Vida Groznik
PhD student at University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Computer and Information Science
The ESSAI & ACAI 2023 summer school took place in Ljubljana, Slovenia from July 24 to 28, 2023. The school was comprised of two main parts: the first European Summer School on Artificial Intelligence (ESSAI), which ran in six parallel sessions, and the 20th Advanced Course on Artificial Intelligence (ACAI), which was an additional stand-alone session. In total, ESSAI offered 24 different courses. Each course had five classes, lasting 90 minutes each, across the five days (450 minutes in total). These courses were chosen from 46 proposals and covered a wide range of artificial intelligence topics. ACAI provided 12 special tutorials. Eight of these were half-day sessions with two 90-minute classes, and four were shorter with just one 90-minute class. These tutorials were focused on a wide variety of subjects within artificial intelligence and science, including both traditional and cutting-edge topics. The lecturers were specifically invited because of their expertise in the field. The summer school was very successful, with over 500 attendees from 42 countries attending. The classes were high quality and well-liked by the attendees. There were also social events that helped create a friendly and relaxed environment, encouraging networking among the participants. A highlight of the event was the participation of the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Dr. Nataša Pirc Musar, who was not only a honorary patron of the event, but also attended the course “AI fairness and privacy: fundamentals, synergies and conflicts” given by Tijl De Bie and Maarten Buyl and actively participated in the event opening and the round table “AI for Society”. The recordings of ESSAI & ACAI 2023 school are publicly available via Videolectures portal: https://videolectures.net/ESSAIandACAIschool2023_ljubljana/
Keywords: summer school, artificial intelligence
Scientific area: Artificial Intelligence
Bio: Dr. Vida Groznik is an Assistant Professor at the University of Ljubljana, where her work spans the development and application of AI in healthcare and education. She also leads NEUS Diagnostics as CEO, advancing non-invasive medical technologies through AI. She excels in mentoring, having supervised PhD students and master’s projects, including her involvement in the MSCA-ITN project PARENT where she supervises three PhD candidates. Dr. Groznik also participates in the MSCA COFUND postdoctoral project SMASH as a Governing Board member and an external partner, facilitating interdisciplinary research and furthering opportunities for postdoctoral engagement. In 2023, she was a Local Organisation Chair of the premiere European Summer School in AI (ESSAI & ACAI 2023) held in Ljubljana, Slovenia. This groundbreaking event attracted over 550 attendees to a week-long school offering 36 lectures and tutorials from different fields of AI, marking a significant contribution to the development of AI talent in Europe. Continuing her commitment to fostering AI education, she is also a member of the organising committee for ESSAI & ACAI 2024, a two-week event to be held in Athens, Greece, further solidifying her role in advancing AI knowledge and talent across the continent. Her expertise encompasses talent management, interdisciplinary research collaborations, and industry-academia partnerships, making her a valuable contributor to initiatives aimed at fostering AI-driven research talents. Her role in pioneering industry-oriented PhD programmes and early career researcher training exemplifies her commitment to developing the next generation of AI professionals.
Visiting period: 1. 5. 2023 – 30. 9. 2023