Event Details
Dates: January 7th & 8th, 2026
Location: The Department of Mathematics at The University of Manchester, Manchester. Online participation will also be possible via Teams.
This event will focus on the use of AI in the simulation of particulate solids. There will be a selection of invited speakers and workshop/tutorial sessions spread across the two days, with the full list of speakers and topics to be released very soon.
Event Schedule
Day 1 - Wednesday, January 7th
| Time | Item |
|---|---|
| 11:45 – 13:00 | Arrival & lunch |
| 13:00 – 13:10 | Introduction |
| 13:10 – 14:00 | “Where Physics Meets Data: Advanced Modeling and Simulation in Particle Technology” Carsten Schilde (TU Braunschweig) Watch on YouTube |
| 14:00 – 14:50 | “Evolutionary AI for Calibration and Optimisation – in DEM and Beyond” Kit Windows-Yule (University of Birmingham) Watch on YouTube |
| 14:50 – 15:20 | Tea/coffee break |
| 15:20 – 16:10 | “Combining DEM and AI – an industrial perspective” Stefan Pantaleev (Altair EDEM) Watch on YouTube |
| 16:10 – 17:00 | “From Pixels to Physics: Gaussian Splatting Meets Graph Networks for Granular Manipulation” Krishna Kumar (University of Texas at Austin) Watch on YouTube |
| 17:00 – 18:00 | Career development session for female participants |
| 18:00 – 19:00 | Free time |
| 19:00 – 22:30 | Event dinner - Science+Industry Museum (including demonstration of “Baby”) |
Day 2 - Thursday, January 8th
| Time | Item |
|---|---|
| 09:00 – 10:30 | An introduction to automated simulation calibration - Part 1 Andrei Leonard Nicusan (EvoPhase) |
| 10:30 – 11:00 | Tea/coffee break |
| 11:00 – 12:45 | An introduction to automated simulation calibration - Part 2 Andrei Leonard Nicusan (EvoPhase) |
| 12:45 – 14:00 | Lunch |
| 14:00 – 15:30 | Hands-on Introduction to Deep Learning - Part 1 Deepak Tunuguntla (Saxion University of Applied Sciences) |
| 15:30 – 16:00 | Tea/coffee break* |
| 16:00 – 17:30 | Hands-on Introduction to Deep Learning - Part 2 Deepak Tunuguntla (Saxion University of Applied Sciences) |
| 17:30 – 17:45 | Event Close |
Warning
This schedule is provisional and subject to change. A final schedule will be confirmed closer to the event.
Reimbursement of Expenses
Those whose attendance expenses will be reimbursed will be informed no later than December 12th. These attendees should read and follow the guidance here on which expenses can be claimed for, and the mechanism for reimbursement.
CCC-ParaSolS will be able to reimburse the travel and subsistence expenses of some attendees — but perhaps not all, depending on the level of interest: hence the hybrid joining possibility.
Getting to Manchester
Manchester is well connected by rail with trains arriving regularly from across the country at the main stations:
Accommodation
The event will be held at The University of Manchester and there is ample reasonably priced accommodation available across the city.
Several suggestions include:
- Travelodge (on Upper Brook Street)
- Ibis (on Princess Street)
- Pendulum Hotel (on Sackville Street)
- Holiday Inn Express Manchester Cc - by IHG (on Oxford Road)
- Hyatt Regency Manchester (on Booth Street)
In order to maximise the number of people whose attendance can be funded by CCC-ParaSolS, we request your consideration in choosing reasonably priced accommodation. CCC-ParaSolS will reimburse accommodation costs up to a maximum of £110 per night.
Warning
For ease of accommodation reimbursement, we strongly recommend that attendees book recognised hotels rather than short-term apartment rentals, Airbnb, etc.
Venue
The Alan Turing Building
The University of Manchester
Upper Brook Street
Manchester
M13 9SR
