The 66th International Conference of Scandinavian Simulation Society (SIMS 2025) was held in Stavanger, Norway, September 22 – 24, 2025.  The conference was organized by the University of Stavanger (UiS)// in collaboration with the Norwegian Association of Electric and Automatic Control (NFEA)//. SIMS 2025 was co-sponsored by IFAC, with support from IFAC TC 3.2 in addition to TC 6.1, TC 6.2, TC 6.3, TC 6.4, TC 7.1, and TC 9.4.

The SIMS 2025 conference covered recent research and industrial development work in modelling, simulation, control and optimization. The IPC accepted 32 scientific papers and 2 discussion papers for presentation at the conference with themes covering: Carbon capture and storage; Model-based control and estimation; Process simulation and optimization; Autonomous Vehicles; Advanced modelling and system identification; Modelling of social and biological systems; Energy systems and batteries; and Simulation-based decision-making.

This year’s edition of the SIMS conference was the second in a row with IFAC co-sponsorship and the first with full integration with IFAC proceedings with publication in IFAC-PapersOnLine. The conference gathered participants from nine different countries, and the NOC and IPC were delighted that as much as 35% of the accepted papers were from authors outside of the Nordic countries.

The programme included three keynote lectures. Prof. K. Engan, head of the Biomedical Data Analysis Lab at UiS, discussed how artificial intelligence is transforming healthcare simulation and patient modelling. Dr. M. Kjeldsen from Flow Design Bureau presented the use of digital twins in system models of hydropower, showing how advanced models can optimize plant operation and support grid stability. Prof. K. E. Giljarhus, co-founder of the company NablaFlow, held a lecture exploring the role of simulation, optimization, and use of generative AI in analysis and simulation of aerodynamics in sports with high speeds, such as downhill skiing, cycling and speed skating.
SIMS 2025 included a panel discussion with the topic “Navigating your career in academia – combining academic work and family life”, continuing the SIMS tradition of relevance for early career scientists. The panellists consisted of Dr. N. Zhang a young researcher and mother of two, E. Haus a PhD student and father of three, and Dr. T. Ryen head of department at the department for electrical engineering and computer science at UiS. The discussion was moderated by SIMS president Prof. T. Komulainen.

A tradition at SIMS conferences is the SIMS Best Young Author Award. This award is given to recognize young research talents and can be awarded to authors who are PhD or Master students. Five finalists were selected before the start of the conference based on scores and comments received from reviewers and associate editors. All the finalists gave very good and engaging presentations, but there were two presentations that clearly stood out. In the end the committee could not distinguish and decided to hand out the SIMS Best Young Author Award to two authors/presenters. The two winners were: Nawa Punabantu from Stellenbosch University and Lucas Cammann from NTNU.

Best Young Author Award finalists at SIMS 2025 together with SIMS president T. Komulainen (left) and NOC Chair K. Thorsen (right). The winners of the award were Nawa Punabantu and Lucas Cammann (3rd and 4th from the left).

In collaboration with IFAC TC 9.4 Control Education, SIMS 2025 also featured a workshop session exploring how learning analytics and micro-labs can improve student learning and engagement in courses on control and simulation education. The workshop was facilitated by TC 9.4 vice chair Prof. D. Varagnolo from NTNU in Trondheim.

Kristian Thorsen and Damiano Rotondo, NOC Chairs