Early Career Researchers Workshop

Informatics Europe invites early career researchers (ECRs) to participate in the "Professional Development Workshop for Early Career Researchers" (ECRWS) on Monday, 26 October, as part of ECSS 2026. The workshop will be chaired by Dimka Karastoyanova, University of Groningen (the Netherlands). 

This workshop for ECRs focuses on navigating the academic career path and building a sustainable and successful research career. Participants will explore practical guidelines for improving and maintaining academic progression, understanding evaluation criteria, and preparing for the next career step.

The workshop will address key success factors in academia, including setting clear objectives, demonstrating consistent progress, and understanding institutional monitoring and evaluation processes. Special attention will be given to mentorship, professional support structures, and tools such as SWOT analysis for career planning and self-assessment. A dedicated session will cover the publications process, with main focus on research ethics challenges, and including responsible authorship, peer review and publication strategies.

The program will also feature contributions from distinguished researchers, the IE 2026 Best Dissertation Award finalists, who will share personal experiences, lessons learned, and practical advice for PhD students and ECRs on building a successful academic career.

Workshop Rundown
Speaker bios are available on the ECSS speakers page by clicking their photos.

14:00-15:00

• Success Factors of a Research Career - Personal Experiences
  Joachim Baumann, PhD graduate, University of Zurich (Switzerland), current Postdoc at Stanford University (USA) 
  Letizia Jaccheri, NTNU (Norway)
  Gabriella Pasi, University of Milano-Bicocca (Italy)
  Giuseppe Spallitta, PhD graduate, University of Trento (Italy), current Postdoctoral Associate at Rice University (USA)

15:00-15:30

• Moving to the Next Career Stage in Academia
  Discussion chaired by Dimka Karastoyanova, University of Groningen (Netherlands)

15:30-16:00

• Publications’ Process and Ethics Challenges and Guidelines 
  Elisabetta Di Nitto, Politecnico di Milano (Italy)