
of the German AI Community
Researchers, developers, and partners from science and industry were invited to participate in the All Hands Meeting 2025. In workshops, panels, and poster sessions, they discussed current challenges, shared the latest research findings, and developed fresh impetus for future collaborations. The meeting impressively demonstrated how German AI competence centres are joining forces and paving the way for a networked European AI landscape together with the French research community.
Read the full press release here:
https://www.dfki.de/en/web/news/german-and-french-ai-competence-centres-strengthen-european-ai-sovereignty
Date: Wednesday, November 5, and Thursday, November 6
Location: Assembly hall (Aula) of Saarland University and DFKI, Saarbrücken
Moderation: Verena Sierra
| Time | Program | Details | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 08:00 - 09:00 | Coffee & Registration | – | Assembly hall (Aula) of Saarland University |
| 09:00 - 09:30 | Welcoming Addresses |
Parliamentary State Secretary Matthias Hauer, Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (Video clip)
Antonio Krüger, CEO DFKI and Head of the Scientific Committee of the Network of AI Competence Centres Pierre Alliez, Research Director at Inria and Scientific Director of the Inria-DFKI Partnership Jürgen Barke, Minister for Economics, Innovation, Digital Affairs and Energy of Saarland Jérôme Spinoza, French Consul General in Saarland |
Assembly hall (Aula) of Saarland University |
| 09:30 - 10:00 | Keynote speech | Dr. Fabien Le Voyer, Coordinator of the National Artificial Intelligence Research Programme | Assembly hall (Aula) of Saarland University |
| 10:00 - 10:15 | Best of BIFOLD | Dr. Alexander von Lühmann and Dr. Jack Thoms, BIFOLD | Assembly hall (Aula) of Saarland University |
| 10:15 - 10:30 | Centre Highlights | Prof. Dr. Christian Bauckhage, LAMARR | Assembly hall (Aula) of Saarland University |
| 10:30 - 10:45 | Centre Highlights | Prof. Dr. Thomas Seidl (LMU) and Prof. Dr. Daniel Cremers (TUM), MCML | Assembly hall (Aula) of Saarland University |
| 10:45 - 11:15 | Coffee break | Visit poster session | – | Assembly hall (Aula) of Saarland University |
| 11:15 - 11:30 | Centre Highlights | Prof. Dr. Wolfgang E. Nagel (TU Dresden) and Prof. Dr. Carsten Lutz (University Leipzig), ScaDS.AI | Assembly hall (Aula) of Saarland University |
| 11:30 - 11:45 | AI with purpose in a time of transformation | Prof. Dr. Peter Gehler, Tübingen AI Center | Assembly hall (Aula) of Saarland University |
| 11:45 - 12:00 | Transfer@DFKI | Prof. Dr. Antonio Krüger and Théo Vincent, DFKI | Assembly hall (Aula) of Saarland University |
| 12:00 - 13:10 | Pitches of the French AI Clusters | Pierre Alliez, 3IA Côte d'Azur Gerard Biau, PostGen@Paris Guillaume Gravier, SEQUOIA Jean Baptiste Mouret,ENACT Jean Ponce, PR[AI]RIE-PSAI Thomas Schiex, ANITI Demian Wassermann, DATAIA |
Assembly hall (Aula) of Saarland University |
| 13:10 - 13:15 | Establishment of an AI History Center at the Deutsches Museum | Video Clip | Assembly hall (Aula) of Saarland University |
| 13:15 - 14:15 | Networking & Lunch | Visit poster session | – | Assembly hall (Aula) of Saarland University |
| 14:30 - 15:30 | Parallel Workshop Sessions |
Workshop #1, #2, #3, #4 & #5Workshop #1 – Towards Closer German French Cooperation
Workshop #2 – Forum on Promoting, Training, and Managing Doctoral Candidates
Workshop #3 – Certificate course „Responsible AI”
Workshop #4 – Multi-Modal Biosignal Disentanglement
Workshop #5 – AI for the Benefit of Society |
DFKI, various rooms |
| 15:30 - 16:00 | Coffee break | Visit demo stations | – | DFKI, various rooms |
| 16:15 - 17:00 | Reconstructing and Simulating the Real World in Motion | Scientific Keynote by Prof. Dr. Christian Theobalt, Director Visual Computing and AI Department at Max Planck Institute for Informatics, Professor of Computer Science, Saarland University |
Assembly hall (Aula) of Saarland University |
| 17:00 - 18:00 | Networking | Visit of the poster sessions Beer & Pretzels |
Assembly hall (Aula) of Saarland University |
| Time | Program | Details | Location |
| 08:30 - 09:00 | Coffee & Registration | – | DFKI, various rooms |
| 09:00 - 10:00 | Parallel Workshop Sessions | Visit Demo Stations |
Workshop #6, #7 & #8Workshop #6 – Amortized and In-Context Simulation-Based Inference for Dynamical Systems: From Principles to Scientific Discovery
Workshop #7 – Stronger Together: Building cross-institutional Gender Equality and Diversity movement in the German AI centers
Workshop #8 – Discussion of Joint Transfer Activities of the German AI Research Centres |
DFKI, various rooms |
| 10:15 - 10:30 | Working Title: AI Gigafactories (Video clip) | Input talk: Dr. Ferri Abolhassan, Member of the Executive Board of Deutsche Telekom, Chairman of the DFKI Supervisory Board | Assembly hall (Aula) of Saarland University |
| 10:30 - 11:15 | Panel discussion: AI Gigafactories for European AI Souvereignty | Mirko Holzer (Federal Agency for Breakthrough Innovation - SPRIND); Prof. Dr. Feiyu Xu (Member of the Board of Directors Airbus SE, Chain IQ Group AG, ZF Friedrichshafen, Siemens Energy AG) as industry representative; Prof. Dr. Holger Hoos (RWTH Aachen) Moderation: Reinhard Karger, DFKI Corporate Spokesperson |
Assembly hall (Aula) of Saarland University |
| 11:15 - 11:45 | Coffee break | Visit poster session | – | Assembly hall (Aula) of Saarland University |
| 11:45 - 12:30 | From idea to application – Successful AI services and infrastructure from Germany | Joint presentation of the AI service centers with Florian Kieser (hessian AI), Jakob Dieterle (KISSKI), David Goll (AI@HPI), Prof. Dr. Sven Behnke (WestAI) | Assembly hall (Aula) of Saarland University |
| 12:30 - 13:15 | What comes after the Master's or PhD? Academic Path, Corporate Research, or Starting a Company? | Panel discussion: Matthias Schmitz (Southwest X), Sophie Pellat-Velluire (Inria Start-up Studio), Laure Poirson (AI Grid) Moderation: Andreas Schepers, DFKI Corporate Spokesperson |
Assembly hall (Aula) of Saarland University |
| 13:15 - 13:20 | Closing of the Official Part | Prof. Dr. Antonio Krüger, DFKI | Assembly hall (Aula) of Saarland University |
| 13:20 - 14:00 | Networking + Lunchbag | – | Assembly hall (Aula) of Saarland University |
This year’s All Hands Meeting of the Network Centres of Excellence for AI research will take place in the Aula and at DFKI Saarbrücken. Both locations are located on the campus of Saarland University, about 5 km northeast of Saarbrücken city center. The campus is easily accessible by public transportation. Parking is available in the immediate vicinity. We recommend staying overnight in Saarbrücken city center and traveling by public transport. You can find directions under: Saarbrücken campus | Universität des Saarlandes
We have booked contingents with special rates for you in some hotels. These contingents can be called up by you up to four weeks before the start of the event, subject to availability of the hotel -> Keyword “All Hands Meeting 25”.
Hotel Leidinger | Single room incl. breakfast at € 90.00 per room/night
Mainzer Straße 10
66111 Saarbrücken
City-Hotel Kaiserhof | Single room at € 54.00 per room/night | No breakfast available in the hotel. Several breakfast options are nearby.
Mainzer Straße 78
66121 Saarbrücken
hotel@kaiserhof-saarbrücken.de
City-Hotel Kaiserhof Saarbrücken
More hotel tips
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Please note that cancellation fees will be charged directly to the traveler. DFKI will not cover any travel, accommodation or cancellation costs.
Parking in the campus parking garages
Visitors can park for a fee (1€/hour, max. 3€, the first 60 minutes are free) in the parking garages P2 (Uni Mitte) and P3 (Uni Ost). The parking garage P2 (Uni Mitte) is the closest parking garage to the event location.
The event will be signed from the main entrance, from the parking garage “Mitte” and from the central bus stop.
Parkraum-Management-Stand 04.04.08
Parking on campus | Universität des Saarlandes
To the campus by bus & train
By train and bus to the campus | Universität des Saarlandes
Tourist information
Here you can find recommendations and insider tips with Saarbrücken’s most important sights and locations worth seeing.
Welcome to Saarbrücken | Tourismus
Near the St. Johanner Mark (City Center):
Saarland specialties, brewhouse
Saarland and French inspired cuisine
Japanese, Vietnamese, fusion, sushi
Saarland specialties with a difference, regional products, suitable for vegans & vegetarians
Mediterranean cuisine, Tapas, Bar
Near the train station:
Italian specialties, exquisite wines, elegant ambience
Mediterranean cuisine, Restaurant & Bar
Pizza, Pasta, Antipasti




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