Call for Papers

The 43rd International Colloquium on Automata, Languages, and Programming (ICALP) will take place in the period 12-15 July 2016 in Rome, Italy.

ICALP is the main conference and annual meeting of the European Association for Theoretical Computer Science (EATCS).  

Important Dates

Submission deadline: February 17, 2016, 23:59 PST (Pacific Standard Time)  
Author notification: April 15, 2016  
Final manuscript due: April 30, 2016
Early registration deadline: May 31, 2016    

Deadlines are firm; late submissions will not be considered.

Proceedings

The ICALP 2016 conference proceedings will be published in Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics, a series of high-quality conference proceedings across all fields in informatics established in cooperation with Schloss Dagstuhl –Leibniz Center for Informatics.

Topics

Papers presenting original research on all aspects of theoretical computer science are sought. Typical but not exclusive topics of interest are:

Track A: Algorithms, Complexity and Games

  • Algorithmic Game Theory
  • Approximation Algorithms
  • Combinatorial Optimization
  • Combinatorics in Computer Science
  • Computational Biology
  • Computational Complexity
  • Computational Geometry
  • Cryptography
  • Data Structures
  • Design and Analysis of Algorithms
  • Machine Learning
  • Parallel, Distributed and External Memory Computing
  • Randomness in Computation
  • Quantum Computing

Track B: Logic, Semantics, Automata and Theory of Programming

  • Algebraic and Categorical Models
  • Automata, Games, and Formal Languages
  • Emerging and Non-standard Models of Computation
  • Databases, Semi-Structured Data and Finite Model Theory
  • Principles and Semantics of Programming Languages
  • Logic in Computer Science, Theorem Proving and Model Checking
  • Models of Concurrent, Distributed, and Mobile Systems
  • Models of Reactive, Hybrid and Stochastic Systems
  • Program Analysis and Transformation
  • Specification, Refinement, Verification and Synthesis
  • Type Systems and Theory, Typed Calculi

Track C: Foundations of Networked Computation: Models, Algorithms and Information Management

  • Algorithmic Aspects of Networks and Networking
  • Formal Methods for Network Information Management
  • Foundations of Privacy, Trust and Reputation in Networks
  • Mobile and Wireless Networks and Communication
  • Network Economics and Incentive-Based Computing Related to Networks
  • Networks of Low Capability Devices
  • Network Mining and Analysis
  • Overlay Networks and P2P Systems
  • Specification, Semantics, Synchronization of Networked Systems
  • Theory of Security in Networks

Submission Guidelines

Authors are invited to submit an extended abstract, presenting original research on the theory of Computer Science, of no more than 12 pages, including the title page, but excluding references and any appendix, in the LIPIcs style (instructions available here). The usage of pdflatex and the LIPIcs style file (see here for some formatting tricks) are mandatory: papers that deviate significantly from the required format may be rejected without consideration of merit.

All submissions will be electronic via EasyChair: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=icalp2016

Submissions should be made to the appropriate track of the conference. No prior publication or simultaneous submission to other publication outlets (either a conference or a journal) is allowed.

All the technical details necessary for a proper scientific evaluation of a submission must be included in the 12-page submission or in a clearly-labelled appendix, to be consulted at the discretion of program committee members.

Should I submit my paper to Track A or Track C?

While the scope of Tracks A and B are generally well understood given their long history, the situation for Track C may be less obvious. In particular, some clarifications may be helpful regarding areas of potential overlap, especially between Tracks A and C.

The aim for Track C is to be the leading venue for theory papers truly motivated by networking applications, and/or proposing theoretical results relevant to real networking, certified analytically, but not necessarily tested practically. The motivation for the track was the lack of good venues for theory papers motivated by applications in networking. On the one hand, the good networking conferences typically ask for extended experiments and/or simulations, while the TCS community is hardly able to do such experiments or simulations. On the other hand, the good conferences on algorithms tend to judge a paper based only on its technical difficulty and on its significance from an algorithmic perspective, which may not be the same as when judging the paper from the perspective of impact on networks.

Several areas of algorithmic study of interest to Track C have a broad overlap with Track A. Graph algorithmics can belong in either, though if the work is not linked to networking, it is more appropriate in Track A. Algorithmic game theory is another area of major overlap. Aspects involving complexity, the computation of equilibria and approximations, belong more in Track A, while results with applications in auctions, networks and some aspects of mechanism design belong in Track C.

Finally, it should be noted that algorithms and complexity of message-passing based distributed computing belong squarely in track C, while certain other aspects of distributed computing do not fall under its scope.

Best Paper Awards

As in previous editions of ICALP, there will be best paper and best student paper awards for each track of the conference. In order to be eligible for a best student paper award, a paper should be authored only by students and should be marked as such upon submission.