April 7-8, 2026 | Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, New Mexico

An Academic and Research Career Workshop for Computational and Data Sciences

Rising Stars is an intensive workshop for graduate students and postdocs who are interested in pursuing academic and research careers. Originally launched at MIT in 2012, Rising Stars events have been hosted in many different fields at institutions across the world. UT Austin's Oden Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences, the Santa Fe Institute, and Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore, and Sandia National Laboratories are proud to partner to host the seventh Rising Stars workshop in Computational and Data Sciences, with a focus on early career researchers in computational and data sciences. Previous workshops have been held in 2019 (Austin), 2020 (virtual), 2022 (Albuquerque), 2023 (Austin), 2024 (Austin), and 2025 (Austin).

We are seeking nominations for outstanding candidates in their final year of PhD or within three years of having graduated and not yet in a tenure-track faculty or permanent staff position. Approximately 30 participants will be selected to come for two days of research presentations and interactive discussions about academic and research careers, with financial support for travel provided. Nominees are considered based on their technical merit, and their technical and service leadership.

Nominations require (1) a letter of nomination and (2) the nominee's two-page resume. Nominations are due January 30, 2026 and should be submitted at:

Rising Stars Nominations

For questions, please see our FAQS or contact the Rising Stars Administrator at rs_admin@oden.utexas.edu.

Sponsors

Presentations

Poster Sessions

Discussions

Networking

Organizing Committee

Nicole Aretz

Nicole Aretz

O’Donnell Postdoctoral Fellow (Site Organization)

Oden Institute, University of Texas Austin

Jamie Bramwell

Jamie Bramwell

Director of the Center for Computational Engineering

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Aric Hagberg

Aric Hagberg

Division Leader, Computer, Computational, and Statistical Sciences Division

Los Alamos National Laboratory

Jeff Hittinger

Jeff Hittinger

Director of the Center for Applied Scientific Computing

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Aimee Hungerford

Aimee Hungerford

Deputy Division Leader for Computer, Computational and Statistical Sciences

Los Alamos National Laboratory

Suzanne Kern

Suzanne Kern

Director of Education

Santa Fe Institute

David Krakauer

David Krakauer

President

Santa Fe Institute

Aleksandra Pachalieva

Aleksandra Pachalieva

Research Scientist

Los Alamos National Laboratory

Teresa Portone

Teresa Portone

Research Scientist

Sandia National Laboratories

James Stewart

James Stewart

Sr. Manager, Computational Sciences and Math

Sandia National Laboratories

Renee Tursi

Renee Tursi

Manager, Office of the President

Santa Fe Institute

Karen Willcox

Karen Willcox

Director of the Oden Institute

Oden Institute, University of Texas Austin