Looking Back and Moving Forward: Highlights from the Second Annual School of Computer Science Conference

The School Conference opened with a session led by Dean Prof. Dr. Simon Mayer, who outlined the School's main achievements over the past year and cast a glance into the future. In the past year, the School celebrated its first 11 graduates from the Master in Computer Science programme, alongside several new PhD graduates from various research groups.

On February 1, 2024 the new Institute of Computer Science in Vorarlberg in Dornbirn, Austria, was inaugurated. This strategic expansion of the University of St.Gallen into the neighbouring region of Austria aims to strengthen digitization efforts and foster industry partnerships in Vorarlberg. With the establishment of the new institute, we welcomed two new members to the faculty, Prof. Dr. Bruno Rodrigues and Dr. Bernard Bermeitinger. Through their contributions within the Vorarlberg institute, we are strengthening our competence on “Embedded Sensing Systems” and “Big Data Infrastructures”, a valuable addition to our research and teaching portfolio.

Following the appointment of the new President of the University of St.Gallen, our own Prof. Dr. Barbara Weber, former Dean of the School of Computer Science, was elected Vice President for Studies & Teaching. This election is a testament to her commitment and vision in driving academic excellence at the University of St.Gallen and the advanced integration of the School of Computer Science at the University of St.Gallen, just 3.5 years post-establishment. Another valuable achievement for the Computer Science community at the University of St.Gallen was the formal association of the ACM Chapter with the HSG. The ACM Student Chapter aims to enhance networking, professional development, and learning opportunities for our student community. Throughout their first year, they have already offered a wide range of engaging activities to our students.

In the second part of the conference, the floor was handed over to our PhD and postdoctoral researchers for a series of one-minute lightning talks. These short and concise talks gave the audience a valuable glimpse into cutting-edge research and innovative projects currently underway within our School.

Following the lightning talks, the conference was rounded off with a poster vernissage, where nearly 30 posters were displayed in the Atrium of SQUARE. In this session our researchers presented their work in more detail and had the possibility to exchange ideas and identify potential collaboration opportunities across different research domains within our School.