The Pattern Recognition Lab at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) contributed to one of the papers recognized among the Top 10 submissions of the LexisNexis Best Paper Award at IRIS 2026, one of the leading conferences in the field of legal informatics. The award highlights outstanding scientific contributions presented at the International Legal Informatics Symposium (IRIS), which brings together researchers working at the intersection of law, information technology, and digital society.
The paper “Herausforderungen bei der Automatisierung im Registerwesen mit symbolischer KI und maschinellem Lernen” (“Challenges in the Automation of Registry Systems with Symbolic AI and Machine Learning”) was authored by Osman Anil Basaran, Axel Adrian, Michael Gritz, Verena Stürmer, Michael Kohlhase, Max Rapp, Lutz Schröder, Merlin Humml, Stephanie Evert, Steffen Bothe, Andreas Maier, and Stephan Prettner. The contribution addresses the technical and conceptual challenges involved in automating administrative registry processes by combining symbolic artificial intelligence approaches with modern machine learning methods. The work explores how hybrid AI systems can support reliable automation in legally sensitive domains such as public registries, where transparency, traceability, and legal compliance are essential.
The recognition places the paper among the ten most outstanding contributions submitted to IRIS 2026. The LexisNexis Best Paper Award aims to promote high-quality research in legal informatics and evaluates submissions according to scientific relevance, originality, methodological rigor, practical applicability, and clarity of presentation. From all submissions, a jury appointed by the conference program committee selects the top papers, with the Top 10 receiving special recognition and monetary awards.
The award ceremony took place during IRIS 2026 on 19 February 2026 in Vienna. During the event, the Top 10 papers were presented in short talks before the final winners of the Best Paper Award were announced.
The recognition highlights the growing importance of interdisciplinary research that combines artificial intelligence, data-driven methods, and legal frameworks. For the Pattern Recognition Lab, the award underlines the relevance of its research on trustworthy and interpretable AI systems in complex real-world environments, including applications where technological innovation must align with legal and institutional requirements.
The Pattern Recognition Lab congratulates all co-authors and collaborators on this achievement and looks forward to continuing research on AI methods that support transparent and reliable digital infrastructures.