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CW26 - Keynote & Programme Announcement

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CW26 - Keynote & Programme Announcement

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Kyro Hartzenberg

Kyro Hartzenberg

Events Manager

Posted on 15 December 2025

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CW26 - Keynote & Programme Announcement

CW26 Logo, Malvika Sharan

The Software Sustainability Institute's annual Collaborations Workshop (CW) is an immersive, three-day unconference, which emphasises active collaborations, dynamic discussions, and hands-on problem-solving. The highly anticipated Collaborations Workshop 2026 (CW26) is set to feature an impressive lineup of speakers and an interactive programme of sessions.

Early bird tickets are available until 31 December via Eventbrite. General admission tickets will be available thereafter. 

Opening Keynote: Malvika Sharan

We are delighted to announce the first keynote speaker, Malvika Sharan, who will open Collaborations Workshop 2026, set the tone and inspire the discussion that follow.

Malvika Sharan

Malvika Sharan

 

Malvika is the Senior Director of Data Science at the newly established Office of Data Science at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Previously, she held research and leadership roles at The Alan Turing Institute and European Molecular Biology Laboratory, where she led and scaled data science and bioinformatics community initiatives, notably The Turing Way and EMBL’s Bio-IT.

An open source/science advocate, Malvika co-founded Open Life Science (OLS), an international training, mentoring and capacity builiding organisation, and recently established RCM Cooperative to mobilise and connect Research Community Managers from across organisations.

She has advised initiatives like NASA Open Science, the Society of RSE, Open Bioinformatics Foundation and Data Science Without Borders.

Malvika is a Mozilla Open Leaders Fellow, Software Sustainability Institute Fellow, and was named among the 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics (2024) and INvolve Empower Top 100 Future Leaders (2025).

A lifelong learner, Malvika is dedicated to improving open research, community building, collaboration, governance, and ethical practices in data science and AI.

Programme Details

Please find the draft programme for Collaborations Workshop 2026 below. Please note that the programme is subject to small changes.

Monday 27 April
18:00  Walking Tour (optional)
Tuesday 28 April
09:0009:30Riverside EntranceArrival and networking
09:3010:00Hall 2Welcome to CW26
10:0010:45Hall 2Opening Keynote from Malvika Sharan
10:4511:10 Break
11:1011:50Hall 2Lightning Talks
11:5012:00Hall 2Introduction to Interactive Sessions
12:0013:00 Lunch break
13:0014:30Breakout roomsDiscussion Sessions
14:3015:00 Break 
15:0016:30Breakout roomsMini-workshops and demo sessions
16:3017:30Hall 2Fireside Chat & Closing Remarks
17:3018:30 Break
18:3019:00Lagan Suite @ Hilton BelfastDrinks Reception
19:0022:00Lagan Suite @ Hilton BelfastWorkshop Dinner
Wednesday 29 April
08:0009:00 Walking Tour (optional)
09:0009:30Riverside EntranceArrival and networking
09:3009:50Hall 2Welcome to Day 2
09:5010:40Hall 2Keynote
10:4011:20 Break
11:2012:40Breakout roomsCollaborative Ideas
 
12:4014:00 Lunch break
14:0014:50Hall 2Lightning talks
14:5016:00Breakout roomsMini-workshops and demo sessions
16:0016:30 Break
16:3017:00Hall 2Prize-giving and Closing Remarks
 
17:0017:30 Break
17:3018:00Hall 2Welcome to the Hack Day
18:0019:00Hall 2Hack Day Pitches
 
19:0020:00Hall 2Team formation
Thursday 30 April
09:0009:30Cityside EntranceArrival
09:3009:45StudioOverview
09:4512:30Breakout roomsHacking
12:3013:30Bar 2Lunch break
13:3015:30Breakout roomsHacking
15:3016:30StudioPresentations
16:3017:00Bar 2Break / Deliberations
17:0017:30StudioPrize Giving
Register now via Eventbrite
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