Convergence Zones 2026

About

New technologies are reshaping public life faster than the institutions meant to guide them.

Convergence Zones brings researchers from India and Germany together for two days. The aim is to meet at the points where scientific work, public policy and everyday life overlap, and to ask what each side can learn from the other.

The conference is organised jointly by the four partner institutions above and is hosted at IACS, Kolkata.

Themes

Three fields, one shared ground

Technology

Artificial intelligence, data, algorithms and digital infrastructure, and the research that builds and tests them.

Governance

How states, regulators and institutions in India and Germany set the rules for new technology.

Society

Who benefits, who is left out, and how communities take part in decisions that affect them.

Programme

Two days of dialogue

Day 1

Thursday · 12 November 2026

10:00 – 10:30 AM

Registration and Tea/Coffee

10:30 – 10:45 AM

Welcome and opening remarks

Keynote speakers

Prof. Sugata Ray, Senior Professor, School of Material Sciences, IACS
Prof. Shibashis Chatterjee, Professor, Department of International Relations, Jadavpur University

10:45 – 11:45 AM

Student presentations

11:45 AM – 12:00 PM

Tea break

12:00 – 1:15 PM

Student presentations

1:15 – 1:30 PM

Closing remarks from reviewersCertificate distribution · Vote of thanks

Day 2

Friday · 13 November 2026

10:00 – 10:30 AM

Registration and Tea/Coffee

10:45 – 11:05 AM

Inauguration

Prof. Kalobaran Maiti, Director, IACS
Prof. Chiranjib Bhattacharjee, Vice-Chancellor, Jadavpur University

11:10 – 11:30 AM

Keynote

Ms. Gabriele Manig, Deputy Consul General, German Consulate Kolkata
with Ms. Susmita Mandal, Officer, Political Affairs, Culture, Press and Public Relations, German Consulate Kolkata

Photo opportunity on stage

11:30 AM – 12:30 PM

Panel 1: Indo-European Data Sovereignty and Partnership

Dr. Swati Prabhu, Fellow, Centre for New Economic Diplomacy, Observer Research Foundation
Prof. Animesh Mukerjee, Professor of Computer Science, IIT Kharagpur
Prof. Genia Kostka, Professor of Chinese Politics, Freie Universität Berlin Online from Berlin
Faculty of the Centre for Digital Governance, Hertie School Online from Berlin
Dr. Manjira Sinha, Senior Scientist, TCS Research and Innovation

1:45 – 2:40 PM

Panel 2: AI and Education

Dr. Soham Bhattacharya, Assistant Professor, Department of Public Administration, Presidency University, Kolkata
Dr. Joyita Banerji, Assistant Professor, Department of Commerce, St. Xavier’s (Autonomous) College, Kolkata
Prof. Debashree Ghosh, Senior Professor, School of Chemical Sciences, IACS
Dr. Sudip Kumar Naskar, Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Jadavpur University

2:45 – 3:00 PM

Closing remarks and vote of thanksVibhuti Sukhramani, Head, Freie Universität Berlin India & South Asia Office

3:00 PM onwards

Networking tea

Venue

Hosted at IACS, Kolkata

C V Raman Hall

2nd floor, Main Building

Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS)
2A & 2B, Raja S C Mullick Road
Kolkata 700032

Open in Google Maps

Dates12 and 13 November 2026

LocationJadavpur, South Kolkata, Opposite Jadavpur University

Contact

Vibhuti Sukhramani Head, India & South Asia Office Freie Universität Berlin Berlin

Nitij Singh Hertie School Berlin

Abdul Matin Department of International Relations Jadavpur University

Debarshi Kumar Sanyal School of Mathematical & Computational Sciences Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science (IACS)