ISTA Alumni Reunion
October 2-4, 2026
The first ISTA alumni reunion is this October!
ISTA alumni are invited to the first reunion this fall from Friday, October 2, to Sunday, October 4, 2026! It will be a weekend of engaging programs, opportunities to reconnect with and meet other alumni, tours of new and updated areas of campus, and more.
Registration is required to attend the reunion. More than 100 alumni are expected to attend the weekend, so secure your spot today.
Registration will close after Sunday, September 20.
Program
Friday, October 2
10 am – 4 pm: Check-in (ISTA Campus)
★ = featured alumni speaker
9:15 am – Shuttles depart from Schwedenplatz
Includes stop at Klosterneuburg Stadtplatz before arriving at ISTA
10:30 am – XISTA Science Park Tour
The XISTA Science Park is a technology and research center jointly developed by ecoplus, the Business Agency of Lower Austria, and the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA). Just like the Institute, XISTA continues to grow and opened its third building this past summer. Join an XISTA staff member for a tour of the park!
★ 12:00 pm – Alumni Career Talk: Everything Everywhere All at Once – How to Pack as Many Encounters as Possible in a Short Amount of Time
Speaker
Trying to build the next venture – Versa’tchip! ISTA alum Saren Tasciyen is a biologist by training but obsessed about the intersection of things: science & technology & business & engineering & data & … He attempted to start his first business back in high school but miserably failed. He then started his first business during his studies at the university. Kindly, ISTA let him continue with that. Being impatient, while companies hired for exciting positions (they used to do that), he left early to become a pharma consultant to learn more about business strategy (and prepare for his defense). His passion to innovate dragged him to his first startup just to become a different kind of a consultant again a year after. He has been offering scientific software, data, and AI solutions for businesses since then while working on the next startup.
Session
Doing multiple things at the same time… Was it wise?
Interdisciplinarity: useful asset or career complication? Does having several areas of expertise actually help when looking for a job—or make it harder to explain what you do? And what is going on with the job market?!
Saren will give a short, candid tour of his ups and downs during and after academia, following a career that has involved several parallel occupations, different areas of expertise, unexpected turns, and a few dead ends.
There will be some cautionary tales, personal anecdotes, and reflections on what worked—and what definitely didn’t.
Bring your own pinch of salt. Some salt will be provided.
12:45 pm – Pizza Lunch & Networking
Continue the conversation after the Alumni Career Talk with a pizza lunch and opportunity for casual networking. All alumni are welcome to attend even if they did not attend the talk.
2:30 pm – VISTA Science Experience Center Guided Exhibition Tour A (max. 16 pp.)
Science in the Making invites you not only to discover answers, but to ask your own questions. The exhibition offers fascinating insights into ISTA’s diverse research. The exhibition opens up new perspectives on the role of science in our everyday lives and in society, as well as on the interplay between research, technology, art, and design. It shows that knowledge does not emerge in isolation. It emerges through exchange, experimentation, and dialogue.
A maximum of 16 people can join the guided exhibition tours. If this tour reaches capacity, a waitlist will be formed.
2:30 pm – Campus Tour
ISTA is constantly growing, and campus may look a bit different than the last time you were here. Take a walk-through campus to see how the Institute has expanded.
This tour will focus on the general areas of the buildings and will not include visits into lab spaces.
3:30 pm – VISTA Science Experience Center Guided Exhibition Tour B (max. 16 pp.)
Science in the Making invites you not only to discover answers, but to ask your own questions. The exhibition offers fascinating insights into ISTA’s diverse research. The exhibition opens up new perspectives on the role of science in our everyday lives and in society, as well as on the interplay between research, technology, art, and design. It shows that knowledge does not emerge in isolation. It emerges through exchange, experimentation, and dialogue.
A maximum of 16 people can join the guided exhibition tours. If this tour reaches capacity, a waitlist will be formed.
★ 4:00 pm – Think & Drink – Culture in the Data Age: Exploring the Past Through Digital Methods
Speaker
ISTA alum Matilda Peruzzo studied physics and completed her PhD in quantum computing at ISTA, focusing on quantum circuits. She now applies data science and digital methods to humanities data. Her work develops methods for analyzing large-scale historical data to understand long-term patterns of cultural evolution. She also uses her technical expertise to build infrastructure that helps bring humanities research into the digital age.
Session
The fact that the digital age has brought major research advances in science and technology is indisputable. However, the adoption of digital methods in the humanities has been slower, as their use is often less straightforward. Humanities research and data are often fragmented and extremely diverse. Creating tools that are widely applicable and accessible without flattening the nuance in the data has been the major challenge in digitization.
In recent years, large projects have promoted upskilling and infrastructure for a new type of researcher: the digital humanist. This talk will introduce the field of Digital Humanities by looking at a range of large and small projects, from the categorization of humanities data, to the diffusion of agriculture, to the quantification of societal complexity and its evolution through history. These projects illustrate the intersection of history and data science, and the role digital tools and methods can play in discovering our past.
5:15 pm – Shuttles depart from ISTA for Wien Meidling
Includes stop at Klosterneuburg Stadtplatz before continuing to Vienna
Alumni will be able to walk 1 km on a flat sidewalk to the Welcome Gathering. Alumni that prefer or need to get dropped off closer to the venue can utilize Tram 62 from Meidling to Eichenstraße.
6:00 pm – Welcome Gathering at Gleis Garten (Vienna)
Gather and meet up with other ISTA alumni in Vienna!
Each alum will receive a 15 Euro voucher to use for food and drink. Alumni are responsible for additional individual costs.
Location
GleisGarten, Eichenstraße 2, 1120 Wien
Accessible by tram lines 18, 6, or 62 (Eichenstraße station). Also 15 minutes by foot from Meidlinger and Matzleinsdorf train stations.
Saturday, October 3
8:00 am – 7:00 pm: Check-in (ISTA Campus)
★ = featured alumni speaker
8:00 and 8:20 am – Shuttles depart from Schwedenplatz
First shuttle departs at 8:00 am, and the second departs at 8:20 am. Both include stops at Klosterneuburg Stadtplatz before arriving at ISTA.
8:15 am – Breakfast on Campus
Enjoy a light breakfast before the start of the program with pastries, fruits, and coffee and tea.
9:15 am – Reunion 2026 Welcome
Welcome remarks from President Martin Hetzer, Chief Organizational Development Officer Barbara Abraham, and Alumni Relations Manager Kelan O’Brien, and the presentation of the ISTA Alumni Award 2026 to Laura Schmid.
★ 10:00 am – Session 1A: Computer Science Research Presentation (Title TBA)
Speaker
ISTA alum Sharareh Alipour received her Ph.D. in Computer Science and was a postdoctoral researcher at ISTA (Institute of Science and Technology Austria) in 2019. She is currently an Associate Professor at New Uzbekistan University. Her research interests include theoretical computer science, algorithms, graph theory, and combinatorics.
Her research addresses structural and algorithmic questions across several areas of theoretical computer science, including geometric and distributed algorithms, graph optimization, and combinatorial problems arising in multiagent systems. Her work combines the development of theoretical methods with the design of efficient algorithms for fundamental discrete problems.
Session
Session title and abstract coming soon.
10:00 am – Session 1B: Campus Life at ISTA Panel
Hear from members of the ISTA community about what campus life is like today as the Institute continues to grow.
Panel members to be announced soon.
★ 11:15 am – Session 2A: Neuroscience Research Presentation (Title TBA)
Speaker
ISTA alum Bernadette Basilico is a tenure-track researcher and Assistant Professor of Neurophysiology at Sapienza University of Rome. She graduated with honors in Neurobiology in 2014 and later obtained a PhD in Clinical Experimental Neuroscience and Psychiatry from the same university. In 2019, she joined the Institute of Science and Technology Austria as a postdoctoral researcher in Gaia Novarino’s group, where she investigated the genetic and cellular mechanisms underlying autism spectrum disorders.
She returned to Italy in 2023 and is now establishing an independent research programme focused on the molecular and cellular mechanisms of neurodevelopmental disorders, with particular emphasis on SYNGAP1-related disorder. Her work, currently supported by two independent research grants, aims to identify patientspecific biomarkers and functional phenotypes and to develop targeted therapeutic strategies. In 2024, she was selected as one of the six recipients of the L’Oréal Italia-UNESCO “For Women in Science” Award.
Session
Session title and abstract coming soon.
11:15 am – Session 2B: ISTA’s Alumni Program Information Session
Join Alumni Relations Manager Kelan O’Brien to learn more about ISTA’s alumni program, share your opinions and ideas for a connected alumni community, and get a sneak peek into future initiatives and programs.
12:15 pm – Lunch on Campus
Catch up with friends and former colleagues at your old favorite spot in the cafeteria.
★ 2:30 pm – Session 3: Geodesic Loops, Electric Charges, and Solids
Speaker
ISTA alum Gonçalo Oliveira is an Associate Professor of Mathematics at Instituto Superior Técnico (University of Lisbon). He completed his Ph.D. in 2014 at Imperial College London under the supervision of Sir Simon Donaldson, and has since held positions at Duke University in the USA, IMPA and UFF in Brazil, and as a NOMIS Fellow at ISTA, with additional visits to the Max Planck Institute in Bonn and MSRI (SLMath) in Berkeley.
His research lies at the interface of Differential Geometry and Mathematical Physics, with a focus on gauge theory and the geometry of special holonomy manifolds. Recent highlights include proving circle-invariant versions of the Thomas–Yau conjecture on Lagrangian mean curvature flow, and developing a novel technique to locate closed geodesics on certain K3 surfaces by reducing the problem to electrostatics—uncovering a surprising link to an open problem posed by James Clerk Maxwell in 1873.
His work also extends into interdisciplinary applications, including mathematical biology, stochastic geometry, and the mathematical foundations of machine learning. He has published extensively in leading journals and has delivered over 90 invited talks worldwide. His research has been consistently supported by prestigious grants and awards, including a NOMIS Fellowship, the Fundação Serrapilheira award, and grants from CNPq and FAPERJ. Outside mathematics, he is the father of three children.
Session
Explicitly constructing closed geodesics—locally shortest loops—on complex geometric spaces, such as the so-called Calabi-Yau manifolds, is a notoriously difficult mathematical challenge. Surprisingly, this abstract geometric problem is intimately connected to a classical physics question regarding equilibria of point charges, and an open problem posed by James Clerk Maxwell in 1873.
In this talk, we will explore these equilibria by strategically arranging charges at the vertices of highly symmetric solids, and ultimately explain how they guide us in successfully locating closed geodesics within these complex geometric spaces.
2:30 pm – VISTA Self-guided Exhibition Tour
Science in the Making invites you not only to discover answers, but to ask your own questions. The exhibition offers fascinating insights into ISTA’s diverse research. It opens up new perspectives on the role of science in our everyday lives and in society, as well as on the interplay between research, technology, art, and design. It shows that knowledge does not emerge in isolation. It emerges through exchange, experimentation, and dialogue.
A team of Science Mediators will be on site to answer your questions and assist if necessary.
A maximum of 50 people can join the self-guided exhibition tours. If this tour reaches capacity, a waitlist will be formed.
4:00 pm – Faculty Lightning Talks
A number ISTA faculty will give short presentations about their current research or recent publications. The talks will include both professors and assistant professors from across disciplines to showcase the range of brave science taking place at ISTA today.
Faculty presenters will be announced soon.
5:30 pm – Networking with Current and Future Alumni
The ISTA alumni community is constantly growing. This session is an opportunity for alumni to network and connect with not just other alumni, but also with future alumni. Current students and postdocs will join build connections across cohorts, fields, and experiences. You may find someone working on something you’re interested in, someone who comes from a similar background, or someone who has taken a completely different path.
6:30 pm – Dinner & Gathering
Current and future alumni will gather together to close out the night with a dinner and live music!
8:30, 9:15, 10:00, and 10:15 pm – Shuttles depart from ISTA for Schwedenplatz
All shuttles include stops at Klosterneuburg Stadtplatz before arriving at Schwedenplatz.
Sunday, October 4
8-10 am – Drop-in Breakfast (Vienna)
Join us in Vienna for a quick bite on your way home, or hang out for a bit with other fellow alumni.
Location to be announced soon.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who are considered ISTA alumni?
The ISTA alumni community is made up of graduates and former postdocs.
Why should I attend the reunion?
Reunions are a great way to expand your professional and social networks, to learn from the expertise and experiences of fellow alumni and other members of the campus community, and to stay up to date with what is happening at the Institute. It is also a time to reconnect with friends and colleagues, celebrate career and life milestones, and reflect on memories and past experiences. Whether you are looking for networking and professional development, social gatherings, or a mix of the two, the reunion will have something for you.
How much does registration cost?
There is no registration fee!
Will there be shuttles between Vienna and ISTA?
Yes! Shuttles will operate between Schwedenplatz and ISTA. Shuttle times and details are in the program schedule above.
Is there a dress code for the weekend?
This is a relaxed event for alumni to reconnect with each other and the Institute. Wear whatever is most comfortable for you! Just be sure to plan for the weather. If there are programs during the weekend that require certain attire (e.g. visiting a specific location on campus), that information will be shared ahead of time.
Will there be childcare during the weekend?
Unfortunately, there will not be childcare for the reunion due to low demand. This regrettably and understandably may make it challenging for alumni with children to be able to attend the event.
If you are unable to attend the reunion due to childcare needs, please send a message to Alumni Relations Manager Kelan O’Brien. Your input will inform future events in order to make them as accessible as possible for all alumni, including those with children.
Will ISTA help me with travel costs and logistics in order to attend?
Some funding is available for alumni who would not be able to attend the reunion solely or primarily due to travel and/or lodging costs. Requests for financial assistance will be gathered through Thursday, July 23, and support will be offered based on capacity and need, with the goal of supporting as many alumni as possible. Any requests after that date will be on a first-come, first-served basis and dependent on available funds. All financial support will be distributed as a reimbursement and would require receipts and documentation. Personal details of requests will be kept confidential.
If you would like to request financial assistance via reimbursement, please send an email to alumni@ista.ac.at and include information about what type of support you would need.
Alumni are responsible for their own travel plans, including any needed visas and documentation. ISTA will not reimburse the cost of visa application fees or costs associated with travel authorization processes.
What is the best way to stay up to date?
Besides this page, information will be shared via email (including Forward+, the alumni newsletter) and in the ISTA Alumni LinkedIn Group.
Want to confirm that ISTA has the correct contact information? Send an email to alumni@ista.ac.at.
Have another question about the reunion? Send an email to alumni@ista.ac.at!
