event
Jan Smeddick is one of the Scientific Chairs, together with Katharina Rohlfing and Terry Steward, for this unique spring school in Germany this year.
The Interdisciplinary College (IK) is a spring school like no other.
Set in the peaceful surroundings of Lake Möhne in Germany, IK is an incubator for curiosity – where you could find yourself discussing (developmental) psychology on a hike, chatting about AI while playing table tennis, or taking a course on insect-inspired robotics.
And this all takes place in an unique event space (food, lodging, and swimming pool included).

A meeting of minds
IK has interdisciplinary in the title, because it is just that.
Imagine finding yourself sitting at a fireplace at 2am after a spontaneous jam session, with people from all different research backgrounds talking about the same subject from entirely different angles – that’s IK2020.
Get involved in courses on zoology and human augmentation, make connections with researchers in physics, computer science, biology and more.
IK is for anyone who works in cognition, from the biological to the constructed, from humans to AI.
Embrace the unknown
Each year has sparked discussion around a totally different theme, and this year’s theme: Curiosity, Risk and Reward: Shaping Autonomous Intelligence – invites you to embrace the unknown and get curious with other brilliant minds from across the world.
This year’s speakers include experts on how children’s curiosity help them learn Gert Westerman and Sao Mai Nguyen, insect robotics expert Barbara Webb, specialist in development of intelligence and curiosity Celeste Kidd, and behavioral zoologist Alex Kacelnik.
Want to get even more involved? Participants can present their latest research projects at the IK Poster and Demo Sessions or run a short “Rainbow” course about their own research.
The important stuff
IK will take place between 13 to 20 March 2020.
IK is aimed at postgraduates, students and researchers from academia and industry.
Want to keep carbon emissions down? The nearest station ‘Soest’ can easily be reached via German Railway (DB) and there will be Shuttle buses to the venue on the first day of the conference (and for the way back at the end).
A bit of history
IK started in 1997, evolving from the former ‘Artificial Intelligence Spring School’ (KIFS), and is held in English.
Register for the Interdisciplinary College (IK) here to join in.
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