ECSS 2025 - Highlights

Leaders Workshop opened ECSS again this year with a joint morning session held together with the Professional Development Workshop for Early Career Researchers. Both Workshops share a common goal: strengthening leadership and professionalism in Informatics. By bringing senior academic leaders together with the next generation of researchers and leaders, the joint session created a space for cross-generational exchange, shared reflection, and fresh perspectives on the challenges shaping the discipline.

The year's Leaders Workshop, titled “How to Cope with Changes in Informatics Departments?”, addressed the complex and accelerating transformations redefining higher education today. Chaired by Ana C.R. Paiva (University of Porto, Portugal) and Jean-Marc Jézéquel (IRISA/University of Rennes, France), the Workshop welcomed leaders from across Europe to reflect on institutional adaptation, technological disruption, and the evolving role of Informatics in society.

The joint morning session featured a keynote by Maarten Steinbuch (Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands) on “Moore’s Law Calls for the Next-Generation University". His talk provided valuable insights into the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration with industry and the value of research in driving industrial innovation. Early-career voices, Andrea Cini (PhD Graduate from Università della Svizzera italiana, Switzerland) and Drishti Yadav (PhD Graduate from TU Wien, Austria), complemented these perspectives by reflecting on how doctoral and postdoctoral pathways can cultivate future leadership in Informatics.

A dynamic panel session followed, where Hans-Joachim Bungartz (Technical University of Munich, Germany), Nicola Gatti (Politecnico di Milano, Italy), Guillaume Gravier (IRISA, France), and Dimka Karastoyanova (University of Groningen, Netherlands) continued the discussion sparked by the keynote, including the concept of the fourth-generation universities. The panel shared best practices and debated key challenges facing the Informatics department, from adapting to digital transformation and curriculum renewal to balancing research excellence with inclusivity and societal impact.

In the afternoon, participants engaged in collaborative group work to identify and discuss their institutions’ most pressing challenges. These sessions fostered open dialogue, practical idea exchange, and peer learning on issues such as faculty development, interdisciplinary collaboration, the impact of AI, and managing structural change.

The Workshop concluded with a synthesis of insights and recommendations, reinforcing the importance of agility, communication, and community in leadership. Participants left with renewed commitment to guiding their departments through times of transformation, not just by coping with change, but by actively shaping it.

This year’s Early Career Researcher Workshop centred on supporting the professional growth of early-career researchers while strengthening their engagement with senior colleagues in the Informatics community. The morning session was held jointly with the Leaders Workshop, creating a rare opportunity for cross-generational exchange and shared reflections on leadership development in Informatics. The joint session featured keynotes by Maarten Steinbuch (Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands) on “Moore’s Law Calls for the Next-Generation University", and short contributions from Andrea Cini (PhD Graduate from Università della Svizzera italiana, Switzerland) and Drishti Yadav (PhD Graduate from TU Wien, Austria) - winner, respectively finalist, of the Informatics Europe Best Dissertation Award (BDA) - who highlighted the key elements that shaped the success of their PhD work.

A major focus of the Workshop was mentorship. In a dedicated afternoon panel session with the four BDA 2025 finalists — Andrea Cini, Federica Filippini, Erasmo Purificato and Drishti Yadav — and chaired by Dimka Karastoyanova (University of Groningen, the Netherlands), participants emphasised the importance of having a mentor beyond the primary supervisor. Such figures play a crucial role in offering emotional support, helping to refine ideas and strengthening communication skills — aspects often vital for navigating the demands of a PhD.

The discussion also brought forward the soft skills considered most valuable for long-term academic development. Clear communication with diverse audiences, the ability to manage risks and adjust when plans change, effective time management and delegation when supervising MSc and PhD students, thoughtful prioritisation, and awareness of how workload and communication affect mental health were all highlighted as essential complements to technical expertise.

The Workshop concluded with a PhD Symposium chaired by Gregor Engels (University of Paderborn, Germany) and supported by a panel of experienced researchers led by Elisabetta Di Nitto (Politecnico di Milano, Italy). The presentations prompted a constructive conversation on how to frame strong research questions, ensure they are achievable within the timeframe of a PhD programme, and adapt objectives when initial ambitions prove too broad.

Taken together, the Workshop provided a focused and insightful platform for reflection, reinforcing the importance of mentorship, soft-skill development and strategic planning in building a successful research career.

This year's Keynote Session featured an inspiring talk by Prof. Manuel Wimmer, Full Professor and Head of the Department of Business Informatics – Software Engineering at JKU Linz, Austria, titled “Quantum Software ante portas”. In his presentation, Wimmer explored the emerging field of quantum software engineering, emphasising its pivotal role as quantum computing transitions from theoretical promise to practical reality.

Quantum computing, he noted, has attracted tremendous attention for its potential to solve problems beyond the reach of classical machines. While initial research efforts largely concentrated on realising the hardware foundations of quantum computers, the current challenge lies in how to effectively program and utilise these novel systems. Unlike traditional computers, quantum machines operate under entirely different principles, rendering many established software engineering practices inapplicable.

Wimmer outlined the pressing need for new abstractions, methods, and engineering tools tailored to the quantum paradigm. Drawing on his extensive experience in model-based and search-based software engineering, he presented his team’s research into developing systematic approaches for designing and managing quantum software. These methods aim to bring structure and scalability to a domain that currently lacks the abstraction layers long familiar in classical computing.

The keynote also provided a broader view of the global research landscape in quantum software engineering, highlighting ongoing international collaborations and emerging initiatives to establish standards and best practices. Wimmer stressed that addressing these challenges requires not only technological innovation but also a new generation of “quantum-native” software engineers, equipped with hybrid skills in computing, physics, and engineering.

Concluding his talk, he underscored the importance of education and cross-disciplinary collaboration in preparing academia and industry for the quantum era. His vision resonated strongly with the ECSS audience, offering both a roadmap and a call to action for the Informatics community to take an active role in shaping the foundations of quantum software engineering — a field that, as the title suggested, now truly stands *ante portas*, at the gates of a new computational frontier.

Building on previous conversations about the impact of generative AI and other emerging technologies on education, the 2025 Workshop, chaired by Heri Ramampiaro (NTNU, Norway) and co-organised by IE member National Informatics Associations (NIAs), shifted the focus from “diagnosis” to action, presenting practical initiatives and strategies from across Europe.

The discussion opened with insights on early engagement and inclusion. Enrico Nardelli (University of Rome "Tor Vergata", Italy) presented national initiatives to integrate Informatics into schools, emphasising computational thinking as a core skill for all students. Constance Thierry (SIF - Societé Informatique de France/IRISA, France) complemented this perspective by highlighting inclusive approaches, including outreach programs and teacher-training activities, to raise awareness of Informatics among diverse communities.

Attention then turned to upskilling and capacity building. Gregor Engels (Paderborn University, Germany) emphasised the importance of science communication as a basis for effective upskilling and reskilling, presenting the idea of a “Knowledge Lake” to connect stakeholders. Martin Hitz (Informatik Austria/University of Klagenfurt, Austria) argued for the continued relevance of programming in an AI-driven world, noting its value for problem-solving and system understanding. Jean-Marc Vincent (Université Grenoble Alpes, France) discussed scalable strategies for upskilling large groups of teachers, stressing collaborative learning and resource sharing.

Across these contributions, several common outcomes emerged:

• Shared best practices for engaging youth and diverse communities in Informatics education.
• Actionable models for large-scale teacher upskilling and continuous professional development.
• Consensus on core competencies: Programming and computational thinking remain essential despite AI advancements.
• Consensus on community-wide engagement and collaboration to strengthen societal engagement and resilience in Informatics education.

Dynamic panel discussions encouraged participants to exchange experiences and propose solutions, reinforcing the momentum toward coordinated action to boost visibility, relevance and adaptability in Informatics. Building on the presentations and inspired discussions, a small task force will be established to collect best practices and formulate actionable recommendations.

The Green ICT Workshop brought together leading researchers and practitioners to discuss sustainable approaches to information and communication technologies. The event offered a rich programme that combined expert presentations with collaborative discussions on how to advance greener computing practices in Europe and beyond.

The morning opened with an informative keynote by Anne-Cécile Orgerie (CNRS, IRISA, France), who provided a compelling overview of “Greening ICT: challenges and research directions in the field of distributed systems towards sustainability.” She outlined the growing energy footprint of digital infrastructures and highlighted research priorities such as energy-efficient cloud computing, lifecycle analysis of ICT systems, and metrics for measuring environmental impact. Her talk set the tone for a day dedicated to actionable research and collaboration.

Following the keynote, members of the Green ICT Working Group shared their latest research insights. Gabriele Gianini (University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy) presented “From Solvers to Surrogates: Physics-Informed Learning for Sustainable Fluid Workflows,” demonstrating how machine learning can reduce computational costs in scientific simulations of fluid dynamics. Gilles Perrouin (Namur Digital Institute, Belgium) showcased “Sustainable Software Research @ UNamur,” introducing relevant and timely research efforts in his institution.

Then, Rafael Capilla (Rey Juan Carlos University, Spain) introduced the recently submitted COST Action “Green ICT for the Future". Sebastian Werner (TU Berlin, Germany) followed with initial findings from “The Future of Sustainable Digital Infrastructures – A European Study,” and illustrated the planned next steps.

The final session, “Towards a Framework for Greener Computing,” moderated by the chairs Marco Aiello (University of Stuttgart, Germany) and Monica Vitali (Politecnico di Milano, Italy), engaged all participants in a lively and interactive discussion about a framework for Green ICT.

The Open Science & Open Source Workshop, chaired by Lenuta Alboaie (Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași, Romania) and Philippe Krief (Eclipse Foundation), offered a comprehensive and coherent reflection on the way openness is reshaping research in Europe. Discussions combined conceptual, technical and organisational perspectives, creating a shared understanding of how transparent and verifiable research practices can be supported across disciplines.

The Workshop opened with an interactive exercise that brought to the surface the institutional and technical pressures encountered when implementing open practices. The issues raised by participants, such as difficulties in ensuring long-term access to research software, uncertainties around licensing and fragmentation of internal policies, served as a useful reference for the expert analyses that followed.

The presentations traced the evolution of Open Science from a publishing-oriented initiative to a complete rethinking of the research lifecycle. It was emphasised that openness in hypotheses, data, methods, software and evaluation strengthens reproducibility and public trust. One of the major structural developments discussed was the upcoming transition to full open access within ACM’s digital library, which will make publications and related research artefacts freely available worldwide beginning in 2026.

A substantial part of the Workshop focused on research software. Speakers described software as an essential scholarly output whose preservation, traceability and citability are crucial for scientific verification. In this context, Software Heritage was highlighted as a key global infrastructure dedicated to archiving and referencing source code, ensuring that software used in scientific workflows remains accessible and attributable over time.

Institutional perspectives illustrated how universities are beginning to organise internal processes to support openness, including structures similar to Open Source Program Offices that align legal, administrative and technical workflows. These developments were discussed in parallel with national coordination efforts intended to create consistent and sustainable frameworks for Open Science across research organisations.

The European dimension was addressed through an examination of the continent’s software ecosystems. It was noted that Europe possesses strong competence and vibrant research communities, yet lacks continuous and agile funding mechanisms for the software that underpins modern scientific activity. This gap was presented as a challenge not only for research but also for Europe’s broader digital sovereignty.

Throughout the Workshop, the importance of public infrastructures such as EOSC and OpenAIRE was repeatedly acknowledged. These platforms provide the technical foundation for integrating data, publications, software, metadata and workflows within FAIR-aligned environments that support discovery, interoperability and long-term preservation.

The Workshop concluded with a shared view that advancing Open Science requires coordinated progress across policy, governance, infrastructure and software sustainability. Participants agreed that meaningful openness depends on the ability to preserve and connect all components of the research process, and that Europe’s future scientific capacity will rely on sustained support for the digital commons that make reproducible and trustworthy research possible.

Our sincere gratitude to all speakers and colleagues contributing to this year's Workshop: Boris Baldassari (OSPO Alliance, Eclipse Foundation); Isabelle Blanc (Ministry of Higher Education and Research, France); John Crowley (PHGD Group); Roberto Di Cosmo (Software Heritage/Inria/University Paris Cité, France); Yannis Ioannidis (Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)/National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece); Bjorn Levin (RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, Sweden); Violaine Louvet (Université Grenoble Alpes, France).

This year's session focused on inclusion departments, in which the co-organisers Simona Motogna (Babeş-Bolyai University, Romania), Chair of the Diversity & Inclusion Working Group, Oana Andrei (University of Glasgow, UK) and Lola Burgueño (University of Malaga, Spain), proposed a diverse agenda.

It started with short presentations by three invited guests: Letizia Jacheri (NTNU, Norway), Matthew Grech-Sollars (University College London, UK) and Malvina Latifaj (Mälardalen University, Sweden), showcasing initiatives from their institutions, their paths, and the challenges of adapting to diverse working environments. The three presentations were diverse, but shared a common goal, namely, long-term, comprehensive, and measurable commitment to achieving gender and cultural diversity across the entire academic and professional pipeline in Informatics. The success behind their achievements lies in:

• Prioritising and Actively Promoting Gender Equality and Women in STEM
• Broadening Outreach to Promote International and Cultural Diversity
• Comprehensive Scope: encompassing, encouraging, supporting and advancing diversity at every stage from young students to full professors, correlated with measurable impact.

While UCL focus on supporting well-being and psychological safety of its current staff and students, NTNU and MDU concentrate on building international capacity and networking.

The presentations were followed by a lively panel discussion, in which participants had the opportunity to interact with the panellists, and experiences and suggestions were warmly appreciated by the audience. The second part of the session consisted of an interactive collaborative action, in which the participants split into two groups. One group identified expectations - What would you expect to feel welcomed in a department -, and the other group suggested actions - What would you do to make a new colleague feel welcomed? The activity was followed by a fruitful discussion that helped participants align expectations with actions, identify good practices, and surface new inclusion challenges to address.

The expectations centred on the experience of being new: hoping for a friendly atmosphere, support, and opportunities to grow both professionally and as a team member. The proposed actions ranged from informal welcoming gestures to addressing specific needs or implementing broader institutional policies

This year's Ethics Workshop constituted an important starting point for the recently renewed Ethics working group. The session, chaired by Covadonga Rodrigo (UNED, Spain), focused on the social impact of the use of information and technology, as well as their interaction with people, offering a critical view to identify challenges related to responsibility, accountability, misinformation, and the promotion of good practices in the field of technology. The Workshop included an interactive activity, updates from the working group, and a round table and panel discussion with specialists from various European institutions.

The interactive activity, co-chaired by Monica Landoni (Università della Svizzera italiana, Switzerland), deepened knowledge and detection of Dark Patterns. It was an engaging and hectic activity based on learning resources developed previously in the Erasmus+ Ethics4EU: Ethical Computer Science Education for Europe project (2019-2022), where Informatics Europe was a member.

The round table and panel discussion was a participatory session focused on analysing ethical challenges related to security in the digital society, integrating perspectives from WG members as well as leaders from the Informatics Europe and ERCIM communities. It was co-chaired by Emma Beauxis Aussalet (ERCIM & Vrije Universiteit, Netherlands) and aimed to highlight the work done by active members focusing on the risks for society. Five topics were projected in short presentations:

• Petra Saskia Bayerl (CENTRIC, UK): From Lab to Law: Compliance Journeys of High-Risk AI Development and AP4AI self-assessments
• Kristina Lapin (Vilnius University, Lituania): Raising Ethical Awareness to Combat Dark Patterns
• Rafael Pastor (UNED, España): Misinformation and risks in the digital society: Ethical use of IA and solutions
• Mirela Riveni (University of Groningen, Países Bajos): Ethical issues in decision-making with AI
• Tatjana Welzer (University of Maribor, Eslovenia): Ethics and Accountability

The presentations led to a dynamic discussion with the workshop audience.

The Ethics WG has recently begun work on a report on Ethics in Informatics Higher Education Studies. The report will outline the current state of ethics teaching across subject areas, highlight best practices from Informatics Europe members, and provide recommendations for departments looking to integrate these concepts into new or revised curricula.

During each ECSS, we celebrate institutions, teams and individuals who have outstanding contributions and performances in the field of Informatics.

This year, we were delighted to announce at our Award Ceremony during ECSS's Monday Welcome Reception that Andrea Cini, a PhD graduate from the Faculty of Informatics, Università della Svizzera italiana (Switzerland) won the 2025 IE Best Dissertation Award (BDA), with three runners-up Nathan Cassee, PhD graduate from TU Eindhoven (Netherlands), Erasmo Purificato, PhD graduate from Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg (Germany) and Drishti Yadav, PhD graduate from TU Wien (Austria). This year saw a record 34 nominations for the Award. Alongside the winner and the three runners-up, two distinguished finalists, Federica Filippini, PhD graduate from Politecnico di Milano (Italy) and Shuzhe Wang, Aalto University (Finland) were honoured.

We also celebrated the 10th anniversary of the IE Minerva Informatics Equality Award (MIEA) this year during the ECSS Official Dinner on Tuesday. The Award acknowledges efforts and dedication from initiatives that support women in Informatics education and research. The Department of Computer Science at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) wins the 2025 MIEA for its long-standing and transformative commitment to empowering women in Informatics. The honorary runner-up, Tallinn University of Technology’s Diversifying IT initiative, was also recognised for its innovative and tech-driven efforts to encourage women’s participation and advancement in Informatics.

During the MIEA Award Ceremony, the launch of Informatics Europe’s latest publication: “Minerva Informatics Equality Award Catalogue — Celebrating a Decade of Gender Equality in Informatics Research and Education: Best Practices in Europe” was presented by Simona Motogna (Babeş-Bolyai University, Romania), Chair of IE’s Diversity and Inclusion Working Group. The Catalogue compiles a decade of best practices submitted to the Minerva Award, classifying and analysing actions that support women in Informatics at all career stages. It offers searchable examples, tags, and impact indicators to inspire institutions and individuals committed to fostering diversity, inclusion, and sustainable change in academia and the field.

For further details on the work of this year’s winners or previous years’, please explore our BDA & MIEA webpages.