• The 31st International Conference on Computational Linguistics (COLING 2025), hosted by Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), will be held in Abu Dhabi, January 19-24, 2025

Abu Dhabi, UAE: Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) hosts the 31st International Conference on Computational Linguistics (COLING 2025), which is organized under the auspices of the International Committee on Computational Linguistics (ICCL), at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC), in Abu Dhabi, from January 19-24, 2025.

COLING is one of the premier conferences for natural language processing (NLP) and artificial intelligence (AI). In 2025, the conference will take place in Abu Dhabi and the MENA region for the first time and will bring together key leaders from the NLP and AI communities.

First established in 1965, the biennial COLING conference has been held in diverse parts of the globe and attracts participants from top-ranked research centers and emerging countries. Today, the most important developments in our field are taking place not only in universities and academic research institutes but also in industrial research departments, including tech startups. COLING provides opportunities for all these communities to showcase their exciting discoveries.

The conference will feature a main conference, workshops, tutorials, and other events. The main conference will include keynote talks, oral and poster presentations, and panel discussions. Workshops and tutorials will be held on the first two days of the conference.

COLING 2025 is the second top-tier conference on NLP and AI to take place in Abu Dhabi, after the 2022 Conference on Empirical Methods in Natural Language Processing (EMNLP), which was organized by NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD), in partnership with MBZUAI.

Professor Preslav Nakov, professor and chair of the NLP department at MBZUAI, and chair of the local committee, said: “We are thrilled to host COLING 2025 in Abu Dhabi, marking a milestone for the region's involvement in cutting-edge NLP research. This conference brings together the brightest minds in AI and NLP, creating an unparalleled opportunity for dialogue and innovation. As language technology continues to redefine the way humans interact with machines, we are looking forward to exploring how these advancements can be leveraged to solve regional and global challenges—from healthcare and education to business and beyond.”

Professor Timothy Baldwin, provost and professor of NLP at MBZUAI, added: “COLING 2025 is a dynamic platform for showcasing Abu Dhabi’s growing leadership in AI, especially in natural language processing. MBZUAI’s mission is to address the region’s unique linguistic landscape, from dialectal Arabic to multilingual challenges while advancing the global frontiers of AI research. Hosting this prestigious event underscores our commitment to empowering societies through cutting-edge NLP technologies and bridging the digital divide in the UAE and beyond.”

With a total of 1,500 expected to partake in the conference, COLING 2025 will feature nine tutorials and 22 workshops, as well as the First Winter School on Arabic Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Computational Linguistics (CL), a two-day event designed to advance knowledge and skills in Arabic NLP and CL research and development and to foster interdisciplinary exchange and networking among students, academics and industry professionals in the field.

Professor Nizar Habash, from NYUAD and MBZUAI, part of the local organizing committee and organizer of the Winter School on Arabic NLP/CL commented: “The program of the Winter School will include expert-led tutorials and lectures, hands-on workshops, and poster sessions featuring ongoing research and project proposals in the fields of Arabic NLP and CL. We anticipate around 100 participants, including researchers, undergraduate and graduate students, Ph.D. candidates, and industry and government practitioners with interest in Arabic NLP and CL.”

In addition to leveraging Abu Dhabi’s strong MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions) infrastructure and capabilities, the conference is supported by the Abu Dhabi Convention and Exhibition Bureau (ADCEB), part of the Department of Tourism and Culture – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi).

COLING is a leading conference in natural language processing and artificial intelligence. NLP is a subfield of linguistics, computer science, and AI that considers the interactions between computers and human language. Discipline helps machines process and understand human language to perform repetitive tasks automatically. Everyday examples include machine translation, automatic summarization, and automatic spelling correction. COLING is a very competitive conference acceptance rate of submitted full scientific papers.  All conference publications will be publicly available for free at the Anthology of the  Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL).

The logo for COLING 2025, designed by Professor Nizar Habash, showcases the architectural marvels of Abu Dhabi, UAE. It features five iconic buildings, including the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, Capital Gate, Etihad Towers, Burj Mohammed bin Rashid, Al Bahar Towers, and Aldar Headquarters.

About Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI)

MBZUAI is a graduate research university focused on artificial intelligence, computer science, and digital technologies across industrial sectors. The university aims to empower students, businesses, and governments to advance artificial intelligence as a global force for positive progress. MBZUAI offers various graduate programs designed to pursue advanced, specialized knowledge and skills in artificial intelligence, including computer science, computer vision, machine learning, natural language processing, and robotics. For more information, please visit www.mbzuai.ac.ae

To apply for admission, visit mbzuai.ac.ae or contact admissions@mbzuai.ac.ae.

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