ScaDS.AI Dresden/Leipzig is pleased to dedicate its 12th International Summer School on AI and Big Data, which will take place in Leipzig from June 22 to 26, 2026, to the theme of Neuro+Symbolic AI, focusing on an emerging paradigm that combines the strengths of neural learning and symbolic reasoning.

This annual summer school aims to bring together Ph.D. students, graduate students, researchers as well as practitioners from across the field of Artificial Intelligence. Participants can expect a rich program of short courses taught by leading experts, complemented by hands-on tutorials, interactive formats, and invited talks that provide a comprehensive overview of recent advances and key achievements in Neuro-Symbolic AI.

Program

Over the course of the program, participants will follow a structured curriculum combining foundational and advanced courses in neural methods and symbolic reasoning, designed to prepare them for in-depth study of neuro-symbolic integration.

Social program

This year, summer school participants will again be able to take part in social activities in the afternoons and evenings. These will take place on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and are intended to give participants the opportunity to get to know each other better and exchange ideas, as well as to explore Leipzig, the venue for the summer school.

Confirmed Speakers

• Vaishak Belle (University of Edinburgh)
• Michael Färber (TU Dresden)
• Pascal Hitzler (Kansas State University)
• Filip Ilievski (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)
• Moa Johansson (Chalmers University Gothenburg)
• Giuseppe Marra & Vincent Derkinderen (KU Leuven)
• Alessandra Mileo (Dublin City University)
• Ostap Okhrin (TU Dresden)
• Simon Razniewski (TU Dresden)
• Daria Stepanova (Bosch Center for Artificial Intelligence)
• Marco Valentino (University of Sheffield)

Registration Fee

Registration is mandatory for the Summer School and will open soon.

As in previous years, there will be several ticket options available; besides the default of the whole week, also to enable participation on individual days.

Venue

The venue has not been finally decided yet, but it will be located in or near Leipzig’s city center.

Organizing Committee

The summer school is organized by ScaDS.AI Dresden/Leipzig, one of five AI centers in Germany funded under the federal government’s AI strategy.

Scientific

• Jens Meiler Scientific Director, ScaDS.AI Dresden/Leipzig, Leipzig University
• Gerik Scheuermann Managing Director, ScaDS.AI Dresden/Leipzig, Leipzig University
• Wolfgang E. Nagel Director, ScaDS.AI Dresden/Leipzig, TU Dresden

Local

• Filippo De Bortoli
• Parvaneh Joharinad
• Frank Loebe
• Paramita Mirza
• Iryna Okhrin
• Lucy Sonnet

Contact

Please address your questions directly to scads.ai.school@uni-leipzig.de.