SCIANCE: European experts convene in Ghent for SCIANCE infrastructure workshop

What are the infrastructure needs to advance AI-driven research in Europe? This was the topic of a hybrid SCIANCE workshop co-hosted by Constructor University and the EGI Foundation on September 21 at the EGI 2026 Conference in Ghent, Belgium.

The one-day workshop, titled "Gap Analysis for Data and Computing Infrastructures," took place at Music Center De Bijloke in Ghent, Belgium, with researchers, AI specialists and representatives of leading European scientific and computing infrastructures examining the infrastructure priorities needed to advance AI-driven research across disciplines.

The event was organised within SCIANCE, a Horizon Europe project supporting the development of the European Commission’s Resource for AI Science in Europe (RAISE). SCIANCE connects scientific organisations, AI research centres and European research infrastructures to identify priorities and coordination mechanisms for AI-enabled research through a bottom-up, community-driven approach.  

Mariia Snigireva (Constructor Labs), Vitaliy Roud (CU), and Andrea Manzi (RGI) moderated the workshop, guiding the discussions throughout the day. The discussions focused on the current capabilities, critical gaps and future priorities of AI science infrastructure across 5 interconnected areas:

1. computing hardware and access to advanced computing resources;
2. software, data solutions and digital research infrastructures;
3. skills, training and user-support needs;
4. access models, governance and coordination;
5. ethical requirements and the prioritisation of infrastructure gaps.

The workshop outcomes will help identify the conditions required for researchers to access, develop and share AI tools, models, data and computing resources across disciplines and national borders.