Building on the success of a first-for-Cyprus collaboration with MIT (MIT MISTI Global Teaching Labs) and local universities, organisers have announced the launch of JASS 2026 (Joint Advanced Student School)—an international, project-driven, 10-day immersive program that will bring top local and international university students to Cyprus for an intensive, real-world engineering sprint.
JASS 2026 will run 21–30 March 2026 at the Coral Beach Hotel in Paphos, welcoming around 25 highly talented undergraduate to postgraduate students for a “simulator” of a full development cycle—primarily software, with selected hardware elements—condensed into a high-intensity, hands-on experience.
A Practical “Build Sprint” for Emerging Tech—90% Hands-On
JASS is designed as a deep immersion at the intersection of AI, IoT, robotics, with a program structure emphasising 10% theory / 90% practice. Students work in international teams to design, build, iterate, and deliver a finished project under real time constraints—mirroring the pace and collaboration patterns of high-performance product teams. Students will explore and apply cutting-edge technologies including AI agents for coding and data processing, Time-Series Language Models (TSLM) for trend detection in temporal data, and Model Context Protocol (MCP) for integrating agents with external tools.
A defining feature of JASS is its living-and-learning ecosystem: participants and Mentors stay together in one all-inclusive venue for the full duration, strengthening team cohesion and enabling continuous collaboration beyond “classroom hours.”
2026 Theme: “Intelligence-Driven Smart Eco City”
The 2026 edition challenges teams to design and build an Urban Digital Twin: a city-scale digital representation integrating distributed AI agents for environmental monitoring and infrastructure management—turning sustainability into an applied engineering problem students can prototype and demonstrate.
Global Faculty and Mentors—Plus Local Academic Collaboration
Students will be guided by invited lecturers and mentors from leading international universities, including Stanford University, Imperial College London, and Technical University of Munich (TUM), alongside local academic partners. Expert instruction spans software engineering, applied AI, IoT/embedded systems, real-time operating systems, digital twins, and modern delivery practices.
Participation Is Free for Students
JASS 2026 is 100% free for students, removing financial barriers and ensuring selection is based purely on talent, motivation, and potential, regardless of background. Organisers are currently assembling a focused group of partners to deliver the program at a world-class quality level.
Partners and Support
JASS 2026 is supported by: Leptos, TUM (Technical University of Munich), Neapolis University, with community support provided by Techisland and KidIT Cyprus.
The project is currently looking for both Partners and Students to make this initiative happen. Students can register at https://www.jass.school/ with an application deadline of February 20. Interested partners are encouraged to reach out through the contact information provided below.
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Dates: |
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Event Details Summary 21–30 March 2026 |
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Location: |
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Coral Beach Hotel, Paphos, Cyprus |
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Format: |
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In-person / fully immersive |
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Website: |
