Invitation and welcome

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite you to participate in the 18th Workshop on Particle Correlations and Femtoscopy, held in Budapest during May 18-22, 2026, an endorsed conference by the European Physical Society. The conference is organized by the femtoscopy researchers of the ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, in collaboration with the femtoscopy group at the HUN-REN Wigner RCP and at the MATE Institute of Technology. It is aimed at summarizing the recent developments in particle correlations and femtoscopy, in particular those obtained after WPCF 2024. Our goal is furthermore to gather the community of nuclear and particle physicists working on this field, to enable fruitful discussions among them, and to encourage interaction between theoretical and experimental researchers, as well as between students or newcomers and seniors. Students are particularly encouraged to attend the conference.

Topics: A not fully comprehensive list of topics to be discussed at WPCF 2026 is given here:

• Femtoscopy and source imaging
• Interaction femtoscopy
• Fluctuations and balance functions
• Multi-particle correlations
• Equation of state and criticality
• Symmetry energy, nuclear transport
• Forward physics and diffraction
• Intermediate energy nuclear reactions
• Stellar intensity interferometry

Location: The workshop will be held in the Conference Room ("Konferenciaterem", -1.65/-1.70, -1st floor) of the Lágymányos Campus of the ELTE Eötvös Loránd University. See more details under Travel.

Talks: Participants are encouraged to present their recent results related to femtoscopy or correlations in contributed talks. Please register on our website, indicating the title and abstract. We furthermore organize a dedicated poster session with posters and 2-3 minute flash talks. Students are encouraged to submit poster presentations to this; they can note this by writing "(poster)" after the end of their suggested talk title. Note that participants are expected to bring their posters along, or print them at one of the print shops in Budapest.

Students (BSc, MSc, PhD included) are particularly encouraged to attend the school (and they may apply for a reduction of the registration fee, based on a recommendation from the supervisor sent to wpcf2026 at ttk.elte.hu). As a further encouragement for active participation, a prize will be given out, the EPS Best Poster prize, supported by the European Physical Society.

Flyer: if possible, please be so kind and print the poster of the workshop [pdf], and put next to your door or to the notice-board of your department.

Participation fee: The late registration fee is 400 EUR for seniors, 350 EUR for postdocs, 250 EUR for students (and there is an early bird discount if paid before the deadline). Those paying in HUF, the fees are: 160 kHUF, 140 kHUF, 100 kHUF. Students may apply for a registration fee waiver with a recommendation from their supervisor sent to wpcf2026 at ttk.elte.hu; preference will be given to students already working in the field of correlations and femtoscopy, or newcomers whose supervisor attends the workshop or did attend the series in the past. EPS or European national physical society members are exempt from the late payment surcharge, in other words, they automatically get the early bird fee. The actual payment can be performed via card transfer:

• Payment website: https://epay.elte.hu/ext/index
• Instructions on how to use the payment website: [screenshot]

Deadlines: Registration deadline, abstract submission deadline and student support application deadline is March 30. Early bird registration fees can be paid by February 23, which are reduced by 50 EUR compared to the late fees noted in the above paragraph. Final payment deadline is April 18.

Social media: Prospective participants are invited to join the event's Facebook page and invite interested colleagues there. We will distribute information there as well.

Lunches and dinners: One welcome dinner (on Monday), one conference dinner (on Thursday), as well as all coffee breaks and (simple) lunches are covered by the registration fee. Welcome dinner will be held at the university, the conference dinner location will be announced later (but it will be on a boat cruise, if all goes well).

Housing: We recommend Mercure Budapest Castle Hill, Ibis Budapest City, or Ibis Sytles Budapest City, but a wide selection of hotels can be found in Budapest. Please direct all other inquiries to uh.etle.ktt@6202fcpw.

Supporters: The conference is supported by the ELTE Eötvös Loránd University and the the NKFIH "Mecenatúra" grant. Furthermore, the event is a recognized EPS conference.