COML 2026 - NextGen Synergy: Control Theory & Machine Learning

Programme

MONDAY, APRIL 27

8:30 – 9:00	Registration
SESSION I — Chair: Lars Grüne
9:00 – 9:20	Welcome
9:20 – 10:20	Invited Talk: Dante Kalise (Imperial College London)	Learning to Control: Scalable Approximation of Value Functions for High-Dimensional Optimal Control
10:20 – 10:40	Contributed Talk: Mario Sperl (University of Bayreuth)	Avoiding the Curse of Dimensionality in Structured Control Problems via Separable Neural Networks
10:40 – 11:10	Coffee Break
SESSION II — Chair: Miroslav Kárný
11:10 – 12:10	Invited Talk: David Rios Insua (ICMAT-CSIC)	Control Theory and Adversarial Machine Learning
12:10 – 12:30	Contributed Talk: Juan Ricardo Muñoz (University of Dubrovnik)	Reduced-Order Modeling for Parameter-Dependent Optimal Control: A map-parameter-to-latent approach
12:30 – 12:50	Contributed Talk: Mario Chacón-Falcón (ICMAT-CSIC)	Opponent-Aware Soft Q-Learning
12:50 – 14:20	Lunch Break
SESSION III — Chair: Martin Lazar
14:20 – 14:40	Contributed Talk: Mohamed Boukaf (Université Paris Saclay)	Deep Riemannian Control: Formally Verified Neural Observers and Controllers via Contraction Theory
14:40 – 15:00	Contributed Talk: Edoardo Caldarelli (Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia)	Linear Quadratic Control of Nonlinear Systems with Koopman Operator Learning and the Nyström method
15:00 – 15:20	Contributed Talk: Ion Necoara (Politehnica Bucuresti)	Deep Unfolding Primal/Dual Architectures: Application to Linear Model Predictive Control
15:20 – 16:20	Roundtable I: Adversarial, Risk Aware Decision Making in Multi Agent Systems.	Moderator: David Rios Insua Discussants: Leon Bungert, Mario Chacón-Falcón, Agnieszka Wiszniewska-Matyszkiel
16:20 – 16:50	Poster Session A: Spotlights	Chair: James Kennedy
16:50 – 17:50	Poster Session A and Coffee Break	#12 - Maja Jolić, Sanja Konjik: On Controllability of Linear Fractional Time-Varying Systems and Fractional Evolution Equations #13 - Júlia Kafková, Michal Skuba, Pavol Kuchár: Reinforcement Learning Approach for Traffic Signal Control #23 - Hasibe Candan Kadem, Mustafa Özgür Cingiz: Graph-Based Relational Learning for Cyber-Attack Detection in Water Distribution ICS: An Imbalance-Aware Study on BATADAL #26 - Muhammet Berigel: Control-Informed Machine Learning for Modeling Migration Intention Dynamics: Evidence from a Youth Emigration Survey #27 - Michal Pražienka, Pavol Kuchár: Digital Twin of the City of Zilina #28 - Jan Saro: Digital Twin of a Dairy Herd: Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning and LLM Explainability for Farm Optimisation #36 - Matthieu Barreau, Loïc Michel: An Integral Controller for Physics-Informed Learning #39 - Aleksej Gaj, Miroslav Kárný: Relating Discrete-Valued Random Variables: Advanced Bayesian Structure Estimation #46 - Maria Filipkovska: Qualitative Analysis of Degenerate Evolution Equations Arising when Modelling Neural, Electrical and Gas Networks #53 - Antonie Brožová, Michal Uliáš, Ondřej Tichý, Václav Šmídl: Bayesian Inversion Methods and Toolbox for Their Application to Accidental Radionuclide Releases #54 - Jurij Ružejnikov, Tatiana V. Guy: Tuning Robust Sequential Decision-Making Models in Adversarial Environments #61 - Akhil John, Armando Mendes, Marko Ruman: AI Techniques for Anomaly Assessment in Port Structures
17:50 – 18:40	Excursions to Human Behaviour Research Lab & Agricultural Processing Training Centre
19:00 – 22:00	BEER Party

TUESDAY, APRIL 28

SESSION IV — Chair: Hendrik Kleikamp
9:00 – 10:00	Invited Talk: Matthieu Barreau (KTH Royal Institute of Technology)	Learning Maximal Lyapunov Functions
10:00 – 10:20	Contributed Talk: Stefan Ratschan (Institute of Computer Science, Czech Academy of Sciences)	Certifying Properties of Control Systems: Algorithms, Verification, and Theory
10:20 – 10:50	Coffee Break
SESSION V — Chair: Francisco Periago
10:50 – 11:50	Invited Talk: Enrique Zuazua (Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg)	Machine Learning from a Control Perspective
11:50 – 12:10	Contributed Talk: Erlend Grong (University of Bergen)	Controllability on Landmark Manifolds with Applications to Shapes and Neural ODEs
12:10 – 12:30	Contributed Talk: Agnieszka Wiszniewska-Matyszkiel (University of Warsaw)	When Beliefs about Reality Influence Reality - May ML Result in Sticking in Belief-Distorted Nash Equilibria?
12:30 – 14:00	Lunch Break
SESSION VI — Chair: Vladimir Jaćimović
14:00 – 14:20	Contributed Talk: Leon Bungert (University of Wuerzburg)	Concentration Phenomena of Self-Attention Dynamics
14:20 – 14:40	Contributed Talk: Özkan Öztürk (Giresun University)	Control of Dynamical Systems on Time Scales: Bridging Continuous and Discrete Learning Frameworks
14:40 – 15:40	Roundtable II: Learning-Based Methods for High-Dimensional Control and Stability Certification	Moderator: Francisco Periago Discussants: Matthieu Barreau, Martin Lazar, Enrique Zuazua
15:40 – 16:10	Coffee Break
SESSION VII — Chair: Leon Bungert
16:10 – 17:10	Invited Talk: Kathrin Flaßkamp (Saarland University)	Learning with Structure: How Systems and Control Theory Shapes ML for Dynamical Systems
17:10 – 17:30	Contributed Talk: Carlo Guastamacchia (Politecnico di Milano)	LDNets: Latent Dynamics Networks, an Architecture to Learn and Predict Time Variant Fields
17:30 – 18:40	CORE Group Meeting

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 29

SESSION VIII — Chair: Dante Kalise
9:00 – 10:00	Invited Talk: Petr Stluka (Siemens)	Industrial Perspective on Control and ML
10:00 – 10:20	Contributed Talk: Cesare Molinari (UniGE)	Learning From Data via Overparameterization
10:20 – 10:50	Coffee Break
SESSION IX — Chair: David Rios Insua
10:50 – 11:50	Invited Talk: Nicolò Cesa-Bianchi (University of Milan)	Online Learning in Digital Markets
11:50 – 12:10	Contributed Talk: Miroslav Kárný (UTIA AVCR)	Recursive Estimation of ARX Model with Parameters Dependent on High-Dimensional Discrete-Valued Regressors
12:10 – 12:30	Contributed Talk: Birgit Hillebrecht (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology)	A Rigorous Framework to Certify Predictions from Physics-Informed Neural Networks
12:30 – 12:40	Event Photo – All participants
12:40 – 14:00	Lunch Break
SESSION X — Chair: Cesare Molinari
14:00 – 14:20	Contributed Talk: Carlos Doebeli (Imperial College London)	A Polynomial Approximation Scheme for Nonlinear Model Reduction
14:20 – 14:40	Contributed Talk: Vladimir Jacimovic (University of Montenegro)	Policy Gradients for Deep Directional Reinforcement Learning
14:40 – 15:00	Contributed Talk: Lucas Moschen (Imperial College London)	On the Local Stabilisation of Interacting Particle Systems and its Connection to Energy Convexification
15:00 – 15:20	Contributed Talk: Květoslav Belda (UTIA)	Mathematical Modelling and Model-Based Control Design for Energy-Optimal Motion of Industrial Robots
15:20 – 15:40	Contributed Talk: Tim Keil (TNG Technology Consulting GmbH)	An Efficient and Adaptive Machine Learning Surrogate for Optimal Control in Enhanced Oil Recovery
15:40 – 16:10	Coffee Break
SESSION XI — Chair: Edoardo Caldarelli
16:10 – 17:10	Roundtable III: SWOT: Integrating Contemporary Control and Machine Learning	Moderator: Lars Grüne Discussants: Nicolò Cesa-Bianchi, Dante Kalise, Miroslav Kárný, Petr Stluka
17:10 – 17:40	Poster Session B: Spotlights
17:40 – 18:40	Poster Session B and Coffee Break	#6 - Tuncer Acar: Sampling Series as A Unified Approximation Framework for Control and Machine Learning #14 - Júlia Kafková, Pavol Kuchár: Stress Detection in the Workplace Using Digital Twin Technology and Multimodal Physiological Sensing #15 - Ahmed Amine Tabbassi, Stephan Henkler: Decision-Focused Learning Meets Distributionally Robust Optimization: A Unified Framework for Sugar Beet Yield Maximization Under Epistemic Uncertainty #16 - Yahya Danayiyen, Amina Alshekh: Model Predictive Control and Machine Learning-Based Grid-Forming Inverters: The Combination of Control and Learning for Low-Inertia Power Systems #19 - Jongrae Kim, Onur Kadem: Learning-Phase Stability in Actor-Critic Reinforcement Learning: Analysis and Stabilisation #35 - Matthias Menge, Michael Günther, Peter Zaspel: Data-Driven Identification of Port-Hamiltonian DAE Systems by Gaussian Processes #37 - Yannick Lunk, Sebastian Scott, Leon Bungert: Sparse Training of Neural Networks based on Multilevel Mirror Descent #40 - Sara-Viola Kuntz, Christian Kuehn: Structural Constraints on Expressivity in Continuous-Depth Neural Networks #44 - Krzysztof Rykaczewski, Grzegorz Gabor, Michał Balicki, Piotr Przymus: Cone-Constrained Neural Networks for Structured Learning and Control #49 - Tomáš Martínek: Transcription of Czech Administrative Records Written in Kurrent Script into Latin Script Using Machine Learning, OCR, and AI #57 - Chia-Hsun Lu, Yuan-Hung Chao, Chih-Ya Shen: Multi-Teacher GNN Knowledge Transfer for Kolmogorov-Arnold Networks #59 - Siavash Fakhimi Derakhshan, Ladislav Jirsa, Tatiana V. Guy: Imitation Learning Framework Based on Fully Probabilistic Design #60 - Marko Ruman, Tatiana V. Guy: N-to-1 Knowledge Transfer in Reinforcement Learning via Adaptive Q-function Selection
19:30 – 23:00	Conference Dinner

THURSDAY, APRIL 30

SESSION XII — Chair: Luca Dede'
9:00 – 10:00	Invited Talk: Markus Abel (Ambrosys)	Optimization and Machine learning in Traffic and Sensor Signals
10:00 – 10:20	Contributed Talk: Patricia Pauli (Eindhoven University of Technology)	Non-conservative Stability Analysis of Linear Systems in Feedback with ReLU Neural Networks
10:20 – 10:50	Coffee Break
SESSION XIII — Chair: Sanja Konjik
10:50 – 11:10	Contributed Talk: Francisco Periago Esparza (Technical University of Cartagena)	SIMONet: A Deep Learning Framework for Learning Set-Valued Maps. Application to Control
11:10 – 11:30	Contributed Talk: Dennis Gramlich (RWTH Aachen)	Convex Synthesis of Mini-Batch Gradient Methods
11:30 – 11:50	Closing Session
11:50 – 13:30	Farewell Lunch
15:00 – 17:00	Guided Prague Tour (starts at Old Town Square)

Note: April 30 — Witches' Night (Walpurgis Night): a traditional spring festival; in the Czech Republic it is celebrated with large bonfires and social gatherings.

REGISTRATION AND REIMBURSEMENT

Registration form

CA24136 Members:

CA24136 members pay no conference fee and can apply for reimbursement for conference-related expenses. If the number of applicants exceeds the available budget, the CA24136 Committee—comprised of the Action Vice-Chair, Grant Awarding Coordinator, and Equal Opportunities Coordinator—will select participants for reimbursement based on recommendations from the International Program Committee . Selected participants will receive formal invitations through the e-COST platform.

Please refrain from making travel arrangements until your contribution is accepted and reimbursement is approved. No reimbursement can be guaranteed prior to receiving e-cost invitation. For detailed information, please read the Travel Reimbursement Rules.

We welcome participants who can secure either full or partial funding to cover their expenses through their universities or other sources.

Non-CA24136 Members:

The conference fee for non-members of CA24136 is 120 euros. Please complete the registration first. Payment details will be sent to you after registration.

International Scientific Committee

Martin Lazar (University of Dubrovnik, HR) - Chair
Luca Dede (Politecnico di Milano, IT)
Lars Grüne (University of Bayreuth, DE)
Tatiana V. Guy (Institute of Information Theory and Automation, CZ)
Cesare Molinari (Università di Genova, IT)
Hendrik Kleikamp (University of Münster, DE)
Martin Pelikán (Czech University of Life Sciences, CZ)
Miroslav Kárný (Institute of Information Theory and Automation, CZ)
Katerina Schindler (University of Vienna, AT)
Tom Lefebvre (Ghent University, BE)
Fabrizio Ruggeri (Institute for Applied Mathematics and Information Technologies, IT)
Ondřej Straka (University of West Bohemia, CZ)
Laurenz Ruzicka (Austrian Institute of Technology, AT)
Polina Khrennikova (University of Twente, NL)
Jonas Nordqvist (Linnaeus University, SE)
Alexander V. Rezounenko (V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, UA)

Accommodation & Dining

We have secured preliminary reservations and negotiated discounts at the following hotels near the conference venue:

Carl Inn Hotel

Location: A 10-minute walk from the conference venue.

Offer: 15 rooms with a 20% discount from April 26 to May 1, 2026.

Room types: 12 double rooms (some with balconies) and 3 triple rooms.

Price: Approximately €63 per person per night, incl. breakfast and local tax. Payment: by bank transfer or invoice. Cash payment on arrival is possible only if agreed with reception in advance.

Booking: via email recepce@carlhotel.cz with the subject: "Reservation-CoML-UTIAAVCR" by February 28, 2026.

Grand Hotel International Prague (4*)

Location: 15-minute bus ride to the conference venue.

Discount is valid: from April 24 to May 3, 2026.

Booking link: here (please select your arrival and departure dates, promocode is COST20 ).

Hotel DAP (3*)

Location: 20-minute bus ride to the conference venue.

Offer: 8 reserved double rooms from April 26 to May 1, 2026.

Price: Approximately €93 per night for single occupancy, incl. breakfast and local tax; an additional guest pays €13 extra.

Booking: via email josef.havlicek@vlrz.cz with the subject: "Reservation-CoML-UTIAAVCR" by March 31, 2026.

Payment: Cash or credit card upon arrival, or as agreed via email.

Important: Hotel availability is limited and reservations are processed on a first-come, first-served basis. Please book in advance to secure your accommodation. You can find some helpful suggestions here: Accomodations

Visa Assistance

If you require assistance with obtaining a visa, please reach out to: klepkova@utia.cas.cz

City of Prague

Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, is well known for its historical monuments, classical architecture and rich cultural heritage that continues today in many theaters, concert halls, opera houses and galleries. Come and discover this wonderful city and walk in the footsteps not only of Franz Kafka and Antonin Dvorak but also of Tycho de Brahe, Johannes Kepler, Bernard Bolzano, Christian Doppler, Albert Einstein, Jaroslav Heyrovsky, and others.

The dominant feature of the city is Prague Castle with its gothic St. Vitus Cathedral. The castle, formerly the seat of Czech kings since 1087, became the seat of the president in 1918. The 14th century Charles Bridge, the most remarkable promenade site in Prague, connects Lesser Town with the Old Town, amazing network of twisting medieval lanes. The Old Town City Hall in the Old Town Square houses the oldest working Astronomical Clock in the world (1410). At every hour, a presentation of four figures and statues of 12 Apostles starts. Between the Old Town Square and the river bank, remains of unique 13th century Jewish Town offer mysterious spiritual atmosphere. Due to hilly landscape over double-bent river valley, the elevated sites such as the Castle offer magnificent views over the city's “one hundred spires”.

For more tourist information please visit Prague City Tourism website and you can take a look at these tourist guides:

TIME ZONE

The time zone in Prague is CET (UTC+01:00)

TELEPHONES

International dialling code for the Czech Republic: +00420

LANGUAGE

The official conference language is English. No translation/interpretation services will be provided.

MEDICAL SERVICES

Should you need to visit a doctor, we recommend contacting the reception desk of your hotel, they will direct you to the nearest hospital. If urgent medical assistance is required, call the emergency 112 or 155.

ELECTRICITY

The standard electrical voltage in Czech republic is 230 volts AC, 50Hz.

WATER

Tap water is safe to drink in Prague.

WEATHER

PRAGUE WEATHER

CURRENCY

The currency is Czech crown (CZK), approximate rate is 1 EUR = 25 CZK.

EMERGENCY

In emergency situations, you can contact the local police, ambulance service, fire department and other emergency services by calling 112. Alongside 112, the following specific emergency numbers are available:
155 – ambulance
150 – fire brigade
158 – police

ATMS & CREDIT CARDS

ATMs are widely available and open 24 hours a day. Large supermarkets and shops often accept euros in cash (only banknotes, change in CZK only). Please note that small grocery stores and some restaurants may accept cash only. The closest ATMs is located in the campus (at the entrance to MENZA). The banks are located near Dejvicka metro station.

Getting to Prague

Vaclav Havel Airport Prague handles flights of most European carriers, including low-cost ones, as well as some overseas flights.

Transport to the venue

How to get to the city centre

Public transport & tickets

Prague public transport is fast, efficient and frequent. Metro and most daily trams and buses operate every day from 5 AM till midnight. Night trams and buses (line numbers beginning with 9) operate throughout the night. You can find needed connection on the Prague Public Transport web

Basic ticket fares in 2026 are 50 CZK for a 90-minute paper ticket and 39 CZK for a 30-minute paper ticket. Tickets can be purchased at ticket machines (CZ coins may be required), newsagents, and metro entrances. Validate your ticket in the machine upon first entering the bus, tram, or metro. You may also consider the Prague Visitor Pass.

Childcare

Unfortunately, we are not able to provide childcare for the participants' children.

NEWS

Keynote speakers