Supporting global conversations on human-centered AI

Prof. Sven Mayer from TU Dortmund University and RC Trust has been appointed Technical Program Chair (TPC) of CHI 2027, the world’s leading conference in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). Together with Prof. Rosta Farzan from the University of Pittsburgh, he will oversee the scientific program of the conference.

CHI is the flagship conference of ACM SIGCHI, the Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). Each year, it brings together thousands of researchers, practitioners, designers, and industry leaders from around the world to discuss how emerging technologies shape people’s everyday lives, work, communication, and society.

As Technical Program Chairs, Sven Mayer and Rosta Farzan will jointly lead and coordinate the scientific program of CHI 2027, including overseeing the peer review and selection process for research papers and other contributions. They will work closely with the CHI 2027 leadership team, including General Chairs Amy Ogan and Anind Dey, to shape the conference program and overall direction of CHI 2027. The role is considered the central scientific leadership position within the CHI community and helps shape how emerging research directions are discussed and evaluated.

For Sven Mayer, the conference location also carries a personal connection. “I am excited to bring the HCI community back to Pittsburgh, where CHI was last hosted in 1999,” he says. “Pittsburgh played an important role in my own academic journey during my postdoctoral time at Carnegie Mellon University’s Human-Computer Interaction Institute, where I worked in Chris Harrison’s Future Interfaces Group (FigLab). Returning to the city in this role feels very special. I am especially excited for a new generation of HCI researchers to experience the city, its academic environment, and its unique mix of technology, design, and culture that makes Pittsburgh such a special place for our community.”

The TPC appointment builds on Sven Mayer’s long-standing involvement within the CHI community. Since 2015, he has contributed to the conference as a student volunteer, reviewer, member of the program committee, and member of the Organizing Committee. Since 2019, he has served in multiple roles within the CHI Organizing Committee, including Publications Co-Chair, Workshop Co-Chair, and Analytics Co-Chair. He also served on the ACM CHI Steering Committee as a voting member from 2023 until his TPC appointment started. Alongside these service contributions, Sven Mayer has authored more than 30 full papers at CHI, underscoring his deep connection to the conference. The appointment also reflects the growing international visibility of the Human-AI Interaction group at RC Trust and TU Dortmund University.

CHI 2027 will take place from May 10-14, 2027, in Pittsburgh, USA, under the theme Bridges. Inspired by Pittsburgh’s iconic yellow bridges and CHI’s role in connecting people and technology, the conference theme highlights the importance of building connections across disciplines, research and practice, technical innovation and human values, and the communities shaping future technologies. The theme reflects many of the interdisciplinary and human-centered questions currently explored within Human-AI Interaction research at RC Trust.

CHI 2027 will be hosted at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in downtown Pittsburgh. Preparations for the conference are already underway, with the full paper submission deadline scheduled for September 10, 2026.