Cluster ENACT – Making the Grand Est a European Leader in Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Have you heard about the new ENACT cluster? This ambitious project, led by the University of Lorraine, labeled “France 2030” in May 2024 and operated by the National Research Agency (ANR), aims to make the Grand Est region a European leader in artificial intelligence by structuring the ecosystems of training, research, and innovation. Some major figures about the scope of the project have been revealed during a conference held at the Université de Lorraine on the 4th of February 2025.

Key Figures

Thanks to the support of the State, the Grand Est region, the Metropolises of the Grand Est, and local authorities, this initiative – funded to the tune of €50 million over 5 years – was officially launched on January 1, 2025.

ENACT already has more than 2,500 students trained each year, nearly 200 researchers and research professors, and 50 companies – mainly from the Grand Est – supporting the project. The cluster’s goal is to double these numbers within 5 years by focusing on themes identified as differentiating strengths of the Grand Est:

• Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Generative AI (Multimodal LLMs)
• AI for Engineering and Scientific Discovery
• Digital Health

ENACT’s Challenges Over the Next 5 Years

With an annual budget of over €10 million, the main challenge of the ENACT project is to create a sustainable and financially viable ecosystem that links training, research, businesses, and clinicians. This is a structuring project that involves transformations at the academic level, promoting interdisciplinarity around AI and the international influence of its projects.

Within 5 years, the project also plans to deepen new themes such as the use of AI in the fields of environment, geology, and cybersecurity.

Main Actions Undertaken Within ENACT

Increase the Number of Trained Students 

The aim is to double the number of trained individuals, particularly in AI university courses. The project also aims to integrate AI into existing university courses, such as Chemistry, Biology, and Medicine. Reflections and experiments will also be conducted on pedagogical innovation and the evolution of educational content integrating AI.

Promote Transdisciplinary Research Around AI on the Strengths of the Region

 NLP and Multimodal LLMs

 Research will be conducted on the learning of large multimodal models and the trustworthiness of these models in research (ethics, confidentiality, etc.).

Use of AI for Engineering Scientific Discovery

Research will focus on AI capable of delivering interpretable results for discoveries in the fields of Biology, Molecular Chemistry, and Medicine. Experiments with generative AI will also be conducted to accelerate R&D topics.

Digital Health

The use of AI is envisaged throughout the patient journey (diagnostics, imaging, surgery, etc.). Generative AI (LLM) will also help aggregate knowledge to support doctors in their clinical diagnoses. An evaluation of the clinical benefits of using AI will also be conducted.

Other Actions and Challenges

Les objectifs incluent l’embauche d’un plus grand nombre de doctorants sur des sujets interdisciplinaires. Un objectif de recrutement et de pérennisation de neuf chaires externes et de permanents est fixé pour les cinq prochaines années.

Strengthen Links Between Academic and Economic Actors to Foster Innovation

 Under the coordination of the Polaris and PUI-A university innovation hubs, the ENACT cluster aims to support and animate all academic and economic actors (companies, start-ups, competitiveness clusters, chambers of commerce and industry) to transfer academic research results to companies, thereby enabling new innovations to be deployed for the benefit of users.

In Conclusion

The ENACT cluster will work to create a dynamic ecosystem around AI in the Grand Est. It will also ensure the strengthening of links between academic and economic sectors to foster innovations in the Grand Est that can shine internationally, thus enabling the Grand Est to become a European leader in artificial intelligence.