From algorithms to applications: the evolution of AI-related research
AI-related research funded by the SNSF covers topics ranging from machine learning and robotics to health, climate and materials. Our analysis of AI-related grants shows how research trends have evolved since 2011.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has become a prominent fixture across the research landscape. While traditionally based in computer science, AI methods have increasingly been adopted in other fields. They have been used for tasks as varied as reconstructing medical images, analysing language, studying tumours, modelling the climate and designing new materials. At the same time, fundamental research continues to advance the methods and systems on which AI depends.
The number of AI-related grants supported by the SNSF more than tripled between 2011 and 2025, rising from 47 to 187 grants per year. But what do researchers investigate in these projects? And how has their research focus changed over the last decade and a half?
To explore these questions, we used topic modelling to analyse the titles, abstracts and keywords of 1,508 AI-related grants that the SNSF awarded between 2011 and 2025. Our analysis shows the ever-increasing diversity of AI-related research and indicates a shift from the development of AI methods and systems towards the application of AI across the research landscape.