Following a joint lunch, the official program began with several presentation sessions and pitch talks. The focus was on current research in areas such as combinatorial optimization, integer programming, robust optimization, online algorithms, and bilevel optimization. In particular, the compact pitch format gave early-career researchers the opportunity to present their projects to a broad academic audience.
Keynote highlights
Two keynote lectures formed central elements of the workshop program. Stefan Weltge presented on Integer Programming and Bounded Subdeterminants, addressing current questions in discrete optimization. In his talk Strategic Location Choice, Pascal Lenzner provided insights into strategic decision-making models and their applications. Both presentations highlighted the theoretical relevance of mathematical optimization as well as its importance for practical decision-making processes.
The program also included numerous research talks on topics such as the simplex method, online discrepancy minimization, neural network verification, vehicle routing, and multi-objective shortest paths in time-dependent networks. The thematic breadth reflected the dynamism and versatility of the field.
Exchange and networking
In addition to the scientific program, personal exchange was an important part of the event. Coffee breaks, a shared lunch, and a concluding dinner in Straubing offered participants the opportunity to connect with researchers from different universities and career stages.
By combining expert talks, short presentations, and networking opportunities, Friday@Noon 2026 once again successfully continued the established workshop format and further strengthened Bavaria’s research community in the field of optimization.