AI for everyone 2025

Content

The course is led by University of Galway and will be delivered in a blended format and by several ENLIGHT universities. It will first provide 9 weeks of virtual training, which will mostly consist of pre-recorded video lectures and readings. Knowledge and skills are assessed at the end of each thematic module. In most cases, the students need to take a multiple-choice test focused on main concepts delivered during the lectures. A positive performance (i.e. at least 80%) allows the students to move to the next thematic module and is a pre-requirement for the participation in the on-site week. The evaluation is passed/failed. Successfully passing all the topics of the virtual weeks and an active participation at the on-site week is required. 

During the immersive week students will meet with the lecturers and discuss the impact of the topics introduced in the virtual part. The second part of the on-site experience will be meetings with external stakeholders using AI, practical implementation of AI, group work and discussions.

Learning outcomes

Upon completion of the course, the students will be able to:

• understand basic concepts of artificial intelligence and machine learning
• grasp the main concepts of artificial neural networks, probabilistic computation and reinforcement learning
• gain insight into what kinds of problems can be approached by AI
• learn about societal issues related to AI (ethics, law, impact)

Programme

The course will cover several topics using blended learning. Students are required to follow a set of online lectures before attending the in-class meeting on the set topic during the study week in Galway.

Topics covered*

1. Intro: history, development, how AI started in mid-20^th century
2. Core concepts: Intelligence, computation and model building
3. Supervised approaches
4. Reinforcement learning
5. Ethics of AI
6. Legal aspects of AI
7. AI and machine learning in recommender systems
8. User-centered design of AI interfaces/interaction design
9. Impact of AI on society

*The ordering and scope of these are subject to change.

Timing

• 9 weeks of Online Content (13^th January – 16^th March)
• Immersive Week @ University of Galway (7^th April – 11^th April)

Assessment

0-10 numerical scale (5=pass); active participation at the on-site meeting is required.

Lecturers

• Dr. Enda Howley, University of Galway
• Dr. Bastiaan Baccarne, University of Gent
• Dr. Igor Farkas, Comenius University, Bratislava

Course dates

On-site period: 7th April – 11th April in Galway.

Online period: 13th January – 16th March.

Entry requirements: bachelor and first master students primarily; other levels can be accepted upon relevant motivation and approval of mobility coordinator at sending institution. B2 level in English required. This course is multidisciplinary; however, having basic notions of calculus or computer science is useful and could prove necessary to satisfactorily complete some units of the module.

Students from all ENLIGHT partner universities are eligible to participate. Students will be selected at each of these universities separately. Students interested in the course need to apply via their home university. They should contact their faculty or programme to verify whether it can fit in their curriculum and to ensure academic recognition of the credits obtained. The home university will select the permitted number of students, inform the students as soon as possible, and then send these names to the host institution. Unsuccessful students will be placed on a waiting list and may get a place, if other universities do not use all their allocated places.

Please select your home university below and contact your ENLIGHT coordinator for further information on the application process or consult the linked information.

• University of the Basque Country: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• University of Bern: Application instructions for students at the University of Bern
• University of Bordeaux: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Comenius University Bratislava: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• University of Galway: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• Ghent University: Information about BIP's
• University of Groningen: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• University of Göttingen:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
• University of Tartu: Application instructions for students at the University of Tartu
• Uppsala University: Application instructions for students at Uppsala University.

Therese McIntyre: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.