We are excited to announce a workshop on higher-order models from 22 to 25 February 2027 in Aachen, Germany.
The goal of this workshop is to bring together researchers across signal processing, topological data analysis, network science, statistics, and computational biology.
With the workshop, we want to take a critical look back at the progress in methods for higher-order systems over the last years. In particular, we’d like to bring together different perspectives on what “higher-order” means, and focus on which kinds of higher-order information actually matter for which kinds of problems.
Rather than keeping this purely theoretical, we want to connect these questions to data from biology, medicine, and neuroscience, and understand when higher-order models actually add something. We’d also like the workshop to be a place where people can openly discuss not only what has worked, but also pitfalls, limitations, and cases where higher-order approaches did not work as hoped.
We are very excited for the workshop and for your contributions! :) Registration will be free and registration instructions will follow.
Speakers
- Ivan G. Costa, RWTH Aachen University, Germany
- Heather Harrington, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Germany
- Kathryn Hess Bellwald, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland
- Renaud Lambiotte, Oxford University, UK
- Giovanni Petri, Northeastern University London, UK
- Ingo Scholtes, University of Würzburg, Germany
- Santiago Segarra, Rice University, US
- Christian Bick (tentative), Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Daniela Egas Santander (tentative), Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Germany
- Marina Meila (tentative), University of Waterloo, Canada
Dates
- Abstract Submission Deadline: 15 November 2026, 23:59 CET (UTC+1)
- Registration Deadline: 10 January 2027, 23:59 CET (UTC+1) (Registration will open soon.)
- Workshop Dates: 22–25 February 2027
Call for abstracts
We are looking for contributed talks and posters! Please submit your abstract (maximum 500 words) by 15 November 2026 via the following form:
https://rwth-aachen.sciebo.de/apps/forms/s/6digQMkARLPmjcBdaKG3zmKB
Decisions will be sent out in early December 2026.
We strongly encourage abstracts that directly relate to the theme of the workshop of reflecting on the strengths, limitations and unmet expectations or even empty promises of higher-order models and systems.
Schedule
The workshop will be held over the full days from Monday, 22 February, to Thursday, 25 February 2027. The schedule will include invited and contributed talks, a poster session, a discussion session, and some nice social events. The detailed schedule will be announced closer to the workshop date.
What can higher-order mean?
- Higher-Order Network Models (Simplicial complexes, cell complexes, hypergraphs, … )
- Topological data analysis
- Statistics beyond Gaussian models
- Topological Signal Processing
Venue
The workshop will take place at the SuperC at RWTH Aachen University, Templergraben 57, 52062 Aachen, Germany.
Organiser contact
For questions about the workshop, please contact grande@netsci.rwth-aachen.de.