International School on Physical Computing

1st Workshop: Photonic computing and machine learning

30 October – 4 November, 2025, Erice, Sicily

The workshop brings together researchers and stakeholders from photonics, computing, and machine learning to explore the emerging role of photonic systems in next-generation information processing. It offers a unique platform to discuss how light-based hardware and physical computing can address the growing demands of advanced computation, simulation, and AI workloads.

The central theme of the workshop is the idea that photonic materials, devices, and architectures can perform computations directly - beyond traditional logic gate-based approaches. By leveraging the properties of light and optical systems, new models for fast, parallel, and energy-efficient computation are rapidly evolving. We aim to explore these developments in depth, from theoretical concepts to experimental implementations and machine learning applications.

The workshop will feature invited talks, a poster session, and opportunities for oral presentations and focused symposia.

Registration Information

Registration fee: Full price €750

The participation fee is fixed and applies to all participants, regardless of the number of days they choose to attend the workshop. This ensures streamlined planning and coordination for all involved.

Invited speakers are kindly asked to contribute 150 EUR per day, covering only the days they are present at the Ettore Majorana Centre.

The fee includes:

Accommodation at the Centre
All meals
Shuttle transfer from and to Palermo airport
Participation in all workshop sessions
Social activities, including the welcome dinner and optional excursion

Flights are not included.

Payment can be made either via bank transfer prior to arrival, or by credit card on site at the Ettore Majorana Centre.

If you have any questions regarding the fee or payment process, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Please note: For eligible participants, there is a limited number of grants/scholarships available, which will cover the workshop fee. Please formulate your request in a motivation letter and contact us via icopc25@kip.uni-heidelberg.de

Confirmed Speakers

Giuseppe Leo - Paris Cité University, France
Uğur Teğin - Koc University, Turkey
Bhavin J. Shastri - Queen's University, Canada
Fabio Sciarrino - Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
Costantino De Angelis - University of Brescia, Italy
Harish Bhaskaran - University of Oxford, UK
Junsuk Rho - Pohang University of Science and Technology, South Korea
Mario Krenn - University of Tübingen, Germany
Sean Molesky - Polytechnique Montréal, Canada
Francesco Da Ros - Technical University of Denmark, Denmark
Riccardo Sapienza - Imperial College London, UK
Nir Rotenberg - Queen's University, Canada

Topics covered

Photonic Accelerators for Machine Learning
Neuromorphic and Reservoir Computing with Optical Systems
Hybrid Photonic–Electronic Architectures
Programmable and Reconfigurable Photonic Hardware
Novel Materials for Optical Computing
Computational Metamaterials and Complex Light Processing
Optical Neural Networks and Photonic Deep Learning Models
Machine Learning and Advanced Optimization Techniques for Photonics Design
Interfacing, Packaging, and Integration Challenges
Quantum Photonics for Machine Learning
From Lab to Application: Real-World Use Cases of Photonic ML Systems

Workshop Formats

The workshop will feature the following presentation formats:

Invited Talks – Presentations by leading experts in the field.
Short Talks and Poster Session – Open to all participants as a platform to share ongoing projects, novel approaches, and research findings.

During the registration process, participants will have the opportunity to indicate their preferred contribution format (short talk or poster).

Important Dates

July 15	Submission and registration open
September 15	Submission deadline
September 30	Online registration closes
October 30 to November 4	Workshop days

Venue

The conference will be held at the Ettore Majorana Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture

Via Guarnotti, 26 - 91016 Erice (Sicily), Italy

+39-0923-869133

Closest international airport: Palermo (PMO)

A shuttle service will pick up participants upon arrival at the airport or the railway station.
A free WIFI is available in various areas of the Majorana Centre.
Erice is about 800 m above sea level, on top of a mountain next to the sea. In Fall evenings, Erice may be chilly and, occasionally, foggy or/and windy. Do not forget to bring a good jacket. Bring good jogging shoes (to walk on the stones of the archaeological sites and the rough pavement of Erice streets). Participants need no formal dress at any event, including the banquet.

The workshop is a joint event of the Cluster of Excellence PhoenixD at Leibniz University Hannover and Heidelberg University.

The International School of Physical Computing was established at the Ettore Majorana Foundation and Centre for Scientific Culture in 2022 and is directed by Prof. Wolfram Pernice and Prof. Antonio Calà Lesina.

This site is hosted as part of the ICOPC initiative. The 2025 event is the 1st Workshop on Photonic Computing and Machine Learning, organized in collaboration with the International School of Physical Computing. Learn more about the ICOPC initiative here.

Organizing Team

Scientific Directors

Prof. Dr. Wolfram Pernice	Prof. Dr. Antonio Calà Lesina	Prof. Dr. Birgit Stiller
University of Heidelberg	Leibniz University Hannover	Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, Erlangen Leibniz University Hannover
wolfram.pernice@kip.uni-heidelberg.de	antonio.calalesina@hot.uni-hannover.de	birgit.stiller@mpl.mpg.de

Workshop Coordination

Dr. Alice Hesse
University of Heidelberg
alice.hesse@kip.uni-heidelberg.de