The rapid development in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) is one of the most profound challenges that are faced by our society. To address these challenges, we believe that it is important for our students, teachers and researchers to develop a comprehensive and deep understanding of the key concepts and methods in AI, based on proper mathematical modelling and analysis.
Planned education and research activities
The current elective course Seminar in the Mathematics and Data Science will be merging multiple existing teaching and research topics and include new teaching topics, e.g. ‘Introduction to Topology, Analysis and Geometry’, around key concepts such as topological spaces, groups, homology; time-frequency analysis; differential geometry.
The different chapters of the seminar will be conducted online and be open to students from all partners of this connected community. A local off-line workshop in all partners will be set up to facilitate active communications in teaching-learning as well as research based on specific chapters of the seminar.
Research-oriented learning will be encouraged. As a Seminar student you will be evaluated based on certain topics instead of exams, presenting your own investigations on the identified topics. New research based topics will include Topological and Geometrical Data Analysis, Analysis for Advanced Machine Learning and Cross Modality Deep Learning.
Joint research opportunities between the partners of the connected community will be pursued, while possible joint theses on PhD, master or bachelor levels will be actively investigated upon.
Connected Community Activities
Upcoming Activities
EU AI Week 2026 – Shaping EU AI Sovereignty – 16 – 22 March 2026
European AI Week (EU AI Week) will explore our ability to develop, master and deploy trustworthy AI solutions, aligned with European values and competitive on a global scale.
Computing the past, connecting the future: artificial intelligence for Europe’s cultural heritage, 17 March, 9:30 to 17:00
Artificial Intelligence is rapidly changing the way we live, work, and interact with the world, including how we preserve, access, and interpret Europe’s cultural heritage. The Royal Library of Belgium (KBR), together with the EUTOPIA CLARITI Connected Community, invites you to join a one-day event dedicated to the role of AI in European cultural heritage institutions. During this event, keynote speakers from European libraries and cultural institutions will share their experiences, challenges, and visions on applying AI to collections, archives, and cultural legacy.
Speaker(s): Jean-Philippe Moreux (Bibliothèque nationale de France), Mia Ridge (British Library)
Hybrid – Royal Library of Belgium (KBR), Brussels
Full programme and registration: see
The Brussels Geostat Workshop, 13-17 April, VUB Brussels campusThe aim of the workshop is to bring together researchers working at the interface of geometry and statistics to present the latest developments in their fields, with particular emphasis on topological and geometric machine learning, directional statistics, and spectral methods for data analysis. Applications to image processing will also be discussed.
Past Activities
CC Clariti is thrilled to announce a two-day seminar series that will delve into the world of text analysis, artificial intelligence (AI), and natural language processing (NLP).
Speaker: Prof. Horacio Saggion PhD., MSc., Lic. in Computer Science Chair in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence and Head of the TALN Group and Large Scale Text Understanding Systems Lab at the Department of Information and Communication Technologies, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
Seminar 1: What Can We (Still) Do with Texts? – The TALN Research Group Perspective
❖ Timing: 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM, Monday 3rd February 2025.
❖ Location: event Hall (on Entrance floor), U-Residence (VUB Campus), Blvd Géneral Jacques 271, 1050 Ixelles.
❖ Online options: the seminar can also be attended online (links will be shared per registration).
Join the TALN Research Group as Prof. Saggion shares perspectives on the evolving possibilities of text analysis. This seminar aims to promote discussions on topics such as combating misinformation, mining scientific texts for deeper insights, and translation of sign language.
Seminar 2: AI and NLP in Democracy – The iDEM Project
❖ Timing: 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM, Tuesday 4th February 2025
❖ Location: event Hall (on Entrance floor), U-Residence (VUB Campus), Blvd Géneral Jacques 271, 1050 Ixelles.
❖ Online options: the seminar can also be attended online (links will be shared per registration)
How are AI and NLP relevant to democracy? The iDEM Project sets an example on investigating the role of AI in promoting accessible communication, with specific considerations, for example, on text simplification for civic engagement. This talk will shed light on the relevance of using technology to foster inclusivity and transparency in democratic processes.
Inaugural Lecture Francqui Chair 2023-2024 by Stéphane Jaffard – 28 March 2024
Students and researchers were invited by the VUB Department of Mathematics and Data Science to attend the Inaugural Lecture of the Francqui Chair 2023-2024, awarded to Prof. Stéphane Jaffard from the Paris East Créteil University (UPEC). Some 40 participants attended the lecture ‘Detection and characterization of the singularities of functions‘, which was intended for a broad audience interested in mathematics and its applications. Prof. Jaffard explained how techniques from harmonic analysis may be used to obtain results about the oscillating singular behavior of functions and signals. Furhtermore, he presented various real-world applications in which such results play an essential role, including the detection of gravitational waves, the modelling of turbulence, and the analysis of brain data.
Mini-course Time-scale and time-frequency methods in the study of singularities of functions – 16-19 April 2024
The mini-course was given by Prof. Stéphane Jaffard at the Department of Mathematics and Data Science at the VUB from 16-19 April 2024. It consisted of four lectures and was intended for Master students, Ph.D. students, and researchers interested in harmonic analysis.
How to get involved?
(Students and educators)
Contact Prof. Ann Dooms (ann.dooms@vub.be), Prof. Kenny De Commer (kenny.de.commer@vub.be) or Els Decoster, Local Facilitator (els.decoster@vub.be)