germany’s scientific ingenuity for achieving these goals. Therefore, I will advise the Zuse Schools on how to support the creation of AI start-ups.
Ronja Kemmer
has been a member of the German Bundestag since 2014. She is group coordinator of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group and a member of the Committee on Digital Affairs. Ronja Kemmer was elected as president of the Young Group of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in 2021. She is a member of the presidium of CDU Germany, in which she heads the expert commission on “Human Digitalisation”.
AI offers fantastic opportunities for all areas of our society, science and business, and we should take full advantage of them. Ensuring that the tender AI shoots and ecosystems in Germany can grow into strong and stable trees is a matter that is close to my heart.
Professor Sebastian Rudolph
is professor of computational logic at the Institute of Artificial Intelligence at TU Dresden and conducts research in the area of symbolic AI, including mathematical principles, knowledge representation and semantic technologies. Professor Rudolph represents the Zuse School SECAI on the Advisory Board.
AI’s potential can only be fully unlocked by exploiting its methodical diversity. Towards this goal, a vibrant scientific exchange between all three Zuse Schools is crucial.
Professor Frauke Kreuter
is professor of statistics and data science in social sciences and the humanities at LMU Munich and co-director of the Data Science Center at the University of Maryland and the University of Mannheim. Professor Kreuter represents the Zuse School relAI on the Advisory Board.
Seeing the development of AI up close is exciting and frightening. Our society will inevitably change and my goal is to integrate different societal voices in the development of AI technology to create something that is reliable, trustworthy and safe for all.
Gyde Jensen
is responsible for education, research and media policy in her capacity as deputy chairperson of the FDP parliamentary group. In addition, she is a member of the FDP’s executive board and deputy chair of the Schleswig-Holstein executive committee of the FDP.
AI will shape our future and gives rise to great fascination and hope, though also concern. This is something that affects many citizens – myself included. I want to bring these technological and ethical questions surrounding AI to where they belong: at the heart of the societal debate.
