EDS2026

The ELLIS Doctoral Symposium (EDS) 2026, organised by ELLIS Unit Lisbon, brought together more than 100 PhD students, postdocs, researchers, and AI experts from across Europe at Instituto Superior Técnico in Lisbon from 27–30 July 2026. This year’s symposium, centred on “Trustworthy AI”, provided a dedicated space for PhD students and early-career researchers to share their research, exchange ideas, develop connections, and engage with leading figures in AI and machine learning. The four-day programme combined scientific presentations, keynote talks, poster sessions, panel discussions, and an Industry Fair, creating opportunities for participants to engage with researchers and representatives from industry.

The scientific programme brought together a diverse group of established and early-career ELLIS researchers from leading institutions, covering topics including multilingual and multimodal AI, the theory and safety of deep learning models, trustworthy AI in finance, causality and climate science, social robotics, medical imaging, and trustworthy and robust foundation models. Keynote and invited speakers included Desmond Elliott from the University of Copenhagen, Asja Fischer, Unit Director and Scholar at Ruhr University Bochum, Miguel Couceiro from the University of Lisbon, Gustau Camps-Valls, Program Director and Fellow at the University of Valencia, Matthias Bethge, Unit Director of ELLIS Tübingen and Program Director and Fellow at the Tübingen AI Center and University of Tübingen, as well as André Martins and Ana Paiva, Fellows at Instituto Superior Técnico.

The programme also highlighted the work of early-career researchers, with contributions from Catarina Barata from ISR-Lisboa and IST, Emanuel Gonçalves from INESC-ID and IST, as well as Zita Marinho and Marcos Treviso from Instituto de Telecomunicações and IST. A central part of the programme was the opportunity for PhD students to present their own research: 16 PhD students delivered scientific talks, alongside more than 50 poster presentations showcasing research from across the ELLIS community.

The Industry Fair brought together 17 companies and organisations working across different areas of AI, technology, research, and innovation. Participating organisations included CircuitLeap, Critical TechWorks, DareData, ELIAS Alliance, Faber, Feedzai, Fraunhofer AICOS Portugal, G-Research, IB-IDEAS Poland, IDMind, INESC-ID, LOKA, NeuralShift/Affine, Opnova, OutSystems, Sword Health, and Zendesk. The Fair gave PhD students the opportunity to learn about different career paths, explore potential collaborations, and connect directly with companies and organisations working on real-world AI applications and technologies.

Beyond the scientific programme, participants had several opportunities for informal interaction and networking, including a Gala Dinner and a rooftop sunset gathering. These social events complemented the academic programme and helped foster new connections within the ELLIS community.

Through its combination of scientific exchange, opportunities for students to present their work, industry engagement, and social activities, EDS 2026 brought together a vibrant international community to build and strengthen connections among the next generation of AI researchers in Europe. We look forward to EDS 2027 in Jena!