FAQ

1. Who can apply to the school? Is the school open to only students? Is the school open to only Eastern European students?

   • Everyone 18+ is welcome to apply, regardless of location or whether you are a student or not. We strive to have participants with diverse backgrounds to encourage networking between academic and industry communities from all over the world. The location of the summer school is tied to Eastern Europe to raise visibility of the local Machine Learning communities. But, we are looking for participants coming from any region of the world.

2. I've attended a recent edition of the school (EEML2023, EEML2022). Can I apply again?

   • The selection will favor candidates who didn't attend the school before, but this is not a hard rejection rule. You can still be accepted if your application is very good.

3. What is the required level of knowledge in Machine Learning to apply for this school? I am a beginner in Machine Learning. Can I still apply?

   • Participants are expected to:

     • have experience in programming (preferably Python); knowledge of any modern framework for neural networks (JAX, TensorFlow, Keras, PyTorch, etc.) will come in handy, though it is not strictly necessary;

     • be familiar with notions of Linear Algebra, Probability Theory, and general Machine Learning;

     • be very interested in learning about advanced topics in Deep Learning and Reinforcement Learning.

4. What programming language will be used during the labs?

   • Python together with a Deep Learning library (e.g. JAX, PyTorch).

5. What environment will be used to run the experiments at the labs?

   • The experiments will run in Colab - a framework provided by Google where you can access for free the Google cloud (CPU or GPU) to run ML experiments. You can use Colab on your own as well, independent from the school. All you need is a Gmail account.

6. Who can apply for travel grants? Are travel grants available only for students?

   • If you are interested in the topics of the summer school but the fees might prevent you from attending, please apply for a travel grant. These are open to everyone, not only students. When submitting your application, please give a justification for your request. The funding will vary on a case-by-case basis and will cover fully or partially the costs of attending the school (registration, accommodation, travel).

   • Travel grants are offered on financial considerations only, not on merit.

7. What will I gain from attending this school?

   • During the school, participants will be exposed to both fundamental and advanced topics related to machine learning. By the end of the school, participants are expected to:

     • be familiar with terminology used in the field (e.g., skip connections, BPTT, off/on policy, etc.);

     • have a good understanding of both basic and more advanced notions in Deep Learning and Reinforcement Learning;

     • understand what are the open questions in the field and what are the emergent topics;

     • be exposed to some of the theoretical underpinnings and latest developments in the theoretical study of deep neural networks;

     • be familiar with commonly-used neural network architectures (CNNs, RNNs, GNNs and Transformers);

     • understand good practices for setting up learning experiments (e.g., getting baselines, hyper-parameter tuning, etc.);

     • be able to design, train and test a neural network for a specific task using a Deep Learning library;

     • be able to analyse and diagnose network behaviour (e.g., overfitting).

   • The school will offer the opportunity to gain visibility and network with peers and top researchers in the field through social events and poster sessions.

8. Can I use my own laptop for the practical sessions?

   • We strongly recommend bringing your own laptop. There are no specific hardware requirements. Only make sure you have Google Chrome installed, which is used to access the lab environment, Colab.  If you can't bring your laptop, we will provide a computer. During registration, you will be asked to specify whether you can bring your own laptop.

10. Will I receive a proof of attendance?

• • Yes, participants will receive an electronic certificate at the end of the school that will include details about the number of hours of lectures, lab sessions, poster sessions attended during the school. This information can be used by each university or doctoral school to calculate the corresponding number of ECTS credits. 

11. Do I need a visa to attend the summer school?

• • Depending on your nationality, you might need a visa to travel to Serbia for the school. More details coming soon. 

  • Note that if you have a Schengen visa, you will not need an additional Serbian visa.

Your question is not in the list?

Please write to us at contact@eeml.eu.