The 2027 Digital Forensics Research Conference Europe (DFRWS EU 2027) will be held Tuesday, 30th March through Friday, 2nd April (2027) in Edinburgh, Scotland. The event is organized in cooperation with Edinburgh Napier University.

Conference Location:

Edinburgh is the Capital City of Scotland, tracing its origins back to a settlement surrounding Edinburgh Castle in the 7th century. Its UNESCO-listed Old and New Towns reflect centuries of political, literary, and architectural significance, and is the home to notable figures such as David Hume, Adam Smith, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and John Napier. Edinburgh's world-famous festivals continue to shape global arts and culture. At the same time, Edinburgh has established itself as a leading centre for education and technology, hosting four universities. This blend of Enlightenment heritage and cutting-edge research has helped the city emerge as a key European hub for tech startups, data science, and fintech, making it both historically rich and forward-looking.

Edinburgh Napier University started out as a technical college in 1964, later being inaugurated as a university in 1992, and is currently recognised as the #1 modern university in Scotland. Its namesake, John Napier, was a Scottish mathematician and philosopher, best known for inventing logarithms. The university has three campuses, with the conference being held at the Craiglockhart campus, though the Merchiston campus is host to the School of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment, and also hosts John Napier's historical home.

March 30, 2027 to April 2, 2027

Participation

DFRWS EU invites contributions in the categories listed below and follow the submission guidelines:

FULL RESEARCH PAPERS that align with the topics of interest undergo double-blinded peer review, and publish in the proceedings (10 pages, blinded). Articles can be published as a special issue of the Journal of Forensic Science International: Digital Investigation (by Elsevier). Papers must be presented in-person at the conference.

PRESENTATIONS / DEMOS require a brief proposal (~500 words; not a paper) and undergo a light review process. Accepted proposals will be given a presentation slot (~15min) during the conference.

POSTERS allow for the presentation of current research efforts and the discussion of preliminary results with the digital forensics community during the conference. The posters are not included in the conference proceedings and will not be subject to a formal peer-review process.

The poster layout is up to the authors to decide but they must be:

  • Size A1 portrait (594 x 841 mm)
  • Readable both printed and on-screen (i.e., high-resolution, minimum 300dpi)
  • Of interest to the digital forensic community
  • Not be a sales pitch or advertisement

Further information:

  • Posters should be submitted in pdf format via EasyChair (link to come) to go through an audit/approval process.
  • Once approved, minor changes to the poster contents are accepted without a new audit, such as improving the quality of illustrations, correcting spelling or other errors, etc.
  • One of the authors must register and attend the conference to stand by their poster and present it at the relevant poster session (details to follow).

WORKSHOPS can be 2 to 4 hours (please indicate) and ideally include hands-on participation by attendees, allowing for an in-depth, detailed exploration of tools and techniques of interest to DFRWS attendees. Workshops that result from research earlier presented at DFRWS or those involving specialised hardware are especially welcome. DFRWS will provide one free conference registration for each workshop accepted. However, please remember that if you are an author on an accepted paper then the requirement for one full registration per accepted paper takes precedence.

BIRDS OF A FEATHER are informal gatherings and discussions of a specific topic without a pre-planned agenda. You may propose a topic that you feel is of interest to the community.

Submission Information

All contributions must be submitted through the EasyChair site (link to follow). Submissions must be in PDF format and follow the submission criteria and guidelines stated to be within the scope of the conference. Organisers may reject work that does not follow the listed criteria.

Contact Information

For questions related to paper, presentation, workshop/tutorial proposals,

demo submissions and organisation, please send an email to: eu-papers <a> dfrws <dot>

For questions related to registrations, please email: eu-registration <at> dfrws <dot> org

For any other questions related to the organisation of DFRWS EU, please email: eu <at> dfrws <dot> org

Topics of Interest

DFRWS is open to fresh insights that challenge the current boundaries of digital forensics. The submissions can cover a broad range of topics related to digital forensics, including, but not limited to:

  • Anti-forensics and anti-anti-forensics
  • AI-assisted digital forensics
  • Case studies and trend reports
  • Cloud and virtualized environment forensics
  • Covert channels (e.g., TOR, VPN)
  • Cryptocurrency investigation
  • Development of digital forensic infrastructures
  • Digital evidence sharing and exchange
  • Digital evidence and the law
  • Digital forensic preparedness / readiness
  • Digital investigation case management
  • Digital forensic analysis of AI models
  • Digital forensic tool validation
  • Digital forensic triage / survey
  • Event reconstruction methods and tools
  • Forensics analysis and visualization of Big Data
  • Forensic analysis of anonymous networks
  • Forensic analysis of databases
  • Implanted medical devices
  • Incident response on malware and targeted attacks
  • Machine learning and data mining for digital evidence extraction/query
  • Memory acquisition and analysis
  • Methodology for digital forensic processes
  • Mobile and embedded device forensics
  • Multimedia (image, audio, video) data analysis
  • Network and distributed system forensics
  • Non-traditional forensic scenarios / contexts
  • SCADA / industrial control systems
  • Smart power grid forensics
  • Steganography and steganalysis
  • Smart building forensics
  • Vehicle forensics (e.g., drones, cars)
  • Visualization methods and tools for forensic analysis

Additionally, DFRWS is open to  insights in multimedia forensics on interpretable evidence for attribution of media content to its origin, on investigative support for digital forensics, and/or on police investigative support. The submissions can cover a broad range of topics related to multimedia forensics, including, but not limited to:

  • Image/video/audio forensics and explainability
  • Biometrics and attribution (humans/machine)
  • Explainable machine learning in court
  • Use of interpretable AI in digital investigations

Multimedia Forensics Mini-Track papers should be submitted to the appropriate track via the easychair link above, and should follow the same general submission guidance.

Click Here For Proposal Requirements