Shaping future AI leaders: Bringing the best young minds to Abu Dhabi

The Undergraduate Research Internship Program (UGRIP) at MBZUAI isn’t your run-of-the-mill summer school. 

For one month every year, some of the world’s most promising AI students converge on the University’s Abu Dhabi campus for what might be the most important steps along their academic journey, and could shape the future of AI innovation and leadership. 

“UGRIP is a unique opportunity for young people with a passion for STEM and AI, and has the potential to change the course of their lives, as well as the global AI ecosystem,” says MBZUAI’s Provost, Professor Timothy Baldwin.

“We have two main aspirations for the program that are inextricably linked: to bring the emerging generation of AI innovators to Abu Dhabi to immerse themselves in cutting-edge research, and make a meaningful impact in academia, industry, and society; and to expose exceptional undergraduate talents from around the world to the world-leading AI research environment at MBZUAI.” 

These are not simply big words. Launched in 2023, UGRIP is in the midst of its applications process for 2025, and its ambition is clear.  

“We are looking for students who are ready and able to tackle some of the world’s most pressing challenges, and continue MBZUAI’s mission to use AI as a force for good,” adds Baldwin.  

“During their four weeks with us, they will receive training, tutoring and mentorship from our world-class faculty, and work on high-impact projects that address real-world issues. Talent development has long been a pressing concern in AI, and identifying the next generation of innovators and leaders is something we care deeply about.”  

From classroom to cutting-edge research 

This year, some 60 interns are expected to join the program, taking tuition from MBZUAI faculty before working on more than 10 specially designed research projects. The first iteration of UGRIP saw 34 students take part, with 45 joining in 2024 from more than 1,000 applicants. 

During their four weeks at the University, the interns will have access to computer labs, library resources, and the collective knowledge of faculty, research assistants and current students; all of which will help them present their research across the final days of the program. MBZUAI alumni will also host a panel session for the interns, as will the MBZUAI Incubation and Entrepreneurship Center. 

Away from the research there will be several social and cultural activities for participating undergrads, such as visits to Ferrari World, Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Louvre Abu Dhabi, and other attractions — all of which are paid for as part of the program.  

But UGRIP is not just about learning; it’s also about contributing. The program’s research projects give the interns the opportunity to make their mark on AI innovation, and potential real-world impact. In previous years MBZUAI’s Natural Language Processing department designed projects based on detecting and preventing fake news, developing chatbot technology, or advancing speech recognition. The Computer Vision department asked interns to work on AI detection of severe weather patterns and healthcare applications including tumor diagnosis. And the Machine Learning department challenged participants to dive into AI data and algorithms, with the aim of making AI models more accurate and efficient. 

These research projects are a taste of the research interns would be expected to undertake and publish as full-time students at MBZUAI. Indeed, such has been the strength of some of the papers to come out of UGRIP that they have been accepted to leading academic conferences including the International Conference on Medical Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention (MICCAI) and the Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing conference (EMNLP) 

One example is a paper titled Optimizing Brain Tumor Segmentation with MedNeXt: BraTS 2024 SSA and Pediatrics, which included six interns and was accepted into MICCAI 2024 Challenges. A follow-up work is currently under preparation, with three interns still heavily involved. 

Advancing global AI from Abu Dhabi 

At the end of four weeks, the interns return to their universities with a greater understanding of the research demands of a master’s in AI, and – hopefully – a greater passion and drive to pursue a career at the cutting edge of STEM. 

For the program’s stand-out participants, this pathway is potentially opened up by an invitation from MBZUAI to apply for a place on one of its Master’s and Ph.D. courses, which include machine learning, computer vision, natural language processing, computer science, and robotics. 

Both MBZUAI and Abu Dhabi are ideal places to achieve these aspirations, given the University’s prominence as a global hub for graduate-level AI research, and the Emirate’s progressive stance on AI and future tech; enabling AI practitioners to innovate, contribute to, and even lead the UAE’s burgeoning AI ecosystem. 

To demonstrate these credentials, the UAE was ranked fifth in the 2024 Global AI Power Rankings, while MBZUAI is recognized as one of the world’s top 20 universities for its specializations in AI, computer vision, machine learning, NLP and robotics – and the top 100 for computer science, according to CSRankings. 

“UGRIP is more than just a program; it’s a transformational journey for interns that puts them on the frontlines of societal transformation in an ecosystem that is geared toward innovation,” adds Baldwin. 

“By finding and developing these talented students, we are enhancing MBZUAI’s prowess as a driving force of innovation and making an even greater contribution to a positive AI-enabled future that extends far beyond our campus and Abu Dhabi.”