After a successful first edition in 2025, CERN PGDay returns in 2026 as a regular gathering for PostgreSQL users and enthusiasts in Suisse Romande (western Switzerland). Co-organized by CERN and SwissPUG, the event offers a chance to connect, share ideas, and exchange experiences in the vibrant Geneva region — home to many international organizations across the public, private, and scientific sectors.
The 2026 edition will take place on Friday, February 6th, starting at 10:00. The programme features a single track of seven sessions, all held in English, followed by a social event to continue discussions and networking in the inspiring setting of CERN.
Schedule
The schedule consists of the following presentations.
Full programme including times
- A new PostgreSQL backend for CERN Tape Archive scheduling for LHC Run 4
Konstantina Skovola, Jaroslav Guenther, CERN - DCS Data Tools – PostgreSQL/TimescaleDB Implementation for ATLAS DCS Time-Series Data
Dimitrios Matakias, Paris Moschovakos, CERN - Operational hazards of managing PostgreSQL DBs over 100TB
Teresa Lopes, Adyen - Vacuuming Large Tables: How Recent Postgres Changes Further Enable Mission Critical Workloads
Robert Treat, AWS - The (very practical) Postgres Sharding Landscape
Álvaro Hernández, OnGres - The Alchemy of Shared Buffers: Balancing Concurrency and Performance
Josef Machytka, credativ - Incremental Backup with PostgreSQL 17
Marion Baumgartner, camptocamp
How to get to and visit CERN
CERN is an exciting place that can be reached in about 25 minutes from Switzerland via Geneva and tram 18. The tram stop “CERN” is located just outside the entrance. There are also buses (68 & 67) if you are coming from France. For more details on directions click here.
Have a look at your schedule before or after the event: you might be able to take advantage of the conference to visit.cern, the European Organization for Nuclear Research!.
At the site
The event will take place in the Council Chamber of CERN (CERN Building 500 / Main Building), starting at 10:00. We encourage you to arrive early as there are likely to be queues for registration and it will take some time to get from the entrance to the venue. You can enjoy a welcome coffee and chat while waiting for the event to start.
After arriving at the CERN tram stop, please continue to the Community Center to pick up your visitor pass. Participants need to bring a valid form of identification (ID, passport) in order to pick up their visitor badge and enter the site.
After collecting the visitor pass, please go to the security guard at Gate B, which will open the entrance for you.
Once on site, please continue to the main building as indicated on the map. It’s a short walk of about 9min. The Council Chamber is located on the +1 level of the building.
You can also use the MapCERN to navigate the CERN campus.
For Internet access, the public WiFi network “CERN-Visitors” or eduroam are available.
Organization Team
The organization is backed by a local team with support from SwissPUG. The team consists of:
- Maurizio De Giorgi, CERN
- Andrzej Nowicki, CERN
- Tobias Bussmann, SCNAT
- Andreas Geppert, ZKB
- Markus Wanner, EBD
- Daniel Westermann, dbi
Code of Conduct
PostgreSQL conferences have an amazing atmosphere and are very welcoming to new people joining the community. This is something we treasure. Therefor we require all attendees, speakers, sponsors and volunteers to follow the PostgreSQL Project’s Code of Conduct during the event. Thank you for your help in making the CERN PGDay 2026 fun and enjoyable for everyone!
Should any situation or question arise, please contact the conference organizers, or escalate to a member of the community Code of Conduct Committee.
In case of emergency or incident call +41 22 76 74444 (Tel. 74444).
CERN PGDay operates a “Red Lanyard” scheme that is designed to help you maintain your privacy at our events. When you collect your badge upon arrival at the conference, you will be able to select either a red or blue lanyard. Choosing a red lanyard will indicate to the event organisers and other attendees that you do not wish to have your photograph taken and posted on social media or on other public sites.
We will make every effort to honour your wishes, and we ask all attendees to do the same. It is, however, a ‘best effort’ system and sometimes a red lanyard may not be spotted before a picture is posted publicly. In cases where this happens, please reach out to either the person who posted the picture or to the conference organisers to request that the picture be removed.
It should also be noted that we will be video recording some of the talks. If you ask the speaker a question, walk through the room during the talk, or turn towards the camera; your image may be captured on video and subsequently published. If you are concerned about this, please ensure you choose a seat that is unlikely to be seen on camera (it will be focussed on the speaker), and wait until after the session has ended to ask any questions.