The KI:Expertisezentrum.nrw brings together AI expertise from 36 universities in North Rhine-Westphalia and receives 15.4 million euros in funding. Fachhochschule Dortmund and Arts is also a participant.
The use of artificial intelligence in research, academic studies, teaching, and university administration has become indispensable. The new KI:Expertisezentrum.nrw is designed to facilitate reliable, data-protection-compliant access to generative AI models for all students and staff in research and administration in North Rhine-Westphalia, while also building AI expertise. To this end, the expertise of the existing projects KI:edu.nrw, KI:connect.nrw, and Open Source-KI.nrw is being consolidated under one roof. The new center began operations on July 1, 2026. The Ministry of Culture and Science is funding the project—under the umbrella of the Digital University of North Rhine-Westphalia—with approximately 15.4 million euros through the end of 2030.
“Artificial intelligence is ubiquitous in people’s everyday lives—through chatbots, during medical examinations and diagnoses, and even in art and music. Wherever we rely on AI for support, user competence and data security must be guaranteed—regardless of individual commercial providers. The KI:Expertisezentrum.nrw is a milestone that will make the use of this key technology more natural and effective at all universities in North Rhine-Westphalia. “In this way, we are strengthening North Rhine-Westphalia’s pioneering role in the field of AI in higher education,” says NRW Minister of Science Ina Brandes.
Consortium of 7 universities in North Rhine-Westphalia
Ruhr University Bochum will serve as the lead institution for the new KI:Expertisezentrum.nrw. Other participating institutions include RWTH Aachen University, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, the University of Cologne, FernUniversität Hagen, Cologne University of Applied Sciences, and Fachhochschule Dortmund.
“Fachhochschule Dortmund will contribute its expertise in the areas of agents, avatars, and simulations to the ‘Competency Development’ action area. Participation in the project complements the university’s internal activities and enables a direct connection to state-wide developments in the field of AI,” explains Prof. Dr. Stephan Weyers, Vice Rector for Teaching, Academic Affairs, and International Relations at Fachhochschule Dortmund.
Dr. Peter Salden, Director of the AI:Expertisezentrum.nrw at Ruhr University Bochum, comments on the funding: “I am very pleased that the Ministry of Culture and Science, as well as all 36 state universities, are supporting our initiative. The KI:Expertisezentrum.nrw will bring together skills development, software development, and the provision of hardware infrastructure under one roof. North Rhine-Westphalia is thus creating a structure that is unique in Germany and, in my view, exemplary in terms of how the AI transformation at universities can be tackled collaboratively.”
KI:Expertisezentrum.nrw at a Glance
In addition to academic studies and teaching, the KI:Expertisezentrum.nrw will also focus on university administration. The project has three specific areas of focus: