The ACI International Conference 2026 (ACI 2026) will be hosted at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland’s FHNW School of Business, Brugg-Windisch campus, in cooperation with the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)’s Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction (SIGCHI). This year’s General Chair is Oliver Bendel, who has been a professor at FHNW since 2009. On December 2, 2026, the first day of the conference, the half-day afternoon workshop „Animal Centered Research (ACR) Framework: Integrating Animal-Centered Principles into the Ethical Review of Animal Research“ will take place in room 6.3A06, with hybrid participation available. Organized by Patrizia Paci and Clara Mancini from The Open University in the United Kingdom and Eleonora Nannoni from the University of Bologna in Italy, the workshop will introduce an animal-centered ethical review framework designed to strengthen the consideration of animal welfare and agency in research involving animals. Participants from disciplines such as animal-computer interaction, veterinary medicine, farming, conservation, and animal welfare will be invited to apply the framework to their own completed, ongoing, or planned research projects. Through individual exercises, group discussions, and plenary sessions, they will assess its feasibility, usefulness, and potential integration into existing ethical review processes. The workshop is part of the broader Animal-Centered Research project, which aims to advance ethical standards across research disciplines. Participants will also have the opportunity to express their interest in contributing a case study to an edited volume to be published by CABI. Attendance is included for registered on-site conference participants, while those wishing to join online should contact Patrizia Paci in advance. Further information about the workshop and online participation is available at www.animalcenteredresearch.org/workshop2026.

Fig.: Towards an animal-centered research framework