Paola Cinnella named Director of the Sorbonne Cluster for Artificial Intelligence (SCAI)
A professor of fluid mechanics at Sorbonne University and deputy scientific director of SCAI for over two years, Paola Cinnella is now taking over its leadership. She intends to pursue the development of an interdisciplinary ecosystem dedicated to "AI for Science," and to strengthen SCAI's role as a benchmark player on both a national and international scale.
A professor at the Jean Le Rond d'Alembert Institute (Sorbonne University/CNRS), Paola Cinnella conducts research at the crossroads of high-performance numerical simulation, physical modeling, and artificial intelligence. Trained as a general engineer with a strong affinity for applied mathematics, she has built an academic career spanning Italy—where she studied and began her career—and France, where she completed her PhD before continuing her academic path, "first as a professor at the École Nationale Supérieure d'Arts et Métiers, and then, since 2020, at Sorbonne University."
Her research activities have developed around a dual objective: advancing cutting-edge scientific tools and fostering interdisciplinary collaborations linked to major contemporary challenges, such as the energy transition or artificial intelligence applied to scientific research (AI for Science).
"Beyond my teaching and research activities, I am deeply involved in leading international scientific networks, organizing interdisciplinary events, and structuring communities around AI for Science," explains Paola Cinnella. Her experience at SCAI, where she previously served as deputy scientific director, has allowed her to appreciate "the richness of this ecosystem" as well as "its strong development potential to foster more transdisciplinary projects at the intersection of science, health, the humanities, mathematics, and computer science."
An AI connected to disciplines and societal needs
What motivated Paola Cinnella to take the helm of SCAI is, above all, a core conviction: "Artificial intelligence is a powerful lever for transformation in research and society, provided it is developed in close connection with academic disciplines."
According to her, SCAI occupies a unique position within the academic landscape. "Not an AI in a vacuum, but an AI deeply connected to science, medicine, environmental challenges, the humanities and social sciences, and more broadly, to the needs of society," she summarizes. She also highlights the collective dimension of the project: "SCAI is a place where very different scientific cultures can meet, and where new approaches can emerge that would be difficult to build within more traditional disciplinary frameworks."
SCAI's new director wishes to consolidate the center as a unifying and visible hub for AI at Sorbonne University. This will involve supporting ambitious projects, developing training programs tailored to new needs, supporting technology and knowledge transfer to society, and strengthening the institution's national and international reach.
She also intends to continue the work underway regarding the responsible use of AI, integrating challenges related to ethics, scientific reproducibility, environmental impact, and technological sovereignty.
Strengthening bridges between disciplines
Paola Cinnella has identified three major priorities for the coming months.
The first is to strengthen interdisciplinarity around concrete projects, particularly within the framework of PostGenAI@Paris. "At Sorbonne University, we have an exceptional concentration of expertise; the challenge now is to create more sustainable bridges between disciplines to bring about high-impact research, develop it, and transfer it to society," she explains.
The second priority focuses on education and training. In light of the transformations brought about by artificial intelligence in scientific, medical, technical, and human and social science professions, she believes it is essential to train "not only AI specialists, but also researchers, engineers, and students capable of working effectively at the interface between AI and application disciplines."
Finally, she wants to reinforce SCAI's role in public and societal dialogue. "Questions surrounding AI raise a lot of expectations and legitimate questions. SCAI has an important role to play in promoting an AI that is scientifically rigorous, socially useful, and developed with a focus on trust and responsibility."