SUMMER AI PhD BOOTCAMP 2026 

24-27 June 2026

A new generation of talent meets a new generation of European innovation.

Summer AI PhD Bootcamp 2026 is an intensive, highly specialised training and innovation programme for doctoral candidates, postdoctoral researchers and early-stage scientists working across artificial intelligence, engineering, biomedicine, genetics, bioinformatics, neuroscience and related disciplines.

Set on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, the Bootcamp brings together 30 young researchers, 15 mentors and lecturers, and 5 corporate partners for four days of deep work, multidisciplinary collaboration, real-world problem solving and pan-European networking.

This programme brings together participants from diverse scientific and technological backgrounds to tackle complex challenges at the intersection of AI, health, engineering, cybersecurity, digital twins, and emerging deep-tech applications.

Structurally integrated into Spinoff Initiative 2026, the Bootcamp serves as a launchpad for:

• Accelerating the translation of scientific research into applied solutions
• Building working AI prototypes (TRL 2–4) on real industrial challenges
• Creating multidisciplinary teams with strong innovation potential
• Generating new spinoff initiatives and European project consortia
• Strengthening the bridge between academia, industry and the innovation ecosystem

The programme aligns with European priorities under the AI Act, the Digital Europe Programme, and Horizon Europe, and brings talent, collaboration, and ideas into Europe’s growing deep-tech valorisation pipeline.

APPLY NOW! 

FOR PARTNERS & COMPANIES

Want to engage with Europe's next generation of AI talent — before everyone else does?

Corporate partners and industry organisations are essential to the Bootcamp. By joining us in Burgas, you get direct access to 30+ carefully selected young researchers working on real challenges — months before they hit the talent market.

Ways to engage

• Provide real-world challenges from your industrial or scientific practice — and get 6–8 concepts back

• Lecture or mentor a team through the 4 days

• Join the Demo Day jury — evaluate prototypes alongside investors and industry leaders

• Provide data, technology or infrastructure for the project teams

• Sponsor a thematic lab (e.g. SemiGirls, Industrial AI, Biomedical AI)

• Support follow-on initiatives — pilots, joint projects, spinoff partnerships

• Help us spread the word through your network of doctoral candidates and academic partners

Partner benefits

• Direct access to high-quality AI and deep-tech talent

• Identification of innovative solutions and technologies with deployment potential

• Positioning as an active player in Europe's AI ecosystem, nationally and internationally

• New partnerships with universities, research organisations and tech companies

• Inclusion in future European project consortia and initiatives

• Full visibility across Spinoff Initiative 2026 and its 6 flagship events

Become a Partner and contact us directly at info@spinoff.bg

Part of the Spinoff Initiative 2026 — Europe’s leading platform for science-based innovation, technology transfer and deep-tech entrepreneurship. The Summer AI PhD Bootcamp serves as the Initiative’s flagship talent-development and innovation format, empowering the next generation of researchers to transform scientific excellence into AI prototypes, collaborations and future spinoff ventures across Europe.