The Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research (ZeMKI) at the University of Bremen is pleased to host two “EU-Africa AI Governance Fellows” in 2026 and 2027. Initiated by the PGMT Lab, the fellowship format invites leading international AI governance experts for intensive research and teaching exchanges. Fellows are embedded in AI PAN-AFRICANISM – “Fostering Digital Pan-Africanism in AI Governance through Evidence and Action” research project (PI: Dr. Dennis Redeker), in which African and European researchers work together with civil society organizations to study the governance of artificial intelligence across African countries. The fellowship further serves as a pilot for a planned short-term research mobility initiative as part of the EU Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) staff exchange programme.
As the first of two fellows, Dr. Nicola Palladino, started his one-month research stay at ZeMKI on 24 August 2026.
Dr. Palladino currently holds a position as Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Salerno, as an expert member of the European Commission’s AI Advisory Forum and has been a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow at Trinity College Dublin. His research explores the governance of emerging technologies, focusing on digital constitutionalism, artificial intelligence regulation and global Internet governance. Publications were released in Telecommunications Policy, Internet Policy Review and The Information Society. Furthermore, Nicola also functions as a member of AI standardization committees, including ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 42 and CEN-CENELEC JTC 21, and the editorial board of Telecommunications Policy.
During his stay at ZeMKI, Dr. Palladino will work collaboratively with the institute’s researchers on questions of digital sovereignty, digital constitutionalism and competing approaches to AI governance. The fellowship also provides an opportunity to further develop existing research and teaching collaborations between the University of Bremen and the University of Salerno, such as past Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Programmes.
Beyond individual research collaboration, the EU-Africa AI Governance Fellowship is intended to help establish a longer-term network of European and African institutions working on AI governance. A central objective is the preparation of an MSCA Staff Exchange proposal that would bring together universities, civil-society organizations and other partners from both continents through sustained research exchanges. The fellowship periods are used to develop joint research agendas, test formats for international research mobility and identify opportunities for future collaboration.
The “EU-Africa AI Governance Fellows” are supported by the University of Bremen’s Internationalisierungsfonds and co-financed through AI PAN-AFRICANISM, funded by the Volkswagen Foundation. A second EU-Africa AI Governance Fellowship will take place in early 2027, with the selected Africa-based fellow to be announced in due course.