21 – 23 September 2026

Programme

Three days of keynotes, panel discussions, lightning talks, round tables, and workshops at the University of Passau.

Monday21Tuesday22Wednesday23

Monday

21 September 2026

  1. from 12:00

    Registration

    Registration & Check-in

  2. 13:00 – 15:00

    1. Workshop

      What's New in Transkribus: Enhancing Your Workflow with the Latest Features

    2. Workshop

      Building Databases from Historical Documents with Smart Extract Models

  3. 15:00 – 15:15

    Coffee Break

  4. 15:15 – 17:15

    1. Workshop

      Automating the Boring Stuff: Sustainable Workflow Automation for Digital Scholarly Editions (API Workshop)

    2. Workshop

      Curating Datasets for Handwritten Sources: Datasheets Within and Beyond Archives

    3. Workshop

      Writing Sprint: Records, Authenticity, and Guesswork: When AI Meets the Archive

  5. 17:15 – 17:30

    Break

  6. 17:30 – 18:00

    Opening Session · HS 5

    State of Transkribus

    Hosted by the READ-COOP Board

  7. 18:00 – 19:00

    Alíz Horváth

    Keynote · HS 5

    Why Language Inclusivity Matters in Text Recognition and Otherwise in the Age of AI?

    Alíz Horváth · Central European University, Vienna, Austria

  8. from 19:00

    Social · Mensa

    Oktoberfest Reception

    Welcome drinks and Bavarian bites to kick off the conference.

Tuesday

22 September 2026

  1. 09:00 – 10:00

    Vincent Christlein

    Keynote · HS 5

    What Visual Language Models Can (Not) Do for Document Analysis

    Vincent Christlein · Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany

  2. 10:10 – 11:15

    1. Lightning Talks · HS 5

      Panel 1 · Scripts of the World

      Building Text Recognition Models for Diverse Languages and Writing Systems

    2. Lightning Talks · HS 7

      Panel 2 · From Records to Rows

      Structuring Serial Sources and Genealogical Data for Databases

    3. Lightning Talks · HS 8

      Panel 3 · Scaling the Pipeline

      API Integration, Large-Scale Workflows, and Benchmarking

  3. 11:25 – 11:45

    Break

  4. 11:45 – 12:45

    1. Round Table · HS 5

      Crowdsourcing the Past

      Citizen Science Strategies for Transcription at Any Scale

    2. Round Table · HS 7

      Transcription guidelines for HTR-projects at cultural heritage institutions

  5. 12:45 – 13:45

    Lunch Break

  6. 13:45 – 15:00

    1. Lightning Talks · HS 7

      Panel 4 · Mastering Complexity

      Advanced Segmentation and Text Recognition for Challenging Documents

    2. Lightning Talks · HS 8

      Panel 5 · Archival Transformations

      Bridging the Gap between Hidden Records and Public Access

    3. Lightning Talks · HS 5

      Panel 6 · The Human Element

      Collaborative Ecosystems in HTR and Research

  7. 15:00 – 16:30

    Posters · HS 5

    Poster Pitch & Poster Presentations

    15 posters

  8. 16:30 – 17:30

    1. Round Table · HS 5

      Towards a "living" HTR Evaluation Platform

    2. Round Table · HS 7

      From Documents to Data

      Structuring the Historical Record at Scale

  9. from 19:00

    Social

    Conference Dinner

    4-hour Danube cruise with dinner and networking.

Wednesday

23 September 2026

  1. 09:00 – 11:00

    1. Scholarship Presentation · HS 5

      Panel 1 · Minority Scripts, Rare Languages, and the Limits of Generic Models

    2. Scholarship Presentation · HS 8

      Panel 2 · Specialised Models, Scalability, and the Methodology of HTR

    3. Scholarship Presentation · HS 7

      Panel 3 · Archives, Research, and Society

      Transcription with an Impact

  2. 11:00 – 11:30

    Break

  3. 11:30 – 12:45

    1. Round Table · HS 5

      AI for Under-Resourced Manuscript Traditions

    2. Round Table · HS 7

      Abandon All Consistency?

      Navigating the Methodological Hell of Transcription Standards

  4. 12:45 – 13:45

    Lunch Break

  5. 13:45 – 15:00

    1. Lightning Talks · HS 7

      Panel 7 · Teaching Machines, Teaching Humans

      HTR Literacy, Ethics, and Creative Practice

    2. Lightning Talks · HS 5

      Panel 8 · Beyond the Transcription

      Named Entity Recognition, Semantic Enrichment, and Digital Editing

  6. 15:00 – 15:30

    Closing Session · HS 5

    The Road Ahead

    Hosted by the READ-COOP Board

  7. 15:30

    Official Conference Close

  8. 16:00 – 17:30

    Post-Conference Event · HS 7

    READ-COOP Members' Meeting

    Open only to Admins with voting rights of READ-COOP member organisations, or their appointed representatives, private members, and by registration.

Browse by Track

Track

Lightning Talks

8 panels of short, focused presentations

Track

Scholarship Presentations

3 panels of in-depth presentations

Join us in Passau this September

Tickets are available now. Secure your spot and be part of the conversation about the future of AI and historical text recognition.

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