We are pleased to extend a warm welcome to our new relAI members!
relAI welcomed its fourth cohort of PhD and MSc students on October 8, 2025. In the morning, the new cohort was greeted by the relAI Directors and the Management Team at the Munich Data Science Institute (MDSI), who introduced them to the school through informative presentations.
After a joint lunch, the program continued with a networking session moderated by relAI student representatives Nil Ayday and Marius Müller, aimed at fostering connections among the students.
The day culminated in a delightful dinner, set in a charming atmosphere, where numerous relAI fellows had the opportunity to engage with the students. This gathering offered invaluable chances to establish mentoring relationships that will support the students throughout their journey with relAI.
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Last weekend, relAI engaged with children during the TUM Open Doors with the Mouse 2025 event at the Munich Data Science Institute (MDSI). Students from relAI - Manuel Hülskamp, Natascha Niessen, Lisa Schmierer, and Richard Schwank - enthusiastically participated, using computer games to explain concepts of machine learning and artificial intelligence to the young attendees. The children learned how to train an AI model to differentiate between apples, pears, bananas, and plums, and they even had the opportunity to recognize their own faces, testing this feature with their siblings and other visitors.
A heartfelt thank you to the relAI students and coordinator Andrea Schafferhans for their support of the event, as well as to the families who participated.
Check the MDSI news for extensive information about the event.
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Registration for the Munich Career Fair AI & Data Science 2025 is now open! You can request your ticket here.
📅Date and Time: October 23, 2025, 2 to 5 pm
📍 Location: TranslaTUM at Klinikum rechts der Isar, Einsteinstraße 25 (Bau 522), 81675 Munich
🏢Participating companies: Celonis, DENSO, Diehl, GE Healthcare, Google, Imfusion, Munich Re, QuantCo, SAP, Thyssenkrupp, and Zeiss
👉 Check out this link for more information and the agenda
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Don’t miss the upcoming Munich AI Lecture featuring Prof. Aaron M. Johnson fromCarnegie Mellon University and Visiting Professor at TUM.
What happens when robots leave the lab and enter the real world? Suddenly, uncertainty is everywhere — slippery mud, bending branches, unpredictable terrain. These challenges are especially tough when it comes to contact: one moment a robot applies massive force, the next it has no grip at all.
In his talk, Aaron M. Johnson shows how robots can learn to master the unknown — from off-road driving in new environments to agile walking through vegetation. Expect cutting-edge insights into how uncertainty can be modeled, reduced, and even turned into an advantage for the future of robotics.
📍 Georg-Brauchle-Ring 58, Room M001 The TUM Room finder will help you find the way
The Munich Data Science Institute (MDSI), the Konrad Zuse School of Excellence in Reliable AI (relAI), the Munich Center for Machine Learning (MCML), and the AI Hub@LMU are organizing the Munich Career Fair AI & Data Science at TranslaTUM on October 23, 2025. The event is tailored to companies and students (bachelor's, master's, and doctoral candidates) who are interested in AI, ML, and data science.
We are pleased to announce that the first Munich Career Fair AI & Data Science 2025 will take place on October 23, 2025, at TranslaTUM. This year, we welcome eleven industry partners and students in bachelor's and master's programs, as well as doctoral candidates. The aim is to connect students at various stages of their education with industry representatives and to highlight career prospects in the field of AI and data science in the Munich ecosystem.
Each industry partner will present its activities in the field of AI and data science in an overview talk and introduce the associated career opportunities. In addition, there will be plenty of time and space for networking and personal exchange in the foyer of TranslaTUM and in separate meeting rooms.
Event Details
📅Date and Time: October 23, 2025, 2 to 5 pm
📍 Location: TranslaTUM at Klinikum rechts der Isar, Einsteinstraße 25 (Bau 522), 81675 Munich
📝Registration: Registration has meanwhile closed.
Agenda
Time
Affiliation
Speaker
Talk title
14:00
Organisors
Dr. Thomas Meier Dr. Andrea Schafferhans
Welcome
14:05
Celonis
Niclas Sabel
The Power of Agentic AI: Driving Organizational Transformation and Efficiency
14:20
DENSO
Brian Hsuan-Cheng Liao
The Development of Reliable AI-Driven Vehicles in DENSO
14:35
Diehl
Ariane Jesussek Joel Eichberger Matthew Schwind
AI at Diehl - Implementing AI in a diversified technology group
14:50
GE Healthcare
Dr. Timo Schirmer
The Human Algorithm in Healthcare: Careers and AI in Times of Disruption
15:05
Google
Irina Stambolska
Google AI, Data Science and Careers
15:20
Imfusion
Dr. Raphael Prevost
Enabling Rapid Innovation in Medical Imaging with AI
15:35
MunichRe
Karolina Stosio
Data & AI @ Munich Re
15:50
QuantCo
Carolin Thomas
QuantCo
16:05
SAP
Yichen Lou Shalvi Mahajan
Towards Intelligent Enterprise Systems - AI @ SAP
16:20
Thyssenkrupp
Dr. Nikou Günnemann
AI @ thyssenkrupp
16:35
Zeiss
Dr. Florent Martin
AI and ML in ZEISS
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From July 29 to August 1, 2025, relAI was delighted to welcome a group of Chinese students for the first relAI International Summer School, which took place at TUM and LMU.
We are excited to announce the next Munich AI Lecture featuring Prof. Guido Montúfar, Professor of Mathematics and of Statistics & Data Science at the University of California, Los Angeles, and leader of the Mathematical Machine Learning research group at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences, MPI MiS. He serves as a core Principal Investigator in the SECAI Zuse School of Excellence in AI (Leipzig–Dresden).
Event Details:
🎤 Title: Deep Learning Theory: What we know, what we are learning, and what remains unclear
Deep learning has revolutionized artificial intelligence and a wide range of applied domains, driving transformative progress in computer vision, language processing, and scientific discovery. This talk surveys the vibrant and rapidly evolving landscape of deep learning theory—an effort to uncover the mathematical foundations of learning with neural networks. We will review key theoretical insights into optimization dynamics, implicit biases of learning algorithms, and the generalization behavior of deep models—highlighting connections to classical learning theory, high dimensional statistics, and approximation theory. Along the way, we will discuss some of the major successes in analyzing overparameterized regimes, as well as open challenges in understanding feature learning and generalization under moderate overparameterization. The talk will also spotlight emerging phenomena such as benign overfitting, grokking, and delayed generalization, illustrating the depth and complexity of ongoing research questions that challenge traditional notions.
Last week, our industry partner QuantCo generously hosted over 30 relAI students at its offices in Munich. The visit provided a valuable platform for our students and QuantCo colleagues to connect, fostering a friendly environment for discussions on potential future collaborations.
We extend our sincere gratitude to QuantCo for their warm welcome and for facilitating such a beneficial exchange!
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This year, the relAI Retreat took place in Bad Kohlgrub from June 4th to 6th, bringing together over 80 members of the relAI family. It was a fantastic opportunity to reflect on our work in reliable AI and on the activities of our community to drive this field forward.
Keynote presentations by relAI Fellows showcased the impressive breadth of work across our four research areas:
Göran Kauermann covered the algorithmic decision-making area with his engaging talk titled “Decision-Making under Uncertainty.”
Christian Wachinger represented medicine & healthcare with compelling views on reliable AI in medical imaging.
The robotics & interacting systems area was highlighted by Hinrich Schütze, who presented on refusal in large language models.
Keynote by Vincent FortuinKeynote by Christian WachingerKeynote by Hinrich SchützeKeynote by Göran Kauermann
Our relAI students presented their research topics during concise one-minute Lightning Talks, showing the diversity of work within the community. Additionally, we had exciting and inspirational Group Discussions on topics such as uncertainty in causal machine learning, counterexamples in machine learning, and explainable AI.
A significant outcome of the retreat was the strengthening of community ties, particularly among students. A speedgeeking session on the first day effectively broke the ice, fostering informal connections. Group discussions on organizational topics generated ideas for shaping the relAI program. This year, students proposed innovative ideas to enhance community spirit, engage with industry and alumni, contribute to the relAI blog, and expand the relAI wiki. We also allocated time for social activities, which facilitated further discussions on research collaborations and joint initiatives.
Other notable events at the retreat included the annual assembly of relAI Fellows, one-to-one discussions between relAI students and Fellows on the students’ individual development plans (IDP), and the presentation of relAI certificates to MSc students who successfully completed the relAI MSc program.
IDP DiscussionsAward of relAI Certificates
A big thank you to everyone who participated and contributed to making this event a success!
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We are excited to announce the next Munich AI Lecture featuring Prof. Virginia Dignum, a member of the relAI Scientific Advisory Board. She is Professor of Responsible Artificial Intelligence at Umeå University, Sweden, where she leads the AI Policy Lab. She is also senior advisor on AI policy to the Wallenberg Foundations and chair of the ACM’s Technology Policy Council.
Event Details:
🔹Title: Responsible AI: Governance, Ethics, and Sustainable Innovation
🔹Date and Time: July 9, 2025 6:30 pm
🔹Location: Plenarsaal of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities (BAdW), Alfons-Goppel-Straße 11, 80539 Munich
Abstract
As AI systems become increasingly autonomous and embedded in socio-technical environments, balancing innovation with social responsibility grows increasingly urgent. Multi-agent systems and autonomous agents offer valuable insights into decision-making, coordination, and adaptability, yet their deployment raises critical ethical and governance challenges. How can we ensure that AI aligns with human values, operates transparently, and remains accountable within complex social and economic ecosystems? This talk explores the intersection of AI ethics, governance, and agent-based perspectives, drawing on my work in AI policy and governance, as well as prior research on agents, agent organizations, formal models, and decision-making frameworks. Recent advancements are reshaping AI not just as a technology but as a socio-technical process that functions in dynamic, multi-stakeholder environments. As such, addressing accountability, normative reasoning, and value alignment requires a multidisciplinary approach. A central focus of this talk is the role of governance structures, regulatory mechanisms, and institutional oversight in ensuring AI remains both trustworthy and adaptable. Drawing on recent AI policy research, I will examine strategies for embedding ethical constraints in AI design, the role of explainability in agent decision-making, and how multi-agent coordination informs regulatory compliance. Rather than viewing regulation as a barrier, will show that responsible governance is an enabler of sustainable innovation, driving public trust, business differentiation, and long-term technological progress. By integrating insights from agent-based modeling, AI policy frameworks, and governance strategies, this talk underscores the importance of designing AI systems that are both socially responsible and technically robust. Ultimately, ensuring AI serves the common good requires a multidisciplinary approach—one that combines formal models, ethical considerations, and adaptive policy mechanisms to create AI systems that are accountable, fair, and aligned with human values.
More information is available on the website of the Munich AI Lecture. This is the flagship speaker series about AI in Munich, co-organized by relAI