Groundbreaking CRC Ends after Twelve Successful Years

Huge quantities of data, known as big data, accumulate everywhere these days – on the internet, on social media, in traffic planning, in physical measurements, medical examinations and countless other areas. The challenge lies in extracting information from these large data collections and data streams so that they’re available anytime, anywhere. In many cases, people only have access to smaller computers or smartphones, which have limited processing capacity. Other resources, like the power supply or connectivity, may also be limited.

Over the past twelve years, the CRC has successfully researched machine learning and, for the first time, also involved the field of embedded systems. “Today there is no embedded systems conference that doesn’t include machine learning. Conversely, resource conservation and its relationship to computer architecture are also increasingly being considered in machine learning,” says Prof. Katharina Morik. The abundance of applications ranges from medicine to astroparticle physics. In fact, significant progress has been made in the research of genetic constellations that predict the probability that neuroblastoma patients will survive without chemotherapy. In the internationally renowned IceCube project, which detects neutrinos from the cosmos in the perpetual ice, astronomical events can be observed much more precisely than before using a new method that combines deep learning and probability theory. When planning the CRC, the idea that a never-ending flood of data and resource-limited mobile systems such as smartphones would shape today’s world was mere speculation. Research objectives, such as reducing energy consumption, have also become more and more relevant over time.

Basis for new major projects

The DFG funded the CRC, which consisted of 14 projects, over the course of three periods. Throughout this time, over 80 researchers have obtained their doctorate in an integrated postgraduate program headed by Prof. Wolfgang Rhode. The Collaborative Research Center also formed the basis for new major projects. As one of five nationwide competence centers for artificial intelligence, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) has been funding the “Competence Center Machine Learning Rhine-Ruhr” (ML2R) since 2018,which is supported by TU Dortmund University, the University of Bonn and the Fraunhofer Institutes for Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems IAIS in Sankt Augustin and for Material Flow and for Material Flow and Logistics IML in Dortmund. In 2022, the federal government made the funds permanent for the center, which now operates under the name “Lamarr Institute for Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence”. The BMBF-funded research hub for 6G technology headed by Prof. Christian Wietfeld also developed out of the CRC. The Research Alliance Ruhr’s new “Research Center Trustworthy Data Science and Security”, which deals with the trustworthiness of intelligent systems in security-critical applications, will also build on the work of the CRC.

“Managing a CRC is like herding cats – it requires a great deal of planning,” explains Prof. Katharina Morik, who initiated the CRC and managed it throughout its entire operation. “But the work was more than worth it. We were able to celebrate numerous research successes over the past twelve years, and I would like to thank everyone involved for their commitment and achievements.”

A pioneer

Prof. Katharina Morik is considered a pioneer of machine learning (ML), who was researching artificial intelligence (AI) before this term was even widely used. Katharina Morik has been a professor at TU Dortmund University since 1991, where she established the Chair of Artificial Intelligence in the Department of Computer Science. She organized regular summer schools and launched numerous research projects and international collaborations. From 2018, she headed the ML2R/Lamarr Institute along with Prof. Stefan Wrobel from the University of Bonn. Prof. Morik is a member of the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences, Humanities and the Arts and the National Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech). She is set to retire at the end of the year.

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