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Statistical Foundations of AI

Thematic Semester | May to August, 2026
  • Introduction
  • Scientific Committee
  • Workshops
  • Registration
  • Accommodations
  • Sponsors
  • Introduction

    Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly shaping scientific inquiry, industry, and public life, yet its rapid development often obscures the statistical principles that underpin its methods. Organizing a thematic semester dedicated to the statistical foundations of AI offers a timely and rigorous opportunity to strengthen the conceptual and technical bridge between statistics and AI. Moreover, this focused initiative serves the dual purpose of reinforcing foundational research while equipping the statistical community to critically assess and innovate upon AI’s applications across diverse contexts. It addresses a central need: situating the power of AI firmly within the statistical reasoning that guarantees its reliability and trustworthiness.

    The semester will open in May 2026 with a five-day bootcamp designed to equip statisticians with a working command of advanced AI tools, including large language models (LLMs), deep learning, reinforcement learning, agent-based models, and AI alignment frameworks. Participants will gain hands-on experience with modern AI pipelines while revisiting their statistical underpinnings – modeling assumptions, estimation principles, and sources of uncertainty.

    Following the bootcamp, a five-day workshop on “Statistics in Trustworthy AI” will examine the statistical backbone of reliable, auditable, and fair artificial intelligence. As AI systems move into high-stakes domains such as health, finance, and public services, the need for evidence-based governance becomes pressing. Much of current AI practice is benchmark-driven and metric-optimized, yet real-world deployment demands error control, calibrated uncertainty, fairness under distribution shift, and auditability by regulators and clinicians. This workshop will bridge statistics and AI to address these deployment challenges, showing how statistical principles translate into trustworthy AI systems – not just in theory, but in tools ready for practical use.

    In June 2026, a four-day workshop on “Uncertainty in AI” will explore how the statistical sciences are advancing our understanding of uncertainty in intelligent systems. Uncertainty arises in many forms – from the predictive accuracy of deep learning algorithms and hallucinations in generative AI to a still largely empirical understanding of what AI is, and is not, capable of doing. This workshop will highlight principled ways in which statistical theory and methods contribute to our evolving understanding of the uncertainty that accompanies AI. Topics will range from Bayesian deep learning to the analysis of transfer learning via optimal transport and flow matching, and from the mathematics of transformers and interacting particle systems to emerging formal characterizations of chain-of-thought reasoning.

    The thematic semester will conclude in August 2026 with a two-day symposium, “AI Meets Statistics: Biomedical Data Perspectives,” dedicated to the interplay between AI and statistics in health-related research. This symposium will be co-organized with the Centre de Recherches Mathématiques (CRM) as part of its thematic semester “Math for Health,” to be held from August to December 2026. Biomedical research is being transformed by data of unprecedented scale and complexity – population-level genomics, high-resolution biological imaging, and expansive electronic health records (EHRs) are reshaping drug development and precision medicine. Yet current statistical and computational methods struggle to meet the challenges of heterogeneity, noise, high dimensionality, and regulatory rigor. This symposium will bring together statisticians, machine learning researchers, and biomedical scientists to build a shared methodological foundation for this emerging field. Core themes will include high-dimensional inference in genomics, representation learning for imaging, causal discovery from EHR data, and uncertainty quantification for decision-critical applications in drug development.

    Registration opens on February 2nd, 2026.

    1. Bootcamp:  Statistical Insights into Modern AI Systems – May 4th – May 8th, 2026
    2. Workshop 1: Statistics in Trustworthy AI – May 11th – May 15th, 2026
    3. Workshop 2: Uncertainty in AI – June 8th – June 11th, 2026
    4. Symposium: AI Meets Statistics: Biomedical Data Perspectives – August 20th – August 21st, 2026
    Aurélie Labbe
    HEC Montréal

    Aurélie Labbe is a Full Professor in the Department of Decision Sciences at HEC Montréal. She earned her Ph.D. in Statistics from the University of Waterloo in 2005, where her dissertation focused on Bayesian methods for gene expression data. She began her academic career as an Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Université Laval. She later joined McGill University as an Associate Professor in both the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and the Department of Psychiatry, and was also a researcher at the Douglas Hospital Research Centre, a McGill-affiliated institution.

    Aurélie Labbe has developed a strong research portfolio as a principal investigator on several projects funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). Her research has focused on the development of statistical methods for the analysis of genomic data, as well as on numerous collaborative projects in related fields. More recently, she has expanded her work into broader areas of data science, with a particular emphasis on the analytical challenges posed by data from intelligent transportation systems.

    As co-Scientific Director at IVADO, Academic Partnerships, Aurélie Labbe provides strategic research leadership. In this role, she is responsible for establishing and strengthening links with faculties and departments across the five partner universities, and for integrating them into IVADO’s research and knowledge transfer activities.

    Archer Yi Yang
    McGill University

    Archer Yi Yang is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at McGill University, and an Associate Member of the School of Computer Science and the Quantitative Life Sciences program. He is also an Associate Academic Member of Mila – Quebec AI Institute. His main areas of research include statistical machine learning, high-dimensional inference, uncertainty quantification and reliable AI, computational statistics and scalable algorithms, biomedical and biochemical data science, and AI for drug discovery.

    Bei Jiang
    University of Alberta

    Dr. Bei Jiang is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences at the University of Alberta, a Fellow of the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii), and a Canada CIFAR AI Chair. She received her PhD in Biostatistics from the University of Michigan in 2014, followed by a postdoctoral appointment in the Department of Biostatistics at Columbia University (2014–2015), before joining the University of Alberta as an Assistant Professor in 2015. Dr. Jiang has authored more than 50 journal articles—including in the Annals of Statistics, Journal of the American Statistical Association and the Journal of Machine Learning Research and over 20 peer-reviewed conference papers at venues such as NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, and AAAI. Her research focuses on Bayesian hierarchical modeling, statistical learning methods that advance privacy and fairness, and federated statistical inference.

    Dr. Jiang has an extensive record of service to the statistical community. She has served as a judge for the Statistical Society of Canada (SSC) Case Studies in Data Analysis Poster Competition (2019); Local Organizing Committee Chair for WNAR (2018) and the ICSA Canada Chapter Symposium (2022); a member of the SSC Board of Directors (2022–2024) and the SSC Student Research Award Committee (2021–2023); and currently serves on the SSC Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee, the CANSSI Showcase Organizing Committee, the Committee of the COPSS Presidents’ Award (2025-2028), and the JSM Program Committee (2025-2026). She is an Associate Editor for the Journal of the American Statistical Association. Dr. Jiang is the 2025 recipient of the COPSS Emerging Leaders Award, recognizing early-career statistical scientists whose leadership and scholarship are shaping the field.

    Dehan Kong
    University of Alberta

    Dehan Kong is an Associate Professor of Statistics at the University of Toronto. His research focuses on developing advanced machine learning and data science methodologies for analyzing large-scale, complex, and multi-resolution real-world data, with applications in modern scientific and biomedical studies. He is a recipient of the NSERC Discovery Accelerator Supplement Award. He currently serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of the American Statistical Association and Data Science in Science, and as an Editorial Board Reviewer for the Journal of Machine Learning Research.

    Organizers

    Eric Kolaczyk
    McGill University

    Eric Kolaczyk is a professor in McGill University’s Department of Mathematics and Statistics, and the founding director of the McGill Computational and Data Systems Institute (CDSI). His research is focused on how statistical and machine learning theory and methods can support human endeavours enabled by computing and engineered systems, frequently from a network-based perspective of systems science. He collaborates regularly on problems in computational biology, computational neuroscience and, most recently, AI-assisted chemistry and materials science. He has published over one hundred articles, including several books on the topic of network analysis.

    As an associate editor, Kolaczyk has served on the boards of JASA and JRSS-B in statistics, IEEE IP and TNSE in engineering, and SIMODS in mathematics. He formerly served as co-chair of the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Medicine, and Engineering Roundtable on Data Science Education. He is an elected fellow of the AAAS, ASA and IMS, an elected senior member of IEEE, and an elected member of the ISI.

    Linglong Kong
    University of Alberta

    Dr. Linglong Kong is a Professor in the Department of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences at the University of Alberta, holding a Canada Research Chair in Statistical Learning and a Canada CIFAR AI Chair. He is a Fellow of the American Statistical Association (ASA) and the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii), with over 130 peer-reviewed publications in leading journals and conferences such as AOS, JASA, JRSSB, NeurIPS, ICML, and ICLR. Dr. Kong received the 2025 CRM-SSC Prize for outstanding research in Canada. He serves as Associate Editor for several top journals, including JASA and AOAS, and has held leadership roles within the ASA and the Statistical Society of Canada. Dr. Kong’s research interests include high-dimensional and neuroimaging data analysis, statistical machine learning, robust statistics, quantile regression, trustworthy machine learning, and artificial intelligence for smart health.

    Qiang Sun
    University of Toronto

    Qiang Sun is currently an associate professor of Statistical Sciences, Computer Science, and Computer and Mathematical Sciences at the University of Toronto (UofT) and an affiliated professor at MBZUAI, where he leads the NeXAIS (AGI × Stats) group. His current research focuses on trustworthy ML, efficient GenAI, and foundations of AGI, driven by real-world challenges in technology, finance, and science. Prior to his  tenure at UofT, he was an associate research scholar at Princeton University. He earned his PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his BS in SCGY from the University of Science and Technology of China. He is also recognized as a distinguished alumnus of UNC-Chapel Hill.

    In addition to his faculty role, he currently serves as an associate editor for the Journal of Machine Learning Research (JMLR), the Journal of the American Statistical Association (JASA), the Electronic Journal of Statistics (EJS), and Data Science in Science (DSiS). He also serves as an area chair for several major ML conferences, including ICLR, COLT, AISTATS, and UAI.

    Workshops

    Bootcamp: Statistical Insights into Modern AI Systems


    From May 4th to 8th, 2026. 9:30 AM to 5:00 PM
    Bei Jiang, University of Alberta
    Details

    1st Workshop: Statistics in Trustworthy AI


    From May 11th to 15th, 2026. 9:30 AM to 5:00 PM
    Bei Jiang, University of Alberta
    Linglong Kong, University of Alberta
    Details

    2nd Workshop: Uncertainty in AI


    From June 8th to 11th, 2026. 9:30 AM to 5:00 PM
    Eric Kolaczyk, McGill University
    Qiang Sun, University of Toronto
    Details

    Symposium: AI Meets Statistics: Biomedical Data Perspectives


    From August 20th to 21st, 2026. 9:30 AM to 5:00 PM
    Archer Yi Yang, McGill University
    Dehan Kong, University of Toronto
    Details

    Registration opens on February 2nd, 2026

    The prices per activity (before taxes) are as follows :


    BOOTCAMP AND WORKSHOPS

    Student*: $70
    Post-Doc./Early-career researcher: $110
    Researcher/Professor: $150
    Industry researcher (IVADO member): $280
    Industry researcher: $980 

     

    SYMPOSIUM

    Student*: $40
    Post-doc/early-career researcher: $60
    Researcher/professor: $80
    Industry researcher (IVADO member): $140
    Industry researcher: $490

    Full payment is required at the time of registration for each activity.
    There will be a 30% surcharge for on-site registrations.

    Please note:

    • All activities will be held in English.
    • Workshops will be held in person only. Given the limited number of places available, we will apply a first-come, first-served basis. If the main room reaches maximum capacity, a secondary room will be available to follow the workshop via live stream.
    • Coffee breaks and cocktails will be provided; however, lunch will not be included.
    • IVADO reserves the right to take photos and videos during activities for communication, publication, and promotional purposes.
    • Certificates of participation can be provided upon request.

     

    Refund policy:

    • Cancellation at least 15 days before the event: 100% refund minus administrative fees.
    • Cancellation less than 15 days before the event: no refund.

     

    *IVADO is committed to promoting the principle of inclusion in its programs and contributing to the elimination of systemic barriers to participation. If financial constraints are preventing you from participating, please do not hesitate to contact us at edi@ivado.umontreal.ca.

    Accommodations

    To help you organise your trip, we have put together a list of hotels and residences that may be of interest to you.

    We also recommend that you visit https://www.mtl.org to find out about entertainment, events, accommodation and other useful information.

    Hotels and Residences

    Le Square Phillips Hôtel & Suites
    1193, Place Phillips
    Montréal, QC, H3B 3C9
    Phone: +1 866-393-1193
    info@squarephillips.com

    To benefit from IVADO’s preferential rates, please inform the hotelier when you make your reservation.

    Terrasse Royale
    5225, Côte-des-Neiges
    Montréal, QC, H3T 1Y1
    Phone: 514 739-6391
    info@terrasse-royale.com

    Residence Inn Marriott Montreal Midtown
    6785, boulevard Décarie
    Montréal, QC, H3W 3E3
    Phone: 514-303-8888 / 1-888-303-8881

    Courtyard Montreal Downtown
    380 boul. René-Lévesque Ouest,
    Montréal, QC, H2Z 0A6
    Phone: 1 514-398-9999 / 1 800 678-6323

    Residence Inn Montreal Downtown
    2045 rue Peel
    Montréal, QC, H3A 1T6
    Phone: 514 982-6064

    Château Versailles
    1659, rue Sherbrooke Ouest
    Montréal, QC, H3H 1E5
    Phone: 514 933-3611 / 1 888 933-8111
    info@versailleshotels.com

    La Maison McKenna
    5301, rue Mckenna
    Montréal, QC, H3T 1T9
    Phone: 514 738-2053
    info@maisonmckenna.ca

    Hôtel SENS
    1808, rue Sherbrooke Ouest
    Montréal, QC, H3H 1E5
    Phone: 514 933-8111 / 1 888 933-8111
    reservations@sensmtlversailles.com

    Hôtel Château de l’Argoat
    524, rue Sherbrooke Est
    Montréal, QC, H2L 1K1
    Phone: 514 842-2046
    chateauargoat@videotron.ca

    Le Nouvel Hôtel
    1740 boul. René-Lévesque Ouest
    Montréal, QC, H3H 1R3
    Phone: 514 931-8841 / 1 800 363-6063
    info@lenouvelhotel.com

    Other suggestions

    AIRBNB

    Homestay

    Tourisme Montréal

    Centre de Recherches Mathématiques

    Centre de Recherches Mathématiques

    Canadian Statistical Sciences Institute

    Canadian Statistical Sciences Institute

    Visiteuses et visiteurs à long terme

    Joyce Chai

    Joyce Chai est professeure au département d’ingénierie électrique et d’informatique de l’université du Michigan. Elle est titulaire d’un doctorat en informatique de l’université Duke. Ses recherches portent sur le traitement du langage naturel, l’IA incarnée et la collaboration entre l’homme et l’IA. Ses travaux actuels explorent l’intersection entre le langage, la vision et la robotique afin de permettre une communication contextualisée avec des agents incarnés. Elle a reçu le prix NSF Career Award. Elle a également reçu plusieurs prix avec ses étudiants (par exemple, le prix du meilleur article long à l’ACL 2010, les prix du meilleur article à l’EMNLP 2021 et à l’ACL 2023, et la première place au Amazon Alexa AI Simbot Challenge 2023). Elle est membre de l’ACL.

    Abhik Roychoudhury

    Abhik Roychoudhury est professeur titulaire de la chaire Provost en informatique à l’Université nationale de Singapour (NUS), où il dirige une équipe de recherche sur les logiciels fiables et sécurisés (TSS). Il est conseiller principal chez SonarSource, suite à l’acquisition de sa spin-off AutoCodeRover, spécialisée dans les agents IA pour le codage. Il a obtenu son doctorat en informatique à l’université Stony Brook en 2000 et est membre du corps enseignant de la NUS School of Computing depuis 2001. Le groupe d’Abhik à la NUS s’est concentré sur l’analyse symbolique des programmes, ainsi que sur les applications de l’analyse des programmes dans des domaines tels que la sécurité informatique, l’IA agentielle ou les systèmes cyber-physiques. Ces travaux ont été récompensés par divers prix, notamment le prix du document le plus influent (Test-of-time award) de la Conférence internationale sur le génie logiciel (ICSE) pour la réparation de programmes (basée sur l’analyse symbolique), et le prix IEEE New Directions Award 2022 (conjointement avec Cristian Cadar) pour ses contributions à l’exécution symbolique.

    Abhik a été le premier lauréat du prix NUS Outstanding Graduate Mentor Award 2024. Les doctorants diplômés de son équipe de recherche ont obtenu des postes d’enseignants dans de nombreuses institutions universitaires de premier plan. Il a occupé diverses fonctions au sein de la communauté de recherche en génie logiciel, notamment en tant que président des principales conférences dans ce domaine, ICSE (en 2024) et FSE (en 2022). Il est actuellement président du comité directeur de la FSE. Il est membre du comité de rédaction de Communications of the ACM. Il est l’actuel rédacteur en chef de l’ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology (TOSEM). Abhik est membre de l’ACM, reconnu pour ses contributions à la réparation automatisée de programmes et aux tests de robustesse.

    Ivan Titov

    Ivan Titov est professeur titulaire aux universités d’Édimbourg et d’Amsterdam. À Édimbourg, il dirige le Centre de formation doctorale en traitement du langage naturel et l’unité ELLIS locale. Ses recherches portent sur le développement de modèles linguistiques fiables, robustes, interprétables et contrôlables. Il a reçu des prix pour ses articles lors de conférences de premier plan (notamment ACL et EMNLP) et des bourses telles que la bourse ERC et le prix néerlandais Vici. Ivan est membre de Turing, membre d’ELLIS et codirecteur du programme ELLIS NLP. Il a également été président du programme ICLR et CoNLL, et rédacteur en chef de TACL et JMLR.

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