Informatics Europe Bulletin - September 2025

Check out the highlights below and help us share them with the wider Informatics community!

In this issue:

New open letter & revised IE report endorsed by member National Informatics Associations

IE, alongside 10 member National Informatics Associations (NIAs), co-signed an open letter urging the European Innovation Council (EIC) to recognise software as a key research output in its Work Programme. Simultaneously, the revised IE report on Informatics Research Evaluation has been endorsed by our member NIAs. The current version expands on the 2008 and 2018 IE Reports, offering updated guidelines to ensure fair, discipline-appropriate assessment practices across Europe. Both initiatives aim to strengthen the role and recognition of Informatics research in shaping future innovation. Both publications can be found on the following pages:

• Recommendations: The Critical Omission of Software Technology in the EIC Work Programme 2025
• Reports: Informatics Research Evaluation, 2025 Revised Report

We call on National Informatics Associations across Europe to join IE and strengthen a unified voice for Informatics. NIA members play a key role in IE discussions, contributing national perspectives while serving as valuable ambassadors of our shared vision at the national level. Learn more about our joint initiatives and achievements here.

Call for nominations: Best Dissertation Award & Minerva Informatics Equality Award 2025

Nominations are now open for two meaningful Informatics Europe awards that promote and recognise excellence in research and education: the Best Dissertation Award and the Minerva Informatics Equality Award. These awards celebrate excellent contributions that help shape a more inclusive and forward-looking Informatics community and enhance the field’s positive societal impact.

The nomination deadline for both Awards is on 2 June 2025, with attractive prizes:

• Best Dissertation Award 2025, sponsored by Springer
  Includes a EUR 3,000 prize for the winner and an invitation to publish in a dedicated Springer series, offered to the winner or the best unpublished submission.
• Minerva Informatics Equality Award 2025
  Comes with a EUR 5,000 prize and enhanced visibility across Europe, with the initiative featured on the Award’s dedicated Best Practices in Supporting Women webpage.

Shine a light on outstanding work in Informatics—send in your nomination now!

New online resource: Best Practices in Informatics Education

Discover inspiring ways to enhance Informatics education through our new online collection of winning submissions from IE’s Best Practices in Education Award. These innovative initiatives from across Europe showcase real-world approaches that enrich Informatics teaching and learning, offering practical ideas and fresh perspectives for educators and institutions alike. Aligned with our mission to foster knowledge exchange, this resource supports continuous improvement in Informatics and related fields.

To keep celebrating and sharing new impactful initiatives, we welcome sponsorship of the Best Practices in Education Award. If your organisation values excellence and innovation in education, consider partnering with us to support the future of Informatics. Contact us or connect us to potential sponsors at administration@informatics-europe.org.

Exclusive exercise & final call: Online Academic Leadership Development Course (Spring ’25)

Leadership development is vital for academics—helping us uncover blind spots we might not otherwise recognise and equipping us to create environments where research and collaboration can thrive. Yet, many still lack access to training designed specifically for their context.



The 7th Online Academic Leadership Development Course, taking place in May 2025, offers a transformative experience tailored for academics in Informatics and related fields. Led by leadership experts Prof. Geraldine Fitzpatrick and Prof. Austen Rainer, the course provides practical strategies and evidence-based tools to enhance your leadership skills, self-awareness, and team performance. For IE members, you can take an exclusive sneak peek into the course with a practical exercise in listening and observation—designed to spark reflection and growth.

Registration is open until 6 April. Don’t miss this opportunity—join and share with colleagues currently or soon stepping into leadership roles at the school, faculty, or institutional level. Download flyer here and register here.

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Visit our Open Activities webpage to discover how you can participate in and benefit from initiatives like the Department Evaluation Service, Informatics Job Platform, Informatics Research & Education Directory and more.

Advancing Informatics Education in the Age of Digital Transformation

As digital transformation accelerates across Europe, strong Informatics competence is more vital than ever. A recent ACM Inroads article, European Digital Transformation Needs Indicators of Informatics Competence, examines the relationship between digital skills and the science of Informatics. While digital skills enable individuals to use technology effectively, Informatics provides the scientific foundation for innovation and responsible development.

The article is co-authored by four renowned scientists and advocates of Informatics education, including Michael E. Caspersen and Enrico Nardelli, former and current members of the Board of Directors of Informatics Europe and key contributors to the Informatics for All initiative, in which Informatics Europe has been actively involved since 2020. The publication highlights the gap in current EU policies, which prioritize digital skills while overlooking the need for structured Informatics education. The authors call for a dedicated Informatics competence framework to complement existing digital skill assessments, ensuring a more comprehensive approach to Informatics education.

This publication is essential reading for educators, policymakers, and advocates of Informatics education. To explore the full insights and proposed solutions, read the full article here.

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IE is committed to providing the community with clear, objective insights essential for understanding the field and guiding informed policy decisions. Explore more IE publications here.

New Directors join IE Board to drive strategic growth and advancement

Since January, three distinguished and visionary leaders have joined the IE Board of Directors:

• Ernestina Menasalvas – Technical University of Madrid, Spain
• Simona Motogna – Babeș-Bolyai University, Romania
• Ana C. R. Paiva – University of Porto, Portugal

Bringing extensive leadership and research expertise, they join 13 fellow Board Directors in guiding the strategic development of our community. Our new Directors also chair key Working Groups and Task Forces focused on Informatics Skills, Diversity and Inclusion in Informatics, and Informatics Higher Education Data—areas critical to shaping the future of the field.

We invite all members to support their efforts in advancing Informatics education, research, and societal impact across Europe. Explore and join here.

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Interested in becoming an IE Board Director or nominating a colleague? Find more information in our Board Nominations call here.

New IE members

We are pleased to welcome the following new academic and associate members:

• Eclipse Foundation
• Heinz Nixdorf Museumsforum GmbH, Germany
• School of Informatics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
• Department of Computer Science, University of Pisa, Italy
• Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics, Vilnius University, Lithuania
• Department of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway

Events by IE members

• Decision-Making in the Age of AI: The Role of Interactive Visual Data Analytics
  A Brown Bag Talk hosted by SIRA featuring Prof. Jürgen Bernard from University of Zurich
  Join online here on 28 March 2025, 12:00-13:00 CET

• 51st International Conference “Applications of Mathematics in Engineering and Economics” featuring the keynote speaker workshop “Quantum Science and Innovation”
  organised by Technical University of Sofia on 7-13 Jun 2025 in Sozopol, Bulgaria
• womENcourage™ 2025
  co-hosted by Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi and Babeş-Bolyai University
  Poster abstract due: 5 May 2025

IE member news

Training to support research offered in AI, ethics, data management, software – Aalto University, Finland

Aalto University offers free training on research data management (RDM) and open science twice a year. Led by Data Agents, legal counsels, and Research Software Engineers (RSEs), these webinars run until April. Open to all, they help researchers, staff, and students refine their methods, gain new insights, and enhance their skills. Each season introduces fresh topics and updates recurring sessions based on feedback. Register now! Full information and registration here.

NIXDORF 100: The anniversary and a wider range of activities – Heinz Nixdorf Museumsforum GmbH, Germany

In 2025, the Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum (HNF) in Paderborn commemorates the 100th birthday of the most important German computer entrepreneur Heinz Nixdorf with Nixdorf100. Highlights include five new exhibition areas, featuring a quantum computing showcase (opened January 11th) and a modernized Nixdorf Computer AG history exhibit. Classic PCs like the Apple I, C64, Atari, and Amiga will also be on display.Events include a big summer party (July 6th), Retro Computer Festival (October), and Family Day (November 9th), along with lectures, science talks, and specialist congresses. More information at www.hnf.de/en/nixdorf100.html.

IEEE Big Data 2024: Best Student Runner-Up Paper Award to Giacomo Ziffer and Federico Giannini - Politecnico Milano, Italy

Giacomo Ziffer and Federico Giannini, Ph.D. students in Information Engineering under the supervision of Prof. Emanuele Della Valle, won the Best Student Runner-Up Paper Award at the IEEE Big Data 2024 conference in Washington, D.C. Their paper, “Tenet: Benchmarking Data Stream Classifiers in the Presence of Temporal Dependence,” challenges the traditional assumption of independent data samples, highlighting the impact of temporal dependencies on Streaming Machine Learning (SML) models. Recognized in a highly competitive field of 661 submissions from 53 countries, their work sets a new standard for evaluating data stream classifiers in non-i.i.d. scenarios. Full story here.

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Want to share your institute’s latest updates with fellow IE members and professionals in Informatics and related fields? Simply email the news to our Communication Specialist Kit Wan Chui to get featured in our Bulletin, LinkedIn and Bluesky.