The relAI Blog is out!

News

We are excited to announce the release of the relAI Blog. The blog is the relAI students' platform for sharing cutting-edge research and developments from our school, highlighting the significant strides relAI is making toward making AI systems safer, more trustworthy, and privacy-preserving. 

The blog posts, authored by the students, will cover a diverse range of topics. From introductory discussions on relAI research to the latest project outputs, and even reports on interesting aspects of relAI life. The Blog Editorial Team, composed of relAI students, plays a crucial role in the editorial revision and publication. 

The blog starts out with two posts, a welcome from the Editorial Team and an interesting introduction to uncertainty quantification from relAI PhD student and member of the Editorial Team, Lisa Wimmer.

Mark your calendars for these interesting talks coming up in the next weeks!

The next talk, by Daniela Rus, is on July 15th, at 5pm at Lichtenbergstraße 2a, 85748 Garching, Auditorium (Ground floor) of Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), TUM and via zoom. She is the Andrew (1956) and Erna Viterbi Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and Director of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at MIT.

On Wednesday July 17th, Alexei A. Efros of University of California, Berkeley will discuss whether “We are (still?) not giving data enough credit”. The lecture takes place in cooperation with the ELLIS-Workshop on "Open Problems in Computer Vision & Generative Modelling" on the same day.

Sebastian Scherer, an Associate Research Professor at the Robotics Institute (RI) at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) will present his approaches, progress, and results on multi-modal sensing on Monday, July 22nd, at TUM Garching Campus, FMI Building, Boltzmannstr. 3, Hörsaal 2 (00.04.011).

relAI is a co-organiser of the Munich AI lectures. Find more info on these other upcoming events on the Munich AI lectures home page.

relAI Fellow Pramod Bhatotia wins the 2024 Rising Star in Dependability Award: 

 “For his impressive track-record and contributions in the field of dependable systems, including multiple publications in highly regarded venues, and influence on practical dependable systems.” 

Pramod Bhatotia is a professor for Systems Research at TU Munich and fellow at relAI. He received the award at the 54th Annual IEEE/IFIP International Conference on Dependable Systems and Networks, which took place last week in Brisbane, Australia.  

The award aims to recognize a junior researcher, “who demonstrates outstanding potential for creative ideas and innovative research in the field of dependable and resilient computer systems and networks”.  

More information: https://dsn2024uq.github.io/awards_rs.html 

Our congratulations! 

We are happy to announce that on October 29th, the three DAAD Zuse Schools of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence, ELIZA (Darmstadt), SECAI (Dresden) und relAI (Munich), will celebrate the second joint Meeting in Munich.

The event, co-organized by DAAD and relAI, will be honoured with the presence of representatives from the Bavarian State Ministry for Science and the Arts (StMWK), Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), TUM and LMU presidents, and DAAD, who will introduce the meeting with opening speeches. The program will be followed by talks from research fellows, students, and industry partners of the Zuse Schools and rounded by a podium discussion.

Preliminary Agenda

10:00Welcome Adresses
Dr. Rolf-Dieter Jungk - Bavarian State Ministry for Science and the Arts (StMWK)
Dr. Kai Sicks - DAAD Secretary General
MinR’in Dr. Lisette Andreae – Head of Unit European Higher Education Area, Internationalization, BMBF
Prof. Dr. Thomas Hofmann - President, TUM
Prof. Dr. Francesca Biagini -  Vice President for International Affairs and Diversity, LMU
Keynote Talk
Prof. Björn Ommer - Head of Computer Vision & Learning Group, LMU
Presentations by Students from the Zuse Schools
14:00Panel Discussion
Presentations by Students from the Zuse Schools
17:00Industry Keynote
Dr. Ahmed Sayed - Head of EMEA Emerging Technologies, AWS
Final Remarks

The next Munich AI Lecture will take place on Tuesday, June 25th at 5pm at Arcisstr. 21, Room 0790 and via zoom.

Ivan Laptev, visiting professor at MBZUAI and a senior researcher on leave from Inria Paris, will talk about "From Video Understanding to Embodied Agents". Mark your calendars and join us there!

For more information on the Munich AI Lectures, co-organized by relAI, visit https://munichlectures.ai/upcoming/.

The next Munich AI Lecture will take place on Tuesday, June 18th at 5 pm at Arcisstr. 21, Room 2750 (Karl Max von Bauernfeind auditorium) and via zoom.

This edition features Ludovic Righetti (New York University), who will talk about "Learning complex robotic behaviors with optimal control". Mark your calendars and join us there!

For more information on the Munich AI Lectures, co-organized by relAI, visit https://munichlectures.ai/upcoming/.

Save the date for the next Women in AI & Robotics community meetup co-organized by relAI!

On May 14th, our co-director Gitta Kutyniok will talk about “Reliable AI: From Mathematical Foundations to Neuromorphic Computing”.  The second presentation of the event will be held by Elke Wolf, Professor from Hochschule München University of Applied Sciences, on “Professor at a University of Applied Sciences – an attractive option for empowered women”.

See you there! Admission is free, but signing up required.

Are you interested in frontier AI systems, their astonishing capabilities and risks for humanity? Then join us for a thought-provoking deep dive and exclusive OpenAI Live Q&A on AI safety. 

  • Date: Wednesday, May 8th, 2024 | 19:00 – 20:30 
  • Location: Room B006, Department of Mathematics (Theresienstr. 39) or online 
  • Language: English 

Agenda: 

  • 19:00 – 19:05: Doors open 
  • 19:05 – 19:30: Introduction to AI Safety 
  • 19:30 – 20:15: Presentation & Live Q&A with OpenAI researcher Jan H. Kirchner, co-author of weak-to-strong generalization paper 
  • 20:15 – 20:30: Closing talk – What can we do? 
  • 20:30 – onward: Optional socializing and small group discussions with free drinks and snacks. 

Please register on the following webpage and prepare your questions! 

Last week, our relAI students presented their research to the relAI industry partners in a series of industry workshops. Four events took place, each centered around one of  the four relAI’s research areas: Mathematical & Algorithmic foundations, Algorithmic Decision-Making, Medicine & Healthcare and Robotics & Interacting Systems. 

We are thrilled that this event was so well received both by the students and the industry partners! Following short lightning talks, intriguing discussions around reliability of AI took place in smaller breakout groups.  

The industry workshops are part of relAI´s cross-sectional training and aim to facilitate the exchange of insights and expertise between academia and industry. The engagement from both our students and industry fellows emphasized the significance of bridging academic excellence with real-world applications, particularly when addressing the evolving challenges in AI reliability. 

We are excited to announce that our call for applications to the relAI MSc program is now open! 

The novel, innovative relAI MSc program is an addition to a regular MSc program at Technical University of Munich (TUM) or Ludwig Maximilians University (LMU), offering comprehensive cross-sectional training in reliable AI, including scientific knowledge, professional development courses, and industrial exposure. Funded applicants receive a scholarship of up to 934€ and additional support such as travel grants for home travel.   

relAI, funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), is embedded in the unique transdisciplinary Munich AI ecosystem, combining the expertise of the two Universities of Excellence TUM and LMU of Munich.  

We highly encourage you to apply if you:   

  • hold an excellent Bachelor’s degree in computer science, mathematics, engineering, natural sciences or other data science/machine learning/AI related disciplines,  
  • are accepted to a MSc program in said disciplines at either TUM or LMU starting in spring or fall 2024, or have applied there (Acceptance necessary before joining relAI) 
  • have a genuine interest to study reliable AI covering aspects such as safety, security, privacy and responsibility in one relAI’s research areas Mathematical & Algorithmic foundations, Algorithmic Decision-Making, Medicine & Healthcare or Robotics & Interacting Systems, and
  • can certify proficiency in English on C1 or higher level.  

📆 Application Deadline: June 17th, 2024  

🔗 Apply now: www.zuseschoolrelai.de/application