37.646, Summer Schools: The Paradigm Shift: From Rules to Models in Natural Language Processing (Spain)

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-37-646. Mon Feb 16 2026. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 37.646, Summer Schools: The Paradigm Shift: From Rules to Models in Natural Language Processing (Spain)

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================================================================


Date: 14-Feb-2026
From: ِAmal Haddad Haddad [amalhaddad at ugr.es]
Subject: The Paradigm Shift: From Rules to Models in Natural Language Processing


The Paradigm Shift: From Rules to Models in Natural Language
Processing

Host Institution: Universidad de Alicante
Website: https://summer-school.gplsi.es

Dates: 15-Jun-2026 - 17-Jun-2026
Location: Alicante, Spain

Minimum Education Level: -

Focus: Natural Language Processing (NLP) has witnessed a clear
paradigm shift: the transition from rule-based approaches to
data-driven language models. While rule-based approaches dominated NLP
for many years, during the 1990s and early 2000s they gradually gave
way to statistical and machine-learning methods. It would be fair to
say that data-driven models—and, most prominently, Deep Learning (DL),
including more recently Large Language Models (LLMs)—have taken the
world by storm. Deep Learning models are now used almost everywhere,
across nearly every discipline, and Natural Language Processing is no
exception. DL has proved highly promising so far, delivering
improvements for almost every NLP task and application. However, as
observed on numerous occasions, the outputs of DL models are not
always ideal, with some studies reporting cases in which
machine-learning approaches do not necessarily outperform the
‘old-fashioned’ rule-based ones.
The overarching theme of the summer school will be this paradigm
shift, with lectures and practical sessions reflecting the latest
trends at both theoretical and practical levels. More specifically,
the programme will combine lectures focusing on theoretical
foundations with hands-on practical sessions.
Specific topics will include an Introduction to Large Language Models
(LLMs), Explainable AI in LLMs,  Datasets and bias in LLMs, Building
foundational LLMs for low-resource languages, Machine Translation for
Low-Resource Languages, LLMs and sentiment analysis, Model and
hyperparameter optimisation and Eye-tracking and gaze data for NLP and
language models, among others.
The summer school will be ideal for both newcomers and experienced
professionals in NLP, computer science, data science, cybersecurity,
corpus linguistics, language technologies, and related disciplines,
offering a unique opportunity to deepen expertise and engage with the
rapidly evolving world of LLMs.
Description:
The Paradigm Shift: From Rules to Models in Natural Language
Processing
International Summer School
Alicante, Spain, 15, 16 and 17 June 2026
https://summer-school.gplsi.es
First Call for Participation
Natural Language Processing (NLP) has witnessed a clear paradigm
shift: the transition from rule-based approaches to data-driven
language models. While rule-based approaches dominated NLP for many
years, during the 1990s and early 2000s they gradually gave way to
statistical and machine-learning methods. It would be fair to say that
data-driven models—and, most prominently, Deep Learning (DL),
including more recently Large Language Models (LLMs)—have taken the
world by storm. Deep Learning models are now used almost everywhere,
across nearly every discipline, and Natural Language Processing is no
exception. DL has proved highly promising so far, delivering
improvements for almost every NLP task and application. However, as
observed on numerous occasions, the outputs of DL models are not
always ideal, with some studies reporting cases in which
machine-learning approaches do not necessarily outperform the
‘old-fashioned’ rule-based ones.
The overarching theme of the summer school will be this paradigm
shift, with lectures and practical sessions reflecting the latest
trends at both theoretical and practical levels. More specifically,
the programme will combine lectures focusing on theoretical
foundations with hands-on practical sessions.
Specific topics will include an Introduction to Large Language Models
(LLMs), Explainable AI in LLMs,  Datasets and bias in LLMs, Building
foundational LLMs for low-resource languages, Machine Translation for
Low-Resource Languages, LLMs and sentiment analysis, Model and
hyperparameter optimisation and Eye-tracking and gaze data for NLP and
language models, among others.
The summer school will be ideal for both newcomers and experienced
professionals in NLP, computer science, data science, cybersecurity,
corpus linguistics, language technologies, and related disciplines,
offering a unique opportunity to deepen expertise and engage with the
rapidly evolving world of LLMs.
Venue and dates
The summer school will take place at the research institute of
Informatics of the University of Alicante and will take place on 15,
16 and 17 June 2026.
Registration
Registration will open in March 2026.
Related events
The summer school will follow the second international conference
Natural Language Processing and Artificial Intelligence (NLPAICS’2026)
which will take place in Alicante on 11 and 12 June 2026
(https://nlpaics2026.gplsi.es).
Keynote speaker
Roberto Navigli (Sapienza University of Rome)
Lecturers
The list of summer school lecturers includes:
Tharindu Ranasinghe (Lancaster University)
Salima Lamsiyah (University of Luxembourg)
Cengiz Acartürk (Jagiellonian University)
Hansi Hettiarachchi (Lancaster University)
Juan Pablo Consuegra Ayala (University of Alicante)
Robiert Sepulveda Torres (University of Alicante)
Alicia Picazo Izquierdo (University of Alicante)
Isuri Anuradha (Lancaster University)
Damith Premasiri (Lancaster University)
Ernesto Luis Estevanell (University of Alicante)
Maram Alharbi (Lancaster University)
Summer school Directors
Tharindu Ranasinghe (University of Lancaster)
Salima Lamsiyah (University of Luxembourg)
Summer School Chair
Ruslan Mitkov (University of Alicante)
Advisory Committee
Manuel Palomar Sanz (University of Alicante)
Rafael Muñoz Guillena (University of Alicante)
Andrés Montoyo Guijarro (University of Alicante)
Organising Committee
Raúl García Cerdá (University of Alicante)
Alicia Picazo Izquierdo (University of Alicante)
Ernesto Luis Estevanell (University of Alicante)
Maram Alharbi (Lancaster University)
Further information
Further information including registration details will be provided in
subsequent calls. Alternatively, interested parties can email
summer-school at dlsi.ua.es for more information.

Linguistic Field(s): Computational Linguistics

Registration Open until 10-Jun-2026

Apply on the web: https://summer-school.gplsi.es

Registration Instructions:
https://summer-school.gplsi.es



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