Between May 21–25, 2026, at West University of Timişoara (UVT) is organizing the National Artificial Intelligence Batch camp, an intensive program dedicated to the selection and training of the best students in the country in the field of AI.
The group brings together thirty of the most performing students in Romania, and following the trials and workshops organized in Timisoara, the eight students who will represent Romania at international Artificial Intelligence competitions, such as the International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence (IOAI) to be held in Astana, Kazakhstan, between August 2-8, 2026, will be selected. Two eighth-grade students are also invited to the camp.
At the opening of the event, UVT rector, Marilen Gabriel Pirtea, emphasized the importance of the group's reunion in Timișoara:
"Today, in Timișoara, we open the training and selection activities of the national team for Artificial Intelligence, with a view to participating in the 2026 international Olympiad. The West University of Timișoara and the Politehnica University of Timișoara host exceptional students, professors, researchers and specialists who work together in a field that will define the economy, science and society of the coming decades.
The fact that this event is organized together with Politehnica University Timișoara sends a very strong message: in the great themes of the future, the real competition is not between universities in the same city, but between ecosystems that know how to collaborate and those that remain fragmented.
In this group, gathered today at UVT, we see what a country should value most: young intelligence that works, curiosity that does not stop at the textbook and the ambition to transform talent into performance. There are students from all over the country, from grades 10, 11 and 12, who have come to Timișoara for workshops, practical sessions, selection tests, dialogue with specialists and international-level training.
Artificial intelligence can accelerate access to information, but the university remains the space where information becomes knowledge, and knowledge becomes responsibility.
The message from universities must remain balanced: artificial intelligence should be viewed neither with fear nor with naive fascination. It must be understood, used critically, ethically integrated, and put at the service of knowledge and the public good.
For UVT, this event is not an isolated episode. It is part of a strategic direction that we are constantly strengthening: the formation of advanced skills for the digital society, for the data-based economy, and for a world where technology becomes a common language of all professions.
In recent years, UVT has invested in relevant study programs and educational infrastructures for fields such as Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, Data Science, Game Art, virtual reality, data analysis, human-machine interaction and robotics. These directions are not simple modern labels. They respond to a real change: the labor market requires graduates who can work with data, understand intelligent systems, build solutions and evaluate the social and ethical consequences of technology.
Technology is changing the demand for skills, changing the way we learn, changing the relationship between teacher, student, and knowledge. This means that universities can no longer prepare young people for an economy that existed yesterday, but for one that is already being built before our eyes.
We thank the Ministry of Education and Research, the Timiș County School Inspectorate, the Politehnica University of Timișoara, colleagues from UVT, committee members, teachers, experts and everyone who makes this preparation and selection stage possible.
I thank them personally and on behalf of the UVT academic community, especially the teachers who trained these students before they got here. Behind every Olympian there are hours of invisible work, family support, teachers who were patient, colleagues who stimulated competition, and communities that encouraged excellence.
Today we open a stage of preparation and selection, but, beyond the program, tests and workshops, we also open a conversation about the future of Romania in the era of artificial intelligence. Let's say it clearly: if we want a competitive Romania, we must invest in its young intelligence. If we want innovation, we must cultivate rigorous work. If we want elites, we must offer them a path, not just applause.
I wish you success, concentration, courage and the authentic joy of a competition in which each problem solved brings you closer to your best version!”
The training program organized at UVT includes technical sessions, advanced workshops and two selection tests within the UVT Faculty of Informatics. The advanced training workshops are organized as follows: two workshops conducted by UVT teaching staff, one workshop conducted by Dr. Robert Maria, UVT collaborator from France, and two workshops conducted by UPB teaching staff (at UPT).
One of the most important assets in organizing this training is access to UVT's high-performance research and computing infrastructure, within the project. HRIA, recently acquired through an investment of approximately 1,7 million euros. This infrastructure offers students access to technologies and resources comparable to those used in major international research centers in Artificial Intelligence, consolidating UVT's position as a regional pole of excellence in AI and emerging technologies.
As part of the program, UVT hosts the key moments of the camp: the opening ceremony, the official selection trials held on Saturday and Sunday, as well as the awards ceremony organized on Monday, May 25, 2026.
The event is organized in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Research, the Timiș County School Inspectorate, Politehnica University of Timișoara and the Union of Computer Science Teachers in Romania.
