We welcome applications from individuals who have a demonstrated interest in cooperative AI and a track record of impressive work relevant to their career stage. We particularly value candidates who are impact-driven. For more information on how applications will be assessed, please see our FAQs.
The program for the summer school will range from the "foundations" to the "frontiers" of the field, with lectures delivered by those at the forefront of cooperative AI research. The foundational aspects of the program will explore the objectives and key concepts of cooperative AI, delving into the theoretical underpinnings of the main challenges and opportunities associated with improving the cooperative intelligence of advanced AI systems. Participants will also be exposed to cutting-edge developments on the frontiers of cooperative AI research, which build upon recent progress in areas such as language modelling and multi-agent reinforcement learning.
In addition, the summer school will provide the opportunity for participants to share their own work, and to build connections with others in, or entering, the field. Dedicated sessions will focus on maximizing the real-world impact of research, including career development workshops.
The Cooperative AI Foundation is committed to the growth of a diverse and inclusive research community. We value the unique perspectives and contributions that individuals bring to the cohort. Further information about financial assistance for attendees can be found below.
Recordings of the lectures from our 2023/24 summer school can be found on the Cooperative AI Foundation's YouTube channel. The 2025 lectures will cover new topics, with the opportunity for participants to build a base of common knowledge ahead of the summer school through our Cooperative AI curriculum.
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Speakers
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Professor, University of Michigan
Michael P. Wellman is Lynn A. Conway Collegiate Professor of Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Michigan. He received a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1988 for his work in qualitative probabilistic reasoning and decision-theoretic planning. From 1988 to 1992, Wellman conducted research in these areas at the USAF’s Wright Laboratory. For the past 30+ years, his research has focused on computational market mechanisms and game-theoretic reasoning methods, with applications in electronic commerce, finance, and cyber-security. As Chief Market Technologist for TradingDynamics, Inc., he designed configurable auction technology for dynamic business-to-business commerce. Wellman previously served as Chair of the ACM Special Interest Group on Electronic Commerce (SIGecom), and as Executive Editor of the Journal of Artificial Intelligence Research. He is a Fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence and the Association for Computing Machinery.
Ariel Procaccia is Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science at Harvard University. He works on a broad and dynamic set of problems related to AI, algorithms, economics, and society. He has helped create systems and platforms that are widely used to solve everyday fair division problems, resettle refugees and select citizens’ assemblies. To make his research accessible to the public, he regularly writes opinion and exposition pieces for publications such as the Washington Post, Bloomberg, Wired and Scientific American. He is a AAAI Fellow (2024) and a recipient of the ACM SIGecom Mid-Career Award (2024), Social Choice and Welfare Prize (2020), Guggenheim Fellowship (2018), IJCAI Computers and Thought Award (2015) and Sloan Research Fellowship (2015).
Research Director, The Collective Intelligence Project
Programme Details
The summer school will take place between Wednesday 19 June and Sunday 23 June, beginning with a welcome reception on the evening of Wednesday 19 June. The full schedule will be announced by early April, when we will be making offers to applicants.
Application
Please fill out this form to apply for your place at the Cooperative AI Summer School by 23:59 AoE (UTC-12) on 7 March 2025. Notification of acceptance will be provided by 2 April 2025 at the latest. If accepted, you will be invited to confirm your registration by responding with further details and making any required payments.
The cost of the summer school is GBP 250 for students and independent researchers, and GBP 500 for faculty and other working professionals. This includes a hotel room for four nights at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Marlow (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday), dinner on the first night, and all breakfasts and lunches.
We aim to build a group that brings together a wide range of perspectives, experiences, and skills to foster a collaborative and inclusive environment. CAIF is committed to ensuring that no-one who wishes to attend the summer school is prevented from doing so due to a lack of funding. If you do not have an institution or employer that is able to cover the registration fee, you will have the opportunity to request your fee to be waived. You will be asked to upload a letter of support from your academic supervisor or equivalent. There will be bursaries available to cover additional costs (e.g. travel, visa, food) for those who would not be able to attend without financial support. Details of how to apply will be shared with successful applicants.
Sponsors
The mission of the Cooperative AI Foundation is to support research that will improve the cooperative intelligence of advanced AI for the benefit of all.
Visit sponsor website
FAQs
The summer school is in-person only, although recordings will be available on the Cooperative AI Foundation's YouTube channel.
Anyone (over the age of 18) can apply to the summer school, and we especially encourage applications from under-represented backgrounds. We expect all applicants to have at least a basic grounding in AI and the relevant mathematical background to contemporary AI research.
For the past two years we have received many more applications than places available on the summer school. We will evaluate applications against five criteria: Potential for Impact, Motivation and Engagement with Cooperative AI, Timing and Career Stage Fit, Prioritization of Challenges in Cooperative AI, and Contribution to the Summer School Cohort.
The Cooperative AI Foundation is unable to provide any kind of formal academic credit for participating in the summer school. We are, however, able to provide a digital certificate of participation for all attendees, which your institution may be willing to accept as a form of academic credit.
If you are accepted, we will send you a Stripe link, and you can pay by credit or debit card.
Cancellations at least 30 days before the start of the summer school will be refunded 50% of the registration fee, but cancellations less than 30 days before the start of the summer school will not be entitled to receive any refund. If it is possible to fill your place with another applicant, we may, at our discretion, fully reimburse you.
CAIF is committed to ensuring that no-one who wants to attend is prevented from doing so due to a lack of funding. Further details of the support we offer can be found above.
Travel to and from the summer school; dinners on the second, third and fourth nights (Thursday, Friday, Saturday); visa application costs; and other travel expenses. Please also see the answer to the previous question.
You can check if you need a visa to enter the UK by visiting the UK Government's visa checker (https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa). If you do require a visa, it is likely to be a Standard Visitor Visa. Upon receiving an offer for the summer school you will need to apply online via the UK Visas and Immigration website We can provide an invitation letter to support this process. Please provide well in advance, we are communicating decisions 3 months prior to the event to allow ample time for visa applications. The fee is approximately £100. You should also have at least 6 months of validity on your passport at the time of travel.
Please use our contact form.
