Code of conduct

The open exchange of ideas, the freedom of thought and expression, and respectful scientific debate are central to the goals of this summer school on machine learning; this requires a community and an environment that recognises and respects the inherent worth of every person.  All participants at our summer school---attendees, organisers, speakers, teaching assistants, sponsors, and volunteers---are required to agree with this code of conduct both during the event and on official communication channels, including social media. Organisers will enforce this code, and we expect cooperation from all participants to help ensure a safe and productive environment for everybody.

The summer school commits itself to providing an experience for all participants that is free from harassment, bullying, discrimination, and retaliation for all participants. This includes offensive comments related to gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, religion (or lack thereof), politics, technology choices, or any other personal characteristics. Bullying, intimidation, personal attacks, harassment, sustained disruption of talks or other events, and behavior that interferes with another's full participation will not be tolerated. This includes sexual harassment, stalking, following, harassing photography or recording, inappropriate physical contact, unwelcome sexual attention, public vulgar exchanges, and diminutive characterizations, which are all unwelcome in this community.

Sponsors are equally subject to this Code of Conduct. In particular, sponsors should not use images, activities, or other materials that are of a sexual, racial, or otherwise offensive nature. Booth staff (including volunteers) should not use sexualised clothing/uniforms/costumes, or otherwise create a sexualised environment. This code applies both to official sponsors as well as any organisation that uses the summer school name as branding as part of its activities at or around the summer school.

Participants asked by any member of the community to stop any such behavior are expected to comply immediately. If a participant engages in such behavior, the school organisers may take any action they deem appropriate, including: a formal or informal warning to the offender, expulsion from the summer school with no refund, barring from participation in future editions of the school or their organisation, reporting the incident to the offender’s local institution or funding agencies, or reporting the incident to local law enforcement. A response of "just joking" will not be accepted; behavior can be harassing without an intent to offend. If action is taken, an appeals process will be made available.

If you have concerns related to your inclusion at this summer school, or observe someone else's difficulties, or have any other concerns related to inclusion, please talk to us. Feel free to reach the organisers with your concerns at organizers@m2lschool.org. The organisers can take action against an offender even if no formal complaint has been made.

We will make it a priority to timely investigate and respond to any report, while being transparent to all parties involved about the actions being taken. 

Note: This code of conduct is adapted from NeurIPS code of conduct (https://nips.cc/About).