NeurIPS 2026 · Sydney

Workshop for Autonomous Machine Learning Research

Autonomous research, human judgment.

A discussant-led workshop rethinking how autonomous research enters the machine learning community.

Read the call for papers

VenueNeurIPS 2026

LocationSydney · In person

Workshop dateTo be announced

FormatNon-archival · Discussant-led

01 Why this workshop

Do conferences exist for science, or for scientists?

The research process comprises the formulation of a hypothesis, the design of an experiment, and the judgment of a result. The implicit assumption that this process is a fundamentally human act is suddenly being challenged by autonomous research.

Given the development of agent harnesses that can pursue long-horizon tasks, we believe it is time for the community to formally recognize and plan for the inevitability of impactful autonomous research.

Our goal is to make autonomous research meaningful in a way that strengthens the ML community without undermining the role of human researchers. The workshop brings this structural change into the open and anchors autonomous research in human judgment and participation.

Just as Pandora’s Box cannot be closed, the effect of frontier models on researchers now and in the future cannot be undone.

However, just as Hope was discovered at the bottom of the box, we believe the normalization of autonomous research will foster an environment where scientists can engage in open, constructive dialogue about AI-generated science.

02 What to submit

What belongs here?

This workshop is for ML research in which an autonomous agent either conducted the research end-to-end or made the decisive contribution to the paper’s primary result.

Required paper structure

One submission, two parts.

Every paper should let readers evaluate both the research contribution and the process that produced it.

Part 1

AI-generated research

Present the research itself: the hypothesis, method, evidence, and primary result generated or developed by the agent.

Part 2

System design

Describe the agent, harness, tools, research loop, human interventions, provenance, and verification used to produce the work.

Scope. A systems-only paper is not eligible without a qualifying research result. The workshop is focused specifically on machine learning research, rather than autonomous research in unrelated scientific domains.

Human authorship. Authorship remains exclusively human. Authors curate the work, verify its claims, disclose agent involvement, and remain responsible for the final submission. Disclosure policy pending

03 Discussant format

What is a discussant?

A discussant is a non-author whose role is to help the audience understand and engage with an accepted paper. The model is common in the social sciences, but remains unfamiliar in machine learning.

Traditionally, accepted conference papers are presented by their authors, while reviewers disappear into the background. For autonomous research, we propose that the allocation of attention be reversed. If autonomous systems can produce candidate papers at scale, the scarce human contribution becomes the ability to evaluate AI-generated claims.

The discussant is not a co-author and does not replace the author. They bring an independent, informed perspective to the work: why its primary result deserves attention, which evidence is most persuasive, what limitations remain, and what the community should discuss next.

01 · Review

Blind decision-making

Submissions remain blind and reviewers anonymous. Reviewers assess the work independently under the NeurIPS conflict-of-interest policy.

02 · Selection

An accepting reviewer

A discussant is chosen from reviewers who advocated acceptance—first from volunteers, otherwise by random selection.

03 · Preparation

An independent reading

The discussant prepares an account of the contribution, strongest evidence, unresolved limitations, and questions for the author.

04 · Workshop

Summary, response, dialogue

The author gives a brief summary. The discussant responds, opening a dialogue with the author and audience.

Full review and attribution policy

Each submission must nominate min(number of authors, 3) qualified reviewers who may be called upon as discussants. Program chairs will ensure that each accepted submission receives at least three independent reviews, supplementing the reviewer pool when necessary.

Blind decision-making remains separate from open post-acceptance discussion. After acceptance, accepted papers will be published with their reviews and reviewers. The discussant will be identified and credited for their contribution to the session.

04 Practical information

Dates and program

Important dates

July 15Call for papers

August 22Abstract deadline

August 29Final submission

September 24Decisions

September 29Discussant notification

November 13Camera-ready

Exact time zones will be posted with the submission instructions.

One day in Sydney

Invited perspectives, author–discussant sessions, posters, and a closing town hall—designed to make human evaluation visible.

Workshop date pending

View the proposed schedule

9:00–9:15Opening: What counts as autonomous research?

9:15–9:50Invited talk · Sherry Yang

9:50–10:25Invited talk · Mengdi Wang

10:25–10:45Break

10:45–11:20Invited talk · Nik Dawson

11:20–12:00Spotlight author–discussant sessions

12:00–1:15Lunch and informal discussion

1:15–2:45Spotlight author–discussant sessions

2:45–4:30Poster session

4:30–5:15Town hall

05 People

Speakers and organizers

Invited speakers

Mengdi WangPrinceton University

Sherry YangNYU Courant · Google DeepMind

Nik DawsonBurning Glass Institute

Organizers

Arjun Prakash · Aditya Iyer · Hamish Ivison · Jack Liell-Cock · Amy Greenwald · Nora Ayanian

Area chairs

David Tao · Kevin Wang · Anna Hakhverdyan · Stephen Crawford · Zarif Aziz

Submission

Prepare your work.

OpenReview, formatting, paper length, and final disclosure instructions are coming soon.

Submission details pending

The submission link will appear here when the portal opens.

Common questions

What counts as autonomous ML research?

ML research in which an autonomous agent either conducted the research end-to-end or made the decisive contribution to the paper’s primary result.

Can humans still be authors?

Yes. Authorship remains exclusively human. Authors curate the work, verify its claims, disclose agent involvement, and remain responsible for the final submission.

Can I submit a systems-only paper?

No. The submission must contain a qualifying ML research result. The system that produced it should be documented in Part 2.

Is the workshop archival?

No. Authors may continue developing and submitting their work elsewhere, subject to those venues’ policies.