Call for Participation

Women in Forensic Computing Workshop and Bootcamp

held in cooperation with
Digital Forensics Conference Europe (formerly DFRWS EU) 2027

in Edinburgh, UK
on March 30, 2027


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 a panel by women that introduce some fundamental and current topics of the field. Attendees may also present their own work in short presentations.

Format

Unlike previous editions, the 2027 workshop will be held as a half-day event due to its proximity to the Easter holidays. It will take place on March 30, 2027, during the afternoon workshop sessions of the Digital Forensics Conference Europe 2027.

Further information and program updates will be published on the workshop website:

https://www.cybercrime.fau.de/winfc2027

Location

The workshop takes place at Edinburgh Napier University in UK. 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 March 1, 2027:

https://user-surveys.cs.fau.de/index.php?r=survey/index&sid=446447&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 proposal and applying for a travel scholarship.

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 March 1, 2027. 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 students who wish to participate in the workshop: The scholarship will cover part of your travel costs and the attendance fee for the Digital Forensics Conference EU 2027. 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 (see above) by January 5, 2027.

Travel scholarships will be awarded on a rolling basis, so if you need more than 6 weeks to organize your travel, you can also apply earlier than January 5, 2027.

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 MacDermot, Liverpool John Moores University, UK
* Svenja Mischur, 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-forensic-computing@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/GRK2475/1-2019).