Kawin Ethayarajh
Assistant Professor of Applied AI and Kathryn and Grant Swick Faculty Scholar
Kawin Ethayarajh.png?cx=0.4&cy=0.17&cw=1880&ch=783&hash=96E98C2EA82E7307FE99367696F6D61F)
The AI and Economics Summer Institute (AIE Summer Institute) 2026
August 6 to August 11, 2026
Announcing The AIE Summer Institute 2026!
Formerly MLESI
The Center for Applied AI at the University of Chicago is excited to share that applications for our AI and Economics Summer Institute (The AIE Summer Institute) are now live.
The AIE Summer Institute will take place from August 6 to August 11, 2026.
Program Description:
Now entering its sixth year, the Institute brings together leading researchers with advanced graduate students to build community and push forward cutting-edge research ideas. Our organizers this year are Kawin Ethayarajh (Chicago Booth), Alex Imas (Chicago Booth), Sanjog Misra (Chicago Booth), Lindsey Raymond (Microsoft Research), Ashesh Rambachan (MIT), and Daniel Rock (Wharton).
Goals of the Program:
- Introduce researchers to frontier methods and datasets in AI (e.g., LLMs, agents, alignment with human feedback), and how they relate to longstanding questions in forecasting, experimental design, fairness and bias, and econometric theory; and
- Build intuitions for how these methods can open up new questions for economists in fields like macroeconomics, behavioral science, health, development, public, labor, or applied microeconomics generally.
Format:
The AIE Summer Institute 2026 will be held in-person on the University of Chicago campus.
The program for participating students will consist of two parts:
- August 6 - 10: Lectures, panel discussions, tutorials, office hours, and social activities.
- August 11: Attendance at the AI and Economics Summer Conference with talks on current research topics.
Eligibility and Participation:
Participation in the full program will be by application, and limited to around 30 Ph.D. students and post-docs who have completed their Ph.D. program in 2024 or later. Candidates in economics, AI/ML/NLP and related disciplines (e.g. statistics, etc.) who have a strong interest in economics are eligible. Participants are expected to attend the August 6–11 program full-time and in person. Housing and program-related expenses for admitted students will be fully covered for the duration of the program week. Travel funding is available on a limited basis.
Application Information:
Applications can be submitted here
Applications are due by Wednesday, April 1, 2026.
For additional questions, please contact Lauren Doan at lauren.doan@chicagobooth.edu
Organizers
Sanjog Misra
Charles H. Kellstadt Distinguished Service Professor of Marketing and Applied AI
Sanjog Misra
Ashesh Rambachan
Assistant Professor in Economics, MIT
Ashesh Rambachan
Lindsey Raymond
Postdoctoral Fellow in Economics and Computation at Microsoft Research
Lindsey RaymondFAQ
There is no registration fee or cost to attend.
Student accommodations will be offered at no charge on the UChicago campus. Breakfast and lunch will be served during the program each day. Dinners will be served during group activities most evenings.
Participants will be staying in university housing and might share a room with other participants.
We expect students to seek their own funding for travel. If they are unable to find appropriate funding, they may request financial aid by emailing us. Please include demonstrated need and approximate budget for requested funds.
No, the Summer Institute this year will be fully in-person, and we look forward to engaging with you on campus.
Join Our Mailing List
Sign up to hear about new research initiatives and opportunities at the Center for Applied AI