Fundación Banco Sabadell: Investing in Young AI Talent

Cultivating the next generation of AI researchers

Since November 2021, Fundación Banco Sabadell has been a visionary partner supporting young researchers of excellence pursuing PhDs in AI—the scientists who will shape Europe’s responsible and ethical AI future.

What we support

ELLIS PhD Excellence Fellowships Funding for five doctoral students conducting cutting-edge research in human-centric AI for 3-4 years.

International Co-supervision Students benefit from dual supervision by two ELLIS Fellows or Scholars in different European countries, plus local mentorship at University of Alicante.

Research Mobility Support for 6-12 month research visits at ELLIS Alicante and other ELLIS units across Europe.

Integration in Excellence Networks Students become part of the ELLIS community—Europe’s premier AI research network—with access to workshops, summer schools, and collaborations with world-leading scientists.

Research focus areas

Understanding Human Behavior Studying how people make decisions and interact with technology to create AI that works naturally with human thinking.

Designing Better AI Interfaces Creating AI systems accessible and empowering for everyone, not just technical experts.

Identifying AI Limitations Researching where and how AI systems fail in critical decisions—from loan approvals to medical diagnosis—to prevent harmful errors.

Promoting Fairness and Rights Developing methods ensuring AI systems respect human rights, treat everyone fairly, and align with democratic values.

Impact

“Collaborating with ELLIS Alicante is a privilege, as it is a unique foundation in Spain dedicated to excellence research in AI with a clearly humanistic and social focus.” — Miquel Molins, President, Fundación Banco Sabadell

The Foundation’s commitment has been transformational:

✓ Enabling world-class research in a field critical for Spain and Europe’s future ✓ Positioning Valencia as a destination for international AI talent ✓ Demonstrating corporate social responsibility aligned with long-term societal needs ✓ Supporting young researchers at the most vulnerable and formative stage of their careers

Why this matters

Doctoral researchers represent the intellectual foundation of scientific progress. They conduct fundamental research that becomes tomorrow’s technologies, train the next generation, and bring cutting-edge knowledge to industry and public institutions.

Europe faces acute shortages of AI researchers and professionals. By supporting doctoral students, Fundación Banco Sabadell directly addresses this strategic deficit and strengthens European technological sovereignty.

Looking forward

Students supported by this fellowship will:

  • Complete doctoral theses advancing the frontiers of human-centric AI
  • Launch academic and industrial careers applying and extending their research
  • Train future generations of students and professionals
  • Contribute to policy as AI regulation matures
  • Found companies commercializing research innovations
  • Serve as ambassadors for responsible and ethical AI development

Selected Publications:

2026

01/30
Favero, L. A., Gaudeau, G., Pérez-Ortiz, J. A., Käser, T., & Oliver, N. (2026). Argumentative essay assessment with LLMs: A critical scoping review. .
01/25
Riccio, P., Galati, F., Schweighofer, K., Garcia, N., & Oliver, N. (2026). ImageSet2Text: Describing Sets of Images through Text. Proceedings of the 40th Annual AAAI Conference on AI.
01/15
Doh, M., Gulati, A., Canali, C.., & Oliver, N. (2026). Aesthetics as Structural Harm: Algorithmic Lookism Across Text-to-Image Generation and Classification. Preprint.

2025

12/12
Alicante, ES
Gulati, A. (2025). Judging Books by Their Cover: The Impact of Facial Attractiveness on Humans and AI. PhD Thesis, University of Alicante.
Thesis Defense
12/12
Favero, L. A., Pérez-Ortiz, J. A., Käser, T., & Oliver, N. (2025). Leveraging Small LLMs for Argument Mining in Education: Argument Component Identification, Classification, and Assessment. The 25th International Workshop on Computational Models of Natural Argument (CMNA'25).
10/14
Dubrovnik, HR
Németh, G. D., Fanì, E., Ng, Y. J., Caputo, B., Lozano, M. A., Oliver, N., & Quadrianto, N. (2025). FedDiverse: Tackling Data Heterogeneity in Federated Learning with Diversity-Driven Client Selection. 3rd IEEE International Conference on Federated Learning Technologies and Applications (FLTA25).
09/29
Arnaiz-Rodríguez, A., Baidal, M., Derner, E., Layton Annable, J., Ball, M., Ince, M., Perez Vallejos, E., & Oliver, N. (2025). Between Help and Harm: An Evaluation of Mental Health Crisis Handling by LLMs. Under review.
09/26
Alicante, ES
Arnaiz-Rodriguez, A. (2025). A Sociotechnical Approach to Trustworthy AI: from Algorithms to Regulation. PhD Thesis, University of Alicante.
Thesis Defense

Fundación Banco Sabadell’s investment in doctoral education reflects deep understanding that society’s most pressing challenges require sustained commitment to fundamental research and cultivation of exceptional human talent.