Currently 9 active ai and ai safety grants, fellowships and residencies open to applicants in the EU. Hand-curated and updated weekly. Almost every entry is funded; a few notable unpaid open calls and festival submissions are included as clearly flagged exceptions. Browse the list below, or use the interactive desk for filtering and shortlisting.
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MOVIDA is a Creative Europe co-funded consortium pairing academic institutions with dance centres across four European cities. Sixteen duos, each made up of one dancer and one creative technologist, are selected across four themed labs: AI and accessibility in Bucharest, AI and AR/VR in Dusseldorf, AI and robotics in Lisbon, and AI and mental health in Tallinn. Applicants are assessed on demonstrated capability in integrating technology with live performance, computational creativity, and audience interaction. Participants selected for the labs receive fast-track consideration for the MOVIDA residencies running in 2027 and 2028.
The European AI & Society Fund is launching Building Narrative Power, a EUR 2 million funding and learning programme to counter Big Tech's dominance over how AI is understood, and to help people and communities shape new ways of thinking and talking about the technology they want. The Fund's strategy is to build the power of the public interest community to shape the direction of AI in Europe; narratives are central to creating the conditions for a greater say over how AI is adopted and used. THREE THEMES where research shows the public already feels strongly: (1) DATA CENTRES: as the EU aims to triple data centre numbers in the next five to seven years, pollution, energy prices and compromised grid access have mobilised communities across the political spectrum; proposals should explore narrative questions that move communities beyond resistance towards engagement in shaping data centre expansion. (2) AI AND JOBS: 57% of the public in a recent study expressed concern about how AI will change employment, more pronounced among lower-income people, and the concern is not only displacement but the quality and nature of work, autonomy and dignity; proposals should move the debate from generalised anxiety into a mobilising issue that shapes the future of work. (3) YOUNG PEOPLE: beyond the strident social media ban debate, young people encounter AI in education, friendships and future careers, and their wider views are rarely heard; proposals should build narratives that help young people shape the technologies that will influence their lives. LEARNING PROGRAMME: grantees join a community of practice, sharing experiences across issues and places, supporting each other through delivery and reflecting on which strategies and stories have most salience, with findings feeding back to the Fund and other funders. Deadline for first-stage applications is 31 August 2026.
AIxDESIGN and the KB (Koninklijke Bibliotheek, the National Library of the Netherlands) are building an exhibition and public programme about AI, made from the national collection, at the KB in The Hague. Nadia Piet is Creative Lead with the AIxDESIGN community, co-presented with the KB. The premise: long before neural nets, libraries were the machines we built to organise human knowledge, and the show uses the KB's collection to look at what AI is, where it comes from, and how it connects to the older story of how we store, sort, and search what we know. Part of the show lives in the KB Atelier, with talks, workshops, and screenings alongside, intended as AI literacy you can wander into. WHAT THEY WANT: work that engages AI in some way (critical, creative, hands-on, or playful); bonus if it also speaks to archives, libraries, or how we store and sort knowledge, though you do not need to touch the KB's collection to take part. You may pitch to more than one track: (A) SOMETHING FOR THE OPENING NIGHT, a performance, talk, screening, tour, ritual, booth, game, or other experience for the November 2026 opening, fee EUR 1,500 to 2,000; (B) A SESSION IN THE EVENTS PROGRAMME, a workshop or other session once during the three-month run, around 2.5 to 4 hours, fee EUR 2,000 to 2,500; (C) AN (ART)WORK FOR THE EXHIBITION, existing work in any format (installation, sculpture, zine stand, a corner of your own) sturdy enough for a public area with daily traffic, honorarium EUR 200 to 400 including licensing and production; (D) SOMETHING ELSE ENTIRELY, pitch it anyway. WHO: artists, designers, researchers, technologists, performers, musicians, archivists, or educators working around AI, data, libraries, or cultural heritage; no finished idea or polished CV needed, just a clear, specific pitch. You can be based anywhere and they especially welcome people outside the Netherlands; the show is in-person in The Hague and the fee stays the same wherever you are coming from. HOW TO APPLY: send a short pitch through the form (which track, your idea in a paragraph or two, roughly what it would need, and a link to your work); takes about five minutes, no full application required. Deadline: end of August 2026. Questions to hello@aixdesign.co.
The Digital Democracy Centre (DDC) at the University of Southern Denmark, with support from TrygFonden, is calling for applications for its 2027 fellowship cohort. The program fosters collaboration between researchers, journalists, and policymakers exploring the impact of digital technology and AI on media, politics, and democracy. Fellows collaborate with a self-selected DDC mentor to generate new knowledge, contribute to public debate, develop networks, and produce tangible outreach outputs such as policy briefs, educational packages, and talks. THREE FELLOWSHIP TYPES: (1) academic fellows researching digital technologies and democracy; (2) journalist fellows covering digital technology and democracy; (3) policy fellows contributing to the regulatory debate. Target group: researchers, journalism graduates, and policymakers in research/educational institutions, media organizations, ministries, NGOs, etc. PRIORITIES: projects with clear relevance to Denmark or Danish society (including comparative/international projects yielding insights relevant to a Danish context); in 2027, projects related to DDC's Hybrid Warfare Initiative (societal resilience to new forms of international conflict, with a focus on digital technologies and AI) are also prioritized. EXPECTATIONS: applicants must secure confirmation of mentorship from their desired DDC mentor BEFORE applying (applications without a confirmed mentor are automatically rejected; PhD students and research assistants are generally not eligible as mentors, and Sten Schaumburg-Muller is unavailable as a mentor for the 2027 call); applicants must also coordinate support from their current supervisors/managers. Fellows engage in DDC activities, seminars/workshops, and public outreach, and submit a short report within two months of finishing. APPLICATION (in English): preliminary project title, fellowship type, brief project description (max 1000 chars), detailed description and timeline (max 2400 chars, including duration, confirmed mentor, and remote/in-office work plan), description of activities and collaboration with external practice partners (max 1000 chars), expected product/impact/output (max 500 chars), a CV (max 5 pages), and an overview of the posts for which financial support is sought. Submit the application form (PDF or Word) plus CV as PDFs to ddc@sdu.dk with subject line 'DDC / TrygFonden Fellowship application'. Deadline 1 September 2026; decisions communicated no later than 1 October 2026.
Since 2020 the Prototype Fund Switzerland has strengthened the common good with open-source, public-interest technology, supporting interdisciplinary teams to develop and test early-stage projects that show how open source, data and digital technologies such as AI can create real societal value. The 2026-2027 edition focuses on Responsible and Sustainable AI: building the path toward a more responsible and sustainable AI, tech and digitalization landscape, open source and beyond. THIS YEAR'S FOCUS: projects that reduce resource use, energy consumption or emissions; strengthen accountability, transparency and governance; and contribute to resilient and trustworthy digital systems, including sustainable digitalization and digital sufficiency, public-interest AI and data infrastructures, and tools for governance, oversight or digital sovereignty. PUBLIC INTEREST TECH areas span sustainability and climate, participation and civic tech, education and literacy, health and inclusion, and open knowledge and data. WHO THEY FUND: individuals and small teams open to open source, AI and iterative experimentation, eager to combine technical capability with societal and political awareness, willing to share learnings, motivated to work on pressing societal problems through technology, with an early-stage but well-thought-out concept, and eligible to work in Switzerland. SUPPORT: up to CHF 50,000 in funding, a 4-month prototyping phase, coaching, mentoring and workshops, and access to a strong network across tech, policy and society. Teams are strongly encouraged (though not required) to publish code, data or components under open-source licenses and to document their approach. TIMELINE: applications 21 July to 7 September 2026; rolling jury selection August-September 2026; prototyping mid-October 2026 to mid-February 2027; outputs and learnings November 2026 to July 2027. Questions: info@prototypefund.ch.
Híbrides is a biennial of artistic research co-organised by the Axolot.cat collective and the DARTS (Design, Art, Technology and Society) research group at the UOC in Barcelona. The second edition, "Small Embodied Data," centres on the concept of classification -- approached through machine learning, data science, algorithmic systems, and questions of who designs classifiers, under what ethical codes, and to what end. The biennial brings classification into dialogue with its previous themes of Small Data (community-defined, intentional data collection and analysis) and Embodiment (bodily experience as a foundation of situated, sensory knowledge). Both academic and non-academic contributions are welcome. FORMATS ACCEPTED: Oral Presentations (20 minutes; artistic practice, artistic research, or academic research projects; may be video-recorded for a public archive and developed into short papers); Performances (20-30 minutes; must engage with the physical body, stage, and technology; complete works, including previously presented work; takes place in a multipurpose space with technical support). SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS: online form with abstract (max 1,000 characters), professional biography (max 1,000 characters), and link to representative materials (3-5 images; video and technical rider required for performances). HONORARIA: oral presentations €100; performances €400; invoice required in both cases. Participants must follow the event's code of conduct. Event runs 26-28 November 2026 at UOC Poblenou campus and Convent de Sant Agustí, Barcelona. Deadline: 7 September 2026. Submit at https://hibrides.axolot.cat/opencall.html.
Horizon Europe Cluster 2 funds research on culture, creativity, and inclusive society. The 2026 call (HORIZON-CL2-2026-01-HERITAGE, launched May 12, 2026) covers 7 topics with an indicative budget of €85.5 million. Topic HERITAGE-04 is explicitly titled 'Towards a fair and transparent market for cultural and creative content in the era of generative AI,' covering: impacts of generative AI on creative industries employment; upskilling needs for creative workers; policy and regulatory frameworks; fair remuneration and transparency. Highly relevant for research into AI and cultural/creative industries, artists' rights in the AI era, and sociotechnical studies of AI and culture. ELIGIBILITY: consortium-based applications (minimum 3 organisations from 3 different EU/associated countries are typical for Horizon RIA grants; check call conditions on the Funding & Tenders portal for specific requirements). Deadline: 23 September 2026. Apply via the EU Funding & Tenders portal (ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders).
Call for short films (1-10 minutes) involving human/AI hybrid creation, from the We Are Human Foundation in Paris. Three cash awards: Grand Prix EUR 5,000, Best Screenplay EUR 3,000, and an Ethics Award EUR 2,000. ELIGIBILITY: international, applicants 18+; films must have been completed after 1 June 2025 and involve human/AI hybrid creation; a mandatory Ethics Notebook accompanies each submission. No submission fee. Festival screening at Forum des images, Paris, on 24 November 2026. Apply via FilmFreeway; deadline 30 September 2026.
The microagi Research Fellowship (Cohort 01) provides researchers with frontier-lab resources and the freedom to work on hard problems in robotics, embodied AI, and the systems around them. Fellows work in residence for six months at microagi's offices in Munich or Zurich. AMOUNT: up to $2,000,000 in compute; $10,000/month stipend. RESEARCH AREAS: (1) Long Horizon Dexterous Manipulation -- end-to-end models for complex multi-stage tasks with dexterous hands, natural language instruction following, memory across long task sequences, fine-grained physical control in unstructured environments; (2) Cross Embodiment Learning; (3) On Device Physical Intelligence; (4) Safe and Reliable Deployment. microagi's model is to deploy embodied intelligence into physical-world operations and turn what it learns there into compounding research. REFERRAL: $10,000 bonus for referring a candidate who is accepted into the cohort. No application deadline publicly stated as of June 2026 -- one cohort only, apply as soon as possible via https://www.microagi.ai/fellowship.