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World-leading computer and AI scientists arrive in Sofia for the first INSAIT conference

Category: News
September 8, 2022

Top researchers from Google, Waymo, AWS, MIT, ETH Zurich, EPFL, Max-Planck, and Yale will present in Sofia the latest and most exciting research in the field of computer science and AI.

INSAIT – The Institute for Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence and Technology welcomes world-renowned scientists in the field of computing and artificial intelligence at a two-day conference on 30.09.2022 (Friday) and 01.10.2022 (Saturday) in the John Atanasov Hall, Sofia Tech Park, Sofia, Bulgaria. The conference theme is on Emerging Trends in AI and Computing Research, and its aim is to present the latest and most exciting research advances, set to fundamentally change technology in the coming years. 

INSAIT welcomes software engineers, entrepreneurs, academics, students and deep-tech investors to participate in this unique event. The conference will be held annually as part of INSAIT’s mission of establishing the region as a world-class research and deep tech destination.

Presentations will cover machine learning, computer vision, autonomous driving, cybersecurity, natural language processing, programming languages, cryptography, computer architecture, and verification from some of the world’s premier scientists, majority which are mentors in the INSAIT doctoral program:

  • Dr. Rupak Majumdar – director of the Max Planck Institute for Software Systems and researcher at AWS, world leading scientist in the area of software verification.
  • Dr. Kristina Toutanova – research scientist at Google, Seattle, and an affiliate faculty at the University of Washington. Mentor in the INSAIT doctoral program. 
  • Prof. Luc Van Gool – professor at ETH Zurich and INSAIT faculty – one of the world’s most cited scientists in computer vision and machine learning.
  • Dr. Drago Anguelov – director of research at Waymo (formerly known as the Google self-driving car project), world-renowned scientist in the field of computer vision. Mentor in the INSAIT doctoral program.
  • Prof. Martin Odersky –  professor in programming languages at EPFL, ACM fellow, designer of the Scala programming language and ERC Advanced Grant recipient. Mentor in the INSAIT doctoral program. 
  • Dr. Mariana Raykova – research scientist at Google, prior to that an Assistant Professor at Yale. One of the leading researchers in the area of cryptography. Mentor in the INSAIT doctoral program. 
  • Prof. Virginia Vassilevska Williams – professor in theory and algorithms at MIT, Sloan fellow, most well-known for her breakthrough results in fast matrix multiplication. Member of the INSAIT Advisory Board and mentor in the INSAIT doctoral program. 
  • Prof. Otmar Hilliges – professor in computer vision at ETH Zurich, prior to that a Researcher at Microsoft Research, Cambridge. Mentor in the INSAIT doctoral program. 
  • Prof. Ce Zhang –  professor in machine learning at ETH Zurich, prior to that a postdoctoral researcher at Stanford. Mentor in the INSAIT doctoral program.
  • Prof. Dragomir Radev – chair of the INSAIT Advisory Board and professor in natural language processing at Yale. Recognized for his achievements through many awards –  ACM, ACL, AAAS, and AAAI Fellow. Mentor in the INSAIT doctoral program.
  • Prof. Martin Jaggi – professor in machine learning at EPFL, prior to that a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich. Mentor in the INSAIT doctoral program.
  • Prof. Onur Mutlu –  professor in computer architecture at ETH Zurich, ACM fellow, IEEE fellow. His inventions have been employed in commercial microprocessors and memory/storage systems, including systems designed by Apple, Intel, IBM, Nvidia, Samsung, Sun Microsystems. Mentor in the INSAIT doctoral program.
  • Prof. Peter Mueller –  professor in program verification at ETH Zurich. His research is considered fundamental in the field of software verification, currently working on the verification of SCION, the next-generation Internet architecture. Mentor in the INSAIT doctoral program.
  • Prof. Laurent Vanbever – professor at ETH Zurich, whose research on increasing the security and reliability of computer networks has formed the foundations of a  new scientific area. ERC Starting Grant recipient, mentor in the INSAIT doctoral program.  
  • Prof. Srdjan Capkun – professor at ETH Zurich, ACM fellow, ERC Consolidator Grant. Member of the INSAIT Supervisory Board and mentor in the INSAIT doctoral program. His research in the area of system and network security have been fundamental to developing the field on a global scale.
  • Prof. Mathias Payer – professor at EPFL, whose research in information security has had deep industrial impact. ERC Starting Grant recipient, mentor in the INSAIT doctoral Program. 
  • Prof. Martin Vechev – architect of INSAIT and professor at ETH Zurich. His current research focuses on creating more reliable and secure machine learning systems. The only Bulgarian winner of two ERC grants: Starting и Consolidator.

Regular price to attend the 2-day event is 40 BGN, 10 BGN for university students, and free for high school students. 

Conference website and registration: https://conf.insait.ai/

About INSAIT:

INSAIT – Institute for Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence and Technology, located in Sofia, Bulgaria, is the first of its kind in Eastern Europe to offer world-class research facilities and conditions. INSAIT is created in partnership with Switzerland’s ETH Zurich and EPFL, two of the world’s best technical universities, and is closely advised and supervised by top academics from some of the most elite U.S., European, and Israeli universities and research labs. INSAIT’s sole focus is on scientific excellence: conducting world-class research, attracting outstanding international scientists, and training the next-generation of graduate students and technology leaders.