IIIT-H hosts Learning & Longevity Symposium 2026

IIIT Hyderabad hosted the Learning & Longevity Symposium 2026, bringing together experts from neuroscience, AI, medicine and design. The event explored learning as a key intervention for healthy ageing, emphasising interdisciplinary collaboration to improve quality of life in later years.

Hyderabad: The International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad (IIIT-H) convened the Learning & Longevity Symposium (LLS) 2026, placing learning—not medicine, fitness, or finance—at the centre of the longevity conversation.

Hosted by IIIT-H’s Third Age Learning (3AL) Research and Design Group, the symposium brought together leading voices from cognitive neuroscience, molecular biology, geriatric medicine, AI, game design, eldercare technology, and learning sciences. The goal was to explore a bold, unifying hypothesis — learning is the most powerful intervention for healthy aging.

---

The symposium covered The Biology of Longevity, Third Age Learning, and The Longevity Ecosystem and the format encouraged unlikely but necessary intersections — neuroscientists engaging with game designers, dementia specialists in dialogue with edtech entrepreneurs, and cognitive scientists exchanging ideas with architects of the emerging silver economy.

“This symposium is not just an event, but the beginning of a sustained platform,” said Prof Vasudeva Varma, founder of the 3AL Research and Design Group. “We intend to return to these questions year after year—until solutions move from theory to practice.”

Sandeep Shukla, Director of IIIT Hyderabad, noted: “As life expectancy increases, the question is no longer just about living longer, but living meaningfully.”