site.btaNew Partnership Enables Bulgarian Researchers to Train at MIT AI Lab

“The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has very few similar programmes worldwide. They have chosen INSAIT. This comes after nearly a year of talks and discussions that we have conducted,” said Prof. Martin Vechev, scientific director and founder of INSAIT (Institute of Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence and Technology) at Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski," during an official ceremony marking the launch of the joint programme with United States’ MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (MIT CSAIL) on Wednesday.

The programme’s launch took place at INSAIT’s headquarters in Sofia Tech Park. The event was attended by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Innovation and Growth Tomislav Donchev, US Charge d’Affaires in Bulgaria Martin McDowell, Sofia University Deputy Rector Tony Spasov, INSAIT Scientific Director and Founder Martin Vechev, the institute’s Executive Director Borislav Petrov, MIT CSAIL Director Armando Solar-Lezama and America for Bulgaria Foundation Executive Director Desislava Taliokova.

“The programme allows scientists and researchers joining INSAIT and Sofia University, with a long-term plan, to specialize and spend one year at MIT CSAIL,” said Prof. Vechev. After returning to Bulgaria, participants will apply the knowledge and experience they gained at MIT: “During the following year, this person will come back to Bulgaria and will transfer the knowledge, skills, and experience here, at INSAIT and universities across the country,” he added.

In his speech, Prof. Armando Solar-Lezama emphasized the importance of international collaboration for the advancement of science: “One of the essential things for this kind of ecosystem is to have the best people from around the world collaborating with us. The opportunity to build this kind of partnership with centers of excellence that nurture strong researchers globally is very, very important,” he said.

The American professor expressed optimism about the future of the partnership, noting that he looks forward to the start of the collaboration and hopes it will continue for many years.

MIT consistently ranks first in global rankings for engineering and technology sciences, including the QS World University Rankings for Computer Science and Technology. MIT CSAIL is the largest research lab in computer science at MIT and is behind iconic achievements such as RSA cryptography, the first autonomous robots, and the foundations of modern machine learning.