HSE University and Yandex to Host International AI Olympiad for Students
The HSE Faculty of Computer Science and Yandex Education are launching their first joint AI competition, Artificial Intelligence and Data Analysis Olympiad (AIDAO), for students from around the world. Participants will tackle challenging tasks in science and industry and interact with experts from HSE and Yandex. The winners will receive cash prizes.
Students from technical programmes at Russian and international universities are eligible to participate. The goal of the Olympiad is to identify talented students and challenge them with tasks that require innovative thinking and in-depth knowledge. First place winners will receive 600,000 roubles, second place—450,000 roubles, and third place—300,000 roubles.
Nikita Anisimov
‘We see the demand for AI experts growing every year, and HSE is one of the top Russian universities for training AI specialists. We have extensive experience in organising various types of Olympiads, and together with Yandex, a recognised industry leader and our long-time partner, we aim to create a synergy that will allow students from different countries to showcase their talents in AI and big data. This Olympiad will help them fully realise their potential both during their studies and in their future careers,’ said HSE University Rector Nikita Anisimov.
The Olympiad consists of two stages: online and offline. Registration for the first stage will start on September 9 and last until October 5, 2024. Students must complete one task on the Yandex Contest platform to participate. All submissions will be automatically checked in the first stage. If the task is solved correctly and meets the requirements, participants will advance to the next round.
The second stage will take place from November 30 to December 2, 2024, in Moscow. Projects will be evaluated by a panel of experts, including Evgeny Sokolov, Head of the Big Data and Information Retrieval School at the HSE Faculty of Computer Science, Elena Kantonistova, Academic Supervisor of the HSE Artificial Intelligence Programme, Aleksey Tolstikov, Head of Yandex School of Data Analysis, Alexander Mamaev, Head of ML at Yandex Taxi, and Denis Derkach, Director for Applied Research and Development at the AI and Digital Science Institute and Head of the Laboratory of Methods for Big Data Analysis (LAMBDA) at the HSE Faculty of Computer Science.
Darya Kozlova
‘Yandex continues to develop educational formats to address the shortage of highly qualified professionals in the field of artificial intelligence. We currently offer bachelor's, master's, and doctoral programmes in AI. This year, we introduced interdisciplinary programmes on neural networks for students from various fields, and now, together with HSE University, we are launching the first international Olympiad. Our goal is to share expertise and create conditions for talented students to gain experience aligned with industry needs,’ noted Darya Kozlova, Director of Yandex Education.
The Olympiad tasks are created by researchers and experts from Yandex and HSE University and are based on real-world product cases. For example, the tasks include predicting satellite positions using AI, estimating taxi drivers’ waiting times, or interpreting physiological data using computer vision and data analysis knowledge.
The assignment texts will be provided in English. To complete them, participants need to have a good understanding of mathematical statistics, probability theory, basic algorithms and data structures, time series analysis, fundamental machine learning techniques, and deep learning frameworks. Additionally, they should be able to work with data, be proficient in Python programming, and have skills in teamwork and presenting results.
To participate in the Olympiad, you can submit a team application (comprising 2-3 members) or join existing teams.
See also:
Winners of the International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence Admitted to HSE University
In mid-August, Bulgaria hosted the finals of the first International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence (IOAI) among high school students. The Russian team demonstrated excellent results, winning gold medals in the scientific round, silver medals in the practical round, and coming first in both rounds overall. This year two members of the Russian team were accepted into the programmes of the HSE Faculty of Computer Science.
Artificial and Augmented Intelligence: Connecting Business, Education and Science
The history of AI research in Nizhny Novgorod dates back to the 1960s and 1970s. Today, AI technologies, from voice assistants and smart home systems to digital twin creation and genome sequencing, are revolutionising our life. Natalia Aseeva, Dean of the Faculty of Informatics, Mathematics and Computer Science at HSE Campus in Nizhny Novgorod, discusses how the advancement of AI connects science, business, and education.
HSE University Leads the AI Alliance Ranking
The AI Alliance Russia has released a new ranking of Russian universities based on the quality of education in the field of AI. Similar to last year, HSE University has joined the leaders in A+ group alongside MIPT and ITMO. A total of 207 universities from 69 Russian regions participated in the ranking. In 2024, over 35,000 students were enrolled in AI-related programmes at these universities.
Reinforcement Learning Enhances Performance of Generative Flow Networks
Scientists at the AI Research Centre and the AI and Digital Science Institute of the HSE Faculty of Computer Science applied classical reinforcement learning algorithms to train generative flow networks (GFlowNets). This enabled significant performance improvements in GFlowNets, which have been employed for three years in tackling the most complex scientific challenges at modelling, hypothesis generation, and experimental design stages. The results of their work achieved a top 5% ranking among publications at the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Statistics AISTATS, held on May 2-4, 2024, in Valencia, Spain.
‘I Came Up with the Idea to Create an Application Useful for Practicing Physicians’
Dmitry Ryabtsev, a 2024 graduate of the master's programme at the HSE Faculty of Computer Science, created an AI-powered software service for ophthalmology during his two years of study. This product is now entering the market, and its developer plans to participate in establishing a working group on software engineering for medical applications at the HSE Faculty of Computer Science, with the goal of promoting more genuinely useful domestic projects. In an interview with HSE News Service, Dr Ryabtsev shared his story of how a professional doctor turned into a programmer.
HSE University and Sber Conduct Foresight in Artificial Intelligence
HSE University, in collaboration with Sber, have conducted a foresight study on artificial intelligence (AI). Its early results were discussed by the participants of a strategic foresight session on exploratory research in AI, held at the Coordination Centre of the Russian Government, headed by Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko. The results from the foresight study will inform the Unified Research and Development Programme in the Field of AI.
White Papers of AI Conformity Assessment Published on HSE University Website
The Russian Technical Committee for the Standardization of ‘Artificial intelligence’ (TC164), together with the Chamber for Indo Russo Technology Collaboration and the RUSSOFT Non-profit Partnership of Software Developers, has published new White Papers related to Artificial Intelligence Conformity Assessment. It reflects the approaches to the standardization and ethical regulation of AI technologies in two pilot industries — healthcare and agriculture.
Space for Collaboration in Artificial Intelligence
The HSE Laboratory of Artificial Intelligence for Cognitive Sciences (AICS) has launched regular seminars, offering students and scientists from various universities and research centres the opportunity to share their latest research and discuss the most recent developments in artificial intelligence in a friendly and constructive atmosphere. The first seminar was held on May 15.
Scientists Propose Star-Shaped Diffusion Model
Scientists at the AI Research Centre and the Faculty of Computer Science at HSE University, the Artificial Intelligence Research Institute (AIRI), and Sber AI have come up with novel architecture for diffusion neural networks, making it possible to configure eight distinct types of noise distribution. Instead of the classical Markov chain model with Gaussian distribution, the scientists propose a star-shaped model where the distribution type can be selected and preset. This can aid in solving problems across various geometric modalities. The results were presented at the NeurIPS 2023 conference.
HSE Scientists Leverage AI to Accelerate Advancement of 5G and 6G Wireless Communication Systems
The HSE Artificial Intelligence Centre has developed software for modelling radio channels in 5G and 6G wireless networks, based on ray tracing and machine learning techniques. Their software solutions enable modelling radio wave propagation between transmitters and receivers and can convert ray tracing data into a frame sequence format, configure and train neural networks based on this data, and subsequently save the trained models.