[agents] International Research-centered Summer School 2013 (in progress)

[Ioannis Vetsikas]

The International Research-centered Summer School is currently taking
place in the Institute of Informatics and Telecommunications of NCSR
"Demokritos". It specializes in computer science (more specifically
artificial intelligence), giving the opportunity to 23 foreign and Greek
students and researchers to attend it. It has an innovative format putting
the emphasis on the completion of research mini-projects, which give hands
on research experience to the participants; although lectures on a broad
spectrum of computer science topics are also part of the curriculum. The
school is being held for the first time in Greece, and is organized by:
•	the Knowledge Engineering and Software (SKEL) Lab of the Institute of
Informatics and Telecommunications of NCSR "Demokritos":
http://www.iit.demokritos.gr/
•	the Athens Technology Center: http://www.atc.gr/
•	the Interactive Robots and Media Laboratory of NYU: http://www.irmllab.com/

Lasting for a whole month, from 4 to 31 July, participants have the
opportunity to attend lectures given by leading scientists working in the
fields of artificial intelligence, robotics, social media and other
innovative technologies and actively participate in related research
activities. More specifically, students have already attended lectures and
had the opportunity to discuss and exchange opinions with leading
scientists such as Prof. Joseph Sifakis, founder of the Verimag lab in
Grenoble and a Turing award winner, Prof. Tom Ziemke, Director of the
Cognition and Interaction Lab at the University of Skövde, Sweden. Several
distinguished speakers are scheduled to visit the school in order to give
lectures over the next couple of weeks (see the school’s schedule at
http://irss.iit.demokritos.gr/calendar/syllabus).

Apart from these lectures which serve to inform and also to inspire them,
the school’s participants have the opportunity to become active members of
the research teams of the Institute by doing research on specific
scientific topics. More specifically, based on their stated interests and
research backgrounds, participants were divided into eight different
research activities, in the areas of cognitive systems, interactive
robotics, social media and networks, digital preservation, etc. In
collaboration with and under the supervision of experienced scientists
from NCSR "Demokritos" and other research centers and universities, the
program aims to guide the participants into taking an active role within
their project and research group and teach them invaluable research and
collaboration skills.

Local Organizers:
Dr. Vangelis Karkaletsis: vangelis at iit.demokritos.gr
Dr. Anastasia Krithara: akrithara at iit.demokritos.gr
Dr. Ioannis Vetsikas: ivetsikas at iit.demokritos.gr

For more information visit the School’s webpage:
http://irss.iit.demokritos.gr/