Who We Are

Learn about our goals, core activities, and community

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Our Mission

We are dedicated to addressing some of the major questions of our time, ranging from understanding the principles of life to addressing the healthcare challenges of the future. Bringing together the unique strengths of EMBL, DKFZ, and Heidelberg University, we form a vibrant ecosystem that drives pioneering breakthroughs and sets new benchmarks in AI for science. Rooted in collaboration, transdisciplinary research, and tailored education, we empower the next generation to solve the grand challenges ahead.

Our Vision

Our mission is to overcome disciplinary silos by conducting and translating research relevant to life using AI. We will achieve this by fostering a community that blends the local culture of health and life sciences with the culture of AI and data science. We unify the data universe to create unprecedented breakthroughs. By training the next generation of AI scientists, we invest in the future.

Our Values

Excellence

We conduct frontier AI research with the highest scientific standards.
In AI applications and training, we make a difference and create impact.

Openness & Collaboration

Innovation and breakthroughs do not happen in silos - being open and collaborative is key.

Responsibility

We strive to drive the development of ethical and responsible AI methods in health and life science research and sharing of robust AI output.

Our Services to the Community

We bring stakeholders together to create a critical mass and interdisciplinary interactions.
We provide ethical guidelines, meeting space and research foundations such as data and technical infrastructure.
We create a brand for the AI research of the region.
We market scientific achievements and put them on the world’s radar.
We build an ecosystem - providing the best conditions for research & application.
We promote opportunities in the network.
We unify the community of AI and life science researchers and create synergies.
We train the next generation of AI scientists.
We facilitate translation and connections to our industry network.

European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems - ELLIS

Connection
The ELLIS Unit Heidelberg is part of the ELLIS Society.
ELLIS Society
ELLIS - the European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems - is a pan-European AI network of excellence which focuses on fundamental science, technical innovation and societal impact.

Founded in 2018, ELLIS builds upon machine learning as the driver for modern AI and aims to secure Europe’s sovereignty in this competitive field by creating a multi-centric AI research laboratory.

ELLIS wants to ensure that the highest level of AI research is performed in the open societies of Europe and follows a three-pillar strategy to achieve: (1) AI talent development - through the ELLIS PhD & PostDoc Program, (2) regional AI ecosystems - through the ELLIS Sites, (3) cross-border scientific innovation - through the ELLIS Programs.
Part of a Regional AI Ecosystem
ELLIS is establishing a network of research sites across Europe, consisting of ELLIS Units and Institutes.

These locations act as hubs for cutting-edge AI research, uniting leading scientists and strengthening collaboration with industry partners.

The ELLIS Society currently includes 42 units, 1 associate unit, and 2 institutes across 17 countries, involving a total of 60 partner institutions.

AI Health Innovation Cluster

The idea for AI Life Delta originated in the Think Tank of the AI Health Innovation Cluster (AIH). Financed through state funds approved by the state parliament of Baden-Württemberg, AIH was bringing together leading scientists at the interface of AI, healthcare, and data science to combine the expertise of the region’s renowned health and biomedical research institutions and foster collaboration on cutting-edge research for AI applications in health.
Mission
The AI Health Innovation Cluster (AIH) was a collaborative project linking challenging questions in the health and life sciences to the state of the art in AI research. The German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Heidelberg University, Heidelberg University Hospital, University Hospital Mannheim, the Central Institute of Mental Health, and the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research first officially joined forces through AIH in 2024.

The collaboration among these seven institutions generated sustainable synergies in the academic, medical, and health economic sectors and together became a stronger voice for the use of AI in health research. AIH has established a network of 55 fellows and more than 100 PIs from seven research institutions aiming to integrate AI tools in biological and healthcare research. This network continues under the umbrella of AI Life Delta. 
Structure of the Cluster
Through a competitive fellowship program, AIH funded interdisciplinary projects that linked data infrastructures, AI methods research, ethical-legal research issues, and clinical application fields across disciplines. The projects, which were selected solely on the basis of scientific excellence, synergistically linked several partners or institutions.

Central competence teams for important core tasks supported the funded projects and activities. The Software Competence Center ensured the sustainable use of software developments within the cluster. The Data Competence Center combined expertise in data engineering and professional software development with data science, particularly in the areas of AI, machine learning, and mathematical modelling. Thus, it served as a multiplier for biomedical research in the region by supporting use cases in research groups associated with AIH. The Scientific Competence Center for Ethics and Law of AI was dedicated to exploring the legal and ethical issues related to the development and use of AI technologies in health and life sciences in order to develop a concept that secure the use of AI in medical research in the future. This work set a important foundation for AI Life Delta.
We are a Grassroots Movement of AI Scientists in Heidelberg-Mannheim
We are the
AI Community of
globally leading biomedical institutions
The ELLIS UNIT Heidelberg hosts 
AI Life Delta and is thereby growing
13
ELLIS faculty 
members
41
partnering with
ELLIS Units
17
in
countries
In conjunction with the AIH Cluster link, we have a proven track record of over
55
funded 
multi-disciplinary & -institutional
projects
20
PostDocs
14
Staff
21
Clinician Scientists
research fellows
3
Competence Centers
on Ethics & Law of AI, Data and Software Development
17
specialists in 
Central 
Structures

Faculty

ELLIS Faculty

Moritz Gerstung

DKFZ
Division Head, Artificial Intelligence in Oncology
Board of Directors, Digital Oncology Cross Topic
moritz.gerstung@dkfz-heidelberg.de
ELLIS Faculty

Fred Hamprecht

Heidelberg University
Head of Research Group on Scientific AI
Interdisciplinary Center for Scientific Computing (IWR)
fred.hamprecht@iwr.uni-heidelberg.de
ELLIS Faculty

Wolfgang Huber

EMBL
Head of Research Group on Quantitative Biology and Statistics
Co-Director of the Molecular Medicine Partnership Unit
wolfgang.huber@embl.org
ELLIS Faculty

Jan Korbel

EMBL
Research Group Leader and Head of Data Science
jan.korbel@embl.de
ELLIS Faculty

Ullrich Köthe

Heidelberg University
Head of Research Group for Explaninable Machine Learning in the Computer Vision and Learning Lab Heidelberg
ullrich.koethe@iwr.uni-heidelberg.de
Co-Director ELLIS Unit

Anna Kreshuk

EMBL
Head of Research Group on Machine Learning for Bioimage Analysis
anna.kreshuk@embl.de
Our Network
Associated Members and Groups
Events

Scientific Management

 

Daniela Beyer

Scientific Program Manager
daniela.beyer@dkfz-heidelberg.de