2nd DAAD Zuse School Meeting

News

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
Prof. Dr. Gerhard Kramer – Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation, TUM
Prof. Dr. Hans van Ess – Vice President for Research, LMU
Dr. Kai Sicks – DAAD Secretary General
MinR’in Dr. Lisette Andreae – Head of Unit European Higher Education Area, Internationalization, BMBF
MinDir Dr. Rolf-Dieter Jungk – Bavarian State Ministry for Science and the Arts (StMWK)
Keynote Talk
Prof. Björn Ommer - Head of Computer Vision & Learning Group, LMU
Coffee break and poster exhibition
Presentations by Students from the Zuse Schools
Lunch
14:00Panel Discussion
Reliability in times of generative AI
Prof. Dr. Björn Ommer, LMU
Dr. Ahmed Sayed – Head of EMEA Emerging Technologies, Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Prof. Dr. Stefanie Speidel – NCT Department of Translational Surgical Oncology, TU Dresden
Presentations by Students from the Zuse Schools
Coffee break and poster exhibition
17:00Industry Keynote
Dr. Ahmed Sayed - Head of EMEA Emerging Technologies, AWS
Closing 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 

We are thrilled to announce our new industry partnership with SAP!

The new collaboration will strengthen the school's expertise in Business AI, and will contribute to translate our AI research into the development of reliable AI systems. You can read below the views of SAP members on this exciting alliance between relAI and SAP.

We are thrilled to extend our collaborative efforts on research-driven product innovation with the Technical University of Munich and the Munich ecosystem through our new partnership with the Konrad-Zuse-School of Excellence in Reliable AI. This expansion not only consolidates our portfolio of AI-related applied research projects, but also fosters a more profound knowledge exchange and talent engagement on topics around the development of reliable AI systems and Business AI.

- Dr. Katharina Wollenberg and Dr. Rüdiger Eichin, Industry-University Collaboration, SAP

At SAP, we are committed to help our customers leverage AI to create tremendous business value. We specialize in Business AI: AI that is relevant since it’s embedded in enterprise business applications and processes from day one; that is reliable since we train, ground, and adapt AI on companies’ business data and context; and that is responsible by design, following SAP’s rigorous AI ethics, privacy, and security practices. We are delighted to join the Konrad Zuse School of Excellence in Reliable AI and look forward to collaborating with academica to drive the development and delivery of relevant, reliable, responsible Business AI.

- Dr. Johannes Hoffart, CTO AI, SAP

Related social media posts: X & LinkedIn

Image: SAP Labs Munich Campus at Campus Garching

We are excited to announce that our second call for applications to the fully funded PhD program of our Konrad Zuse School of Excellence in Reliable AI (relAI) is now open. 

Spread the word and submit your application by January 15th, 2024 here.