[ACT-R-users] Eighth Groningen Spring School on Cognitive Modeling

[Spring School, FA]

– ACT-R, Nengo, PRIMs, Neuromorphic Intelligence –

Date: *30 March-2 April 2026*
Location: *Groningen, the Netherlands*
Fee: *€ 305 (late fee after February 28 will be € 355)*
More information and registration: www.ai.rug.nl/springschool/

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Dear colleagues and students,

We are excited to announce the *Eighth Spring School on Cognitive Modeling
in Groningen, from 30 March-2 April 2026!*

The Spring School will cover four different modeling paradigms: ACT-R,
Nengo, PRIMs, and for the first time Neuromorphic Intelligence! Each of
these topics consists of a series of lectures, as well as a number of
hands-on exercises (tutorials).

*Highlights*

   - ACT-R, Nengo, PRIMS, Neuromorphic Intelligence all in one place!
   - A deep immersion through *hands-on-tutorials* and *lectures* in one
   modeling paradigm
   - Guest Lectures
   - Poster Session
   - Dinner
   - Fun!

We recommend focusing primarily on one modeling paradigm with lectures and
hands-on-tutorials. You can choose a second modeling paradigm and attend
just the lectures. Of course, you are free to budget your time more or less
as you wish, but past experience has found this to be the most fruitful for
students.

To give students a broader picture of the field, there will be a special
session ‘Cognitive Modelling in Action’, which will present practical
applications of different modelling paradigms and give a taster of
modelling approaches not covered in the four main tracks. There will also
be two guest lectures. Participants are encouraged to attend both of these
events.

To kick off the program, there will be a poster session, where students
present themselves and their research. We will also get some time together
outside of lectures with a city tour and our traditional spring school
dinner!

*Registration for the Spring School is now open. **Registration closes on
March 23. The early registration deadline ends February 28.*

Please feel free to forward the information to anyone who might be
interested in the Spring School.

We are looking forward to welcoming you (again) in Groningen,

The Spring School team
springschool at rug.nl

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –


*ACT-R  *Teachers: Jelmer Borst & Stephen Jones (University of Groningen)
Website: http://act-r.psy.cmu.edu/

ACT-R is a high-level cognitive theory and simulation system for developing
cognitive models for tasks that vary from simple reaction time experiments
to driving a car, learning algebra, and air traffic control. ACT-R can be
used to develop process models of a task at a symbolic level. Participants
will follow a compressed five-day version of the traditional summer school
curriculum. We will also cover the connection between ACT-R and fMRI.

*Nengo  *
Teacher: Terry Stewart (University of Waterloo)
Website: http://www.nengo.ca

Nengo is a toolkit for converting high-level cognitive theories into
low-level spiking neuron implementations. In this way, aspects of model
performance such as response accuracy and reaction times emerge as a
consequence of neural parameters such as the neurotransmitter time
constants. It has been used to model adaptive motor control, visual
attention, serial list memory, reinforcement learning, Tower of Hanoi, and
fluid intelligence. Participants will learn to construct these kinds of
models, starting with generic tasks like representing values and positions,
and ending with full production-like systems. There will also be special
emphasis on extracting various forms of data out of a model, such that it
can be compared to experimental data.

*PRIMs  *
Teacher: Niels Taatgen (University of Groningen)
Website: https://www.ai.rug.nl/~niels/prims/index.html

How do people handle and prioritize multiple tasks? How can we learn
something in the context of one task, and partially benefit from it in
another task? The goal of PRIMs is to cross the artificial boundary that
most cognitive architectures have imposed on themselves by studying single
tasks. It has mechanisms to model transfer of cognitive skills, and the
competition between multiple goals. In the tutorial we will look at how
PRIMs can model phenomena of cognitive transfer and cognitive training, and
how multiple goals compete for priority in models of distraction.


*Neuromorphic Intelligence*Teachers: Giacomo Indiveri (University of
Zürich) &  Elisabetta Chicca (University of Groningen)
Websites: https://www.ini.uzh.ch/en/research/groups/ncs.html &
https://www.rug.nl/research/zernike/bio-inspired-circuits-and-systems/chicca-group/

For the first time, the brand new course *Neuromorphic intelligence using
asynchronous mixed-signal neural processing systems* will be part of the
Cognitive Modeling Spring School! More details will be announced soon on our
website <http://www.ai.rug.nl/springschool/>.
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