Reimagining AI at the EU Policy Lab

EUROPEAN COMMISSION
JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE
Directorate S – Innovation in Science and Policymaking
Unit S.4 – Centre for Advanced Studies

Open Call for Artist in Residence
Reimagining AI at the EU Policy Lab

Where: Joint Research Centre, European Commission, Brussels, Belgium (with a possible site visit in Ispra, Italy)
Start date: September/October 2026
Duration: 6 months
Application deadline: 22 May 2026

1. Introduction

The JRC SciArt project and the EU Policy Lab invite artists and speculative thinkers across disciplines, countries and at any stage of their career to submit proposals for a residency to take place at the Policy Lab. The objective is to envision the landscape of human-AI collaboration in the future, in the context of European policymaking. This residency challenges creators to imagine AI beyond human replacements, exploring new metaphors, embodiments and interfaces that could reshape how we work with artificial intelligence in European administration.

The residency is targeted at artists and speculative thinkers across all disciplines working in the rich lands between art, science and digital, whose work engages diverse audiences, and who have experience in AI and design. A track record of working with Artificial Intelligence is expected, though technical expertise in AI development is not a prerequisite.

The purpose of the residency is to engage with the Policy Lab of the Joint Research Centre, which works to provide scientific evidence and support innovative policymaking for the services of the European Commission. We wish to create an open environment where the artist can explore and be inspired by the challenges of EU administration and policymaking through close collaboration with JRC staff. The policymakers and researchers can, vice versa, be inspired and informed by artistic practice, going beyond the technical concepts of AI development and the current discourse on AI adoption. We hope these exchanges will lead to challenging ideas, new possibilities, projects and works at the intersection of the arts, sciences, technology and society.

2. Topic

The theme of the residency is the use of AI in the Joint Research Centre to support European policymaking, such as human-AI cooperation, AI agents, or AI in the office (For more information see Section 5. ‘Our research topics’).

3. The Residency

For a period of 6 months you will be working in close collaboration with the Policy Lab team, a unit of the JRC of over 30 colleagues amongst which there are futures researchers, designers, behavioral economists, social scientist or engineers.

You will be expected to participate in the life of the Policy Lab, establishing dialogue and actively participating in discussions, exploring the current IT environment, use of AI and the perspectives of the scientific researchers and policy analysts involved. You will develop your own research on one or a combination of the topics of this call, together with the Policy Lab team, with the possibility of developing a proposal for an artwork. You will also be invited to present an approach for measuring the transformational impact of your work in JRC, such as specific evaluation metrics for engagement or impact. During the residency, the approach for evaluation could be co-created and elaborated with the Policy Lab.

At the end of your residency, you will give a presentation of your work and deliver a summary report on experiences and impressions. You will also have the possibility of presenting a proposal for an artwork (for which production budget will have to be confirmed at the end of the residency), with the possibility of linking this work to a relevant Policy Lab event.

Hosting an artist as part of our unit allows for exchange of knowledge, ideas and perspectives with all who engage with our work. We are not aiming at defining an IT development, but at broadening the imaginary and the possible, and exploring the use of AI in line with the values of the European Union and administration.

4. Policy Context: AI@EC

The European Commission’s strategic vision for AI, particularly under the AI@EC Communication (COM(2021) 205 final) and the recently adopted AI Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689), emphasizes trustworthy AI, human-centricity, and regulatory oversight. Within the JRC, a dedicated portfolio focuses on AI and data (Portfolio 9) with a concept paper laying out the vision Towards an AI-empowered JRC and the development of corporate AI tools is taking place. Beyond the JRC, the activity can also link to the strong engagement of the AI@EC community at the European Commission.

5. Our Research Topics

AI adoption in the public sector is hindered by a combination of technical challenges (legacy systems, data silos, skills gaps), institutional constraints (rigid procurement, budget limitations, risk-averse culture), and governance complexities (unclear legal frameworks, accountability gaps, bias concerns). A significant challenge lies in the trajectory of AI development being predominantly shaped by profit-oriented technology corporations, the majority of which operate outside the European Union.

Rather than accepting the prevailing narrative that AI development will inevitably surpass and replace human intelligence through “Artificial General Intelligence” , the research should explore critical alternatives such as ones grounded in human-AI cooperation or co-intelligence, hybrid cognition where human judgment, creativity, and ethics are amplified by the scale, speed, and pattern-recognition power of AI.

A dynamically developing field is the evolution of AI agents from simple chatbots to sophisticated autonomous systems capable of complex reasoning, multi-step planning, and independent action within defined parameters. By 2026, commercially available agents can manage workflows, conduct research, write code, and coordinate across teams, fundamentally different from earlier AI tools that merely responded to prompts; though their adaptation is lagging. The research could explore AI agents of the future assisting policy-making.

AI is entering the workplace in new ways and is transforming the organisational processes. How do we interact with these systems, and what physical or conceptual shapes do we imagine them to take? It is striking to see that the depictions of AI are overall humanoid; our collective imagination remains constrained by outdated metaphors. This trope — the anthropomorphic AI — is pervasive in popular culture, media, and even some scientific visualisations. These representations reinforce a narrow, often misleading conception of what AI is and what it might become. The human- like image of AI can lead to misplaced hopes or fears, and worse, it can distract from real concerns such as algorithmic bias, surveillance, and power asymmetries.

6. What to Expect

Duties
You’ll be expected to:

• Give an informal short presentation of your own work;
• Establish dialogue and actively participate in discussions, exploring research themes within the JRC and the perspectives of scientists and policymakers;
• Be present up to 20 days at the EU Policy Lab, JRC Brussels site (non-consecutively) with a potential visit to the JRC Ispra site;
• Develop, together with JRC, evaluation metrics that capture a change in perception, ideas, knowledge or behaviours related to the work.
• Give a presentation of the research carried out at JRC (this can take the form of an artistic work);
• Deliver a short report on experiences and impressions.

Our hope is that this residency can culminate in a (co-conceived) proposal for production of an artwork on the subjects discussed, supporting the responsible adoption of AI for EU policymaking.

Venue

The residency is hosted by the JRC Brussels site, Rue du Champ de Mars 21, Brussels.

Language

Throughout the residency the working language will be English.

Allowance, accommodation and transport

The selected artist will be contracted for a maximum budget of 15,000 Euro. This budget will cover expert fees, and includes allowance, accommodation and travel costs during on-site work.

Indicative timeline

22 May 2026 Application deadline
June – July 2026 Interviews with shortlisted artists, selection and contracting
Sept – Oct 2026 Start of residency (informal presentation of work)
January 2027 Proposal of artwork
Feb – March 2027 Presentation of residency

7. How to Apply

Send in your:

1. Personal statement mentioning also your topic of interest (we expect 1-2 pages; maximum 5 pages)
• Describe what most interests you about this residency as well as your thematic preference
• Present an approach for research and engagement, including initial reflections on measuring the transformational impact of your work at JRC
• Describe how outputs will be made available, possibly under a Creative Commons Attribution licence. Proposals that commit to open publication of outputs to improve the uptake of ideas will be assessed more favourably.

2. Portoflio with a selection of relevant artworks or projects

3. CV

to JRC-Resonances@ec.europa.eu. Send in your application no later than 22nd May 2026.

We look forward to applications from artists who recognise the value of probing and bridging ways of knowing and engaging. Their work and approaches may encompass research-based, place-based, embodied and social forms of artistic practice, engaging with science and technology, or interested in the cultural significance of scientific research in support of policy.
The proposal may include the re-use of existing artistic products.
The call recognises that the artists may use AI assisted tools. The AI-generated content should be thoroughly reviewed and validated by the applicants to ensure its appropriateness and accuracy, as well as its compliance with intellectual property regulations. Applicants are fully responsible for the content of the proposal (even those parts produced by the AI tool) and must be transparent in disclosing which AI tools were used and how they were utilized.

8. Selection Criteria

All submitted applications will be evaluated on the basis of:

• Reflection on the residency theme and on one or more specific topics;
• Openness and capacity to confront contrasting ideas and traditional forms of collaboration into the realisation of works of artistic excellence;
• Show novelty of ideas and realisation, combine unexpected viewpoints and straddle/bridge disciplines;
• Demonstrate their capacity to envision scientific knowledge and insights;
• Show competence to realise works of exceptional artistic quality, that provoke wonder and interest, and create strong experiences; reflection to capture the impacts of such experiences;
• Demonstrate their ability to incorporate societal relevance of current scientific debates into their artistic works (e.g. as seen in previous works in the portfolio).

The Selection Committee will evaluate all incoming applications. Short-listed artists will be invited for an online interview. The selection committee consists of members of JRC SciArt and EU Policy Lab.

About

About JRC

The Joint Research Centre (JRC) is the European Commission’s science and knowledge service. The JRC provides independent, evidence-based knowledge and science, supporting EU policies to positively impact society. When policymakers create laws that affect millions of Europeans, how can they be confident that these laws will help people live better and safely? What source of information can they rely on? Who can they trust? Scientists of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) carry out research in various fields to provide independent advice to EU policymakers and put science at the heart of European policies.

About EU Policy Lab

The EU Policy Lab (JRC S.1) is a cross-disciplinary innovation space that applies collaborative, systemic and forward-looking approaches to integrate the Joint Research Centre scientific knowledge into EU policy-making by combining stories with data, anticipation with analysis, and imagination with action. Our multidisciplinary unit encompasses three core areas: Foresight, which explores long-term futures through the Competence Centre on Foresight using tools like horizon scanning, megatrends analysis, and serious games to develop anticipatory culture within the European Commission; the Design team, which serves as a creative catalyst running qualitative research, challenging assumptions, visualizing systems, and facilitating stakeholder collaboration to tackle complex problems with innovative solutions; and the Competence Centre for Behavioural Insights, which generates empirical behavioural insights from various sciences to identify behavioural policy elements and test levers that increase policy effectiveness. The unit consists of 30+ people, policy analysts, economists, foresight researchers, designers, social scientists, engineers, and others. The resident will have the opportunity to engage with the colleagues, explore science-for-policy and the work that we do to inform evidence-based policies in the EU.

About JRC SciArt

As part of the JRC Centre for Advanced Studies, JRC SciArt brokers and curates transdisciplinary collaborations. We provide the space, time and conditions for artists , scientists and and EC policymakers to come together to exchange, investigate and co-create with a shared drive to develop research, create artworks and activities that can meaningfully influence our collective lives. SciArt was established with the objective of triggering innovation in research by catalysing transdisciplinary collaboration between science, art and society.

Contact

For any inquiry, please contact JRC-Resonances@ec.europa.eu.

Privacy Statement

The SciArt project is part of the JRC’s Centre for Advanced Studies. The privacy statement can be found here.