The Commission today publishes “A European Strategy for Artificial Intelligence in Science paving the way for the Resource for AI Science in Europe (RAISE)» to accelerate the adoption of AI by European scientists in all disciplines.
The Joint Research Center (JRC) report “Role of artificial intelligence in scientific research – Science for policy, European perspective» accompanies the Strategy, providing a detailed analysis of the use of AI in the scientific process and the landscape of AI in science. This report helps policymakers develop informed policies to unlock the full potential of AI for European research and paves the way for informed investment decisions.
The JRC will lead the future AI Evaluation Centerannounced in the strategy, to monitor and evaluate AI models and systems in strategic scientific areas.
The EU has the largest share of AI research players
The JRC studied the global distribution of AI players, including research institutes, government agencies and companies publishing scientific articles, filing priority patents or having their main business in AI activities.
Until 2024, two in five global AI players had at least one research and innovation (R&I) activity (i.e. had filed a patent on AI or published a scientific article on the subject). The JRC finds that among AI actors with research activities, the EU has the largest share of AI research actors (13%, US 4%, China 1%).
Accelerate the adoption of AI tools in research
To accelerate the adoption of AI in science, the JRC highlights the need for shared infrastructure and open science to ensure reproducibility, wider access and reliability.
While AI models are becoming increasingly powerful and versatile, they also require significant resources for training and deployment. This makes investments in high-performance computing (HPC), AI factories (ecosystems that foster innovation and collaboration) and open scientific data repositories essential to secure the EU’s position as a leader in AI research.
Wider use of AI in science would generate new needs for specialized expertise among researchers. The JRC skills assessment shows the need for “hybrid” (multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary) teams combining engineering, IT and AI expertise with domain-specific expertise. Policies should therefore focus on attracting, developing and retaining these interdisciplinary talents to ensure that human expertise remains at the heart of the research process.
AI is reshaping scientific research
Researchers use AI to improve scientific search and discovery, leveraging its contextual and semantic search capabilities to generate answers based on search results.
The JRC report reveals that scientists are using AI tools across diverse fields, tasks and disciplines, from engineering to life sciences and humanities, to generate real and applicable innovations. This includes using AI tools to analyze proteins more efficiently in life sciences research, an application of AI that has proven particularly effective in medicine, such as discovering more effective drugs.
Background
Drawing on in-depth analysis of AI technology for protein structure prediction, materials discovery and computational humanities, the JRC report shows how AI is accelerating innovation and strengthening research in the EU.
Opportunities emerge throughout the scientific process, from analyzing data to generating new research hypotheses. By assessing their potential and impact, the report brings together invaluable information to guide investments in crucial areas such as high-performance computing and open science infrastructure. This research can thus boost the EU’s competitiveness at global level
The EU Competitiveness compasspublished in January 2025, and the Clean industrial agreementpublished in February 2025, highlights the importance of the circular economy in creating a more sustainable, resilient and competitive European industrial sector, which in turn supports the EU’s climate objectives, while promoting more efficient technologies and job creation.
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See also: AI in Science – Disaster Risk Management.