Super Intelligence Scholars Program just sent another Greek AI researcher to present at a top-tier conference

Last Machine (~^) just helped ANOTHER Greek AI researcher present at a top-tier conference. This time robotics.

This is the story of a researcher with an INSANE bio, full of stars on his GitHub before he's even presented, and no funding left to get him there.

Classic Greek research story. Incredible talent, no help.

The researcher

A young Greek researcher named Alexandros Ntagkas reached out to present his paper, PGTT, at IROS 2026 in Pittsburgh, one of the two biggest robotics conferences on the planet (along with ICRA).

He graduated from Electrical Engineering at Patras. Did his diploma thesis while interning at Athena RC / Archimedes.

The work

PGTT is a new approach to quadruped robot locomotion. Reinforcement learning, sim-to-real, tested on an actual robot. Not simulation-only.

The GitHub repo already has 60+ stars. Researchers are using it, before he's even stood up to present it.

The gap

His internship at Athena RC / Archimedes, where the research was done, ended right after the paper got accepted. No institutional path left to go present his own work.

That's the moment Last Machine exists for.

In his own words

On why he applied:

"I applied to the Superintelligence Scholarship because the Fund's aspirations align closely with where I'm heading. As I begin my MSc at ETH Zürich, I'll be transitioning from robotics toward broader machine learning theory, topics like Bayesian learning and sample-efficient learning, and presenting at IROS 2026 is a key step in that transition. It's a chance to establish a presence in the academic community and connect with ML researchers who can help shape my future research direction. Beyond the trip itself, the Scholars program could be a valuable way to collaborate with other ML researchers globally."

What's next

Alexandros starts his MSc at ETH Zürich next, moving from robotics toward broader ML theory, with ICML and NeurIPS as future targets. IROS is the first stop on that path, a chance to stand in a room with the people already working there.

If you have an accepted paper at a top-tier venue and you're a Greek researcher who needs travel support, reach out.