SOUND.AI is a MSCA COFUND program. It will foster excellence in mobility, training and career development for doctoral level researchers through integrated engagement in one of the most dynamic AI communities in the world. The project will implement a highly selective program of 30 PhD positions starting in 2023 for five years, driven by Sorbonne University and its 30 partners, which together form an abundant research, teaching and industrial community devoted to AI. The project will leap from the scientific and strategic policy of Sorbonne University and its partners to actively develop both fundamental and applied projects and crystallize the community’s efforts around three comprehensive interdisciplinary and intersectoral programs: (1) “changing societies, languages and cultures”; (2) “a global approach to health”; (3) “resources for a sustainable planet”. SOUND.AI PhDs laureates will be recruited internationally, with global outlooks further facilitated through mobility.

Partners: 

The implementing partners are Sorbonne University, MNHN, UTC, Insead, Inria, IRD, Inserm and CNRS. Already associated within the framework of the Sorbonne University Alliance since 2012, they actively support education through research and pedagogical innovation, and the creation of experimental multidisciplinary programs. The associated partners complement each other to form a rich ensemble: first, through extra-academic partners whose cross-disciplinary expertise naturally fits into the three program areas. They also provide training on subjects in which they specialize: APHP (health), cultural data (BnF), artistic creation (Ircam), renewable energies (IFPEN), AI systems certification (LNE), the City of Paris (outreach). Second, international partners in Europe (ELLIS, CLAIRE, UCL) and North America (MILA, UC Berkeley, OBVIA) allow us to offer an extremely wide range of partnerships to the laureates, whether for co-supervision, international mobility, or participation in training. All of them are high-level and share an aim to develop "human-centered AI” research and are therefore very relevant to the vision of SOUND.AI. Finally, the complementary nature of our industrial partners is also a vital element to the research and training of fellows. Their diversity - large groups (EDF, Suez, Essilor, Pierre Fabre, SIEMENS, Valeo), SMEs (CRITEO, Naver Labs), start-ups (Datacraft, Hugging Face, OpenClassrooms) - will show the laureates different professional cultures, visible through training activities or secondments. This diversity is also the strength of the program, as it will allow fine-tuning the quality of the content offered to the laureates from a professional perspective.