Michael Biehl
University of Groningen
2026 School on Analytical Connectionism
A 2-week summer course hosted at Chalmers University of Technology on analytical approaches to language acquisition and higher-level cognition.
Overview
Analytical Connectionism is a 2-week summer course on analytical tools, including methods from statistical physics and probability theory, for probing neural networks and higher-level cognition. The course brings together neuroscience, psychology and machine-learning communities, and introduces attendees to analytical methods for neural-network analysis and connectionist theories of higher-level cognition and psychology.
Connectionism, a key theoretical approach in psychology, uses neural-network models to simulate a wide range of phenomena, including perception, memory, decision-making, language, and cognitive control. However, most connectionist models remain, to a certain extent, black boxes, and we lack a mathematical understanding of their behaviours. Recent progress in theoretical neuroscience and machine learning has provided novel analytical tools that have advanced our mathematical understanding of deep neural networks, and have the potential to help make these “black boxes” more transparent.
During the School, teams of students work closely to develop research projects on topics related to analytical connectionism, presenting initial proposals during week one and interim results at the School’s conclusion. Participant projects from prior Schools have led to publications at NeurIPS. Furthermore, students collaboratively produce lecture notes, which will then be collected in a peer-reviewed special issue to create a permanent resource for the community. Participant projects and notes from prior schools have led to publications at venues like NeurIPS and PMLR.
Additionally, students are grouped based on their expertise and preferences and assigned to take notes for a specific lecturer. These notes are peer-reviewed and published in a special journal issue. Currently, lecture notes from the 2023 and 2024 editions of the school are being collected into a publication in the Proceedings of Machine Learning Research (PMLR). This initiative aims to make the content accessible to future participants and those who were unable to attend, while providing note-takers with the opportunity to contribute to a formal publication.
📚 This year's School will have a topical focus on language acquisition.
How can a learner infer linguistic knowledge from sensory data? How is syntactic, lexical, phonological, and other linguistic knowledge integrated over the course of development? This year's school will explore the application of analytical methods to this research area that is undergoing a resurgence in interest due to the capabilities of large language models.
How can a learner infer linguistic knowledge from sensory data? How is syntactic, lexical, phonological, and other linguistic knowledge integrated over the course of development? This year's school will explore the application of analytical methods to this research area that is undergoing a resurgence in interest due to the capabilities of large language models.
This course will introduce:
- mathematical methods for neural-network analysis, providing a solid overview of the analytical tools available to understand neural-network models;
- key connectionist models and empirical findings from developmental psycholinguistics, which provide targets for analytical results.
During the course, you will:
- attend lectures given by leading researchers on theoretical methods and applications, key connectionist models, and experimental observations;
- participate in tutorials, poster sessions, and contributed talks.
- present to and engage with lecturers, organisers, and other participants during a poster session;
- collaborate in a group with other participants on a novel research project, mentored by the course organisers and lecturers.
- work together and co-author lecture notes for publication in a special issue.
Important dates
- Applications open
- February 13, 2026
- Application deadline
- April 17, 2026
- Outcome communicated
- May 24, 2026
- Deadline to accept admission
- June 14, 2026
Application details
Applications to the 2026 School on Analytical Connectionism are open!
Please apply via the application form.
Please apply via the application form.
Target audience
This course is appropriate for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and early-career faculty in psychology, neuroscience, physics, computer science, and mathematics. The course is limited to 40 attendees to ensure a balance across fields. Attendees are expected to have a strong background in one of these disciplines and to have made some effort to introduce themselves to a complementary discipline.
We are committed to making this course open to all talented individuals. We strongly encourage students from underrepresented groups to apply and will offer bursaries to applicants who face financial barriers. In circumstances where all other things are equal, priority will be given to qualified applicants from underrepresented groups.
Course fees
There is a course fee of 2,000 SEK. Attendees are expected to cover their own travel, accommodation and other subsistence expenses. Lunch and coffee/tea breaks will be provided on course days, and there will be one course dinner.
Cancellation policy:
- Within 7 days of registering/making the booking: 100% refund
- After 7 days of registering/making the booking and up to 15 days before the start of the school: 80% refund
- Less than 15 days before the start of the school: no refund
Financial assistance via travel grant may be available for successful applicants who find it difficult to take up a place for financial reasons. Applicants are asked to indicate in their application if they would like to be considered for financial aid. The amount of financial aid available will depend on the course funding from grants and sponsors.
Lecturers
Core lecturers
Caroline Rowland
Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics
Paul Smolensky
Microsoft Research & Johns Hopkins
Frontier lecturers
Marco Baroni
ICREA & Pompeu Fabra University
Francesco Cagnetta
SISSA
Alex Cristia
ENS & CNRS
Bruno Loureiro
ENS & CNRS
Kanishka Misra
UT Austin
Isabel Papadimitriou
University of British Columbia
Luca Saglietti
Bocconi University
Asad Sayeed
Gothenburg University
Larissa Samuelson
University of East Anglia
Kenny Smith
University of Edinburgh
Chris Summerfield
Oxford University
Course content
This year’s school will unite theoretical scientists with computational and experimental neuroscientists and psycholinguists to focus on language acquisition. The curriculum will address how a learner can infer structured grammatical knowledge from raw sensory and linguistic input. We will disseminate cutting-edge analytical tools capable of providing a principled understanding of this process in high-dimensional, non-linear systems.
Topics will include:
- analytical frameworks for understanding bias from statistical physics;
- empirical findings from developmental psycholinguistics with existing computational frameworks.
- emergent theories to identify statistical properties of linguistic environments that enable learning.
- understanding the emergence of syntactic and semantic representations in high-dimensional spaces.
Organizers
Local organisers
School directors
Erin Grant
New York University
Stefano Sarao Mannelli
Chalmers University of Technology & Gothenburg University
Advisors
FAQ
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I need a visa to attend the programme. Will you provide support? Sweden is part of the Schengen Area. If you require a Schengen visa, we will provide an official invitation letter to support your application after you have accepted your place. Please begin the visa application process as soon as possible, as processing times can be long.
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Where can I stay in Gothenburg? Gothenburg offers a range of accommodation options. In addition to listings on platforms such as Airbnb and Booking.com, we have arranged discounted rates for participants at the following locations:
- Holtermanns: Double rooms available for 800 SEK per night (can be shared by two people) and family rooms for 1200 SEK per night (can be shared by three people).
- Göteborgs Vandrarhem (Hostel): Multiple-bed rooms (6, 7, and 8 beds; separated by gender) for 395 SEK per person/night; 4-bed rooms for 475 SEK per person/night; and 2-bed rooms for 550 SEK per person/night.
- Comfort Hotel Panorama: Single room at a discounted rate of 875 SEK / night. A link will be provided in the acceptance email (discount valid until July 17).
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Will I receive individual feedback if my application is not successful? Unfortunately, due to the large number of applicants, we are unable to offer individual feedback on unsuccessful applications.
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What are the requirements for poster presentations? Due to space constraints, posters must be in A1 portrait format (594mm x 841mm).
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What are the requirements for spotlight presentations? Presentations will be short, likely a maximum of 5 minutes. We will email final guidelines to all presenters closer to the programme start date.
Sponsors
This summer course is made possible by the generous support of Chalmers' Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Area of Advance, and the Chalmers Artificial Intelligence Research Centre (CHAIR).
