We are delighted to invite you to the second meeting of the Dutch Sequential Decision-Making Community from 26-28 August 2026 at EURANDOM, Eindhoven on Modern Topics in Reinforcement Learning. The event is organised by the Landelijk Netwerk Mathematische Besliskunde (LNMB) and by the 4TU+.AMI Strategic Research Initiative on Real-world Inspired Sequential Decision Making.

This three-day meeting will explore modern topics in reinforcement learning and sequential decision making, including optimization-inspired algorithms for Markov decision processes, explainable reinforcement learning, structured reinforcement learning for financial decision making, and decentralized multi-agent reinforcement learning.

Participants will gain insights into both theoretical foundations and practical applications through expert-led lectures, hands-on sessions, interactive pitching sessions, and collaborative open problem discussions. The meeting is particularly interesting for PhD students, postdoctoral researchers, and early-career academics who are interested in modern reinforcement learning methodologies and their applications in complex sequential decision-making problems.

Speakers

Titles and abstracts speakers incl. biographies

Programme

The programme starts on Wednesday 26 August at 10.00 and will end on Friday 28 August at 16.00. On Wednesday 26 August a social activity takes place. You can download the programme here

Pitching Sessions

The summer school includes two interactive pitching sessions where participants can briefly present their research, an ongoing project, or an open problem they would like to discuss with others.

Each presentation consists of:

• 3 minutes presentation
• 2 minutes discussion/questions

Participants can choose between:

• presenting completed or nearly completed work only, or
• presenting ongoing work or an open problem and continuing the discussion during the open problem sessions.

Participants who would like to present should prepare:

• 1–3 slides,
• a short explanation of the main idea or challenge,
• and (optionally) a research question or open problem for discussion.

The goal is to give a concise and accessible overview that can spark discussions and potential collaborations.

Open Problem Sessions

The open problem sessions are collaborative group discussions centered around research questions proposed during the pitching sessions.

Participants who present an ongoing project or open problem can continue working on it together with interested participants during these sessions.

Groups will work together to:

• brainstorm ideas,
• discuss possible approaches,
• and exchange feedback with other participants and speakers.

The sessions are intended to be informal and interactive, encouraging collaboration across topics and backgrounds.

Workload

The workload for the whole programme has been set to 1 EC. Should you wish to receive a certificate, please contact the LNMB secretariat at lnmb@utwente.nl within two weeks after the completion of the programme, and provided you have attended it fully.

Registration is now closed