Prof. Dragomir Radev to Speak at Launch of AI and Computer Science Institute

April 8, 2022

Prof. Dragomir Radev will speak Monday at the National Palace of Culture in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, at the launch of the Institute for Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence and Technology (INSAIT), a first-of-its-kind institute for artificial intelligence (AI) and computer science in Eastern Europe.

Located in Bulgaria, INSAIT was created in partnership with Switzerland’s ETH Zurich and EPFL (École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne). Its mission is to transform the world through excellence in science, research, and education. Through world-class research, attracting international scientists, and training the next-generation of graduate and undergraduate students, INSAIT’s leaders seek to develop future thought leaders and inventors of world-changing technologies.

Radev, the A. Bartlett Giamatti Professor of Computer Science, serves as the chair of INSAIT’s advisory committee, composed of prominent computer science researchers from MIT, Princeton, Cornell, and other universities and major tech companies that are providing organizational support for INSAIT.

“I am thrilled to see such a world class Computer Science and AI institute shaping up in my native city,” Radev said. “INSAIT will provide enormous opportunity to attract highly talented people in Bulgaria and from around the world and promote Sofia as a major science and technology hub.”

INSAIT is expected to have transformational effects on society and the economy at large: attracting high-quality diverse talent to the region, preventing brain drain, creating new state-of-the-art educational programs, pushing towards a more product-driven economy by inventing high-valued intellectual property, enabling deep research-guided technological companies, and attracting big technology companies. 

The official launch of INSAIT will stream live April 11 from Sofia, Bulgaria. In addition to Prof. Radev, speakers include:

- Kiril Petkov, prime minister of Bulgaria

- Rumen Radev, president of Bulgaria

- Prof. Dan Shechtman, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. 

- Prof. Shafi Goldwasser, Turing Award winner

- Joël Mesot, president of ETH Zurich 

- Prof. Martin Vetteli, president of EPFL Lausanne

- Prof. Martin Vechev, professor at ETH Zurich and the architect of the new institute.

- Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Education and Youth

- Prof. Maria Leptin, president of European Research Council

- Jeff Dean, head of Google AI

The opening will be live streamed starting at 11 AM Eastern European Time on Monday, April 11.

Go here for details: https://insait.ai/