STACS 2026 (original) (raw)
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The 43rd International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science will be held in Grenoble, France, from March 10 to March 13, 2026, and will be preceded by a tutorial on March 9.
STACS 2026 consists of two tracks.Track A focuses on algorithms, data structures and complexity.Track B focuses on automata, logic, semantics, and theory of programming.
Important Dates
| Event | Time (AoE, UTC-12:00) |
|---|---|
| Submission deadline | 25 September 2025, 23:59 |
| Rebuttal | 17–21 November 2025 |
| Notification | 12 December 2025 |
| Conference | 10–13 March 2026 |
Call for Papers
STACS 2026 will consist of two tracks, A and B.Track A focuses on algorithms, data structures, and complexity; while Track B focuses on automata, logic, semantics, and theory of programming.
Authors are invited to submit papers presenting original and unpublished research on theoretical aspects of computer science. Click to expand/close the content of the call.
Topics covered by the tracks include, but are not limited to, the following.
Track A: Algorithm Design, Data Structures, and Complexity
- Approximation algorithms
- Online algorithms
- Distributed/parallel algorithms
- Parameterized algorithms
- Randomized algorithms
- Analysis of algorithms
- Combinatorics of data structures
- Computational geometry
- Cryptography
- Algorithms for machine learning
- Algorithmic game theory
- Quantum algorithms
- Computational and structural complexity theory
- Parameterized complexity
- Randomness in computation
Track B: Automata, Logic, Semantics and Theory of Programming
- Automata theory
- Games and multi-agent systems
- Algebraic and categorical methods
- Models of computation
- Concurrency
- Timed systems
- Finite model theory
- Database theory
- Semantics
- Type systems
- Program analysis
- Specification and verification
- Rewriting and deduction
- Learning theory
- Logical aspects of computability and complexity
Submissions
Submissions should be made through EasyChair, using this submission link.
Format of submissions
Authors are invited to submit an extended abstract or a full paper with at most 15 pages; this page limit excludes the title page, the references section, and a possible appendix. The title page should contain the title of the paper and the abstract, but no author information. The first section of the paper should start on the next page, and the appendix, if any, should also start on the next page after the bibliography.
In preparation of submissions, the usage of the LIPIcs style file is mandatory; no changes to font size, page geometry, etc. are permitted. Please refer to LIPIcs author instructions. Submissions submitted after the deadline will not be considered, and submissions not adhering to the expected format risk rejection without consideration of the content. Submissions should be made to appropriate tracks. The PCs reserve the right to reassign a paper to a different track, if deemed necessary.
The extended abstract should contain a succinct statement of the considered issues and of their motivation, a summary of the main results, and a brief explanation of their significance, accessible to non-specialist readers. This should be followed by a rigorous derivation of the claimed results. Proofs omitted due to space constraints should be put into an appendix, to be read by the program committee members at their discretion. It is allowed and encouraged to provide the anonymized full version of the paper as the appendix.
Simultaneous submission to other conferences with published proceedings or to journals is not allowed. PC members are allowed to submit their works as well, except for PC chairs.
Double-blind reviewing
As in the previous years, STACS 2026 will employ a lightweight double-blind reviewing process: submissions should not reveal the identity of the authors in any way. The purpose of the double-blind reviewing is to help PC members and external reviewers come to an initial judgment about the paper without bias, not to make it impossible for them to discover the authors if they were to try. Nothing should be done in the name of anonymity that weakens the submission or makes the job of reviewing the paper more difficult. In particular, important references should not be omitted or anonymized. In addition, authors should feel free to disseminate their ideas or draft versions of their paper as they normally would. For example, authors may post drafts of their papers on the web, submit them to arXiv, and give talks on their research ideas.
Conflicts of interest
Authors will be invited to give a list of persons with a Conflict of Interest (COI). A Conflict of Interest is limited to the following categories:
- Family member or close friend.
- Ph.D. advisor or advisee (no time limit), or postdoctoral or undergraduate mentor or mentee within the past five years.
- Person with the same affiliation.
- Involved in an alleged incident of harassment. (It is not required that the incident be reported.)
- Reviewer owes the author a favor (e.g., recently requested a reference letter).
- Frequent or recent collaborator (within last 3 years) who cannot objectively review your work.
If you are unsure about a conflict in which a reviewer may have positive bias towards your paper, we recommend erring on the side of not declaring it since PC members and sub-reviewers will be also asked if they feel that they can fairly evaluate your paper. If an author believes that they have a valid reason for a Conflict of Interest not listed above, then they can contact PC chairs. Falsely declared conflicts (i.e., those which do not satisfy one of the listed reasons) risk rejection without consideration of merit. Authors will be asked to declare conflicts with PC members during submission, but an author can contact PC chairs directly if they have a conflict with an individual who is likely to be asked to serve as a subreviewer for the paper.
Rebuttal
There will be a rebuttal period for authors. Authors will receive the reviews of their submissions and have a few days to prepare and submit rebuttals. These rebuttals become part of the PC discussions, but entail no specific responses. Rebuttals will be handled through EasyChair.
Conference
Each paper has to register and at least one author is expected to attend the conference. For authors who cannot present their paper in person, a possibility for remote presentation will be offered.
Proceedings
Accepted papers will be published in the proceedings of the symposium. As usual, these proceedings will appear in the Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs) series, based at Schloss Dagstuhl. This guarantees perennial, free and easy electronic access, while the authors retain the rights over their work. With their submission, authors consent to sign a license authorizing the program committee chairs to organize the electronic publication of their paper, provided the paper is accepted.
The final camera-ready of each accepted paper should be formatted in accordance with the LIPIcs guidelines and taking reviewer comments into account. General instructions regarding the preparation of the camera-ready version and the style can be found at LIPIcs author instructions. For STACS 2026, there is a page limit of 18 pages for the main body (excluding title-page and bibliography). Additionnaly, you are welcome to have the proceedings paper link to the full version published elsewhere (e.g., on arXiv, Hal, etc).
STACS Code of Conduct
STACS joined SafeToC. Registering for STACS 2026 thus requires that you agree to follow the Code of Conduct described below.
STACS is committed to be a respectful forum for its participants, free from any violence, discrimination or harassment of any nature. All STACS attendees are expected to behave accordingly.
If you experience or witness violence, discrimination, harassment or other unethical behaviour at the conference, we encourage you to seek advice and remedy through one or more of the following options:
- Consult with the SafeToC advocates of STACS (named below).
- Report to the conference chair, the PC chairs or the Steering Committee chair.
The chairs are entitled to remove registered participants from the conference (without refunding the conference fees) if they are deemed to pose an ethical risk to other participants. The conference chair may contact the local university committee dedicated to address violence, unethical behaviour or harassment of any kind. Besides having an appointment with the victim, this committee can assist with medical support and with taking legal action.
STACS 2026 advocates
- Olaf Beyersdorff
- Sylvain Schmitz
- Sophie Bigourden
- Raphaël Bleuse
- Nadia Brauner
- Grégory Mounié
- Annie Simon
Extended Stay Support
As already in 2024 and 2025, we encourage participants of STACS 2026 to combine their conference trip with a research visit to a nearby research institution under the Extended Stay Support initiative. This initiative aims to enhance scientific collaborations while at the same time diminishing the carbon footprint of scientific research activities.
If you are interested to combine your trip to STACS in Grenoble with a research visit to one of the institutions in or near Grenoble, please do get in touch directly with the relevant contact or send us an e-mail to make arrangements for the visit.
You can reach the local organisation committee by e-mail.