The Europaeum Winter School 2027
The Individual in the Age of AI
Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona | 18–20 January 2027
Artificial intelligence is reshaping conditions of human agency, identity, and autonomy at a pace that outstrips our capacity to understand it. Algorithms increasingly mediate how we work, learn, form relationships, and understand ourselves — with the result that fundamental questions once confined to philosophy departments have become urgent matters of public policy and personal experience. This Europaeum Winter School examines how our individuality is destabilised when our preferences are predicted, our choices shaped by recommendation systems, or our creative and intellectual labour replicated. It will engage questions of how personal autonomy can be protected in algorithmically mediated societies, how work and human purpose can survive advances in automation, and what issues of accountability, consent, and dignity arise in human-AI interaction.
This Europaeum Seminar will bring master’s and doctoral researchers at Europaeum member universities together in Barcelona to examine the tension between collective governance of AI and the protection of individual rights and freedoms from an explicitly interdisciplinary perspective. Participants may come from a natural or applied sciences, law, philosophy, humanities, or a social science background.
A limited number of slots will be available for 15-minute student presentations and we invite expressions of interest for them from students in all relevant disciplines. We especially welcome proposals for papers addressing the theme in relation to the following topics:
- AI, autonomy, and the philosophy of personal identity
- Algorithmic decision-making and its impact on democratic participation
- The future of work: automation, purpose, and human dignity
- Privacy, surveillance, and the datafication of the self
- AI, creativity, and questions of authorship and originality
- Law, regulation, and accountability in AI governance
- AI’s impact on relationships, community, and social trust
- Ethics of human-AI interaction and machine consent
Applications should include the Europaeum application form, a brief CV, a statement of purpose (up to 500 words), and a reference letter sent from their supervisor or academic advisor to applications@europaeum.org. Those who wish to submit a paper should also add a short abstract of the proposed paper (up to 500 words).
Only students from Europaeum member universities are eligible to apply.
Reasonable travel expenses to and from Barcelona, as well as accommodation and board during event days, will be covered for selected participants.
For more information about how to apply visit: https://europaeum.org/programmes/events-activities/
Deadline for submission of applications and abstracts: 19 October 2026.
All submissions should be sent to applications@europaeum.org.
