ACM-W Europe March 2026 Newsletter

In this issue:

 

ACM-W Europe Visits ACM-W Asia Pacific: Learnings & New Connections

ACM-W Europe Chair Dorota Filipczuk and ACM-W Global Chair Rukiye Altin recently travelled to Malaysia and Dubai to represent ACM-W Europe and ACM-W Global at two ACM-W Asia Pacific celebrations — and came back with fresh inspiration and new ideas for the community. In Malaysia, the Scholars’ Cohort 2026 at Monash University brought together postgraduate researchers for keynotes, workshops, and a poster session covering everything from publishing research papers to well-being strategies for PhD students. In Dubai, WiCoDE26 at BITS Pilani united ACM-W leadership, faculty, and 96 participants from across the UAE for panel discussions on career trajectories and volunteering with ACM-W. Both events highlighted the power of community-driven initiatives in supporting women in computing across different regions and cultures. The post also shares how ACM-W Europe is looking to grow similar initiatives — including Scholars’ Cohort-style events and the ACM-W Chapter Buddy Programme, which pairs chapters across countries for collaborative events and peer support. Read the full article on the ACM-WE blog to find out how you can get involved.

 

Local Celebrations of Women in Computing

ACM‑W Europe invites members of the community to host an ACM Celebration of Women in Computing in their local area. These events play an important role in supporting, recognizing, and advocating for women in computing across Europe. Hosting a Celebration provides an opportunity to strengthen regional networks, highlight local achievements, and create a dedicated space in which participants can engage with peers, industry partners, and academic colleagues. 

ACM offers financial sponsorship of $3,000 for each approved event, together with access to planning resources, branding materials, and guidance from experienced organizers. Events must run for at least one day, follow the established Celebration model, and be clearly branded as an ACM Celebration of Women in Computing. Applications are welcomed from individuals of any gender and from a wide range of professional backgrounds, including academia, industry, and the wider computing community. 

Apply for hosting an ACM Celebration using this form. Further information, including detailed guidance and requirements, is available at Association for Computing Machinery.

 

The Women’s Marathon 2026: Celebrating Women in Computing at Kiel

Ahead of International Women’s Day, the University of Kiel hosted the Women’s Marathon on March 6th, 2026 — an ACM Celebration of Women in Computing bringing together researchers, students, and community members for a day of exchange and visibility. The programme featured a rich mix of presentations, from a thought-provoking talk on the Wikipedia documentation gap for women in computing, to a gamified SQL escape room, a deep dive into applied category theory, and an overview of global ACM-W initiatives by ACM-W Global Chair Rukiye Altin. The event highlighted why dedicated spaces for women’s research matter — for knowledge dissemination, network building, and retaining women in the field. ACM-W Europe volunteer Yildiz, who attended and reflected on the day, captures what made it special. Read the full article on the ACM-WE blog.

 

Valencia Celebration

Next month, the UPV ACM-W Student Chapter will be hosting the Valencia Tech ACM Celebration of Women in Computing. The hackathon will begin on Thursday 16 April with an introduction to the challenges and a session on the work and impact of ACM‑W. After the launch, participants will have a full week to develop their ideas and shape them into projects.

The final project presentations will take place on Thursday 23 April, followed by a relaxed networking lunch while the jury selects the winners. Prizes include a visit to the UNICC facilities and a day working alongside a team at NTT. It’s a great chance to try something new, collaborate with others, and get a taste of real‑world problem‑solving.

For more information on how to join, please follow ACM UPV Chapter on LinkedIn and Instagram!

 

GEC 2026 – Summit on Gender Equality in Computing

The 8th Summit on Gender Equality in Computing (GEC 2026) takes place on 7–8 May 2026 in Patras, Greece, hosted by the Greek Chapter of ACM-W. This free, inclusive event brings together researchers, students, and professionals to advance gender equity in computing. Early-career participants can present at the Poster & Demo Session, with travel grants of up to €300 available for accepted presenters. Read the full article on the ACM-WE blog for all the details on how to register and submit your work.

 

Blogs

Cognitive Bias and Its Impact on Women’s Advancement in Tech by Yildiz

The Cognitive Load Tax: A Shared Challenge

Would you rate Sarah’s assertiveness in a technical meeting the same as Steve’s? Research says most people wouldn’t — and that gap has a name: prototypicality bias. In the second instalment of our series on cognitive bias in tech, we explore how the unconscious “prototype” of a computer scientist (male, young, socially awkward) creates a measurable cognitive load tax on women — the mental energy spent navigating bias instead of solving problems. The good news? The solutions are evidence-based and actionable: from neutral office environments and blind code reviews, to short values-affirmation exercises and bias-awareness training that has been shown to nearly double the hiring of women in participating departments. Read the full article on the ACM-WE blog to find out what the research says — and what we can actually do about it.

Read the full blog here.

 

Trailblazers in Computing: Karen Spärck Jones

Every time you type a search query and find exactly what you were looking for, you are benefiting from the work of Karen Spärck Jones. This month’s Trailblazers in Computing feature highlights the Cambridge professor whose research in information retrieval and natural language processing laid the foundations for modern search engines — decades before they existed. Her development of inverse document frequency, a method for determining how significant a word is within a body of documents, became a core building block of how search engines rank results today. A recipient of two major ACM awards and the British Computer Society’s Lovelace Medal, she was as influential in her advocacy as in her research — famously remarking that “computing is too important to be left to men.Read her full story on the ACM-WE blog.

 

 

 

Regional ACM Celebrations of Women in Computing

Call for Posters: ACM Africa CWiC 2026 — Rewriting Africa’s Story through Computational Thinking

Africa CWiC 2026 is a two-day Celebration of Women in Computing which brings together students and researchers from various universities, alongside industry professionals from across Africa. The programme includes keynote addresses, technical workshops, panel discussions, a career fair, and networking sessions focused on advancing and celebrating women in computing and technology.

Under this year’s theme, ‘Rewriting Africa’s Story through Computational Thinking’, we invite undergraduate students, postgraduate students (MSc and PhD), and professionals to submit posters showcasing research, innovative projects, and emerging ideas across all areas of computational sciences.

We are pleased to announce that the Poster Track for the ACM Africa Celebration of Women in Computing (Africa CWiC 2026) is now open for submissions.

Important dates:

  • Submissions open: March 1, 2026
  • Poster abstracts due: April 15, 2026
  • Acceptance notification: May 1, 2026
  • Final poster submission: May 22, 2026

Authors of accepted posters are also eligible to apply for the Africa CWiC Scholarship (applications open 1 May, due 15 June). Registration opens 1 May, with early registration closing 1 July.

Submissions are made through HotCRP and should be in English. For questions, contact africacwic@acm.org.

If you are working on something meaningful at the intersection of computing and society — this is your stage. Submit your poster and be part of the conversation.

 

 

Story behind the Logo: womENcourage 2026

Save the Date: ACM womENcourage™ 2026 in Nice, France!

Get ready for the 13th ACM Celebration of Women in Computing, taking place from September 30 to October 2, 2026, hosted by Université Côte d’Azur.

This year’s theme, “Unmute Yourself, Grow Stronger Together: Wellbeing and Support for Women in Computing”, spotlights the growing strategic importance of wellbeing, inclusion, and sustainable careers in the computing ecosystem. The conference will examine how computing can act as a practical lever for supporting the wellbeing of women and gender-diverse people, fostering healthier, more resilient, and inclusive socio-technical environments across academia and industry.

We are also thrilled to unveil our official 2026 logo! The design beautifully weaves together Mediterranean nature, technology, and regional identity to reflect a holistic vision of technical excellence and human well-being. Read the full story behind the logo’s inspiration on our blog.

Save the date and join us on the French Riviera. More details here.

 

Second Call for Proposals for Seasonal Schools in 2026

The ACM Europe Council invites proposals for the organization of seasonal schools in 2026 under the ACM Europe umbrella. Proposals will be evaluated based on educational merits as well as organizational and financial plans. This call has a deadline of April 20, 2026.

ACM Europe Seasonal Schools focus on educating researchers on a general or specialized topic over the duration of a week or two and typically involve a small number of students. Programs often include lectures and social activities in which everyone participates together. The experience facilitates learning, the formation of groups that may continue beyond the school, and connects participants with ACM.

Proposals for seasonal schools should be submitted via email (seasonal-schools@acm.org) to ACM Europe Council with “ACM Europe Seasonal School Proposal” in the email subject. Proposals must be in PDF format.

 

Announcements

ACM Awards and Advanced Grades of Membership Deadlines

Each year, ACM recognises its members’ outstanding achievements through awards covering a spectrum of professional and technological areas and different stages of professional development. To learn more about other awards, we recommend ACM President Cherri M. Pancake’s article, dispelling some common myths about ACM Awards and Honors in the Communications of the ACM, August 2019. One of the myths is that the ACM Awards never honour people working outside North America. Prof. Pancake writes that even though nothing would make ACM committees happier than to recognise the achievements of people from around the globe, there are very few nominations. Source: Dispelling Common Myths About ACM Awards and Honors

 

Students HPC Fellowships, Cutler-Bell Prize
Early Career Hopper Award, ACM and SIG Dissertation Awards (recent graduates), SIG “rising star” awards; also Senior Member
Mid Career ACM Prize in Computing; also Distinguished Member
Late Career Turing Award, Distinguished Service Award; also Fellow
Area-Specific, typically Mid to Late Career Thacker Award, Software System Award, Athena Lecturer, Newell Award, Lawler Award, Eckert-Mauchly Award, Kennedy Award, Bell Prize, Karlstrom Award, Kannellakis Award, Policy Award, SIAM/ACM Prize – plus dozens of awards from individual SIGS

 

For SIG-specific Awards, please visit this website. .

For ACM Advanced Grades of Membership, please visit this website. 

 

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