The program included lectures, workshops, and group work. The first day featured an introductory lecture by the organizers, followed in the subsequent days by talks from Viktor Zamaraev (University of Liverpool) titled Set-Defined Graph Classes and χ-Boundedness, Maria Chudnovsky (Princeton University) titled Bounding Bandwidth, and Ekkehard Köhler (BTU Cottbus–Senftenberg) titled Graph Searches – Structure and Algorithms. Below, the event organizers share more about the course of the workshop, its goals, and their expectations.

How did the workshop come about in the first place?

»The format differs from a traditional conference. We bring together people with similar interests, divide them into smaller groups, and focus on specific research problems that are interesting, important, and challenging. The idea was largely initiated by Martin,«said Dr. Matjaž Krnc.

Dr. Martin Milanič added: »We got the inspiration to organize this from a similar research-focused workshop held last August. That one also lasted five days and brought together fewer than 20 participants. This year, we decided to organize the workshop independently, gathering 22 participants from different parts of the world. There are relatively few lectures—a total of three one-hour lectures were delivered. Most of the time was dedicated to focused group work addressing open research problems. On the first day, participants presented various open problems, and we then formed groups based on their interests. The groups reported on their progress throughout the workshop, and we could reorganize them as needed. This allowed us to adapt to the development of the research work.«

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How is the workshop structured, and what is your measure of success? 

Dr. Jochen Pascal Gollin shared that such workshops are becoming increasingly popular in the community, adding that he typically attends one or two a year: »One of the greatest advantages of these events is the opportunity to meet other researchers in a different environment. That's why I am particularly glad we organized this workshop. A change of scenery boosts productivity, and we also hoped to make significant progress on selected problems. In the past, such workshops have often led to scientific publications, even though completing the research can take another year or more.«

»Such workshops are important because they bring together people with similar interests but different backgrounds,« said dr. Martin Milanič, adding »What one person doesn't know, another might, which can help in finding new strategies to solve problems. For example, someone might be working on a problem without realizing it has already been studied under a different name. Such connections are much easier to make through face-to-face discussions.« He noted that this was precisely why they limited the number of lectures and increased the time for discussion.

Dr. Matjaž Krnc believes that even if the workshop does not directly lead to a research paper or a final result, »the collaborations and connections formed during joint work can lead to new research and future successes.«

»Another important aspect is the balanced composition of participants. About a third are senior researchers, a third are Master's and PhD students, and a third are early-career postdoctoral researchers. This creates a supportive environment where younger researchers and students can learn about new concepts, open problems, and approaches to conducting research work,« added dr. Martin Milanič.

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The conference was organized by UP FAMNIT in cooperation with UP IAM InnoRenew CoE, and efforts frrom researchers of the Department of Mathematics: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Matjaž Krnc, Assist. Prof. Dr. Jochen Pascal Gollin, and Prof. Dr. Martin Milanič.