Saxony honors Dr. Cordelia Schmid with the Archimedes Science Award 2025

Saxony honors Dr. Cordelia Schmid with the Archimedes Science Award 2025

The Archimedes Science Award will be presented for the first time on September 12, 2025 at the Festspielhaus Hellerau in Dresden. The 50,000 euro prize, which was established by the Technical University of Dresden and the Free State of Saxony, honors outstanding scientific achievements that address global challenges. The first award winner is Dr. Cordelia Schmid, an internationally renowned computer scientist and researcher in the field of artificial intelligence. This award takes place as part of the Building Bridges Conference 2025, which deals with the latest findings in artificial intelligence.

The award ceremony will be carried out by Saxon Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer, while the laudatory speech will be given by the Rector of the TU Dresden, Prof. Ursula Staudinger. Dr. Schmid will also present a keynote entitled “Artificial Intelligence: Past, Present and Future”.

Importance of artificial intelligence

The relevance of artificial intelligence (AI) for solving complex global challenges cannot be overestimated. This technology is present in almost all areas of life and finds application in areas such as image processing and voice control. Artificial intelligence is increasingly seen as a driver of other scientific disciplines and can enable decisive advances, particularly in addressing environmental problems as well as in medical diagnostics and industrial production.

The Building Bridges Conference is organized annually by the Helmholtz Center Dresden-Rossendorf and aims to link top international research with politics and business. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Czech President Petr Pavel took over the patronage of this year's conference. This congress series promotes exchange and networking between different actors in society, which is central to promoting research and innovation.

The Archimedes Science Award

The Archimedes Science Award is named after the famous Greek mathematician and inventor Archimedes, known for his contributions to mathematics and physics. The prize is awarded annually in the context of the annual theme of the Building Bridges Conference. The prize is intended not only to honor scientific excellence, but also to increase the visibility of such achievements in Saxony.

The jury for the Archimedes Science Award is made up of presidents of large German research organizations and representatives of the University Rectors' Conference. Dr. Cordelia Schmid began her academic career at the Karlsruhe University of Technology, now known as KIT, and completed her doctorate at the Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble. She is currently Research Director at the Institut de Recherche en Informatique et Automatique (Inria) and also works at Google DeepMind, where she has made significant advances in the automated detection of complex objects in images and videos.

A look at the history of AI research shows that it originated in the USA in the 1950s. The first steps towards the development of artificial neural networks, the basis of today's AI technologies, were also taken there. An influential actor of this time was Frank Rosenblatt, who developed the first network of artificial neurons, the “Perceptron”, in 1957. This is considered the archetype of today's artificial neural networks. These cornerstones of research have shaped the landscape of AI to this day.

In summary, it can be said that the Archimedes Science Award and the associated award ceremony represent an important event in the scientific landscape. And last but not least, the award from Dr. Cordelia Schmid highlights the central role of artificial intelligence in solving global challenges.