The University of Limerick is set to lead PREPAIR, a €10.7 million programme for responsible AI development, with Professor Pepijn van de Ven awarded €10.7 million for the large-scale researcher training programme. The Postgraduate Research Education Programme in Artificial Intelligence Readiness, proposed by UL with 40 cross-sectoral and international partners, will train a new generation of researchers capable of advancing responsible, trustworthy and societally aligned AI, addressing the lack of AI expertise in the European workforce identified by various EU initiatives as a serious threat to the bloc’s ability to play a world-leading role in AI. The project will support 38 international doctoral fellows completing 48-month PhD projects, and has received €6.38 million in EU funding through the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions COFUND programme, with additional co-funding from UL and industry. Professor Van De Ven said the funding enables UL and its partners to train researchers who can advance AI that is technically excellent, ethically grounded, sustainable, and aligned with the needs of society, while strengthening UL as a destination for doctoral education.