The strategic objective of the ARTIST2 Network of Excellence is to strengthen European research in Embedded Systems Design, and promote the emergence of this new multi-disciplinary area. We gather together the best European teams from the composing disciplines, and will work to forge a scientific community. Integration will be achieved around a Joint Programme of Activities, aiming to create critical mass from the selected European teams.The ARTIST2 Network of Excellence on Embedded Systems Design will implement an international and interdisciplinary fusion of effort to create a unique European virtual centre of excellence on Embedded Systems Design. This interdisciplinary effort in research is mandatory to establish Embedded Systems Design as a discipline, combining competencies from electrical engineering, computer science, applied mathematics, and control theory. The ambition is to compete on the same level as equivalent centres in the USA (Berkeley, Stanford, MIT, Carnegie Mellon), for both the production and transfer of knowledge and competencies, and for the impact on industrial innovation.