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ACCESS (Aarhus Comprehensive Computational Entomology Summer School)

A one-week residential program designed to bridge the gap between entomology and data science. It targets early-career researchers (PhD students, postdocs) and aims to build capacity for state-of-the-art automated monitoring methods for insects and arthropods.

The program combines case-based learning (guest lectures from international experts) with project-based learning, where interdisciplinary teams develop collaborative research proposals.

Mission: To empower biologists and data scientists to leverage AI, deep learning, and advanced imaging to solve real-world challenges in insect ecology and entomology.

Why Attend?

  • Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Teams are formed by pairing biologists and computer/data scientists with expert mentors to foster cross-pollination of ideas.
  • Hands-On Experience: Move beyond theory with hardware demonstrations, field deployments and practical AI pipeline workshops.
  • Mentorship: Each team is assigned a mentor to guide project development from the pre-course phase through to the final presentation.
  • State-of-the-Art Curriculum: Covers the full workflow: image acquisition, annotation, data management, model training (detection/classification), and deployment strategies addressing domain shifts.

Target Audience:

  • Biologists (entomologists, ecologists) wanting to apply computational methods.
  • Computer/Data Scientists (engineers, physicists) seeking to apply their skills to biological questions.
  • Primary Focus: Early-career researchers (Graduate students, PhDs, Postdocs), but open to all career levels and backgrounds.

Also see main page on ACCESS website: https://darsa.info/ACCESS-2026/.

ACCESS-2026

  • Dates: September 14th – 18th, 2026
  • Location: Kaløvigcenter, Aarhus, Denmark
    • Setting: Situated on the bay of Kalø Vig, where steep coastal slopes meet forest. Originally a seaside hotel, now a carbon-neutral conference center.
    • Amenities: Large garden, fireplace, petanque court, apple grove, homemade meals with local produce.
    • Accessibility: Reachable via Bus Line 123 from Aarhus, followed by a short taxi ride or ~20-minute walk.
  • Capacity: 15–20 fully funded participants (plus a limited number of self-funded slots).
  • Application Deadline: April 30th, 2026.

What is Offered?

  • Fully Funded: Tuition, accommodation, food, and travel refunds for selected candidates.
  • Curriculum: Guest lectures, practical workshops, and daily group project work.
  • Project Structure: Teams (2–4 students) respond to a “mock funding call” to write a collaborative research proposal.
  • Preparation: ~30 hours of remote work over two months prior to the event (online meetings, literature review, coding prep).

Pedagogical Approach & Learning Outcomes
Structure: The course utilizes a hybrid model of Case-Based Learning (expert lectures) and Project-Based Learning.

  • Pre-Course: Strategic team pairing and 30 hours of remote preparation.
  • In-Person: 5 days of intensive work involving keynote speeches, peer feedback sessions, poster presentations, and iterative project development.
  • Field Work: Hardware demonstrations under field conditions.

Learning Outcomes
By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

  1. Plan and communicate projects using automated monitoring for entomological questions.
  2. Select appropriate monitoring methods based on strengths, weaknesses, and data needs.
  3. Design data acquisition programs using autonomous sensors (cameras) with attention to hardware and deployment.
  4. Generate labeled datasets via strategic manual annotation.
  5. Manage data according to metadata standards.
  6. Train models to detect, classify, or characterize insects in images.

Deploy open-source models while accounting for domain shifts and uncertainty

Applications ACCSESS 2026 now open

More info: https://darsa.info/ACCESS-2026/.