2026 N3BG Summer School

Key Theme: N3BG for improved human cognition and health
Dates: 20-21st May 2026, Sofia and Plovdiv

Program & Downloads
Key Information
Organisers

Key Information

2026 Theme

​The current AI revolution is transforming the world, yet its potential to benefit the most important asset on this planet, humans, remains to be explored. Neuroinformatics, neural networks and neurocomputers (the N3) are in the very core of this revolution.

The 4th summer school of the N3BG consortium will discuss issues of how N3 methods and systems can help humans of all ages to improve their cognitive abilities and health. This includes using both generative AI, such as LLM, and predictive AI systems, such as neuromorphic ones. If properly used, the former can help improve human knowledge and cognition and the latter – to predict early and to prevent mental and other health problems. Contemporary topics for presentations and discussions will be considered in 3 major themes:

(1) Methodological advances: advances in neuroinformatics; advances in neural networks and neurocomputers; brain-inspired computation; LLM based on novel neurocomputers (spike-based transformers); agentic AI; neuromorphic agents.

(2) Applications: LLM in education, from primary-, to tertiary- and to higher education for improved learning and cognitive skills; improving cognition in elderly population; AI in professional health practice; predictive AI for early prediction of health problems, such as: stroke, AD, dementia, MS, ADHD, depression; N3 for personalized medicine; using speech for early brain diagnosis; using sound for treatment in mental health;

(3) AI Ethics: AI against fake information; ethical use of LLM;

Other related topics can be suggested by members of N3BG.

When & Where

The N3BG 2026 summer school will be held over 2 days, in two different locations.

  • 20 May 2026 9:30-15:30, TU Sofia-Plovdiv branch, Plovdiv, Bulgaria. (The first national SIG in Bioinformatics was established in TU-Sofia Branch Plovdiv in 2004 by Prof. Kasabov (https://cst.tu-plovdiv.bg/bi/) and then coordinated by Prof. Boeva, still active area in teaching and research.)

Registration

Attendance is free for all participants, with prior registration recommended, including both on-line and on-site registration. 

To register, please send the name and the email address of the participant to the organizing co-chairs:

Program

The program is split between two locations - Plovdiv on the 20.05.2026 and Sofia on the 21.05.2026, details for each day are listed below.

The program includes short presentations of 20-50 min and panel discussions led by academics and business leaders from Bulgaria, the UK, Ireland, New Zealand, USA, Italy, Greece, Spain.

The panels will facilitate open discussions in the audience. Attendance is free for all participants, with prior registration recommended, including both on-line and on-site registration.

The programme is open to all participants to make a brief presentation or announcements during the sessions or in the last open discussion session. The school will be held in a hybrid mode, both on-site and online and the MS Teams/Zoom links are included here.

Downloadable (pdf) version of the program can be found here

Related conference: AIMSA, 2026, Sofia, 15-16 October 2026, https://aimsaconference.org

Plovdiv, 20.05.2026,

Venue: TU Plovdiv, Plovdiv 4000, 25 “Tsanko Dyustabanov”

Zoom Link for on-line participation (Meeting ID: 817 5525 1689, Passcode: 550200)

Chair: Assoc. Prof. D. Budakova

————————————————————————————

09:30 – 09.50 Session 1: Opening (20 min)

  • 1. Opening (Assoc. Prof. Budakova)

  • 2. Words by the Rector/Director of TU Sofia

  • 3. Words by the President of INNS Prof. Carlo Morabito, Italy (on-line).

  • 4. Words by the N3BG Founding Chair Prof N. Kasabov

09:50 – 11:00 Session 2: Advances in neural networks and applications for mental health (70 min)

  • Presenter 1: Prof. N. Kasabov, “ Current development in NI, NN and NC” (25 min)

  • Presenter 2: Invited speaker: Dr Zohreh Doborjeh, U.of Galway, Ireland, “Mental health and the role of brain-inspired NN for early prediction” (45 min)

11:00 – 11:30 Morning Break

11:30 – 12:00 Session 3: AI, digitalization in medicine (30 min)


12:00 – 12:20 Session 4: AI tutors in health (20 min)

  • Presenter: Assist. Prof. Georgi Pashev, PhD,

12:20 – 12:40 Session 5. LLM (20 min)

  • Presenter: Mag. Eng. Stela Stojkova, "Energy Consumption Evaluation for LLMs: The Hidden Costs of Inference"

12:40 – 14:00 Lunch break

14:00 – 14:30 Session 6: AI in Intensive Care Unit (30 min)

  • Presenter: Assoc. Prof. Ivaylo Minev, MD, PhD, ”AI in the ICU – Reality or Virtuality”

14:30 – 14:50 Session 7: AI and Virtual Reality Simulations in High-Risk Environment (20 min)

  • Presenter: Assist. Prof. Velyo Vasilev, PhD, “Application of Virtual Reality Simulations and Machine Learning Algorithms in High-Risk Environment”

14:50 – 15:10 Session 8: AI in Autonomous Driving Agents (20 min)

  • Presenter: Assoc. Prof. Dilyana Budakova, “Behavior modeling of virtual autonomous driving agent in risky scenarios.”

15:10 – 15:30 Session 9: Closing Discussion

  • Discussions, short presentations from the audience, closing remarks

  • Chair: Assoc. Prof. D. Budakova

Sofia, 21.05.2026

Venue: Sofia, TU Sofia, Darvenitza, София 1000,бул."Кл. Охридски" 8, bl.7.

MS Teams link for on-line participation

Chair: Morning sessions Prof. Trifonov; Afternoon sessions organized by C4BG (Chair Prof. L. Litov):

————————————————————————————

09:30-09:50 Opening  Session 1 (Chair  Prof. R.Trifonov) (20min)

  • Opening: Prof. Trifonov

  • Words by the Rector/Director

  • Words by the IEEE CIS President (TBC)

  • Words by the N3BG Founding Chair Prof N.Kasabov

09:50-11:00 Session 2: AI for health”: Chair Prof. I.Jordanov, U. of Portsmouth, UK, (50 min; 20 min)

11:00-11:30 Morning Break


11:30-12:00 Session  3: „Advances in computational neuroscience“  (30  min)

  • Presenter: Prof. P.Koprinkova-Hristova, IICT, BAS                           

12:00-12:50 Session 4: “Neural networks, speech and sound for cognition and health” (50 min)

  • Presenter 1: N. Kasabov, A.Yang, D.Zhang, I.Abouhassan, A.Kassabova, T.Lappas, “Spiking neural networks for emotion recognition from audiovisual data”(30 min)

  • Presenter 2: Marina Mecheva, ”Speech diagnosis and sound treatment” (20 min)

12:50-13:10 Session 4 : “Advances in neural network applications” (20 min)

  • Presenter: Prof. Galina Momcheva, IMI, BAS, Sofia
               

13:10-13:30 Session 6: “Advances of AI in cybersecurity” (20 min)

  • Presenter: Prof. R. Trifonov, TU Sofia

13:30-14:30 Lunch break

(Afternoon Sessions organized by C4BG)


14:30-15:00 Session 7. “Applications of AI in Transportation”

15:00-15:30 Session 8: “AI and Innovation”

15:30-16:00 Session 9: AI in Finance and Economics

16:00-16:30 Session 10: Closing Discussions

  • Short presentation from audience, closing remarks of the joint N3BG/C4BG event

  • Chairs:  Prof. Litov and Prof. R.Trifonov

Organisers

Organised By

Organising Committee

Current Members of the Organising Committee