RISE-SD 2026 program

RISE-SD 2026 program is published

The program for the Research and Innovation Symposium for European Security and Defense (RISE-SD) 2026 is ready and has already been published on the website. You can view and/or download it here.

Flotilla admiral, Professor Kalin Kalinov, PhD

Flotilla admiral, Professor Kalin Kalinov, PhD

It has already been confirmed that Flotilla admiral, Professor Kalin Kalinov, PhD, Rector of Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy Varna, will be among the Keynote speakers at the Research and Innovation Symposium for European SECURITY and Defense (RISE-SD) 2026.

Mr. Yordan Bozhilov

Mr. Yordan Bozhilov

Mr. Yordan Bozhilov, Deputy Minister of Defense, joined the Research and Innovation Symposium for European Security and Defense (RISE-SD) 2026 as a keynote speaker.

Dr. Borislav Bankov

Dr. Borislav Bankov

Dr. Borislav Bankov, Deputy Minister of Innovation and Growth, also joined the keynote speakers team at the Research and Innovation Symposium for European Security and Defense (RISE-SD) 2026.

Mr. Yavor Papazov

Mr. Yavor Papazov

Mr. Yavor Papazov, Advisor to the Minister of Electronic Governance, will be our fourth Keynote Speaker at the Research and Innovation Symposium for European Security and Defense (RISE-SD) 2026.

Prof. Dr. Nikolai Stoianov

Prof. Dr. Nikolai Stoianov

Prof. Dr. Nikolai Stoianov (Bulgarian Defence Institute) will present the ACTING (Advanced European Platform and Network of Cybersecurity Training and Exercises Centres) project at the Research and Innovation Symposium for European SECURITY and Defense (RISE-SD) 2026.

WEMOR Project

WEMOR Project

The WEMOR Project (Wearable device for monitoring warfighter health and sustainability) is part of the Research and Innovation Symposium for European SECURITY and Defense (RISE-SD) 2026.

SEQURED Project

SEQURED Project

The SEQURED Project (Strengthening Defense Networks for the Quantum Era) is part of the Research and Innovation Symposium for European SECURITY and Defense (RISE-SD) 2026.

TESTUDO Project

TESTUDO Project

The TESTUDO Project (Autonomous swarm of heterogeneous resources in infrastructure protection via threat prediction and prevention) is part of the Research and Innovation Symposium for European SECURITY and Defense (RISE-SD) 2026.

HiTDOC Project

HiTDOC Project

The HiTDOC Project (Hidden Threat Detection-Organisation) is part of the Research and Innovation Symposium for European SECURITY and Defense (RISE-SD) 2026.

ORQESTRA Project

ORQESTRA Project

The ORQESTRA Project (Orchestrating the Operational Deployment of Quantum Resistant Services for Next-Generation Secure Defence Systems and Communications) is part of the Research and Innovation Symposium for European SECURITY and Defense (RISE-SD) 2026.

TRITON Project

TRITON Project

TRITON project (Generative Automation of Security Penetration Tests) joined the Research and Innovation Symposium for European Security and Defense (RISE-SD) 2026.

Assoc. Prof. Gergana Vacheva, PhD

Assoc. Prof. Gergana Vacheva, PhD

Assoc. Prof. Gergana Vacheva, PhD (Department of Power electronics, Faculty of Electronic Engineering and Technologies, Technical University of Sofia) will present the TRITON project at the Research and Innovation Symposium for European Security and Defense (RISE-SD) 2026.

NEMO Project

NEMO Project

NEMO project (LaNguagE Modules DevelOpment) joined the Research and Innovation Symposium for European Security and Defense (RISE-SD) 2026.

Mr. Kees Janssen

Mr. Kees Janssen

Mr. Kees Janssen, CEO of "Transfortec", will present the NEMO project at the Research and Innovation Symposium for European Security and Defense (RISE-SD) 2026.

CROSSMARE Project

CROSSMARE Project

CROSSMARE project (Advanced Cross-Border and Multi Domain Interoperability Framework for Improved Collaborative Operational Efficiency for Secure Maritime Borders) joined the Research and Innovation Symposium for European SECURITY and Defense (RISE-SD) 2026.

CASSATA Project

CASSATA Project

CASSATA project (Covert and Advanced multi-modal Sensor Systems for tArget acquisiTion and reconnAissance) joined the Research and Innovation Symposium for European SECURITY and Defense (RISE-SD) 2026.

Dr. Spyros Athanasiadis

Dr. Spyros Athanasiadis

Dr. Spyros Athanasiadis is a Senior Researcher and Scientific Project Manager, member of the Crisis Management and Secure Societies (CMSS) division of ISENSE, the research institute of the Institute of Communication and Computer Systems (ICCS). He will present CROSSMARE (Advanced Cross-Border and Multi Domain Interoperability Framework for Improved Collaborative Operational Efficiency for Secure Maritime Borders) Project.

FALCON Project

FALCON Project

FALCON Project (Fight Against Large-scale Corruption and Organised Crime Networks) also confirmed its participation in Research and Innovation Symposium for European SECURITY and Defense (RISE-SD) 2026.

NOTIONES Project

NOTIONES Project

NOTIONES project (iNteracting netwOrk of inTelligence and securIty practitiOners with iNdustry and acadEmia actorS) joined the Research and Innovation Symposium for European SECURITY and Defense (RISE-SD) 2026.

Mrs. Liza Panagiotopoulou, MSc

Mrs. Liza Panagiotopoulou, MSc

During the presentation, Mrs. Liza Panagiotopoulou will present the goals and achievements of the THEIA project (Enhancing Copernicus Security Services - EU governmental crisis management hub for forced population displacement).

IDENTARIA Project

IDENTARIA Project

IDENTARIA Project is now part of the Research and Innovation Symposium for European Security and Defense (RISE-SD) 2026. IDENTARIA is a concept development and experimentation project which seeks to enhance the peace-building potential of European nationalism.

PRESERVE Project

PRESERVE Project

PRESERVE Project (Protecting euRopean public spaces against Emergent hoStile drone thrEats thRough an adVanced multidimensional shield and cross-border intelligEnce) joined RISE-SD (Research and Innovation Symposium for European Security and Defense) 2026.

Dr. Nikolay Pavlov

Dr. Nikolay Pavlov

Dr. Nikolay Pavlov (Project Manager) will present IDENTARIA - a concept development and experimentation project which seeks to enhance the peace-building potential of European nationalism.

THEIA Project

THEIA Project

THEIA project (Climate Change, Marine Environment Monitoring, Land Monitoring, Atmosphere Monitoring, Emergency Management, and Security) joined the Research and Innovation Symposium for European SECURITY and Defense (RISE-SD) 2026.

FaRADAI Project

FaRADAI Project

FaRADAI Project (Frugal And Robust AI for Defence Advanced Intelligence) also confirmed its participation in Research and Innovation Symposium for European SECURITY and Defense (RISE-SD) 2026.

Mrs. Natalia Giogiou,  MSc

Mrs. Natalia Giogiou, MSc

Mrs. Natalia Giogiou is a Research Associate in the Centre for Research and Technology Hellas. She will present the FaRADAI project.

ACTING Project

ACTING Project

The cyber-focused ACTING Project (Advanced European Platform and Network of Cybersecurity Training and Exercises Centres) is now part of the RISE-SD (Research and Innovation Symposium for European SECURITY and Defense) 2026.

Mrs. Ines Burgstaller

Mrs. Ines Burgstaller

Mrs. Ines Burgstaller is a Scientist in AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH. The topic of her speech is "Flexible system extending automated border surveillance by increased situational awareness adaptable to uncertain times with unforeseen events".

BorderForce Project

BorderForce Project

The EC-funded BorderForce Project (Flexible system extending automated border surveillance by increased situational awareness adaptable to uncertain times with unforseen events) has joined Research and Innovation Symposium for European SECURITY and Defense (RISE-SD) 2026.

What's the purpose?

What's the purpose?

The goal of the Symposium is to provide a unique forum for disseminating scientific results, support knowledge exchange, and create networking and clustering opportunities for security stakeholders of EU-funded projects in security and defense.

Live demonstrations will take place on the last day of RISE-SD 2026, presenting technological solutions developed in the context of the co-organizing EU RDI projects. The participants will have the opportunity to interact with systems developers and researchers and learn more about innovative solutions developed by European researchers with the support of the European Commission.

Besides, the Symposium will boost cooperation among scientific organizations, SMEs and the European security Industry, security and defense practitioners, policymakers, and other stakeholders. The objective is to ensure a successful market uptake of all the positive outcomes of European research in security matters.

Why attend?

Why attend?

Attending the Symposium, the participants will:

  • get acquainted with the new strategies of the European R&I Governance organizations in security and defense,
  • be able to present innovative achievements of their work,
  • be invited to brainstorming and brokerage sessions, and
  • have the chance to build opportunities for international cooperation.
What are the options for participation?

What are the options for participation?

  • European R&D projects and Innovation developers on Security and Defense topics may participate as exhibitors and demonstrate lively their results.
  • Research projects, researchers, and innovators can participate as presenters the results of their research work in 5 specialized Conference sessions.
  • Policymakers, solution providers, research and academia representatives may attend the conference sessions, focused panels and discussions on diverse security matters.
  • Practitioners, Policy makers, Researchers, Industry, and Academia will have the opportunity to participate in workshops and brokerage events and work on building future consortia and groups around common research ideas and innovative approaches in the field of security and defense.