What is IK?
What it is.
The Interdisciplinary College (IK) is an annual, intense one-week spring school which offers a dense state-of-the-art course program in neurobiology, neural computation, cognitive science/psychology, artificial intelligence, robotics and philosophy. It is aimed at students, postgraduates and researchers from academia and industry. By combining humanities, science and technology, the IK endeavours to intensify dialogue and connectedness between the various disciplines. Participants come mainly from European countries, lecturers from all over the world. Courses include up-to-date introductions to the main fields of the IK, as well as an in-depth treatment of focus topic, which is changing from year to year. And finally, the IK is a unique social event. In the evenings participants may enjoy the very special atmosphere: minds meet, music is played, and friends are made in long evening and night sessions in the welcoming conference site at the Lake Möhne.
How it became what it is.
The IK evolved from the former 'Artificial Intelligence Spring School' (KIFS), which took place almost annually from 1982 to 1996, and contributed significantly to the development of AI in Germany. Since the beginning of the 1990s, AI had been well established in German universities and the mission of the KIFS had thus been fulfilled. It was time for a comprehensive departure into interdisciplinarity. This venue was developed by several different events, especially by two workshops "Wege ins Gehirn" (Paths into the brain) and "Autonomie und Adaptivitaet" (Autonomy and Adaptivity). These non-public workshops were organized by the Federal Ministery of Education and Research and brought together leading scientists in these fields. The final decision to turn the KIFS into the Interdisciplinary College was taken in the second of these workshops in 1997. The IK "movement" is carried by a body of leading researchers from the concerned disciplines (see the Executive Committee lists on IK webpages). The IK inherited the scenery (Heinrich-Luebke-Haus inGuenne/Moehnesee) and the intensity of the KIFS. The IK is held in English and targets a European audience (with an outreach to visitors from overseas). The IK has now been run annually since 1997, each time with overwhelmingly positive feedback from its participants.