From September 24 to 26, 2025, Sofia will host the first edition of the GAIA Symposium on Geospatial AI and Applications with Foundation Models – an international scientific event organized by the Institute for Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence and Technology (INSAIT) at the St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia, the Bulgarian News Agency reported citing the Education and Science Ministry.
The symposium will bring together leading scientists, industry experts, and public sector representatives working in the fields of artificial intelligence, geospatial technologies, climate research, and Earth observation. The main goal of the forum is to accelerate the development of a new generation of AI models capable of processing and interpreting spatial and sensor data – from Earth to space – a field in which INSAIT is actively engaged.
Among the keynote speakers will be Prof. Thomas Zurbuchen from ETH Zurich, a former NASA Science Mission Directorate Associate Administrator. Prof. Zurbuchen is one of today’s most influential scientific leaders in space exploration. Appointed in October 2016, he served as NASA's top science official until the end of 2022, the longest tenure in the position's history. During his leadership, he oversaw or initiated 91 missions, including the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, the Perseverance rover and Ingenuity helicopter missions to Mars, the DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) mission, and the Parker Solar Probe. For his service, he received the NASA Distinguished Service Medal and the US Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE).
In 2023, Prof. Zurbuchen returned to Switzerland to lead the space education and research programme at ETH Zurich, where he is now a professor of space science and technology. The programme aims to expand research and training in the space sciences and to strengthen collaboration with industry and agencies such as ESA and NASA.
Confirmed participants also include Prof. Fahad Shahbaz Khan of the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (UAE) and Linkoping University (Sweden), and Alexandre Lacoste, a research scientist at ServiceNow Research. More high-profile researchers are expected to announce their attendance in the coming weeks.
The event is being organized by a team of prominent international scientists and industry representatives, led by Prof. Luc Van Gool, one of the world’s most recognized AI researchers and a professor at INSAIT. Collaborators include researchers from INSAIT, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the German Aerospace Center (DLR), the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Technical University of Berlin, Ubotica Technologies, Space42, among other organizations.
INSAIT – the Institute for Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence and Technology in Sofia, Bulgaria—is the first institute of its kind in Eastern Europe to offer world-class research conditions comparable to those of leading Western universities and institutes. Structured as a special unit of the St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia, INSAIT was founded in partnership with Switzerland’s ETH Zurich and EPFL – two of the world’s top technological universities. Renowned scientists from top US, European, and Israeli universities and research labs lead and advise the institute. INSAIT’s mission centres on scientific excellence – world-class research, attracting outstanding international talent, and training the next generation of students and technology leaders.
