The 1st International Online Conference on Forecasting
The 1st International Online Conference on Forecasting
Part of the International Online Conference on Forecasting series
Event's Timezone: Central European Summer Time
19 June 2026
20 July 2026
18 September 2026
Weather, Climate, Artificial Intelligence, Econometric Modeling, Energy, Forecasting, Forecasting Models
The IOCFC2026 is now OPEN for Abstract Submission and Registration.
Instruction for authors are available online.Submit your abstract HERE.
For any inquiries, please contact us at iocfc2026@mdpi.com.
Welcome from the Chairs
- Energy Forecasting and Analytics;
- AI Forecasting and Large Language Models;
- Forecasting and Econometric Models;
- Weather and Climate Forecasting.
Conference Chairs
Prof. Dr. Sonia Leva
Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy
Editor-in-Chief, the journal Forecasting of MDPI
Dr. Alessandro Niccolai
Department of Energy, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy
Event Chair
Sonia Leva (Senior Member, IEEE) received a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the Politecnico di Milano, Italy, in 2001. She is currently a Full Professor of electrical engineering with the Department of Energy, Politecnico di Milano, where she is also the Director of the Solar Tech Laboratory (SolarTech Lab) and the Laboratory of MicroGrids (MG Lab). She is also a member of the IEEE Working Group “Distributed Resources: Modeling and Analysis” and a Senior Member of the IEEE Power and Energy Society
Alessandro Niccolai received the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from Politecnico di Milano, Italy, in 2019. He is currently an Assistant Professor with the Department of Energy, Politecnico di Milano. His research interests include computational intelligence methods, such as machine learning and optimization, applied to microgrids, renewable energy systems, electric mobility, and energy markets. He has authored more than 30 journal papers and over 60 conference papers. He is involved in national and international research projects funded by industrial partners and competitive grants. He serves on the editorial boards of several international journals and is actively involved in conference organization as a technical committee member, special session organizer, and session chair.
Session Chairs
Dr. Alessia Paccagnini
University College Dublin - Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, Dublin, Ireland
Dr. Alessia Paccagnini is an Associate Professor at the UCD School of Business and Academic Director of the Master in Quantitative Finance. She previously held positions at the University of Milan–Bicocca, the European University Institute, and UCD’s School of Economics. She holds a Ph.D. in Economics and Econometrics from Bocconi University and has been a visiting researcher at leading institutions including the ECB, Bank of England, and University of Pennsylvania. Her research focuses on Time Series Analysis, Forecasting, Econometrics, Macroeconomics, and Monetary Policy. She has published in top journals such as Journal of Econometrics, Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, and International Journal of Forecasting, and serves as Editor of Forecasting. A recipient of the 2022 Kauffman Award for Best Paper on Gender, Diversity & Entrepreneurship, she is among the top 5% female economists worldwide. Dr. Paccagnini also teaches Financial Econometrics and Econometrics of Financial Markets at UCD and received the UCD College of Business Teaching Award (2019/2020).
Dr. Jun Zhang
University of Miami & NOAA/Atlantic Oceanographic & Meteorological Laboratory/Hurricane Research Division, Miami, FL, USA
Dr. Jun Zhang is a Scientist at the University of Miami and a member of NOAA’s Hurricane Research Division (HRD). He earned his Ph.D. in Applied Marine Physics from the University of Miami in 2007 and his B.S. in Ocean Engineering and Naval Architecture from Dalian University of Technology. His research focuses on hurricane boundary layer dynamics, turbulence, air–sea interaction, and numerical modeling. Dr. Zhang has published over 60 peer-reviewed papers with more than 2,000 citations (H-index: 26) and serves as Associate Editor of Monthly Weather Review and Editor of Tropical Cyclone Research and Review. Over the past decade, he has flown more than 30 hurricanes as part of NOAA’s P-3 aircraft missions, leading HRD’s hurricane field program since 2014. His work has earned several honors, including the CIMAS Gold Medal, NASA Group Achievement Award, and Aviation Laureate Award.
Prof. Dr. Mohsin Jamil
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Canada
Dr. Mohsin Jamil is an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada. He holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southampton, UK, and master’s degrees from the National University of Singapore and Dalarna University, Sweden. His expertise spans control systems, mechatronics, robotics, power and energy systems, signal processing, and intelligent automation. His research focuses on control techniques for power electronic converters, smart grids, and mechatronic systems, with applications in multidisciplinary fields such as biomedical and communication systems using AI-based control. Dr. Jamil is a Senior Member of IEEE, Associate Editor of IEEE Access, and Professional Engineer (PEC). He has received multiple teaching and research awards and has authored numerous IEEE journal and conference papers.
Dr. Shaolong Sun
School of Management, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China
Shaolong Sun received the Ph.D. degree majoring in management science and engineering from the Academy of Mathematics and Systems Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China, in 2019.,He is currently a Professor with the Department of Management Science, School of Management, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China. He has authored or coauthored more than 40 papers in leading journals, including Tourism Management, Journal of Travel Research, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Tourism Management Perspectives, Current Issues in Tourism, Tourism Economics, and International Journal of Tourism Research. His research interests include Big Data mining, business intelligence, smart tourism, economic forecasting and financial management.
Dr. Konstantia Litsiou
Business School, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK
Dr. Konstantia (Dina) Litsiou is a Senior Lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University Business School, specialising in marketing, forecasting, and consumer behaviour. She holds a PhD from the University of Salford, with research focused on judgmental forecasting methods and the evaluation of megaproject success. Her work explores decision-making, forecasting techniques, and marketing strategy, and she has contributed to international research projects, publications, and academic conferences. Dr. Litsiou combines academic expertise with practical industry experience, bringing a multidisciplinary perspective to teaching, research, and international collaboration
Prof. Michele Quercio
Department of Industrial, Electronic and Mechanical Engineering
Michele Quercio was born in Avola (SR), Italy, in 1994. He received the bachelor's and master's degrees in mechanical engineering from the Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy, in 2016 and 2018 respectively, and got the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering in the Energy Department, in 2022. From 2024 he is an Assistant Professor at Università degli studi Roma Tre, in the Department of Industrial, Electronic and Mechanical Engineering. He works in several fields: computation of electromagnetic fields, design of magnetic shields, implementation of computational algorithms, renewable energy and artificial intelligence.
Committee Members
Department of Engineering, University of Napoli “Parthenope”, Naples, Italy
Energy Forecasting Systems, Power Engineering, Power Generation, Electrical Power Engineering, MATLAB Simulation, Power System Analysis
Forecasting, Fuzzy Systems, Artificial Neural Networks, Time Series, Analysis, Machine Learning
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Southern Illinois University, IL, USA
Artificial Intelligence, Water Resources Management, Urban Sustainability, Hydro-Climatology, Drought Frequency, Probabilistic Forecasting and Downscaling
Department of Quantitative Methods, The Faculty of Management, Rzeszow University of Technology, Rzeszow, Poland
Econometrics, Risk Analysis, Modeling and Simulation, Forecasting Energy, Finance
Applied Econometrics, Financial Econometrics, Time Series Econometrics, Empirical Finance, Commodities, Cryptocurrencies, Computational Econometrics, Optimization Methods, Applied Econometrics, Environmental and Resource Economics, Finance of Commodity
Financial Econometrics, Asset Management, Empirical Derivatives Pricing, Asset Pricing
Flood forecasting, Weather Forecasting, Forecast Bias, Atmospheric Predictability, Forecast Verification, Anomaly-based Weather Analysis and Forecasting Technique, Precipitation Analysis
Photovoltaics; Evolutionary Algorithms; Microgrids; Genetic Algorithm.
Department of Economics and Finance, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy
Time Series Analysis, Cointegration, Time Series Econometrics, VAR, Volatility Modeling, Economic Forecasting
Department of Phsysics , University of Antilles, Fouillole Campus, Guadeloupe, France
Solar Forecasting, Renewable Energy, Solar Process, Building Efficiency, Smart Grids
Department of Industrial Informatics, Silesian University of Technology, Katowice, Poland
Deep Reinforcement Learning, Drones, Virtual Reality, Full Automatization, Industrial Robots, Sim-to-real transfer, Path Planning, Sheduling, Time-series Prediction; Sustainable Energy Consumption, Cybersecurity
Faculty of Engineering & Science, University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway
Fuzzy Pid, Microgrid, Energy systems, Electric Power Plant Loads, Electricity Price, Power Markets, Demand Response, Demand Side Management, Energy Conservation
Atmospheric Surface Layer, Short-range Prediction, Cospectral Analysis, Quadrant Analysis, Intermittency
School of Meteorology & Department of Geography and Environmental Sustainability, University of Oklahoma, Norman, USA
Urban Meteorology, Urban Climatology, Boundary-Layer Meteorology, Atmospheric Transport and Dispersion, Hydrometeorology, Land–Atmosphere Interactions, Urban Energy, Urban Sustainability.
Statistical Modelling, Forecasting, Optimization
Combinatorial Optimization, Heuristics
Mathematical modeling, optimization, metaheuristic algorithms, computational intelligence, optimization and control management of photovoltaic and power energy systems, forecasting, battery SOC and SOH forecasting, PVT modeling, fuel cell optimization.
Keynote Speakers
Mario Versaci is an Associate Professor of Electrotechnics (Electrical Engineering) at the Mediterranea University of Reggio Calabria (Italy), Department of Civil, Energy, Environmental and Materials Engineering. He holds a degree in Civil Engineering as well as Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Mathematics, providing a strong interdisciplinary background in engineering, applied mathematics, and theoretical modeling. He is the Scientific Director of the Laboratory of Electrical Engineering and Nondestructive Testing (NDT). His academic and research activity focuses on theoretical and applied electrotechnics, with particular emphasis on advanced numerical modeling, tensor calculus, and algebraic techniques based on Lie group and Lie algebra approaches for the analysis of complex physical systems. His work addresses wave propagation phenomena, signal and image processing, and ultrasonic nondestructive evaluation systems, with applications to inverse problems and diagnostic methodologies for industrial and civil engineering structures. Prof. Versaci has authored more than 250 peer-reviewed scientific publications in international journals, conference proceedings, and book chapters. His research output is widely cited in the scientific literature. He serves as editor, guest editor, and reviewer for international journals and conferences and is actively involved in international research collaborations.
Electrotechnics; Electrical Engineering; Numerical Modeling; Tensor Calculus; Lie Groups and Lie Algebra Methods; Applied Mathematics; Wave Propagation; Signal Processing; Image Processing; Ultrasonic Nondestructive Testing (NDT/NDE); Inverse Problems; So
Department of Electrical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Raipur, India
Dr. Anamika Yadav is a Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Raipur and currently serves as Associate Dean (Academics – PG & PhD). She earned her B.E. in Electrical Engineering (2002), M. Tech. in Integrated Power Systems (2006), and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering (2010). With over 17 years of teaching and research experience and 5 years of industrial experience, she has made significant contributions to power systems research and education. She is a Senior Member of IEEE, Vice Chair of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society (since 2026), and served as Vice Chair of the IEEE Power Electronics Society Chapter, MP Section (2022–2025). Dr. Yadav serves as an Editor of IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery (since 2021), Electric Power Systems Research (Elsevier, since 2025), Electrical Engineering (Springer, since 2024), International Transactions on Electrical Energy Systems (Wiley, since 2025), and Forecasting (MDPI, since 2026). She has been recognized among the World’s Top 2% Scientists by Stanford University and Elsevier for four consecutive years (2021–2024). Her research interests include power system protection, load forecasting, artificial intelligence and machine learning applications in power systems, power electronics, HVDC, microgrids, FACTS, smart grids, cable fault detection, and power quality.
Invited Speaker
Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH) – Member of the Leibniz Association, Germany
Dr. Katja Heinisch joined the Department of Macroeconomics in September 2009. Her research focuses on short-term forecasting and macroeconometric modelling. She holds a diploma from Chemnitz University of Technology and the University of Strasbourg, and a PhD from Osnabrück University. Dr. Heinisch has gained valuable international research experience through her work at the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Short-term Forecasting, nowcasting, Forecast Combination, Survey Data, Climate, International Macroeconomics, Macroeconometric Modeling, Applied Time Series Econometrics,
Registration
The registration for IOCFC 2026 will be free of charge! The registration includes attendance to all conference sessions.
If you are registering several people under the same registration, please do not use the same email address for each person, but their individual university email addresses. Thank you for your understanding.
Please note that the submission and registration are two separate parts. Only scholars who registered can receive a link to access the conference live streaming. The deadline for registration is 18 September 2026.
Instructions for Authors
IOCFC2026 will accept abstracts only. The accepted abstracts will be available online on Sciforum.net during and after the conference.
Important Deadline
1. Deadline for abstract submission: 19 June 2026.
2. Abstract acceptance notification: 20 July 2026.
Please note:
An abstract acceptance email only confirms that your abstract has been accepted. Oral or poster presentation invitations are determined separately by the conference chairs, and you will receive an additional email with the presentation result.
f you do not have an account, please register at www.sciforum.net. After logging in, submit your abstract using the “Submit Abstract” button on the conference homepage. No template is required.
Abstract Requirements
1. Types of Submissions
- Accepted: Original research abstracts; systematic reviews or meta-analyses abstracts (must comply with PRISMA 2020).
- Not accepted: Narrative, scoping, comparative, perspective, opinion, or essay-style reviews.
2. Content Requirements
- Length: 200–300 words.
- Structure: Introduction, Methods, Results, Conclusions.
- Language: Clear, publication-ready English.
- Originality: Must be original and unpublished; previously published abstracts will not be considered.
3. Authorship
All listed authors must have made substantial contributions to the work, participated in drafting or critically revising the abstract, and approved the final version. The submitting (presenting) author is responsible for ensuring that all co-authors have reviewed and approved the submission, including its content and authorship order.
Requests for changes to authorship (including the addition, removal, or reordering of authors) after submission must be submitted using a signed Authorship Change Form, with written consent from all affected authors. Such requests are subject to review and approval by the Conference Organizing Team. All authors share collective responsibility for the accuracy, integrity, and ethical compliance of the submitted work.
Authors may submit multiple abstracts, but only one abstract per author may be selected for an oral presentation.
1. Each abstract must designate one presenter. To change the presenter, please contact us after you receive the oral/poster presentation invitation.
2. Only live presentations are accepted.
3. Presenters who do not attend the live session will not be eligible for awards or presentation certificates.
The slot for the oral presentation is 15 mins. We advise that your presentation lasts for a maximum of 12 mins, leaving at least 3 mins for the Q&A session.
Authors are encouraged to prepare presentations using PowerPoint or equivalent software for online display alongside their abstract. If provided, slides will be presented directly on the conference website via the Sciforum.net slide viewer and should be prepared in the same format as a traditional conference presentation of research results. All slides must be converted to PDF format prior to submission to ensure accurate online display.
Each presentation should:
- Communicate the research question or objective, methodology, key results, and scientific novelty;
- Use a clear and logical structure, typically Introduction-Methods-Results&Discussion structure (IMRaD) or a field-appropriate alternative;
- Emphasize the relevance of the work;
- Support key findings with clear figures or tables where appropriate;
- Conclude with a critical interpretation of the results and their impact.
Posters should be designed to allow independent understanding of the research and clearly present the essential elements of the study.
Each poster should include:
- Title, authors, affiliations, and contact details (clearly displayed at the top);
- Brief introduction outlining the research objective;
- Concise methodology summary;
- Main results, supported by clear, well-labeled figures or tables where appropriate;
- Short conclusion summarizing key findings and their relevance.
Technical specifications:
Dimensions (cm): 84.1 × 118.9 (A0 - portrait)
Resolution:300 dpi
Pixel size (portrait, 300 dpi):9933 × 14043 px
Minimum font size:≥24
The poster template can be downloaded HERE. We will reach out to you closer to the dates of the conference with more information.
Note: The uploaded poster may be used as provided and serves as a reference. However, as long as the technical specifications are followed, scholars are welcome to use any poster template of their choice.
Withdrawal Policy
Any request concerning abstract or proceedings paper withdrawal should be communicated to the Conference Organizing Team as early as possible, preferably prior to final acceptance and confirmation of the conference program. Please note that once abstracts are published in the Conference Report or once Proceedings papers are published in the Proceedings journal and assigned a DOI, they become part of the permanent scholarly record and cannot be fully removed.
AI policy
The responsible use of generative AI tools in the preparation of abstracts, posters, and presentations is permitted; however, any such use must be clearly disclosed, specifying the tool employed and its role. Authors retain full responsibility for the accuracy and integrity of their work.
Authors must disclose any financial, professional, or personal relationships that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the integrity, interpretation, or presentation of their work. Failure to provide accurate disclosures may result in the removal of the abstract from the conference program and associated publications.
If there is no conflict, please state "The authors declare no conflicts of interest." This should be conveyed in a separate "Conflict of Interest" statement preceding the "Acknowledgments" and "References" sections at the end of the manuscript. Any financial support for the study must be fully disclosed in the "Acknowledgments" section.
1. Copyright Ownership
In accordance with Swiss copyright law, you, as the author, are the original creator of your work and retain full copyright ownership of your submitted abstract.
2. License Grant
By submitting your abstract for publication on the Sciforum.net platform, you grant MDPI, the platform’s publisher, a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license to:
- Publish, reproduce, and distribute the abstract online.
- Make the abstract publicly available in connection with the conference.
3. Author’s Retained Rights
This license is non-exclusive. As you retain full copyright, you are free to:
- Reuse, republish, and build upon your work in any way.
- Develop the abstract into a full paper for submission to other journals or publications.
- Enter into subsequent agreements, including granting an exclusive license or transferring copyright to another publisher for a future version of the work.
4. Author’s Responsibility
You remain solely responsible for complying with the policies of any other journal or publisher to which you may submit a subsequent version of your work, particularly concerning prior publication rules. MDPI and Sciforum.net bear no responsibility for any conflicts arising from your future submissions.Publication Opportunities
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Forecasting Journal PublicationParticipants in this conference are cordially invited to contribute a full manuscript to the conference's Special Issue, published in Forecasting (ISSN 2571-9394, IF 3.2, Citescore 7.1), with a 20% discount on the publication fee. All submitted papers will undergo MDPI’s standard peer-review procedure. The abstracts should be cited and noted on the first page of the paper.
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Proceeding Paper Publication
All accepted abstracts will be published in the conference report of the 1st International Online Conference on Forecasting in Computer Sciences & Mathematics Forum (ISSN 2813-0324); authors of accepted abstracts are highly encouraged to submit an extended proceeding paper (ideally 4-8 pages in length) for free, please submit it to the same journal after the conference.
Proceedings submission deadline: 6 November 2026.
Please click HERE to submit your proceeding paper to in Computer Sciences & Mathematics Forum, and be sure to disclose the conference information in your cover letter or mention the conference name in your submission.
Publication Notice: Conference report and proceeding papers will undergo peer-review procedure. Acceptance at the conference does not ensure final publication.
Event Awards
The Awards
Number of Awards Available: 3
Eligibility: Open to all authors selected as oral speakers who have delivered their presentation. Failure to present, delegation of the presentation to another person, or use of AI-generated voice or similar substitutes will result in disqualification.
Criteria: Evaluation considers scientific rigor (clear, literature-supported research question or hypothesis, appropriate methodology, robust analysis and critical discussion of the results), IMRaD/field-appropriate structure, clarity of presented data (clear, well-labeled figures and tables), presentation skills and audience engagement, demonstrated scientific novelty and impact.
Prize: An award of CHF 200 and a certificate in recognition of your outstanding contribution.
Number of Awards Available: 1
Eligibility: Open to all authors who have presented their work through posters. Failure to present, delegation of the presentation to another person, or use of AI-generated voice or similar substitutes will result in disqualification.
Criteria: Evaluation considers scientific rigor (clear, literature-supported research question or hypothesis, appropriate methodology, robust analysis, and critical discussion of the results), IMRaD/field-appropriate structure enabling independent understanding, clarity of presented data (clear, well-labeled figures and tables), presentation skills (if orally presented), demonstrated scientific novelty and impact.
Prize: An award of CHF 200 and a certificate in recognition of your outstanding contribution.
Number of Awards Available: 1
The Best Forecasting Distinguished Research Award recognizes the submission that demonstrates the most outstanding and distinguished research in the field.
The awardee will receive:
• 25-minute presentation slot at the conference, including a 5-minute introduction by the nominator and a 20-minute presentation by the awardee
• Certificate and monetary prize of 500 CHF
• A full publication fee waiver for the journal Forecasting
The nominator of the winning abstract will receive: A certificate of recognition for their contribution.
Sponsors and Partners
For information regarding sponsorship and exhibition opportunities, please click here.
Organizers
Media Partners
Conference Secretariat
Ms. Siru A
Ms. Carol Yan
Email: iocfc2026@mdpi.com
For inquiries regarding submissions and sponsorship opportunities, please feel free to contact us.
