Universities and research

Iași has the universities.
The festival gives them a stage.

Romania's first modern university has been here since 1860. Research done in Iași rarely reaches the companies that could use it. That is what we are trying to change.

01
Where we stand

Open, not exclusive.

As of 11 August 2026 we have no confirmed partner university, and we do not claim otherwise. The formats below are concrete proposals, with a space and a time slot reserved in the programme. They will be confirmed by December 2026.

We should say something else too, because it is only fair: Iași already has technology events built with the local universities. Winter AI is not here to replace them. We take place in January, we run for three days and we have a regional strand; the overlap is small, and working together is more useful than competing.

02
Proposed formats

Six ways a university can take part.

/ 01

Research showcase

Posters and demos in the foyer on day three. Research teams showing what they are working on to the companies and investors attending. No fee for university teams.

/ 02

Bachelor's and master's theses

A selection of recent theses on AI topics, each presented in seven minutes. For many students it is the first time their work reaches anyone outside the examining committee.

/ 03

Talks on the technical stage

Researchers enter the Build strand on the same terms as everyone else: what counts is what you can show. Proposals go through the talk proposal form.

/ 04

University delegation

Group access for academic staff and doctoral students, with a programme of their own on day one and scheduled meetings with companies looking for research collaborations.

/ 05

Student ambassadors

A small group of students from each university, involved in organising the festival and in the programme, with full access. Recruitment starts in October 2026.

/ 06

Recruitment

The companies attending are looking for people. Students and graduates who want to be contacted say so explicitly by ticking a box at registration; no one receives a person's data without that person's consent.

03
How we start

An email from a department is enough.

If you work at a university, an institute or a research centre in Iași or the region and you see a format here that would be useful to you, write to us. No institutional agreement is needed to start the conversation.

Write to us The Build strand

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