About the Summer School

Join us for four days in Cluj, to learn about Data Management in the Cloud!

Overview

The goal of the VLDB Summer School is to bring together early-stage research students and international experts in Database Management Systems for a multi-day event. The Summer School has two roles: On the one hand, it will educate on state of the art topics in Data Management in the Cloud, covering all relevant topics, ranging from design principles behind data-intensive applications in the Cloud, through Data Integration and Data Lakes, down to the underlying hardware resources of Cloud machines and how Databases can take advantage of these, to offer efficient query processing. On the other hand, the Summer School is a networking event, with many opportunities for students to exchange experience with each other and to discuss in a friendly, collegial, setting with the expert speakers at the event.

The Summer School will take place in person, between the 23rd and 26th of July 2024, at the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, in the building on the Daicoviciu street. It will comprise of tutorials covering foundational aspects of Data Management in the Cloud, research talks covering state-of-the-art research projects and future challenges, and a Poster Session. In the Poster Session all participants will have a chance to showcase their Phd/Postdoc research topic and results (or their Master’s thesis topic, in case they are still in the Master’s degree), and get feedback from the numerous experts present at the event.

The VLDB Summer School is committed to ensuring an inclusive and diverse environment with zero tolerance for discrimination, harassment, or any other form of misconduct. To support Database education and research internationally, we will provide also discounted participation fees (see next section on Costs), thanks to the generous support of the VLDB SPEND Committee.

Application Process and Costs

The Summer School will accept around 40 participants – they will be selected by the organizers from the applicants based on their academic progress and match of research topics/interests. Every participant will be expected to attend the in-person event and thus we encourage an early application. We encourage applications from PhD students and early career researchers who are working in the field of Data Management Systems but also in related fields (e.g., Machine Learning, Modern Hardware, Parallel Computing, etc.). Master students and postdocs are also welcome to register subject to availability.

The Summer School will have two types of participation fees: Full Fee (€450) and Reduced Fee (€100). The participation fee includes coffee breaks, lunch, and dinner served all days as part of the Summer School. There is only a limited supply of Reduced Fee registrations available, reserved for: a) students studying in Eastern Europe or in a country not classified as High-Income by the World Bank, or b) self-financed students (not reimbursed by an organization/employer) from a non-High-Income Country. Self-financed students from High Income Countries may apply for the Reduced Fee as well but we reserve the right to “convert” the applications to Full Fee.

In addition to the participation fee, the selected participants are expected to pay for their lodging and travel expenses to Cluj-Napoca. There will be a number of rooms available at the Hampton by Hilton at a negotiated rate – but the city has many hotels and guesthouses for different budgets; we estimate per-night costs to be in the range of 60€-130€. For those eligible for a reduced fee, a limited number of student dormitory rooms will be made available. You will receive further information regarding lodging, if you are accepted as a participant.

Interested students can apply online at https://goto.dm.informatik.tu-darmstadt.de/tudasystems/vldbssc24/. Applicants must provide i) a CV (with optional publication list), ii) a description of their experience/knowledge about databases, and iii) a short motivation of how the Summer School will benefit them in their studies/research.

Deadline for Applications

  • Application period opens: 15th of February 2024
  • Registration deadline: 15th of April 2024 (midnight CEST)
  • Notification of acceptance: 22nd of April 2024
  • Payment due: 1st of May 2024

Submit your application here: https://goto.dm.informatik.tu-darmstadt.de/tudasystems/vldbssc24/

Organizers

The VLDB Summer School has received financial support from the VLDB SPEND Committee. The lecture halls and volunteers have been made available for the event by the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca as a generous donation. The persons co-organizing the Summer School are: