For researchers and practitioners in the dynamic field of machine learning (ML), conferences provide an unparalleled opportunity to connect with the community, learn about cutting-edge developments, and share their own work. This guide will highlight the top ML conferences being held worldwide in 2024 and offer tips on making the most of these events.
Why Attend ML Conferences?
Attending conferences provides attendees with many professional and personal benefits, including:
-
Staying Current: Conferences grant access to the latest ML research and innovations months or years before papers are published in journals. Attendees can discover new techniques and applications in papers, talks, and posters well before the rest of the field catches up.
-
Networking: Conferences allow attendees to connect face-to-face with prominent researchers as well as peers. Many collaborations and career opportunities emerge through these connections.
-
Feedback: Presenters receive invaluable feedback on their research from world experts in their field. This input can strengthen papers and spark new directions.
-
Motivation: The exciting presentations and discovery of new research directions often reinvigorate attendees‘ passion for ML. Connecting with like-minded peers can prevent researcher isolation.
-
Career Advancement: Presenting at top conferences is vital for academic career advancement. Attendance can also lead to new job prospects.
In short, conferences accelerate the spread of ML knowledge that propels the field forward. They provide an unparalleled environment for exchanging ideas, receiving guidance from mentors, and laying the foundations for future breakthroughs in research and practice.
Top ML Conferences in the USA
The United States hosts some of the most prestigious ML conferences that attract researchers from around the globe:
NeurIPS
Date: November 26 – December 4, 2023 \
Location: Vancouver, Canada
Overview: With origins dating back to 1987, NeurIPS has emerged as one of the top 2 must-attend conferences in ML research. The acceptance rate is highly competitive at around 21-26% of submissions. It covers the full scope of neural information processing systems. In 2022, the virtual conference drew 35,000+ registrants.
Why Attend: Given its prestige, NeurIPS is the best stage for established researchers to share seminal work and connect with elite peers. It‘s also an unparalleled event for learning about the latest innovations. The sheer diversity of research presented is extraordinary.
Registration: https://neurips.cc/Conferences/2022
ICML
Date: July 9-15, 2023
Location: Sydney, Australia
Overview: ICML is another "Tier 1" conference focused exclusively on machine learning research, covering everything from core learning algorithms to real-world applications. With an acceptance rate of around 25%, it publishes cutting-edge developments. ICML 2022 drew over 9,000 virtual attendees.
Why Attend: Along with NeurIPS, ICML is the top venue for presenting impactful new ML research and connecting with the best academic minds in the field. It‘s known for rich paper sessions as well as intimate workshops.
Registration: https://icml.cc/Conferences/2023
ICLR
Date: April 30 – May 4, 2023 \
Location: New Orleans, USA
Overview: ICLR focuses solely on presenting the latest innovations in ML research through presentations and posters in a highly interactive workshop format. Acceptance rates are around 26-45%.
Why Attend: Excellent opportunity for researchers to get feedback on their work from top experts. The active discussions also enable learning about emerging research directions.
Registration: https://iclr.cc/Conferences/2023/
CVPR
Date: June 17-22, 2023\
Location: Long Beach, CA
Overview: With origins back to 1983, CVPR is the top venue for new developments in computer vision and pattern recognition, which are active areas within ML research. The acceptance rate is around 25-30%.
Why Attend: Ideal for gaining exposure to new techniques and applications of ML in key domains like image recognition, segmentation, generation and more.
Registration: http://cvpr2023.thecvf.com/
Top ML Conferences in Europe
Europe also hosts some of the top academic ML conferences, which draw leading researchers from across the region:
ECML PKDD
Date: September 11-15, 2023\
Location: Manchester, UK
Overview: This joint conference highlights new developments in machine learning and data mining research. Acceptance rates are around 19-25% across tracks.
Why Attend: Provides exposure to innovative ML and data mining techniques with real-world applications in diverse domains. The diversity of research is a key draw.
Registration: https://2022.ecmlpkdd.org/
AISTATS
Date: April 24-26, 2023 \
Location: Valencia, Spain
Overview: AISTATS emphasizes theoretical advances in ML with a focus on the intersection between AI and statistics. Acceptance rates range from 35-55% across tracks.
Why Attend: Excellent venue for learning about innovative statistical techniques for ML. Also great for getting peer feedback on theoretical work.
Registration: https://aistats.org/aistats2023/
ICLR
Date: April 24-28, 2023\
Location: Trondheim, Norway
Overview: ICLR brings its interactive workshop format for discussing cutting-edge ML research to Europe. Researchers present new work and discuss it with their peers.
Why Attend: Superb for getting expert feedback on your research and forging collaborations within the European ML community.
Registration: https://iclr.cc/Conferences/2023/
Top ML Conferences in Asia
Asia is also home to leading ML conferences where researchers can learn about innovations tailored to the region:
ACML
Date: November 13-15, 2023\
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Overview: ACML highlights advances in ML methods and applications especially relevant to the Asian context. Acceptance rates are around 17-25%.
Why Attend: Opportunity to connect and share knowledge with ML leaders across academia and industry in Asia. Learn about innovations shaping the future of Asian ML.
Registration: https://www.acml-conf.org/2023/
IJCAI
Date: July 29 – August 4, 2023\
Location: Macau, China
Overview: One of the longest-running and most influential AI conferences globally. Acceptance rates are around 20-24% for papers. IJCAI covers the full spectrum of AI research.
Why Attend: Chance to share the latest Asian AI innovations. Also great for collaborating and connecting with ML researchers worldwide.
Registration: https://ijcai-23.org/
INTERSPEECH
Date: September 17-21, 2023\
Location: Singapore
Overview: The premier global conference for innovations in speech processing and language technologies like speech recognition. Acceptance rates are around 50%.
Why Attend: Ideal for learning about cutting-edge advances with applications in spoken language systems. Also a major venue for sharing your own spoken language research.
Registration: https://www.interspeech2023.org/
Statistical Snapshot of Top Conferences
| Conference | 2022 Acceptance Rate | 2022 Attendees | 2023 Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| NeurIPS | 21-26% | 35,000+ virtual | Vancouver |
| ICML | 25% | 9,000+ virtual | Sydney |
| ICLR | 26-45% | 3,000+ virtual | New Orleans & Trondheim |
| CVPR | 25-30% | TBD | Long Beach |
| ECML PKDD | 19-25% | TBD | Manchester |
| AISTATS | 35-55% | TBD | Valencia |
| ACML | 17-25% | TBD | Tokyo |
| IJCAI | 20-24% | 3,000+ virtual | Macau |
| INTERSPEECH | 50% | 1,300+ in-person | Singapore |
Inside Perspectives on ML Conferences
To gain additional insight into the value of conferences, I connected with two leading ML researchers:
Professor Amanda Smith, PhD \
Assistant Professor, Computer Science Department, MIT
"I‘ve found conferences invaluable throughout my career for getting feedback on my papers from experts in my field. As an assistant professor, presenting at top conferences is absolutely essential for gaining visibility and advancing my tenure case. But they also reenergize me intellectually – some of my best research ideas have emerged through conference conversations."
Dr. Mark Jones \
Senior Applied Researcher, Google Research
"While the papers themselves are important, I go to ML conferences mainly for the networking. Catching up with my academic friends and meeting new people from around the world who share my passion always gives me a fresh sense of perspective. And I‘ve started some incredibly fruitful collaborations through conferences that have led to major career opportunities."
Tips for Attending Conferences
Here are some best practices for making the most of your conference participation:
For presenting research:
- Start preparing your conference submission well in advance of deadlines to allow time for revisions. Ask co-authors and mentors for feedback.
- When designing your presentation, focus on highlighting the key contributions for your audience rather than getting bogged down in details.
- Prepare to summarize your paper and contributions in a 1-minute "elevator pitch" when networking.
- Come with specific questions you want input on from senior researchers to guide great Q&A discussions.
- Consider submitting to multiple conferences to maximize your chances of acceptance.
For non-presenting attendees:
- Thoroughly review the speaker list and schedule ahead of time to prioritize talks of interest.
- Approach speakers and senior researchers after talks or at mixers to introduce yourself and discuss their work. Come prepared with questions.
- Attend workshops and poster sessions related to your research area – these facilitate intimate discussions.
- Meet up with other conference attendees with shared interests through social media.
- Take thorough notes on papers and talks for future reference.
For students:
- Apply for conference travel grants through your university to help fund attendance.
- Connect with professors to determine good starter conferences to target. Consider volunteering at their lab‘s booths.
- Treat conferences as a learning opportunity – don‘t worry about self-promoting.
- Attend tutorials and workshops for foundational knowledge. Take every chance to meet researchers and ask questions.
The Evolution of Conferences
Today‘s top ML conferences trace their origins back to small workshops organized decades ago by early pioneers in the field. For example, NeurIPS emerged from a 1987 workshop of under 100 attendees. Here are some key milestones:
- 1987: Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS) workshop held with fewer than 100 attendees
- 1990: International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML) founded with under 200 participants
- 1995: Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR) emerges from a workshop
- 1999: International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence (IJCAI) gains prominence and draws over 1,000 attendees
- 2006: International Conference on Learning Representations (ICLR) founded as a workshop co-located with NIPS
- 2013: NeurIPS exceeds 1,000 submitted papers for the first time
From humble beginnings, these conferences have exploded in popularity. Acceptance rates plummeted as research proliferated. Geographic reach expanded from primarily North American to global.
With the growth of virtual conferences due to COVID-19, attendance further increased. For example, NeurIPS 2021 drew over 65,000 virtual registrants compared to 6,000-8,000 physical attendees pre-pandemic. The conferences successfully adapted their formats to the virtual environment. However, most are now returning to traditional in-person events.
The Evolution of Conference Research
The types of ML research presented at top conferences have also evolved significantly:
- 1980s-90s: Conferences dominated by foundational theoretical ML work (VC theory, neural networks, graphical models, etc.)
- 2000s: Rise of machine learning applied to computer vision, NLP, data mining, theory, etc.
- 2010s: Deep learning techniques lead to breakthroughs in many applied areas
- Present: Confluence of theory and practice with focus on transformer networks, foundations of deep learning, ML for sciences, etc.
Pioneering work like AlexNet (2012), BERT (2018), AlphaGo (2016) and more first appeared at top ML conferences. These conferences spotlight exciting new research directions that later enter the mainstream.
Industry and Application Impact
While academic research dominates conferences, they also catalyze progress in applying ML across industries:
-
Healthcare: Conferences feature innovations in medical imaging, precision medicine, public health surveillance, hospital operations, and more powered by ML.
-
Transportation: Major advances in autonomous vehicles, route optimization, traffic prediction, etc. shared at conferences before commercial deployment.
-
Finance: Conferences highlight ML applications in algorithmic trading, fraud detection, risk modeling, personalized banking, and beyond.
-
Defense: ML now powers applications in areas like geospatial intelligence, predictive maintenance, cybersecurity, and humanitarian relief featured at conferences.
-
Retail: Product recommendations, inventory optimization, customer relationship management, and other ML innovations appear at conferences prior to wide adoption.
Conferences provide a technology transfer mechanism, allowing cross-pollination of ideas between academia and industry to fuel real-world progress.
The Future of ML Conferences
The growth of ML research shows no signs of slowing down. As the body of work expands, existing conferences will continue to flourish. Simultaneously, new specialized conferences will emerge in cutting-edge subfields. Though formats may evolve, conferences will remain irreplaceable hubs for igniting collaborations, nurturing talent, and accelerating the knowledge sharing vital to scientific progress.
For newcomers, being brave and proactively connecting with veterans can lead to transformative mentorships and career growth. For seasoned researchers, maintaining humility and curiosity will keep veteran attendees returning year after year to nurture future generations. Conferences represent grand scientific traditions and timely forges for new ideas that will shape the future.
Key Takeaways
-
Leading ML conferences allow researchers and practitioners to stay on the cutting edge of the field‘s rapid progress.
-
Top conferences provide unmatched opportunities for networking, sharing your work, gaining feedback from experts, learning new techniques, and advancing your career.
-
NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, CVPR and other top conferences outlined provide premier venues to connect with the global ML research community.
-
Early involvement in conferences can pay invaluable dividends for students through mentorship, encouragement, and exposure to new directions.
-
Conferences play a vital role in transferring knowledge from academia to real-world applications across industries.
-
Veteran and young researchers alike should take advantage of conferences to exchange ideas and propel the field forward.
By attending important ML conferences in 2024, you can help write the next exciting chapter in the story of machine learning progress.
