Our understanding of the Universe is at a turning point with the predictions of the standard cosmological model and the observations from different surveys are showing tensions in several key areas. The disagreement is expressed in the value of cosmic expansion as well as in the growth of large-scale structure in the Universe. New cosmological surveys, many of which are European, may expose tension in additional areas of the concordance model. The question of cosmological tensions can be confronted in a number of ways. Firstly, survey data needs to be further analyzed for potential systematic uncertainties or biases. Secondly, there have been numerous advances in approaches to data analysis and statistics, some of which provide less dependence on cosmological models to make cosmological parameter estimates. Lastly, there are a plethora of new proposals from fundamental physics which range from novel neutrino physics to dark energy proposals (and others) which may contribute to a solution to the cosmological tensions problem. These represent the three research themes through which cosmological tensions will either be alleviated or resolved.
CosmoVerse@Bilbao 2026 (15 September – 17 September 2026 – 18 September Management Committee Meeting) is the fourth annual conference in a series of conferences that aim to establish a link between the different research areas in cosmology with the main focus on challenges of tensions in cosmological survey data.
This conference is organized within the COST Action initiative CA21136 – Addressing observational tensions in cosmology with systematics and fundamental physics (CosmoVerse).
The first conference called CosmoVerse@Lisbon 2023 took place between 30 May and 1st June 2023. All of the recorded talks and presentations are public and available here. The second conference called CosmoVerse@Krakow 2024 took place between 9 and 11 July 2024. All of the recorded talks and presentations are available here. The third conference called CosmoVerse@Istanbul 2025 took place between 24 and 26 June 2025. All of the recorded talks and presentations are available here.
The conference is organized together with IFIC (Institut de Physica Corpuscular), EHU QC at Universidad del Pais Vasco, and Basque foundation for Science.
Find the indico website with registration, abstract submission, and timetable here.
Main topics
● Observational cosmology and Systematics (cross-correlation of data, systematic effects)
● Data analysis (astrostatistics; data science in astronomy; Bayesian analysis; machine learning and artificial intelligence)
● Fundamental Physics (challenge of the cosmological hypothesis, dark energy and modified gravity, neutrino physics, dark energy, and dark matter interaction)
Invited Talks
- Tessa Baker (Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation, University of Portsmouth, UK)
- Stefano Casertano (Space Telescope Science Institute, USA)
- Jens Chluba (Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics, University of Manchester, UK)
- Willem Elbers (Institute for Computational Cosmology, Durham University, UK)
- Martina Gerbino (University of Ferrara, Italy)
- Valeria Pettorino (European Space Agency/ESTEC, The Netherlands)
- Jesús Torrado (Institute for the Structure of Matter (IEM-CSIC), Spain)
Venue
The conference will take place at the Bilbao Aretoa. The talk will be at the Mitxelena auditorium and the posters will be exhibited at the Chillida and Axular rooms.
Location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/FSoLfUhQ2TRAf9yEA
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Local organizing committee
Mariam Bouhmadi López (Ikerbasque and EHU, Bilbao)
Ruth Lazkoz Sáez (EHU, Bilbao)
Asier Alonso Bardaji (EHU, Bilbao)
Tom Broadhurst (Ikerbasque and EHU, Bilbao)
Iván Esteban Muñoz (EHU, Bilbao)
Sara Fernández Uria (EHU, Bilbao)
Joanes Lizárraga Olano (EHU, Bilbao)
Asier López Eiguren (EHU, Bilbao)
Gonzalo Olmo (UV, Valencia)
Kepa Sousa Sánchez (EHU, Bilbao)
Jon Urrestilla Urizabal (EHU, Bilbao)
Ismael Ayuso Marazuela (EHU, Bilbao)
David Figueruelo Hernan (EHU, Bilbao and University of Oslo)
Mikel Artola Pérez (EHU, Bilbao)
Julen Estonba Loinaz (EHU, Bilbao)
Carlos García Boiza (EHU, Bilbao)
Beñat Ibarra Uriondo (EHU, Bilbao)
Carmelo López Mediavilla (EHU, Bilbao)
Paloma Morilla Martínez (EHU, Bilbao)
Javier Ortega del Río (EHU, Bilbao)
Johanna Stammer Goldaracena (EHU, Bilbao)
Scientific organizing committee
Jackson Levi Said (University of Malta, MT)
Eleonora Di Valentino (Sheffield University, UK)
Noemi Frusciante (UNINA, IT)
Agnieszka Pollo (National Center for Nuclear Research & Astronomical Observatory of the Jagiellonian University, PL)
Marika Asgari (Newcastle University, UK)