BEADS
Berlin Ecosystem for Analytics and Data Systems
A community connecting data management research and practice
Berlin has established itself as one of Europe's leading centers for data management research and engineering. BIFOLD and its partners at TU Berlin, HU Berlin, and HPI Potsdam bring together research expertise of the highest caliber - spanning data stream processing, distributed systems, data science, ML systems, data integration, and responsible AI.
At the same time, Berlin has become home to a vibrant industrial ecosystem. Leading companies in data engineering and analytics have established significant engineering presence in the city, many of them founded or led by alumni of Berlin's research groups.
The rapid rise of AI is creating a new generation of data management challenges: LLM-integrated data pipelines, agent-driven data processing, and real-time inference at scale. Meeting these challenges requires close collaboration between those who research the foundations and those who build and operate production systems.
Volker Markl, BIFOLD Director:
BEADS fosters collaboration — regularly, accessibly, and sustainably!
The Berlin Ecosystem for Analytics and Data Systems (BEADS) connects researchers and practitioners in data management across the Berlin metropolitan area. Its goals are to generate new research ideas, accelerate technology transfer, and further strengthen Berlin's position as a leading European hub for data systems.
The community is anchored at BIFOLD and open to everyone active in data management in the Berlin area - from academia, industry, and start-ups.
Membership is free.
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NEWS
SIGMOD/PODS 2026 Conference Contributions
At the 2026 ACM SIGMOD/PODS Conference, held in Bengaluru, India, from May 31 to June 5, 2026, BIFOLD researchers will present two papers and receive two prestigious individual awards.
ICDE 2026 Conference Contributions
BIFOLD researchers will be present at ICDE 2026 in Montréal, Canada (May 4–8), contributing keynotes, research papers, a tutorial, and program committee work at one of the world's leading conferences in data engineering.
EVENTS
BEADS Kick-off
Join us for the BEADS kick-off event on September 24th, 2026. The Berlin Ecosystem for Analytics and Data Systems (BEADS) aims to connect researchers and practitioners in data management across the Berlin metropolitan area. In this initial meeting, the founding partners BIFOLD, Snowflake, and Databricks will introduce themselves and present their vision for the BEADS initiative.
BEADS Summit
Join us for the BEADS summit on October 21st, 2026. Ten leading scientists from academia (Aalborg, CWI, Purdue, TU München) and industry (Databricks, DuckDB, Oracle, Relational AI, Snowflake) will offer talks on current developments in data systems.
BEADS - Formats
BEADS brings its community together through four complementary formats:
- Research Briefings
Eight times a year, BEADS hosts a 90-minute Research Briefing. A researcher from one of BIFOLD's groups presents current work; a practitioner from industry responds with a perspective from practice. Drinks and finger food follow for informal networking. Briefings rotate across BIFOLD's research groups and are hosted alternately at BIFOLD and at partner company sites.
- Open Problems Workshops
Four times a year, BEADS brings together 20 to 35 invited participants for a half-day workshop focused on concrete, open problems from research and practice. Problems are submitted in advance, prioritized together, and discussed in structured table sessions. The workshop alternates between BIFOLD and partner company locations.
- Conference Pre-Workshops
Twice a year — before ICDE and before VLDB — Berlin research groups present their current conference contributions in a public workshop. Posters, demos, and short talks give students, researchers, and practitioners a compact overview of the current state of Berlin data management research.
- Berlin Data Systems Day
Once a year, at the end of the semester in February or July, BEADS hosts a full-day Berlin Data Systems Day. The program includes a moderated panel discussion with external practitioners, talks by selected PhD students, a demo session showcasing ongoing research projects, and a poster session with early research findings. The event is open to all.
Organizing Committee
Partners
