Important Dates
| Friday, January 9, 2026 | Application starts |
| Friday, March 28, 2026 | Deadline for applications (including reference letters) |
| Friday, April 10, 2026 | Notification of acceptance |
| Monday, April 27, 2026 | Registration fees due |
| > July 8 – July 30, 2026:
Virtual Systems Vision Science Summer School takes place < |
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| July 31, 2026:
> Virtual Systems Vision Science Symposium takes place < |
|
Content
Applications are invited for a for our fourth edition of Systems Vision Science (SVS) summer school since 2023.
This year, the virtual edition enables students to attend from afar by formal lectures via Zoom and informal and social communications via a WhatsApp and/or Slack channel.
Systems Vision Science combines computational, behavioral, and neuroscience methods to discover functions and algorithms for vision in various brain regions and their implementations in neural circuits. This summer school is designed for everyone interested in gaining a systems level understanding of biological vision.
We plan a coherent, graduate-level, syllabus on the integration of experimental data with theory and models. The syllabus content will be very similar to the edition in 2023, the learning format, the delivery, and social interactions will be adjusted to suit the virtual format.
Experience or knowledge in (A) computational methods, (B) visual psychophysics, and (C) vision neuroscience, is not required.
However, experience in at least one of (A), (B), and (C), and a readiness to learn, is expected.
The Summer School will be followed by a Systems Vision Science Virtual Symposium on July 31st. All admitted summer school students will be invited to attend this symposium and are encouraged to submit for a presentation at the symposium. The symposium will also feature two invited keynote presentations.
How to apply
For application, please
- Download and fill this application form
- Complete two short pre-courses (involving a total of about four hours of video materials) before submitting the applications to provide necessary information for the application file. These pre-courses are
(1) “A very brief introduction to what is known about vision experimentally”,
(2) “A very brief introduction to simple mathematical methods for computational vision“. - Provide a proof of degrees completed and/or transcript of records
- Provide at least one reference letter — sent by the reference writer to svs.summerschool@tue.mpg.de with a subject starting with the name of the applicant using this template. Please note that the reference letters are due also on March 28, 2026.
– If you are a faculty member or an experienced postdoctoral researcher the reference letter may be substituted by your CV or a google scholar page –
Please send us the documents by pdf files by e-mail to svs.summerschool@tue.mpg.de
We will inform you about the success of your application by Friday, April 10, 2026. Confirmation of your participation to the summer school should be received by us by Monday, April 13, 2026.
Please be aware that incomplete applications will not be considered!
Registration fees
Applicants who are selected to participate at the Online Systems Vision Science Summer School have to pay a fee before the school starts (fees due before Monday, April 27, 2026). Registration fees are to be paid by bank transfer only. Details will be provided after the selection process. Registration fees are not refundable.
Registration fee for the summer school amounts to 50 €.
Virtual Summer School
Successful applicants will be included in a slack channel for course preparation, course works, and social interactions (e.g., Q & A, discussions, course exercises, quizzes, sharing) before and,
much more actively, during the summer school days.
The main summer school activities will be in four weeks in July. In each of these weeks, students should first pre-learn by themselves the required online course materials
(to be specified) on zhaoping.thinkific.com before attending a 2-hour zoom lecture connected with these materials.
The zoom lectures will be on four consequence Wednesdays 4-6 pm German time, the tutorials will be on the following Satzurdays (last tutorial on a Thursday) 4-6 pm German time.
| Zoom Lectures (4-6 pm german time) | Tutorials (4-6 pm german time) |
| Wednesday, July 8 | Saturday, July 11 |
| Wednesday, July 15 | Saturday, July 18 |
| Wednesday, July 22 | Saturday, July 25 |
| Wednesday, July 29 | Thursday, July 30 |
During these four weeks, the slack channel will be much more active than usual for Q & A, discussions, and exchanges, etc
A team of summer school organizers, lecturer, teaching assistants and invited faculty members will be available at the slack channel for the exchanges.
The virtual symposium will be on Friday, July 31st, 3-7 pm German time, via zoom. All summer school students are invited to attend the symposium and encouraged to submit for a presentation at the symposium. The symposium will also include two invited keynote presentations.
Certificate
After successful participation at the Online Systems Vision Science Summer School, you will get a certificate of completion from us.
