ScaDS.AI Dresden/Leipzig and all its employees would like to bid a fond farewell to Prof. Erhard Rahm, the former Director of ScaDS.AI, after more than twelve years of collaboration. We wish him all the best for his retirement.

Establishment of the ScaDS Big Data Center

As one of the founding directors, Professor Rahm successfully established the predecessor of ScaDS.AI Dresden/Leipzig, the ScaDS big data center, in Saxony in 2013. It was one of only two German centers of excellence for big data at the time. In doing so, he laid the foundation for all subsequent developments. Recognized as a Big Data expert, Prof. Rahm was recruited for the Leipzig part of the center. Together with Prof. Nagel, they convinced the experts of the concept of a big data center. Following its founding, much groundwork was laid, including establishing a service center that held events such as an international summer school, workshops, and training courses. There was also cross-location research cooperation with principal investigators and doctoral students/postdoctoral researchers employed at ScaDS.

Expansion of the ScaDS.AI Dresden/Leipzig AI Center

The next major milestone came in 2019 with the expansion of ScaDS into the AI Center, ScaDS.AI Dresden/Leipzig, and a significant increase in funding. ScaDS.AI Leipzig received funding equivalent to that of a Cluster of Excellence, enabling the establishment of five to six AI professorships and three to four junior research groups. During this period, Prof. Rahm introduced a high-quality graduate school and the Living Lab Leipzig, a place for lively science communication. Prof. Rahm also planned four new AI professorships at the Leipzig University and the TU Dresden. Furthermore he successfully introduced the master’s program Data Science at Leipzig University.

Establishment of a permanent, institutionalized AI center

Supported by Chancellor Merkel, ScaDS.AI Dresden/Leipzig — led by Professors Rahm and Prof. Nagel — applied in 2021 to establish a permanent, institutionalized AI center. With research priorities that define their profile, such as knowledge-based AI, the mathematical foundations of AI, hardware support for AI, responsible AI, and applications in medicine and earth sciences, they were able to convince the international reviewers of their concept. As a result, ScaDS.AI Dresden/Leipzig has developed into a nationally and internationally recognized center of excellence for AI research. It currently comprises around 100 doctoral students, a strong transfer and service center at both locations, more than ten new and active AI professorships and junior research groups, and more than 80 principal investigators (PIs) and associated PIs from the two universities and around ten other Saxon research institutes.

Future prospects and cooperation of Prof. Erhard Rahm

We are delighted that Professor Rahm will continue to play an active role in data and AI research at ScaDS.AI. He will supervise his doctoral students and lead several third-party funded projects. The presentation of the golden “Primary Key” by ScaDS.AI employees to Prof. Rahm at his last General Assembly as a director, as a symbol of continued collaboration and future cooperation, is a testament to the fruitful and trusting relationship that has been cultivated over the years. We wish Prof. Rahm all the best in the future and look forward to welcoming him here at ScaDS.AI even after his retirement.

Words of thanks

In addition to all the personal farewell messages, we have collected some initial public expressions of gratitude from ScaDS.AI Dresden/Leipzig colleagues, which we will continue to add to over time.