AITHYRA Life Sciences School 2026

From August 23 to August 30, 2026 in Vienna

STEM education and the training of future scientists, innovators, and high-tech entrepreneurs play a key role in Ukraine's future recovery. The Ukrainian education system excels at identifying gifted youths and at nurturing them in specialised STEM schools and a highly-developed culture of science olympiads and research competitions. This experience should be studied and supported at the highest level, recognizing it as a national asset. Collaborative projects in STEM education between Ukraine and the EU will be to everyone's benefit and promote Ukraine's further integration into the EU.

The AITHYRA Life Sciences School is a one-week program for Ukrainian high school students who have excelled at science competitions in chemistry, biology and medicine. The goal is to foster the students’ interest in science, to introduce them to potential research careers, and to inspire them to apply their talents to shape Ukraine’s future. During their week in Vienna, participants will engage with leading scientists of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the University of Vienna, the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), and the TU Wien.

This event is made possible by a generous gift of the AITHYRA, the support of the Junior Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, ISTA, our unbelievable volunteers, and the work of Dmytro Rzhemovskyi and his team from Mathematik macht Freude.

AITHYRA

AITHYRA is a young research institute for biomedical artificial intelligence based in Vienna. With a generous donation from the Boehringer Ingelheim Foundation it was founded in 2024 by the Austrian Academy of Sciences. AITHYRA is led by world-renowned AI expert Michael Bronstein, internationally award-winning life scientist Georg Winter, and experienced science administrator Anita Ender. The institute’s research focuses on applying state-of-the-art AI approaches to problems in the life sciences, bringing together experts from various fields.

Gallery Enjoy the highlights of the program!

Program

Sunday, August 23

18:00 Arrivals in Vienna
18:30 − 19:30 Check-in at Hotel Geblergasse
20:00 − 21:00 Dinner at Centimeter bei den Stadtbahnbögen

Monday, August 24

Location:
AITHYRA − Research Institute for Biomedical Artificial Intelligence of the Austrian Academy of Sciences,
Helmut-Qualtinger-Gasse 2,
1030 Vienna

07:30 − 08:00 Breakfast at Hotel Geblergasse
09:30 − 14:00 Program at AITHYRA (Coordinator: Michaela Herzig)
- 09:30 − 10:30 Greeting and Talk by Alex Tong
- 10:30 − 11:00 Introduction talk
  - How Computers Learn
- 11:00 − 12:00 Talk and hands-on session by Wali Malik in Robotics Lab / Practical session "How Computers Learn"
- 12:00 − 12:45 Lunch at AITHYRA
- 12:45 − 13:45 Talk and hands-on session by Wali Malik in Robotics Lab / Practical session "How Computers Learn"
- 13:45 − 14:30 Talk by Lisa Hoffmann-Haas
  - AI in Cancer Research
16:30 − 17:30 Visit to the Museum of Natural History
19:00 − 19:45 Dinner at Rebhuhn

Tuesday, August 25

Location:
University of Vienna,
Faculty of Chemistry,
Währinger Straße 42,
1090 Vienna

07:30 − 08:00 Breakfast at Hotel Geblergasse
09:30 − 12:15 Talks and lab tours at the Faculty of Chemistry of the University of Vienna (Coordinator: Ellen Backus)
- Ellen Backus and the Research Group "Ultrafast and Nonlinear Spectroscopy"
- Freddy Kleitz and the Research Group "Porous Materials"
- Elisa Tomat
- Viktoriia Savchenko and the Böttcher Lab
- Tom Woodward and the Polymer & Composite Engineering Group
12:30 − 13:15 Lunch at the University of Vienna's Cafeteria (Kolingasse)

Location:
TU Wien,
Faculty of Technical Chemistry,
Getreidemarkt 9,
1060 Vienna

14:00 − 15:00 Talk by Esther Heid
- AI for Chemistry
16:00 − 17:00 Visit to Belvedere
18:30 − 19:15 Dinner by Radatz at the Faculty of Mathematics

Wednesday, August 26

Location:
Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA),
Am Campus 1,
Klosterneuburg

07:30 − 08:00 Breakfast at Hotel Geblergasse
09:10 − 09:45 Bus transfer to ISTA (Bus No. 400)
10:00 − 15:30 Program at ISTA (Coordinators: Ana Rita Cavaco, Maksym Serbyn)
- 10:00 − 11:30 Program by ISTA's research groups
  - Jack Bravo and the Research Group "Bacterial immune systems"
  - Carolina Camelo and the Research Group "Morphogenesis in Development"
- 11:45 − 12:15 ISTA Presentation
- 12:15 − 13:00 Hiking to the hills near ISTA
- 13:00 − 13:45 Lunch at ISTA's cafeteria
- 14:00 − 15:15 Guided Tour of VISTA Science Experience Center
15:44 − 16:20 Bus transfer to Vienna(Bus No. 400)
16:20 − 18:30 Free time
18:30 − 19:15 Dinner by Radatz at the Faculty of Mathematics

Thursday, August 27

Location:
CeMM Research Center for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences
Lazarettgasse 14
1090 Vienna

07:30 − 08:00 Breakfast at Hotel Geblergasse
09:30 − 12:00 Program at CeMM (Coordinator: Wolfgang Däuble)
- Introduction to CeMM (Wolfgang Däuble)
- Lab tour Chemical Screening Facility (Anna Koren)
- Lab tour Proteomics/Metabolomics Facility (Miriam Abele)
- Lab tour Biomedical Sequencing Facility (Michael Schuster)
- Medical Campus / AKH tour
12:15 − 13:00 Lunch at the CeMM's cafeteria
13:30 − 14:30 Guided tour of Josephinum by Oksana Musiienko
15:00 − 18:30 Free time
18:30 − 19:15 Dinner by Radatz at the Faculty of Mathematics

Friday, August 28

Location:
Vienna BioCenter
Campus-Vienna-Biocenter 1
1030 Vienna

07:30 – 08:00 Breakfast at Hotel Geblergasse
09:30 – 13:00 Program at Vienna BioCenter (Coordinators: Semhar Araya, Lauren Alteio)
- Presentation and guided tour of Vienna Biocenter
- Nick Irwin and the Research Group "Horizontal Gene Transfer in Plants and Algae"
- Pizza and Meet&Greet with scientists of the Vienna Biocenter
14:00 – 15:00 Guided tour of the Austrian National Library
19:00 – 20:00 Dinner at Sägewerk

Saturday, August 29

07:30 − 08:00 Breakfast at Hotel Geblergasse
10:00 − 12:00 Tour of Schönbrunn
12:30 − 13:15 Lunch by Radatz at the Faculty of Mathematics
13:30 − 18:30 Free time, e.g. hiking to the Kahlenberg and vineyards
18:30 − 19:30 Dinner at Centimeter bei den Stadtbahnbögen

Sunday, August 30

07:00 − 08:00 Breakfast and check-out at Hotel Geblergasse
10:40 Departure to Ukraine

Coordinator and Contact Person

For any questions regarding AITHYRA Life Sciences School, please feel free to contact Dmytro Rzhemovskyi via email at dmytro.rzhemovskyi@univie.ac.at .