Global AI Leaders to Gather in Budapest: HUN-REN to Host Free International Symposium

Following the success of last year’s event, HUN-REN and NTU are once again jointly organizing the symposium. The conference, held in Buildings K and Q of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME), a key partner of the event, serves both as a shared scientific forum and as an innovation platform for leading research communities from Europe and Asia. A key objective of the organizers is to ensure that the Hungarian scientific and business ecosystem—researchers, doctoral candidates, developers, and corporate decision-makers—participates not merely as observers but as equal partners in the global AI dialogue. This is further supported by the fact that, unlike comparable international events of similar scale and prestige, the symposium is free to attend and only subject to prior registration and confirmation.

Industry partners—including Bosch, Ericsson, KPMG, and AUMOVIO—will also participate, ensuring that the event provides a genuine interface between science and industry. Participants will gain insights not only into the latest research developments in artificial intelligence, but also into their practical, industrial, and societal applications.

“Strengthening scientific excellence is no longer conceivable without artificial intelligence, which is fundamentally transforming the practice of research. At HUN-REN, we are consciously preparing for this future: on the one hand, we support our researchers with AI tools; on the other, we are developing programmes that explore how scientific activity itself can be reimagined through autonomous intelligence. The AI Symposium provides not only inspiration, but also international connections and tangible opportunities for collaboration,” said Roland Jakab, CEO of HUN-REN.

The invited speakers represent leading global research institutions and technology companies, and thus the international forefront of AI research and application. In addition to the speakers already mentioned, presentations will be delivered by Davide Scaramuzza, Professor at the University of Zurich with an extremely high citation rate (h-index of 134) and a leading European expert in robotics, computer vision, and autonomous systems; Federico Tombari, Research Director at Google Zurich; and Philip W. Y. Chiu, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Chinese University of Hong Kong and Professor of robotic surgery.

The symposium will address key issues in artificial intelligence across four main thematic areas.

One central theme is trustworthy and sustainable AI, which underpins many other areas of AI research. This section will explore how to enhance the theoretical reliability of AI models, improve their resilience against adversarial attacks, and reduce the carbon footprint of AI through more efficient algorithms and optimized training processes.

Another key focus area is the intersection of AI with healthcare and medicine, where theoretical advances and practical applications are closely intertwined. Presentations will highlight breakthroughs in diagnostics, patient care, and surgical procedures; the future of personalized medicine and drug discovery; and the role of robotics in surgery.

Artificial intelligence also plays a crucial role in industrial automation and autonomous systems. Topics such as machine vision, object recognition, and spatial perception are not only theoretical challenges but also foundational to the development of autonomous vehicles. Presentations in this section will address both recent advances and the challenges of deploying these technologies at scale in a reliable and ethical manner.

The symposium will also cover key issues in quantum technologies, including cutting-edge theoretical research (such as multipartite quantum entanglement and quantum simulation), as well as the impact of emerging solutions on fields such as cryptography, drug discovery, materials science, and artificial intelligence.

Day 0 of the symposium (20 May) will be dedicated to early-career researchers, who will have the opportunity to present their work in a dedicated Poster Booster Session at the HUN-REN headquarters. Applicants may submit abstracts until 7 May. The best posters will also be exhibited at the conference venue, providing further opportunities for presentation and professional exchange with leading experts in the field. This format reflects HUN-REN’s commitment to ensuring that the Hungarian research and innovation community is not a mere observer but plays an active role in shaping international AI developments.

The continuously updated programme and list of speakers are available on the HUN-REN website:
https://hun-ren.hu/ai-symposium/

Registration is available at:
https://hun-ren.hu/ai-symposium-2026-registration

HUN-REN Communications