NeurIPS 2026: dates, 3 cities, workshops and how to follow

NeurIPS 2026 is the 2026 edition of the Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, one of the largest AI and machine learning conferences in the world. This year it happens in three cities: Sydney hosts events from 6 to 12 December, while Atlanta and Paris host events from 9 to 13 December.

Here are the official dates, the numbers, and how you can follow NeurIPS 2026 from India without a plane ticket.

What is NeurIPS?

NeurIPS is a yearly research conference on machine learning and AI, founded in 1987. It has invited talks, demonstrations, oral and poster presentations of peer-reviewed papers, tutorials, an expo and topical workshops. Many famous AI papers were first shown there.

NeurIPS 2026 dates in each city

The official dates page lists a separate schedule for each city (as of November 2026):

• Sydney: Expo Day on 6 Dec, Tutorial Day on 7 Dec, main conference 8 to 10 Dec, workshops and competitions 11 and 12 Dec.
• Atlanta: main conference and tutorials on 9 Dec, main conference 10 and 11 Dec, workshops 12 and 13 Dec.
• Paris: main conference and tutorials 9 to 11 Dec, workshops 12 and 13 Dec.

Sydney is the main location, and Atlanta and Paris are satellite locations with their own chairs. If you plan to watch live from India, note that Sydney is about 5.5 hours ahead of IST, and Paris and Atlanta are behind it.

How many workshops are at NeurIPS 2026?

NeurIPS 2026 has 102 workshops. The organisers received 477 proposals (454 valid) and accepted 48 for Sydney, 28 for Paris and 26 for Atlanta. Sydney workshops run on 11 and 12 December. Paris and Atlanta workshops run on 12 and 13 December.

The NeurIPS blog also warns that informal workshop lists on the internet are not affiliated with NeurIPS. Use the official list.

Workshops are smaller than the main conference. They focus on one topic, and many accept short papers. For a student, a workshop paper is often a more realistic first target than a main track paper.

What is the NeurIPS 2026 journal track?

The NeurIPS 2026 journal track brings papers already published in journals to the conference. This year it has 88 papers: 64 from Transactions on Machine Learning Research (TMLR), 16 from the Journal of Machine Learning Research (JMLR) and 8 from the Annals of Statistics. They are presented as posters in all three cities, next to the main track.

This matters for students. TMLR accepts papers on a rolling schedule, so you do not have to wait for one yearly deadline. A good TMLR paper can still reach the NeurIPS stage.

5 NeurIPS 2026 workshops to follow

These five workshops are on the official list and match topics we have written about:

• World models: "World Models in Physical AI". Read our world models explainer first.
• Diffusion text: "Beyond Next Token Prediction: Diffusion and Flow Models for Next-Generation Decoding" (Sydney). Start with our post on diffusion language models.
• AI agents: "The Third Workshop on Agents in the Wild: Safety, Security, and Beyond" (Sydney). Our guide to what AI agents are covers the basics.
• LLM judges: "Can We Trust the Judge? Building Reliable Evaluation for Language Models".
• Small models: "SLM-Agents: 1st Workshop on SLMs for Agentic Systems" (Paris).

Can you watch NeurIPS 2026 online?

Yes, with a paid pass. NeurIPS sells a Virtual Only Pass that gives access to the live streams of the entire conference and lets you interact through the mobile app. The official pricing page asks for your affiliation and shows the price only after you choose options, so check it yourself. There is a separate full-time student category; you upload a student ID to prove it.

Paper pages, workshop pages and many papers are free to read on neurips.cc and OpenReview without any registration.

Can students get financial help or volunteer?

Yes, but the 2026 deadlines have passed. Applications for financial assistance and for Sydney and Atlanta volunteering closed on 6 October 2026 (Paris volunteering stayed open until 15 October). Award emails went out on 15 October.

• Financial aid: may include free in-person or virtual registration and prepaid accommodation. Flights, meals and local travel are not covered. Students and junior postdocs who are main contributors to accepted work may get priority.
• Volunteering: two shifts of about 4 hours each. In Sydney and Atlanta, volunteers buy registration first and get it refunded after their shifts. No free hotel.

Our view: put a reminder for September 2027. The windows for these programmes are short, and the virtual registration option is the easiest one to get.

How to read NeurIPS 2026 accepted papers on OpenReview

OpenReview is the site where NeurIPS papers are submitted and reviewed. For many papers you can read the reviews and author replies too, not only the paper.

1. 1Go to openreview.net and search for "NeurIPS 2026", or open a paper link from neurips.cc.
2. 2On a paper page ("forum"), click the PDF icon to read the paper.
3. 3Scroll down to read the reviews, scores and the authors' replies, where they are public.
4. 4Pick one paper from a workshop topic you like. Read the abstract, figures and conclusion first, then the method.
5. 5Write three lines: what problem it solves, how, and one weakness the reviewers raised.

Reading the reviews is the fastest way to learn what experienced researchers look for. Most students skip this part.

How to follow NeurIPS 2026 as a student in India

1. 1Bookmark the official dates page and convert the times to IST.
2. 2Choose two or three workshops and open their pages for papers and talk schedules.
3. 3Read one accepted paper a day during the conference week.
4. 4Note which labs and authors keep appearing in your topic.
5. 5Discuss what you read with other students.

At APJ-RAISE, students read new papers like these together and turn ideas into small research projects. Joining is free.