3RD INTERNATIONAL
REINFORCEMENT
LEARNING BOOTCAMP
SEPTEMBER 16–18, 2026
UNIVERSITY OF SALZBURG
THANK YOU FOR 3 GREAT DAYS!
SEPTEMBER 16–18, 2026
UNIVERSITY OF SALZBURG
THANK YOU FOR 3 GREAT DAYS!
Three intense, inspiring days of deep dives and hands-on reinforcement learning have wrapped up at the University of Salzburg. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who joined us: our keynote speakers, lecturers, local helpers, partner institutions and, above all, every participant who brought their curiosity to Salzburg.
The curriculum went from RL foundations to policy gradients, world models, humanoid robotics and agentic AI, with hands-on coding labs and a live Air Traffic Control tournament. Many first RL agents were trained, and new research collaborations were launched.
Everything from the bootcamp is openly available. Learn at your own pace.
Notebooks and environments from the hands-on sessions, including the Air Traffic Control challenge.
Need a certificate of attendance? Write to sarl.ida.plus@gmail.com. Read the full recap on LinkedIn.
The verdict was overwhelmingly positive, with the organisation, the keynotes and the community spirit rated highest. A few voices from the post-event survey:
“The spirit of the participants. It was motivating.”
“The international speakers and bringing together such a large community was very nice. Thank you!”
“Being in person, meeting, discussing with and learning from other people.”
“Very interesting keynote from Dr. Bowling”
“The excellent social climate”
“Hopefully you can keep up the free attendance. Keep up the good work!”
Reinforcement Learning (RL) is at the forefront of artificial intelligence, driving breakthrough innovations in robotics, autonomous systems, game playing, and complex decision-making.
However, moving from theory to practice is a major hurdle. Translating a real-world control problem into a well-defined Markov Decision Process (MDP) is highly non-trivial, and training often introduces tough challenges around stability, convergence, and policy evaluation.
This bootcamp is designed to bridge that gap. By lowering the barriers to practical application, we aim to make RL an accessible and powerful tool for both research and industry, all within a highly collaborative, friendly, and open-minded learning environment where participants can connect and grow together.
Our warmest thanks to our outstanding keynote speakers for sharing their research, insights and perspectives
The event was hosted by the IDA Lab (Smart Analytics and Reinforcement Learning team) at the University of Salzburg, in collaboration with AI Austria, the RL Community, JOANNEUM RESEARCH ROBOTICS, JOANNEUM RESEARCH DIGITAL, DIH West, and FFG (Austrian Research Promotion Agency). It was offered free of charge through the initiative and commitment of the organizing institutions, ensuring accessibility for all those interested in Reinforcement Learning.
Montanuniversität Leoben, Austria
"The benefits of satisficing in reinforcement learning"
Bio & Abstract
University of Alberta / Amii, Canada
"What Should Models Model in Model-Based RL?"
Bio & Abstract
CERN, Switzerland
"Designing for Intelligence: Particle Accelerators in the AI Era"
Bio & Abstract
Montanuniversität Leoben, Austria
"Learning Humanoid Robot Policies for Industrial Tasks"
Bio & AbstractThe 4th International Reinforcement Learning Bootcamp is already in planning. We will welcome you back to Salzburg, and we want to make it even better.
Building on the success of our previous bootcamps
Over 100 participants from 12 countries joined the 2nd RL Bootcamp in Salzburg. The program featured keynotes by Sergey Levine (UC Berkeley), Peter Auer (University of Leoben), and Samuele Tosatto (University of Innsbruck), alongside hands-on sessions on policy gradients, actor-critic methods, and an end-to-end robotics case study.
Participants of the 2nd RL Bootcamp
at the University of Salzburg, 2025.
Photo by Simon Haigermoser
Our inaugural bootcamp was a tremendous success, bringing together over 75 participants from 7 countries. The event featured keynote speakers from Google DeepMind, the German Aerospace Center (DLR), and leading research institutions.
Participants of the 1st RL Bootcamp
at the University of Salzburg, 2024.
Photo by Simon Haigermoser
Meet the team behind the 3rd International Reinforcement Learning Bootcamp
Our deepest appreciation goes to the local support team and student assistants who ensured everything ran seamlessly: Erika Diaz, Sarah Trausner, Laya Shibu Xavior, Julian Langschwert, Georg Schäfer, Raoul Hugo Kutil, Markus Dygruber, Fabio Matanza, Christoph Schranz and Rachman Jasaew.
Our event was made possible by support from these outstanding organizations
