Call for Participation: Women in Forensic Computing (WinFC) Workshop and Bootcamp 2026

[Katerina Kanta]

Call for Participation

Women in Forensic Computing Workshop and Bootcamp

held in cooperation with
Digital Forensics Research Conference Europe (DFRWS EU) 2026

in Linköping, Sweden
on March 23, 2026


Scope

Digital forensic science is the application of scientific methods of computing in order to recover and investigate evidence found in digital devices, often in relation to computer crime. Digital evidence is increasingly important in almost all types of juridical proceedings, mainly due to the increasing volume and quality of digital evidence.

The objective of this workshop is to increase the interest of students and academically young researchers in digital forensic science as a career field or a research field. Another aim of this workshop is to increase awareness and appreciation of the achievements of women in the area of forensic computing/digital forensics and therefore this workshop wishes to be a forum to help women build their technical confidence and thereby attract more female researchers to the field. This workshop is aimed at introducing new people to the area. Talks will be technical but are aimed at novices in the area. The workshop is part of a workshop series that started in 2019.

The workshop will include a sequence of presentations and panels by women that introduce some fundamental and current topics of the field and allow for first-hand hands-on experience. Attendees may also present their own work in short presentations.

Location

The workshop takes place at Linköping University in Sweden. The concrete physical location will be announced soon.

Virtual participation will be possible via Zoom. The Zoom meeting ID will be sent to registered participants before the meeting.

Participation

Participation in the workshop is free of charge and open to all genders, but the number of participants we can accept is limited.

To participate, please fill out the following application form by February 23, 2026:

https://user-surveys.cs.fau.de/index.php?r=survey/index&sid=451326&lang=en>

Applications after that date are also possible but will be handled on a first-come first-served basis. Please also consider submitting a presentation or poster proposal. Female participants can apply for a travel scholarship as well, but please note the earlier deadline of January 6, 2026.

Participant Presentations

Participants of the workshop also have the opportunity to apply for a slot to present their current research or insights into the profession in the field of digital forensics in a 5-10-minute talk at the workshop. If you are interested, please fill out the corresponding fields in the application form with the title and an abstract of the presentation proposal together with the registration (see above) by February 23, 2026. There will be a lightweight selection process for presentations by the organizing committee. Presentations can be delivered on-site or online. Presentations should include one slide to motivate why digital forensics is an interesting field.

Travel Scholarship

We also offer several scholarships (sponsored by FAU) for female applicants who wish to participate in the workshop: The scholarship will cover part of your travel costs and the attendance fee for the DFRWS EU 2026 conference. For applicants from Europe, we support travel costs up to 500 EUR. For applicants from outside Europe, please give an estimate for the expected travel costs in your registration.

We will notify scholarship applicants of the organizing committee’s decision regarding whether they have been awarded the scholarship by January 10, 2026. If you need more than two months to organize your travel, please indicate this in your application by selecting the corresponding option in the registration form.

Program

The program will include keynotes by invited speakers, participant presentations, and a hands-on session. Details about the program and the latest information are always available on our website:

https://www.cybercrime.fau.de/winfc2026/

The workshop is jointly organized by the following people:

* Felix Freiling, FAU, Germany
* Katerina Kanta, University of Portsmouth, UK
* Yasin Köse, FAU, Germany
* Daryl Pfeif, Founding Member – Cyber Sleuth Science Lab, DFRWS, Digital Forensics Solutions
* Áine MacDermott, Liverpool John Moores University, UK
* Svenja Mischur, Germany
* Theresa Müller, Germany
* Monika Radhakisan Chavan
* Lisa Rzepka, University of the Bundeswehr Munich, Germany
* Silvia Lucia Sanna, University of Cagliari, Italy
* Mariya Shafat, University of Kashmir, India
* Radina Stoykova, University of Groningen, The Netherlands
* Céline Vanini, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
* Lena Voigt, FAU, Germany

Contact

Contact the organizers via email at <women-in-fore...@lists.cs.fau.de>

Thanks

This workshop series is supported by the office of Gender and Diversity of Friedrich-Alexander-Universität (FAU) and by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) as part of the Research and Training Group 2475 „Cybercrime and Forensic Computing“ (grant number 393541319/GRK2475/2-2024).