Reflecting on the 29th BMVA Computer Vision Summer School

We recently wrapped up an inspiring week at the 29th BMVA Computer Vision Summer School (CVSS 2026) at Durham University.

It was incredibly rewarding to help bring the programme to life and welcome such an engaged community of speakers, researchers and students. The summer school provided an opportunity for participants to explore a broad range of computer vision topics, exchange ideas and develop connections with academics and industry experts at different stages of their careers.

A welcoming and collaborative programme

Alongside the technical sessions, the programme included a poster reception, a visit to Durham Cathedral, the summer school dinner at St Chad's College and a river cruise. Each part of the week helped create a welcoming and collaborative environment in which participants could continue conversations beyond the formal sessions.

Thank you to our speakers

A huge thank you to all our speakers for sharing their time, expertise and perspectives across such a wide range of computer vision topics. Their contributions were at the heart of the summer school:

Ulrik Beierholm, Tim Cootes, Oisin Mac Aodha, Victor Sanchez, Tanaya Guha, Krystian Mikolajczyk, Neill Campbell, Deblina Bhattacharjee, Xianghua Xie, Andrew Gilbert, Armin Mustafa, Oliver Hamilton, Samet Akcay and Cheng Zhang.

More information about the speakers and their sessions is available on the CVSS 2026 speakers page.

Recognising the organising team

I am especially grateful to my fellow chairs Amir Atapour Abarghouei, Toby Breckon, Cuong Nguyen, Nikos Mavrakis, Ulrik Beierholm, Georgios Leontidis, Aiden Durrant and Carlos Moreno-Garcia for the collaboration, commitment and care that went into making CVSS 2026 happen.

Particular thanks go to our fearless leader, Amir Atapour Abarghouei, whose leadership was central to delivering such a successful week.

Looking ahead

We hope that the students leave the summer school with new knowledge, lasting connections and a strong network of academics and industry experts. We also hope they will share their experiences and recommend the summer school to future PhD students.

Thank you to Durham University Computer Science, the British Machine Vision Association and Society for Pattern Recognition, our speakers, organisers, volunteers and participants for making the week such a success.

We look forward to the Summer School returning to Durham in 2028.