The ECSS 2021 Committee prioritizes the health and safety of all our participants. For this reason, all national COVID protocols applicable were followed, masks were mandatory during all sessions and an official COVID certificate* was requested at the entrance, during the registration process.  Additionally and in order to protect others, we encouraged all participants to take a test at origin, before traveling. Neither the organizers (Informatics Europe and UPM) nor the Technical Secretariat (AIM) accept any responsibility derived from participants getting sick or injured in any manner during any of the activities organized around ECSS 2021.

Should participants require any type of medical support (including COVID tests) while in Madrid, AIM promptly provided contact addresses. Participants found AIM personnel present at the venue and available via email (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.), 

* The Covid certificate provides evidence that you had a COVID-19 vaccination, have had and recovered from the disease in the last 180 days, or have tested negative (PCR or RAT). 

Covid-19 Safety and Health Measures to Travel to Spain

The Government of Spain has implemented a series of measures to protect your and the general public’s health, including health control of passengers upon arrival in Spain. On the following website you can fill out the health control form and obtain your QR Code, to show it at the control points upon arrival in Spain: 

• SpTH - Spain Travel Health.

To access further information on health measures related to the COVID-19 epidemic in Spain, we recommend you to check the updates on Government websites:

• Ministerio de Sanidad, Consumo y Bienestar Social - Documents for Download
• Ministerio de Sanidad, Consumo y Bienestar Social - Travel and COVID-19

• COVID-19 situation in the WHO European Region 

Please note that it is the responsibility of all participants to check the entry and re-entry regulations for their countries of origin as well as for Spain regularly. In addition, we recommend obtaining valid health insurance and if applicable a travel cancellation insurance that also covers COVID-19 related events. Please contact the ECSS2021 Organizing Secretariat at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you need assistance in this respect.

Covid-19 Safety and Health Measures while in Madrid

The following measures are currently in force in Madrid (city and region):

• Mandatory use of face masks for everyone above 6 y.o. (and recommended for  3-6 y.o. children) when on the street,  using public transportation, and in any public spaces (outdoor or indoor).
• The minimum distance between people is 1.5 meters.
• Venues capacity is limited, as a general rule, at its 75% while indoors (Order 688/2020, of 19 June, of the Regional Department of Health, establishing prevention measures to address the health crisis caused by COVID-19 upon the end of the extension of the state of alarm established by Royal Decree 555/2020, of 5 June and subsequently modified by 720/2020 and 1047/2020). 
• Catering services are also limited to its 75% capacity while indoors, maintaining a distance of 1.5 m between groups of chairs, with a maximum of 6 pax. per table while inside and 8 outside. 
• Official nationwide Tourism protocols. 

Informatics Europe and ETSIINF proposed a limited number of travel grants, with a value of up to 150 EUR each, for Early Career Researchers willing to participate at the 2021 ECSS, in its totality (25-27 October) or just at the Early Career Researchers Workshop (25 October), in Madrid.

Interested researchers could send their application to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., mentioning if they intend to attend only the workshop or the complete event and if they submitted their CV and research statement, as per the workshop webpage.

Grants were assigned by order of arrival, prioritizing those having submitted a CV and research statement. Payment is subject to receiving proof of travel and assistance at the ECSS (transport ticket and registration confirmation) and will be paid by bank transfer no later than 30 days after the event.

Pre-booked Hotel Offer for ECSS 2021

For the convenience of ECSS21 participants, a limited number of rooms has been pre-booked at several centrally located hotels, close to the conference venue (Argüelles and Chamberí districts).

The following rates, per night and room, include breakfast and 10% VAT. 

^#Further options are available through the link below.

Bookings can be made via the following methods:

Princesa Plaza Hotel 4*  

• Book via www.princesaplaza.com with the Promo Code ECSS21.

        Free cancellation up to 8 days before arrival (1 night charged for cancellation from 5-7 days before arrival; 100% fee thereafter.)

Mercure Plaza de Espana 4*

• Book via this dedicated weblink. Enter ECSS21 in the box of “Preferential code” under “Special rates”.

        Free cancellation up to 48 hours before arrival.

Exe Moncloa 4*

• Fill the credit card authorization form (download here) and email it directly to the hotel: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. – quoting reservation number: 11056044.

        Visit https://www.exehotels.com/exe-moncloa.html for hotel details.

           Free cancellation up to 7 days before arrival.

Sercotel Gran Hotel Conde Duque 4*

• Fill the credit card authorization form (download here) and email it directly to the hotel:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. - quoting 982711 ECSS 2021.

        Visit https://www.granhotelcondeduque.com/ for hotel details.

       50% expenses charged for cancellation up to 21 days before arrival (75% up to 15 days resp. 100 % less than 7 days before arrival.)

Hotel Madrid Centro 3*

• Book via https://events.melia.com/en/events/hotel-madrid-centro-by-melia/ECSS-2021.html. No code is needed.

           1 night charged for cancellation up to 7 days before arrival. 100% charged for cancellation up to 72 h before arrival.

Ibis Madrid Centro 2*

• Book via this dedicated weblink. Enter ECSS21 in the box of “Preferential code” under “Special rates”.

        Cancellation (individual bookings) without charge 48h before arrival.

For more information and assistance, please contact the event logistics secretary at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The Members Spotlight is offering an overview of the activities, programs and news from our Informatics Europe members to the broader Informatics Community. Feel free to browse through the documents provided (more will be added closer to the conference date) and find out more about what is going on at the various Informatics Departments, Faculties and Schools all over Europe.

Aarhus University - MSc in Computer Science

Tallinn University of Technology & University of Tartu - Estonian Centre of Excellence in ICT Research

USI - Faculty of Informatics

University of Zurich - Studies in Informatics

University of Basel - Computer Science programs

Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Faculty of Computer Science

West University of Timisoara, Romania - Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science

Informatics Europe Flyer

Informatics Europe - More Women in Research and Education

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• Aarhus University - MSc in Computer Science

  Download

• Tallinn University of Technology & University of Tartu - Estonian Centre of Excellence in ICT Research

  Download

• USI - Faculty of Informatics

  Download

• University of Zurich - Studies in Informatics

  Download

• University of Basel - Computer Science programs

  Download

• Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Faculty of Computer Science

  Download

• West University of Timisoara, Romania - Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science

  Download

• Informatics Europe Flyer

  Download

• Informatics Europe - More Women in Research and Education

  Download

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The main theme of the ECSS 2021 was

"Informatics for a Sustainable Future"

Different aspects of the relation between sustainability and informatics were addressed during the three days summit. On the morning of 26 October in particular, we looked at this topic from the perspective of future innovations and safeguards that can be provided by fundamental and applied Computer Science research. We had presentations by:

• Prof. Lorenz Hilty, University of Zurich, Aligning the digital transformation with the UN sustainable development goals;
• Prof. Max Mühlhäuser, Technical University of Darmstadt, Interaction and representation challenges of sustainability related information – The quest for usable sustainability;
• Prof. Marina  Jirotka, University of Oxford, Reading the road: The challenges and opportunities of responsible research and innovation in helping develop sustainable societies;
• Prof. Frank van Harmelen, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Fighting fire with fire: responsible AI through regulation or innovation?

The session was closed with a short panel discussion in which all of the speakers can exchange views on research challenges for guiding us to a new, sustainable future. The session was highly interactive, allowing attendees to pose questions and discuss with the speakers.

The full schedule of this session can be found here.

As part of the 2021 European Computer Science Summit (ECCS) held in Madrid/online, on Monday 25 October 2021 was the

"Professional Development Workshop for Early Career Researchers" 

The goal of the workshop, organised by Elisabetta Di Nitto (Politecnico di Milano) and Standa Živný (University of Oxford), is to support early career researchers (PhD students and Postdocs) in the development of their soft skills related to presentation abilities, networking, developing a research plan, and connections to industry.

Invited speakers include Geraldine Fitzpatrick (TU Wien), Lynda Hardman (CWI), Justyna Petke (UCL), and Wolfgang Emmerich (UCL, Zuhlke Group) as well as further speakers from industry. They presented their experience in creating a strong collaboration network, improving their leadership abilities, developing high-quality research, and moving the research into industry.

Attendees of the workshop attended invited talks and had the opportunity to actively participate in discussions. Moreover, they could submit their CV (up to 2 pages) and a research statement (up to 5 pages), on which they received feedback and suggestions for improvement. They also presented them in front of the broader ECCS audience in the form of a poster during Monday's welcome cocktail, at the ECSS venue. The final version of the accepted research statements are now published as the workshop proceedings as open access which is available here. 

20 grants of 150 EUR each were made available to subsidize the travel costs of PhDs and PostDocs with budget restrictions.

The detailed workshop schedule can be found here.

How to submit*

CVs (up to 2 pages) and research statements (up to 5 pages) formatted in the LIPICS style should be merged in a single file and submitted via EasyChair. In the EasyChair form please include also the title of your research, a short abstract summarizing in a couple of lines your research statement as a set of relevant keywords.

*Registration of the workshop remains open but no submission of CVs and research statements are required/accepted after 30 June 2021. All registered participants of this workshop are eligible to apply for the travel grant.

Important dates

• Submission of contributions: 30 June 2021
• Notification of CV & research statements acceptance: 15 July 2021
• Camera-ready contributions: 15 September 2021
• Workshop date: 25 October 2021

Further inquiries: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

This annual workshop, organised by Informatics Europe in collaboration with the National Informatics Associations in Europe, was open to all participants of ECSS 2021. This year the workshop was chaired by Pekka Orponen, Aalto University, and addressed the following two themes:

"Research Evaluation in Informatics and Informatics in Interdisciplinary Curricula"

The first and second sessions addressed the topic of Research Evaluation in Informatics. Here one important question was how to recognise, assess and credit research contributions specific to Informatics, such as conference publications and software artefacts. We followed up on an earlier initiative on this topic, launched at the NIA meeting in Zurich in 2019, that is based on combining bibliographic data from the DBLP database and citation data provided by the Initiative for Open Citations. (For the broader perspective, see also the 2008/2018 Informatics Europe report on Informatics Research Evaluation).

The third session of the meeting considered the theme "Interdisciplinarity and Informatics" explored at the NIA Workshop at ECSS 2020. A summary of a recent data collection effort on the role of Informatics in interdisciplinary curricula across Europe was presented, followed by a discussion on possible curricular recommendations for interdisciplinary contexts.

Full rundown of this workshop can be found here.

This annual workshop, organised by Informatics Europe in collaboration with the National Informatics Associations in Europe, was open to all participants of ECSS 2021. This year the workshop was chaired by Pekka Orponen, Aalto University, and addressed the following two themes:

"Research Evaluation in Informatics and Informatics in Interdisciplinary Curricula"

The first and second sessions addressed the topic of Research Evaluation in Informatics. Here one important question was how to recognise, assess and credit research contributions specific to Informatics, such as conference publications and software artefacts. We followed up on an earlier initiative on this topic, launched at the NIA meeting in Zurich in 2019, that is based on combining bibliographic data from the DBLP database and citation data provided by the Initiative for Open Citations. (For the broader perspective, see also the 2008/2018 Informatics Europe report on Informatics Research Evaluation).

The third session of the meeting considered the theme "Interdisciplinarity and Informatics" explored at the NIA Workshop at ECSS 2020. A summary of a recent data collection effort on the role of Informatics in interdisciplinary curricula across Europe was presented, followed by a discussion on possible curricular recommendations for interdisciplinary contexts.

Full rundown of this workshop can be found here.

"Sustainability and Gender Balance – How to Retain Girls and Women in Computer Science"

The EUGAIN COST Action organised the WIRE-EUGAIN Workshop (a full-day workshop) on 27 October 2021, as part of the ECSS 2021. This workshop was a follow-up of the previous WIRE Workshops (2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020) and open to all ECSS 2021 participants as well as invited EUGAIN members and ad-hoc participants.

The workshop was chaired by Karima Boudaoud, Université Côte d’Azur and Christopher Staff, Institute of Technology, Carlow. 

This year, the workshop focused on sustainability in Computer Science and particularly on "How to retain girls and women in computer science" at all the career stages. Many studies have been conducted on how to attract girls and women in Computer Science but very few on how to retain them.

More specifically, the goal of the workshop this year was:

• Define first what sustainability in gender balance means in relation to retention;
• Understand then the reasons that push girls and women in Computer Science to leave - and consider whether there are different reasons in different cultures.
• Discuss mitigation measures to retain girls and women in Computer Science
• Exchange views on the best strategies to retain women in Academia
• See from a perspective of Science how to progress in more scientific approach when dealing with sustainability in gender balance;
• Involve in the debate all the actors concerned: Policy makers, Industry, Academia, Organisations and Associations dealing with gender balance.
• Extend the discussion about sustainability to diversity.

In addition, this year, we invited participants to send an extended abstract to collect their own scientific goals, actions, measures, best practices and recommendations. These abstracts will be published in a technical report.

The rundown of the workshop can be found here.

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European Network For Gender Balance in Informatics (EUGAIN) - COST Action 19122

COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) is a funding agency for research and innovation networks. Our Actions help connect research initiatives across Europe and enable scientists to grow their ideas by sharing them with their peers. This boosts their research, career and innovation.

www.cost.eu

To strengthen the network of members and allow them to participate actively in the main decisions regarding the strategy for future development of Informatics Europe, as well as keeping them informed of the main activities and outcomes of the organisations’ work, Informatics Europe organised a special session on Tuesday, 26 October.

The special session included: 

• Dialogue with Members - Informatics Europe Activities and Outcomes where the progress and important outcomes of Informatics Europe Working Groups and High-Level activities were presented. 
• Informatics Europe Annual General Assembly where members voted for Board elections and approval of financial reports and budget.

The full schedule of this session can be found here.