First STSM Grants 2025

We are happy to share more about the 3 STSM projects that have been granted following our first Open Call for Short-Term Scientific Mission.

Short-term scientific missions (STSM) allow members of the Artistic Intelligence Action to visit an institution or organisation in a different COST Member country than the country of affiliation, with the purpose of training, collaboration, and exchange of knowledge and expertise.

Later this year, the 3 STSM grantees will share more about their journey and discoveries!

Eleonora Siarava - UnderScore, Choreographic Objects and more

Host: University of the Arts Helsinki

Start and end date: 27/08/2025 to 05/09/2025

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Through movement exploration with choreographic structures and experimentation with performing possibilities, imaginary scenarios and creative strategies the aim is to delve into dance as a dynamic condition of spatio-temporal events, unfold a series of phenomena taking place in the body-mind topography, question what is so-called choreographic thought and study practices of artistic creation. In the framework of STSM in collaboration with the hosting institution an extra dimension is added - How could Artistic Intelligence be described? In the digital realm, can / if / how technology and AI-driven tools respond to and enhance creativity for choreographers?

Photo credit: Studio Pramudiya

Zoe Efstathiou  - Visit at the Institute for Explainable Machine Learning at Helmholtz Munich

Host: Professor Zeynep Akata and her team at the Institute for Explainable Machine Learning at Helmholtz Munich

Start and end date: 14/09/2025 to 20/09/2025

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The STSM aims to create a bridge that would enable the development of projects integrating Artistic Research with state of the art research within STEM and in particular the field of Explainable Machine Learning. As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly integrated into critical decision-making, AI explainability emerges as an urgent priority. Understanding how AI systems make their decisions will lead to transparent, trustworthy, accountable, more ethical and less biased applications. Zoe Efstathiou is a pianist and composer, currently a PhD Fellow at the Norwegian Academy of Music (NMH).

Photo credit: Sylvia Steinhäuser.

Katherine Alison Butcher - Mobilising Artistic Intelligence: Developing Doubt as a Human–Machine Expressive Interface

Host: A/Prof Sam Ferguson, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), AU

Start and end date: 18/09/2025 to 30/09/2025

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The STSM focuses on pipeline planning for a personalised AI avatar capable of performing affective doubt through speech-to-speech (S2S) and gesture-to-dialogue (G2D) interaction, powered by a locally hosted Small Language Model (SLM) optimised for low-resource, mobile performance. Framing doubt as hybridity—states of hesitation and uncertainty inherent in data classification—the project applies a Methods Ledger with a “Just don’t build it” test to critically interrogate technological imperatives. In collaboration with the Creativity and Cognition Studios (UTS), it develops practice-based methods for embedding hesitation, uncertainty, and performative doubt into conversational AI systems, advancing COST Action CA23158 objectives and its Artistic Intelligence Reference Framework.

Photo credit: Katherine Alison Butcher.