Automata in the Wild 2026

University of Liverpool

Automata in the Wild 2026

Workshop on Automata and Formal Languages

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University of Liverpool, UK
Aim:

Automata in the Wild 2026 is a workshop bringing together researchers working in automata theory and related fields in the UK. Speakers have been chosen to represent a diverse range of topics of automata-related research in the UK, including combinatorics on words, dynamical systems, games, logic, and weighted automata.

Topics:

Topics of interest include (but are not limited to):

  • automata theory,
  • formal languages,
  • semi groups,
  • combinatorics on words,
  • dynamical systems.

Program

The programme will consist of six invited talks of around one hour, and short contributed talks from participants.

Early Career Talks

Please indicate your interest in giving a short talk (approx 10-15 minutes) when registering. PhD Students and Early Career Researchers are particularly encouraged to submit a talk.

Schedule

A detailed programme will be made available in due course.

Lunch will be provided.

Organisation

Automata in the Wild 2026 is organised by:

Dmitry Chistikov
Laure Daviaud
Luca Prigioniero
David Purser

Contact:
For any questions regarding the workshop, please contact the organisers via email. Click to email all organisers.

Location:

The workshop takes place in person at the Ashton Building on the campus of The University of Liverpool.

Sessions take place in the Ashton Lecture Theatre.

Attending:

To attend the workshop, please register using the following link by Monday, 2 March 2026:
Registration form

There is no registration fee.

Financial Support:

Limited support for travel and accommodation is available for students and early career researchers who would otherwise not be able to attend.

To request the support, please send an email to by Monday, 23 February 2026, with the subject line "WILD26 Financial Support Request", stating:

  • Your name, affiliation, and whether you are a student or early career researcher.
  • A brief explanation of why you need support, confirming that your supervisor / institution will not cover the cost.
  • Whether your participation depends on support for travel costs (with estimate), accomodation costs, or both? Keeping the costs requested as low as possible will help us support as many as possible.

We will confirm support by Monday, 2 March 2026. We regret we cannot guarantee support to all applicants.

Accommodation and Travel options:

There are many hotels in Liverpool, the following accommodation options are available close to the University campus:

We encourage participants to travel by train where possible. Parking is limited and can be expensive. Where cars are used, please consider car-sharing.

Please note when travelling to Liverpool that the main train station is Liverpool Lime Street (not Liverpool Central).

Acknowledgements:

This workshop is made possible through the generous support The School of Computer Science and Informatics, University of Liverpool.

Past Events

Other automata-related events in the UK

  • ICALP 2026: 53rd EATCS International Colloquium on Automata, Languages and Programming (Royal Holloway, University of London, 06 to 10 July 2026)
  • CONFEST 2026: CONCUR (37th International Conference on Concurrency Theory), QEST+FORMATS (International Conference on Quantitative Evaluation of SysTems + International Conference on Formal Modeling and Analysis of Timed Systems; 3rd joint conference), FMICS (31st International Conference on Formal Methods for Industrial Critical Systems) & workshops (Liverpool, 01 to 05 September 2026)