Tuesday, February 17, 2026

[DMANET] Canada Impact+ Research Chair at the University of Victoria

The University of Victoria (UVic) seeks to recruit a world class researcher for a Canada Impact+ Research Chair (Impact+) in Science. The Impact+ program is a one-time initiative designed by the Canadian government to support institutions in attracting world-leading researchers whose work addresses critical national and global challenges.

Impact+ Chairs will receive long-term funding (up to $1M CAD per year for 8 years, with possibility of 4 year extension) and a competitive salary range of $180,000 - $200,000 CAD at the Associate Professor rank, and $250,000 - $275,000 CAD at the Professor rank.

Applications must explain how the Chair will advance one or more of the following strategic priority areas:

* advanced digital technologies (including artificial intelligence, quantum and cybersecurity);
* health, including biotechnology;
* clean technology and resource value chains;
* environment, climate resilience and the Arctic;
* food and water security;
* democratic and community resilience;
* manufacturing and advanced materials; and/or
* defence and dual-use technologies.

In order to be considered, application packages must be received by 12:00pm PDT (noon) on Friday March 13, 2026. Full information on the two-stage application process can be found at
* Mathjobs posting: https://www.mathjobs.org/jobs/list/28109
* UVic Faculty of Science posting: https://www.uvic.ca/faculty-staff/careers/faculty-and-librarian-postings/current/scie_270_157.php

For more background on the Impact+ Research Chair program, see
* The Government of Canada: https://www.canada.ca/en/impact-plus-chairs/program-details/competition/2026/apply.html
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[DMANET] [CfP] Doctoral Consortium @ RuleML+RR 2026

*Call for Papers:*

*******************************************************************************
*** Doctoral Consortium @ RuleML+RR 2026 ***
*** 24-26 August 2026 ***
*** Vilnius, Lithuania ***
*******************************************************************************

*The RuleML+RR 10th Doctoral Consortium 2026 (DC)* is an initiative of the
RuleML+RR community to attract and promote student research in Artificial
Intelligence, especially research on rule-based formalisms and reasoning in
such formalisms. It offers students a close contact with leading experts in
the field, as well as the opportunity to present and discuss their ideas in
a dynamic and friendly setting. We invite PhD students at an early or
intermediate stage of their PhD studies, as well as exceptional master's
students who are interested in pursuing a PhD, to submit papers describing
their research on any of the topics of RuleML+RR 2026
<https://2026.declarativeai.net/events/ruleml-rr>.


*Link:* https://2026.declarativeai.net/events/ruleml-rr/doctoral-consortium


*Venue:* The RuleML+RR 10th Doctoral Consortium 2026 will be held as a part
of the RuleML+RR 2026 <https://2026.declarativeai.net/events/ruleml-rr> in
Vilnius, Lithuania from August 24th to 26th. It will be co-located with
several events as part of Declarative AI 2026
<https://2026.declarativeai.net/>, including DecisionCamp
<https://2026.declarativeai.net/events/decisioncamp>, the Reasoning Web
Summer School <https://2026.declarativeai.net/events/reasoning-web>, and
multiple other satellite events of RuleML+RR 2026 (Rule Challenge
<https://2026.declarativeai.net/events/ruleml-rr/rule-challenge>, Industry
Track <https://2026.declarativeai.net/events/ruleml-rr/industry-track>,
and Networking
Session <https://2026.declarativeai.net/events/ruleml-rr/networking-session>
).


*Topics of Interest:* Macro areas are Ontologies and the Semantic Web,
Rules and AI, Reasoning, Systems, Interoperability, Constraints, and
Applications & Experiences. For the detailed list, please refer to
https://2026.declarativeai.net/events/ruleml-rr/cfp.


*Important dates* (Anywhere on Earth - AoE):


June 12th, 2026 (AoE): Paper Submission

July 3rd, 2026 (AoE): Notification of Acceptance


*Submission Procedure: *


RuleML+RR DC papers range between 5 and 9 pages, are written in English and
will be published as part of CEUR proceedings. They are submitted
electronically in PDF together with a maximum 2 page-long CV (the paper and
the CV should be submitted together as one PDF file, but the CV is not
counted within the 9-page limit and is not published in the proceedings if
the paper is accepted).


The submission should cover the following aspects:

- The identification of a significant problem in a research field
relevant to RuleML+RR 2026.
- An outline of the current knowledge in the problem's domain, as well
as an overview of existing solutions.
- A clear formulation of the research question and motivation.
- A presentation of (possibly preliminary) ideas, the proposed approach,
and the results achieved so far.
- A sketch of the applied research methodology and its positioning in
the field.
- A description of the student's contribution to the research.
- A discussion of how the suggested solution is different, new, or
better as compared to the state of the art.
- A research plan and the potential achievements.


The accepted DC papers will be presented to an interested audience and will
be discussed with a panel of senior researchers from academia and the
industry.


*Submission Link: *cmt3.research.microsoft.com/DAI2026/ (select the
"Doctoral Consortium" track).


*Doctoral Consortium Chairs:*


Sanja Lukumbuzya, TU Wien, Austria

Virginijus Marcinkevičius, Vilnius University, Lithuania

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[DMANET] DISC 2026 - Call for Papers

=====================================

*DISC 2026 Call for Papers*

=====================================

40th International Symposium on Distributed Computing
November 9-13, 2026

Rome, Italy

https://www.disc-conference.org/wp/disc2026/

=====================================

*DISC Conference Overview*

=====================================

The International Symposium on Distributed Computing (DISC) is an
international forum on the theory, design, analysis, implementation and
application of distributed systems and networks. It is organized in
cooperation with the European Association for Theoretical Computer Science
(EATCS). The symposium was established 41 years ago, in 1985, as a biannual
International Workshop on Distributed Algorithms on Graphs (WDAG). DISC
2026 marks the 40th edition of the symposium. To celebrate this special
milestone, the conference will include a series of festivities and special
events honoring four decades of advances in distributed computing research
and the vibrant community that has shaped the field.

=====================================

*Important Dates*

=====================================

Paper registration: May 27, 2026
Submission deadline: June 1, 2026
Rebuttal phase: July 21-25, 2026

Notification: August 5, 2026

Camera-ready version due date: August 19, 2026

All deadlines are at 23:59 AoE.

=====================================

*Scope*

=====================================

Submissions are sought in all areas of distributed algorithms and
distributed systems, including theory, design, implementation, modelling,
analysis, and application of distributed systems and networks. Topics of
interest include, but are not limited to:

· Biological and nature-inspired distributed algorithms

· Blockchain protocols

· Distributed and concurrent data structures, replication and
consistency

· Distributed graph algorithms

· Distributed machine learning and data science

· Distributed operating systems, middleware, database systems

· Experimental evaluation of distributed algorithms and systems

· Fault tolerance, reliability, availability

· Formal methods for distributed computing: verification, synthesis
and testing

· Game-theoretic and knowledge-based approaches to distributed
computing

· High-performance, cloud and grid computing

· Internet and Web applications, social networks and recommendation
systems

· Mobile agents, autonomous distributed systems, swarm robotics

· Multiprocessor and multi-core architectures and algorithms

· Population protocols and chemical reaction networks

· Quantum distributed algorithms

· Security in distributed computing, cryptographic protocols

· Self-stabilizing, self-organizing, and autonomous systems

· Synchronization, persistence and transactional memory

· Wireless, mobile, sensor and ad-hoc networks

=====================================

*Submissions*

=====================================


A submitted paper should clearly motivate the importance of the problem
being addressed, discuss prior work and its relationship to the paper,
explicitly and precisely state the paper's key contributions, and outline
the key technical ideas and methods used to achieve the main claims. A
submission should strive to be accessible to a broad audience, as well as
having sufficient details for experts in the area.

There are two types of submissions: regular papers and brief announcements.
Regular papers must report on original research that has not previously
been published (and may not be concurrently submitted to other journals or
conferences with proceedings). All ideas necessary for an expert to fully
verify the central claims in a paper, including experimental results,
should be included in the submission. A brief announcement may describe
work in progress or work presented elsewhere. A brief announcement may also
present a result that is short and elegant but does not require a longer
paper. It may also be used to announce a software distribution or an
experimental result of interest that can be concisely described. The title
of a brief announcement must start with the phrase "Brief Announcement: ".

A paper that is not accepted as a regular paper may be invited as a brief
announcement.

When requested by the program committee, each author of the submitted
paper(s) is expected to prepare a professional review of a non-conflicted
DISC 2026 submission that falls within their research expertise.

=====================================

*Submission format*
=====================================


Submissions must be in English in pdf format and they must be prepared
using the LaTeX style template for LIPIcs (
https://submission.dagstuhl.de/series/details/5#author) with

\documentclass[a4paper,anonymous,USenglish]{lipics-v2021}.

Submissions must be anonymous, without any author names, affiliations, or
email addresses. The contact information of the authors will be entered
separately in the submission metadata.

For regular papers, there is no page limit, and authors are encouraged to
use the "full version" of their paper as the submission. The initial 15
pages, excluding the title page and a table of contents, should contain a
clear presentation of the merits of the paper, including a discussion of
the paper's importance within the context of prior work and a description
of the key technical and conceptual ideas used to achieve its main claims.
(Illustrative figures are encouraged.) The submission must contain all
necessary details, including full proofs of all claims in the paper.

Although there is no bound on the length of a submission, material other
than the first 15 pages, excluding the title page and a table of contents,
will be read at the committee's discretion. Papers submitted as brief
announcements should comply with the above rules, replacing 15 pages with 5
pages.

Submissions not conforming to the submission guidelines and papers outside
of the scope of the conference will be rejected without consideration. All
accept/reject decisions made by the program committee are final.

=====================================

*Use of Large Language Models (LLMs)*
=====================================

The use of LLMs for submission preparation is permitted, although it is
highly recommended that they only be used for cosmetic changes, e.g.
proofreading of the text. The use of LLMs in technical parts should be
treated in the same way as any other software or system, and thus carefully
described and documented in the submission. Ultimately, the authors are
responsible for the content of their submission, and mis-use of LLM may
result in rejection. Any questions about the LLM use policy should be
directed to the PC chair, Keren Censor-Hillel (ckeren@cs.technion.ac.il).

=====================================

*Anonymous Submissions*
=====================================


We will use a relaxed implementation of double-blind peer review.
Submissions must not reveal the identity of the authors in any way. In
particular, authors' names and affiliation should not appear in the
document itself. Authors should ensure that any references to their own
related work are in the third person (e.g., not "We build on our previous
work …" but rather "We build on the work of …"). The purpose of this
process 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.

You are free to disseminate your work through arXiv and other online
repositories and give presentations on your work as usual. Moreover,
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.

Brief announcements should also be submitted without author names and
affiliations so that a reviewer can form an initial judgment without bias,
but they can contain a reference to the full version of the work in the
bibliography.

Please feel free to ask the PC chair if you have any questions about the
double-blind policy of DISC 2026.

=====================================

*Conflict of Interest*
=====================================


The submission form provides an opportunity to specify conflicts of
interest with any of the PC members and other member of research community.
A conflict of interest is limited to the following:

- A family member or close friend;

- A Ph.D. advisor or advisee (no time limit), or postdoctoral or
undergraduate mentor or mentee within the past five years;

- A person with the same affiliation;

- A person involved in an alleged incident of harassment;

- Frequent collaborators, or collaborators who have jointly published
papers within the last two years.

If you feel that you have a valid reason for a conflict of interest beyond
listed above, or any other issues related to the fair treatment of your
submission, contact the PC chair, Keren Censor-Hillel (
ckeren@cs.technion.ac.il), or the SafeTOC representative for DISC, listed
at https://safetoc.org/index.php/toc-advisors/.

=====================================

*Participation at DISC*

=====================================


It is expected that accepted papers and brief announcements be presented
in-person at the conference.

=====================================

*Publication*

=====================================


The proceedings will be published by LIPIcs. The final version of the paper
has to be formatted following the LIPIcs guidelines. Regular papers will
have 15 pages in the final proceedings (excluding references), and brief
announcements will have 5 pages in the proceedings (including everything).
If more space is needed, the authors are encouraged to post the full
version e.g. on arXiv and refer to it in their paper.

Accepted papers and brief announcements must be presented by one of the
authors, with a full registration and according to the final schedule.

Extended and revised versions of selected papers will be considered for a
special issue of the journal Distributed Computing.

The best paper at DISC will be considered for publication in the Journal of
the ACM.

=====================================

*Awards*

=====================================

Awards will be given to the best paper and the best student paper. To be
eligible for the best student paper award, at least one of the paper
authors must be a full-time student at the time of submission, and the
student(s) must have made a significant contribution to the paper.

=====================================

*Organization*

=====================================

*Program Committee:*

James Aspnes, Yale University, USA

Naama Ben-David, Technion, Israel

Christian Cachin, University of Bern, Switzerland

Armando Castañeda, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico

Keren Censor-Hillel, Technion, Israel (Chair)

Peter Davies-Peck, Durham University, UK

Michal Dory, University of Haifa, Israel

Fabien Dufoulon, Lancaster University, UK

Constantin Enea, Ecole Polytechnique, France

Jeremy Fineman, Georgetown University, USA

Leszek Antoni Gąsieniec, University of Liverpool, UK

Ran Gelles, Bar-Ilan University, Israel

George Giakkouipis, Inria, Rennes, France

Seth Gilbert, NUS, Singapore

Wojciech Golab, University of Waterloo, Canada

Alexey Gotsman, IMDEA Software Institute, Spain

Danny Hendler, Ben-Gurion University, Israel

Taisuke Izumi, The University of Osaka, Japan

Siddhartha Jayanti, Dartmouth College, USA

Tomasz Jurdzinski, University of Wroclaw, Poland

Petr Kuznetsov, Telecom Paris, Institut Polytechnique de Paris, France

Quanquan Liu, Yale University, USA

Thomas Locher, DFINITY, Switzerland

Giuliano Losa, Stellar Development Foundation, USA

Darya Melnyk, TU Berlin, Germany

Alessia Milani, Aix-Marseille University, LIS, France

Shreyas Pai, IIT Madras, India

Boaz Patt-Shamir, Tel Aviv University, Israel

Ivan Rapaport, Universidad de Chile, Chile

Andrea W. Richa, Arizona State University, USA

Peter Robinson, Augusta University, USA

Joel Rybicki, Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany

Christian Scheideler, Paderborn University, Germany

Lili Su, Northeastern University, USA

Jukka Suomela, Aalto University, Finland

François Taïani, Univ Rennes, Inria, CNRS, IRISA, France

Andrei Tonkikh, Aptos Labs, USA

Jennifer Welch, Texas A&M University, USA

Philipp Woelfel, University of Calgary, Canada

Michelle Yeo, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore and Aarhus
University, Denmark

Leqi Zhu, University of Manitoba, Canada

*Conference Committee:*

Ioannis Chatzigiannakis, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy (co-Chair)

Yannic Maus, TU Graz, Austria (Treasurer)

William K. Moses Jr., Durham University, UK (Publicity Chair and
Proceedings Chair)

Ami Paz, CNRS and Paris-Saclay University, France (Workshops Chair)

Andrea Vitaletti, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy (co-Chair)

*Steering Committee:*

Dan Alistarh, IST, Austria (2024 PC Chair)

Hagit Attiya, Technion, Israel (Chair)

Keren Censor-Hillel, Technion, Israel (2026 PC Chair)

Pierre Fraigniaud, CNRS and Université Paris Cité, France (Vice Chair)

Dariusz Kowalski, Augusta University, USA (2025 PC Chair)

Alessia Milani, Aix-Marseille University, LIS, France (Member-at-large)

Ami Paz, CNRS and Paris-Saclay University, France (Member-at-large)


------
Regards,
William K. Moses Jr.
Publicity Chair, DISC 2026
https://sites.google.com/view/wkmjr

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[DMANET] associate/full professor position

Dear all,

We are looking for the associate/full professor at the informatics
institute of the University of Opole.

https://pracownik.uni.opole.pl/index.php/intranet/job-offers/offers/offer?id=107

Please write to the official institute email for questions:
ii@uni.opole.pl

Best,

--
Dr. Gleb Polevoy,
E-mails:gleb.polevoy@uni.opole.pl
gpolevoy@mail.uni-paderborn.de
gpolevoy@mimuw.edu.pl
geruskin@yahoo.com
gs2gleb@gmail.com

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* DMANET@zpr.uni-koeln.de
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* addressed to DMANET but to the original sender. The
* original sender, however, is invited to prepare an
* update of the replies received and to communicate it
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[DMANET] BCCA 2026: The 8th International Conference on Blockchain Computing and Applications, Barcelona, Spain

*The 8th International Conference on Blockchain Computing and Applications
(BCCA 2026)*

16-20 November 2026 | Barcelona, Spain

*Hybrid Conference*

*https://bcca-conference.org/*

Blockchain is a revolutionary technology in decentralized systems that
enables secure decentralized transaction processing while ensuring data
privacy and authenticity. It plays a significant role across several areas,
including the Internet of Things, supply chain management, manufacturing,
cyber-physical systems, and healthcare systems. Unlike centralized
transaction processing solutions, blockchain uses a distributed ledger to
record transactions across multiple devices; this prevents data breaches,
identity theft, and a range of cyber-related attacks, thereby enhancing
data privacy and security. This conference aims to attract the work of both
researchers and practitioners in cybersecurity to share and exchange
experiences and research in both academia and industry in the field of
blockchain.

*BCCA 2026 SYMPOSIA*

Authors are encouraged to submit their work to one of the following 20
specialized symposiums, each targeting a key research frontier:

1. Blockchain for LLMs and Decentralized AI
2. Blockchain for Agentic and Autonomous AI
3. Blockchain-Enabled Generative and Multimodal AI
4. AI and Machine Learning for Blockchain Optimization
5. Blockchain Security and Zero-Trust Web3
6. Blockchain-Enhanced Cybersecurity and Privacy
7. Post-Quantum Blockchain and Cryptography
8. Blockchain for Trustworthy and Ethical AI
9. Blockchain for Digital Identity and Governance
10. Blockchain Interoperability and Web3 Infrastructure
11. Blockchain for IoT and Cyber-Physical Systems
12. Blockchain for Digital Twins and the Metaverse
13. Blockchain for Autonomous Transportation and Smart Mobility
14. Blockchain for Big Data and Decision Intelligence
15. Blockchain Applications in Finance, Healthcare, and Government
16. Token Engineering and Decentralized Governance (DAOs)
17. Quantum Computing for AI and Blockchain
18. Green Computing and Sustainable Blockchain
19. Blockchain for Robotics and Autonomous Systems
20. Neuromorphic and Bio-Inspired Computing with Blockchain

*Important Dates:*

- Papers due: April 15, 2026
- Acceptance notification: June 30, 2026
- Registration: July 30, 2026
- Camera-ready paper: July 30, 2026
- Workshop/Tutorial Proposal Submission: April 15, 2026
- Workshop/Tutorial Proposal Acceptance: June 30, 2026

*Main track Submission Guidelines:*

There are three categories of submission (Overlength charges will be
applied!):

- *Long papers:* (7-8 pages)
- *Short papers: *(5-6 pages)
- *Systemization of Knowledge (SoK): *(10-15 pages)
- *Poster papers: *(1-2 pages)

*Submission Link: *https://conferences.sparcly.ai/SP/BCCA2026

*Organizing Committee*
*Honorary Chair*

- Jaime Lloret Mauri, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Spain
- Jose Luis Muñoz-Tapia, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Spain

*General Co-Chairs*

- Christiancarmine Esposito, University of Salerno, Italy
- Attila Kertesz, University of Szeged, Hungary
- Vlado Stankovski, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia

*Program Co-Chairs*

- Sandra Sendra, Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain
- Ismaeel Al Ridhawi, KCST, Kuwait

--Regards,

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Monday, February 16, 2026

[DMANET] 9th Workshop on Algebraic Complexity Theory, Copenhagen, June 2-5

We are pleased to announce 9th Workshop on Algebraic Complexity Theory (WACT), to be held June 2-5, 2026, at the University of Copenhagen (UCPH).

This workshop brings together experts in algebra, computation, and related areas. It is organized jointly by colleagues at UCPH and the IT University of Copenhagen. Details and links to previous editions are available on the workshop webpage: https://sites.google.com/view/wact2026/.

Registration (free but mandatory) is open now.
Deadline: 28 February 2026.

Please forward this announcement to anyone else that you think may be interested.

We look forward to seeing you in Copenhagen!

Organizing Committee:
Amik Raj Behera
Prateek Dwivedi
Nutan Limaye
Srikanth Srinivasan
Amir Yehudayoff


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[DMANET] LIP post-doc position

The LIP laboratory is opening a one-year post-doctoral fellowship in
Computer Science at the ENS Lyon, France.

All research themes of the laboratory are eligible: machine learning,
computer arithmetic, computer algebra, molecular computing, distributed
computing, high performance computing, combinatorics, compilation,
complexity, graph theory, quantum computing, logic, computational
models, parallelism, formal proofs, scheduling, networks, semantics and
verification.

Applications from women and/or making links between several teams of the
laboratory will be given particular consideration. The laboratory also
welcomes projects with a significant part of software development and
experimental evaluation.

The application consists of a CV and a short (2–4 pages) research
project. It must be supported by a member of the LIP who will act as
mentor. Letters of recommendation are welcome but not required.

Applications (and any recommendation letters) should be addressed by
e-mail to: isabelle.guerin-lassous@ens-lyon.fr and loris.marchal@ens-lyon.fr

Deadline for applications: April 3rd, 2026
Notification: beginning of May 2026
Starting date: September 1st 2026
Gross salary: from 2900€ monthly, depending on experience
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[DMANET] REMINDER: 2026 INFORMS-QSR Tutorial Series

Dear community,

We kindly remind you to participate in the 2026 QSR Tutorial Series, whose goal is to provide QSR members and the general public with accessible, high-quality tutorials that expand their knowledge of emerging research areas and practical tools in quality, statistics, and reliability. The series consists of three tutorials that will take place via Zoom on February 27, March 27, and April 24 at 3 pm EST. The information of the first tutorial is below. We look forward to seeing you there!

Data Science in Performance Quantification for Wind Turbine Generators

In 2022, INFORMS awarded the speaker and his team the Impact Prize "for their key roles in the development and deployment of a new paradigm for the accurate quantification of wind turbine output that has accelerated engineering innovation in this field." Performance and efficiency analysis is, in fact, a research subject deeply rooted in the INFORMS communities. But performance quantification of wind turbines in their power production efficiencies faces the challenges that the variable inputs cannot be compared through randomized controlled experiments. The speaker's team developed nonparametric data science methods and borrowed ideas from causal inference, resulting in a pipeline of three key components that produce a competent and accurate quantification method of small and moderate changes in wind turbine production efficiency. This 2-hour tutorial will walk you through the details of the development, including how to use the functions in a R package specifically developed for wind energy applications.
Dr. Yu Ding

Anderson-Interface Chair and Professor
H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology

Dr. Yu Ding is the Anderson-Interface Chair and Professor in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Georgia Tech. Prior to joining Georgia Tech, he was the Mike and Sugar Barnes Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering at Texas A&M University. Dr. Ding's research is in the area of data and quality science and system informatics. He is the author of the CRC Press book, Data Science for Wind Energy, and a co-author of the Springer Nature book, Data Science for Nano Image Analysis. His research work is recognized by the 2019 IISE's Technical Innovation Award, 2022 INFORMS' Impact Prize, 2024 ASME's Blackall Machine Tool and Gage Award, and 2024 SME's S. M. Wu Research Implementation Award. Dr. Ding is the Editor-in-Chief of INFORMS Journal on Data Science and serves as IISE's Senior Vice President for International Operations. Dr. Ding served as the Editor-in-Chief of IISE Transactions for the term of 2021-2024 and Program Chair for IEEE CASE 2025. He is a Fellow of IISE, INFORMS, and ASME.
February 27, 2026 3:00pm (EST)
Zoom Link: https://kaist.zoom.us/j/87608794649

Kind regards,
The Organizing Committee:
Alan R. Vazquez, Tecnologico de Monterrey
Heeyoung Kim, KAIST
William Fisher, JMP

Alan R. Vazquez<https://alanrvazquez.netlify.app/>
Assistant Professor
School of Engineering and Sciences - Industrial Engineering
Tecnologico de Monterrey - Monterrey Campus

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[DMANET] [Scheduling seminar] Christian Blum (IIIA-CSIC) | February 18 | CMSA: A Hybrid Metaheuristic for Combinatorial Optimization

Dear scheduling researcher,

We are delighted to announce the talk given by Christian Blum
(IIIA-CSIC). The title is "CMSA: A Hybrid Metaheuristic for
Combinatorial Optimization". The seminar will take place on Zoom on
Wednesday, February 18 at 14:00 UTC.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://cesnet.zoom.us/j/91528778001?pwd=OD4EuDE8dPNHhXoYQqPJbamPCaEf3D.1
Meeting ID: 915 2877 8001
Passcode: 474863

You can follow the seminar online or offline on our Youtube channel as
well:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUoCNnaAfw5NAntItILFn4A

The abstract follows.
Construct, Merge, Solve & Adapt (CMSA) is an award-winning, hybrid
algorithm for solving hard combinatorial optimization problems. The main
idea consists in the iterated application of an exact solver - such as
an integer linear programming (ILP) solver - to sub-instances of the
original problem instance. These sub-instances are enlarged at each
iteration by adding solution components from a set of valid solutions
that are obtained either by probabilistic solution construction or by
any other means. Moreover, seemingly useless (or even harmful) solution
components are removed. In this talk, an introduction to CMSA will be
given, in addition to describing some of the most recent research lines
around this technique.

The next talk in our series will be: Helmut Simonis (Insight Centre,
UCC) | March 4 | Constraint Based Scheduling: A User Perspective.
For more details, please visit https://schedulingseminar.com/

With kind regards

Zdenek Hanzalek, Michael Pinedo and Guohua Wan

--
Zdenek Hanzalek
Industrial Informatics Department,
Czech Institute of Informatics, Robotics and Cybernetics,
Czech Technical University in Prague,
Jugoslavskych partyzanu 1580/3, 160 00 Prague 6, Czech Republic
https://rtime.ciirc.cvut.cz/~hanzalek/

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[DMANET] MIC 2026 - 11 days to submission deadline

MIC 2026 - 16th Metaheuristics International Conference

8 - 11 June, 2026
Ischia Island (Napoli), Italy

www.mic2026.unina.it

*********************
Submission deadline: February 27, 2026
Number of days to deadline: 11
*********************

Aims, Themes & Scope: As per tradition, looking at the previous editions of the MIC conferences, this conference focuses on the progress of the area of Metaheuristics and their applications and provides an opportunity to the international research community to discuss recent research results, to develop new ideas and collaborations, and to meet old friends and make new ones in relaxed atmosphere. MIC 2026 strives to propose a high-quality program that will be completed by a number of invited talks, tutorials, workshops and special sessions.

Solicited contributions can cover a variety of topics including but not limited to:
- Metaheuristic techniques such as tabu search, simulated annealing, iterated local search, variable neighborhood search, memory-based optimization, dynamic local search, evolutionary algorithms, memetic algorithms, ant colony optimization, particle swarm optimization, scatter search, path relinking, etc.
- Techniques that enhance the usability and increase the potential of metaheuristic algorithms such as reactive search mechanisms for self-tuning, offline metaheuristic algorithm configuration techniques, algorithm portfolios, parallelization of metaheuristic algorithms, etc.
- Empirical and theoretical research in metaheuristics including large-scale experimental analyses, algorithm comparisons, new experimental methodologies, engineering methodologies for metaheuristic algorithms, search space analysis, theoretical insights into properties of metaheuristic algorithms, etc.
- High-impact applications of metaheuristics in fields such as bioinformatics, electrical and mechanical engineering, telecommunications, sustainability, business, scheduling and timetabling. Particularly welcome are innovative applications
of metaheuristic algorithms that have a potential of pushing research frontiers.
- Contributions on the combination of metaheuristic techniques with those from other areas, such as integer programming, constraint programming, machine learning, etc.
- Contributions on the use of metaheuristic techniques in machine learning and deep learning for finetuning and neural architecture search, etc.
- Challenging applications areas such as continuous, mixed discrete-continuous, multi-objective, stochastic, or dynamic problems.

MIC 2026 accepts submissions in three different formats:
1. Regular paper: novel and original research contributions of a maximum of 15 pages (LNCS format)
2. Short paper: extended abstract of novel research works of 6 pages (LNCS format)
3. Oral presentation: one page abstract describing the content of an high-quality manuscript that has recently, within the last year, been submitted or accepted for journal publication.

All submitted papers will undergo a review process. All papers must be prepared using Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS) template, and must be submitted in PDF using the easychair system (https://easychair.org/conferences?conf=mic2026).

Accepted papers in categories 1 and 2 will be published as post-proceedings in Lecture Notes in Computer Science series by Springer.

In addition, a post-conference special issue in Journal of Heuristics will be considered for the significantly extended and revised versions of selected accepted papers from categories 1 and 2.

IMPORTANT DATES:
All deadlines are Anywhere on Earth (AoE = UTC-12h).
- December 1, 2025, submission open/registration open
- February 27, 2026, submission deadline
- March 27, 2026, notification of acceptance
- April 10, 2026, early registration deadline
- June 8-11, 2026, conference at Ischia, Italy

CONTACT INFORMATION:
Paola Festa (E-mail: infomic2026@unina.it, paola.festa@unina.it)
Dept. of Mathematics and Applications "R. Caccioppoli", University of Napoli "Federico II"


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[DMANET] AICrypt 2026 - Call for Abstracts

*****************************************************************************
AICrypt 2026 - Call for Abstracts

6th Workshop on Artificial Intelligence and Cryptography

May 9, 2026

Event affiliated with Eurocrypt 2026 (https://eurocrypt.iacr.org/2026/
<https://eurocrypt.iacr.org/2026/>)
Madrid, Spain

*** SUBMISSION DEADLINE: March 6, 2026 (AoE) ***

https://aicrypt2026.aisylab.com/
*****************************************************************************


SCOPE

The intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and security has
gained significant attention, driven by the need for secure solutions
that deploy AI. Cryptography, in particular, stands as a notable
example of the benefits of AI integration. AI techniques and methods
are already being applied to address challenges in cryptography, such
as improving cryptanalysis and physical attacks and relevant
countermeasures. Additionally, the use of cryptography to address
security and privacy issues in AI systems is emerging as a crucial
area of focus. As attacks on AI systems become more powerful, there is
a growing need to explore how cryptographic strategies can mitigate
these threats. Examples include the development of cryptographic
backdoors in neural networks, the use of cryptographic techniques to
watermark the output of LLMs, or model stealing attacks based on
cryptanalysis techniques. Our goal is to bring together experts from
academia and industry, each with a unique perspective on cryptography
and AI, to foster knowledge exchange and collaborative innovation. We
are particularly interested in exploring how techniques can be
transferred across different cryptographic applications and in
enhancing AI security mechanisms. Moreover, we will review recent
advancements, including those discussed at previous AICrypt events, to
provide a comprehensive understanding of this rapidly evolving field.


TOPICS OF INTEREST

Topics of interest for this workshop include, but are not limited to:

- Machine learning-based cryptanalysis
- AI-assisted side-channel and fault attacks
- Cryptanalysis of public-key and symmetric-key crypto algorithms
- AI-driven design and evaluation of countermeasures
- Automated discovery of cryptographic weaknesses
- Privacy-preserving training and inference (e.g., MPC, HE, DP)
- Cryptographic enforcement of access control and usage policies for
models and data
- Secure model deployment and key management for AI systems
- Cryptographic primitives tailored to AI workloads
- Robust watermarking and fingerprinting of models and LLM outputs
- Model stealing and extraction attacks related to cryptanalytic
techniques
- Backdoors and trojans in neural networks with cryptographic
constructions
- Attacks on federated learning and other distributed AI settings
- Formal models and proofs for AI security and privacy
- New cryptographic assumptions motivated by AI settings
- Transfer of techniques between traditional cryptography and AI
security
- Case studies and empirical evaluations of AI-crypto systems


SUBMISSIONS

We encourage researchers working on all aspects of AI and cryptography
to take the opportunity and use AICrypt to share their work and
participate in discussions. The authors are invited to submit an
extended abstract using the EasyChair submission system:

https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=aicrypt2026

Submitted abstracts for contributed talks will be reviewed by the
workshop organizers for suitability and interest to the AICrypt
audience. There are no formal proceedings published in this workshop,
thus authors can submit extended abstracts related to works submitted
or recently published in other venues, or work in progress that they
plan to submit elsewhere. Every accepted submission must have at
least one author registered for the workshop. All submitted abstracts
must follow the original LNCS format with a page limit of up to 2
pages (excluding references):

https://www.springer.com/gp/computer-science/lncs

The abstracts should be submitted electronically in PDF format.


IMPORTANT DATES

- Abstract submission deadline: March 6, 2026
- Notification to authors: March 20, 2026
- Workshop date: May 9, 2026


PARTICIPATION

The workshop will be held in Madrid, Spain, as an affiliated
event of Eurocrypt 2025. For further information about registering
to the event, please refer to the main Eurocrypt website:

https://eurocrypt.iacr.org/2026/


ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

- Stjepan Picek, Radboud University, Nijmegen (NL) - stjepan.picek@ru.nl
- Lejla Batina, Radboud University, Nijmegen (NL) - lejla@cs.ru.nl
- Luca Mariot, University of Twente, Enschede (NL) - l.mariot@utwente.nl


WEBSITE

https://aicrypt2026.aisylab.com/

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Saturday, February 14, 2026

[DMANET] Announce: passagemath 10.8.1, pip-installable modularized fork of SageMath

passagemath is open source mathematical software in Python, released
under the GNU General Public Licence GPLv2+.

It is a compatible fork of SageMath, which has been developed since 2005
under the motto "Creating a Viable Open Source Alternative to Magma,
Maple, Mathematica, and MATLAB".

The passagemath fork uses the motto "Creating a Free Passage Between
the Scientific Python Ecosystem and Mathematical Software
Communities." It was created in October 2024.

A major new stable release 10.8.1 is now available. It is up to date
with SageMath 10.9.beta3 (January 2026).

https://github.com/passagemath/passagemath

For Sage users/developers:
- The passagemath project maintains a stable version of the Sage
distribution, supporting system Python 3.11–3.14, and supporting the
traditional installation mode using "make configure && ./configure &&
make build".
- New packages, only in passagemath: CMR (combinatorial matrix
recognition library), highspy, Macaulay2, mpsolve, pplite/pplitepy, Py4ti2.
- Ships a full set of GAP packages and PARI/GP data packages.
- Numerous package upgrades, carried out with rigorous platform
portability testing on a wide range of platforms.

For Python users:
- Provides the full functionality of Sage, installable instantly from
binary wheels on PyPI:
https://github.com/passagemath/passagemath?tab=readme-ov-file#full-installation-of-passagemath-from-binary-wheels-on-pypi
- Binary wheels are available for Python 3.11–3.14, Linux and macOS,
for the x86_64 and ARM architectures.
- Can be run in generic cloud computing systems such as Google Colab
and the marimo.io molab.
- Binary wheels are available for a subset of the functionality for
native Windows on x86_64 and ARM.
- A subset of the functionality is also available on Windows through
the MSYS2 package manager.

For Sage package authors:
- Provides 120 modularized distributions of portions of the Sage
library including its many dependencies, as well as GAP packages.
- Each can be declared as a build-time or run-time dependency,
making your package a first-class member of the Python "ecosystem":
https://github.com/passagemath/passagemath?tab=readme-ov-file#modularized-distributions
- The passagemath project curates a library of Sage user packages
that are ready for the Python "ecosystem" via passagemath.

For downstream packagers:
- Each of the 120 modularized distribution packages is provided on PyPI
in the form of sdists that adhere to PEP 517/518.
https://pypi.org/org/passagemath/
- The modularized design makes porting and packaging a productive
incremental process, not an all-or-nothing proposition.
- Use "export SAGE_CONF_FILE=/dev/null" to disable the passagemath
confectionery (https://pypi.org/project/passagemath-conf/), or specify
a file to side-load configuration values.
- Non-Python dependencies of each distribution package are declared in
pyproject.toml in the format proposed by draft
https://peps.python.org/pep-0725

For upstream projects:
- Consider adopting the modularized passagemath distribution package
that provides an interface to your library as the official Python
interface package.

For help, inquiries, discussion, please use the passagemath forums.
https://github.com/passagemath#passagemath-community

New as of 2026: Weekly passagemath office hours on the Scientific Python
Discord server on Thursdays at 11am Pacific Time. All are welcome.

--
Matthias Koeppe -- http://www.math.ucdavis.edu/~mkoeppe

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[DMANET] PhD student position in Data Analytics / Operations Research – Ghent University

For the REINFUSE research project (Digital Tools foR onlinE valorIsatioN oF USed Equipment), we are hiring a full-time PhD researcher. This multidisciplinary project includes a consortium of researchers of Ghent University and KU Leuven, studying product identification and valorization for second-hand industrial equipment, contributing to both sustainability and competitiveness of the Flemish industry. The PhD researcher will work primarily on issues of maximizing the value recovery and reuse of used equipment, covering both product-based and market-based valorization approaches.

This is a 4-year project, and in collaboration with 10 industrial partners and Flanders Make, during which you will be supervised by prof. Dries Goossens and prof. Dries Benoit (Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University).

More details on the project and how to apply can be found at:
https://www.ugent.be/en/work/scientific/doctoral-fellow-68

The deadline to apply is March 1, and the contract starts September 2026.

For more information please contact Prof. dr. Dries Goossens, mail: dries.goossens@ugent.be<mailto:dries.goossens@ugent.be>.

Feel free to circulate this offer to potential candidates and colleagues who are looking for PhD positions, or to contact me if you want more information.


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[DMANET] PhD student position in Operations Research – Joint Ghent University & KU Leuven

Interested in doing research on optimization/timetabling, with applications in educational planning problems? Care to find out how AI tools may impact teaching of operations research? We offer a fully funded (4 years) PhD position under the supervision of prof. Dries Goossens, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration (Ghent University) and profs. Jeroen Belien and Liesje De Boeck, Faculty of Economics and Business (KU Leuven).

More details on the project and how to apply can be found at:
https://www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jobsite/jobs/60617302

The deadline to apply is March 1, and the contract starts September 2026.
Applications should be submitted through KU Leuven's online platform, see https://webwsp.aps.kuleuven.be/esap/public/ui5_ui5/sap/zh_erc_esol_go/index.html?sap-ui-language=EN&vacaturenummer=60617302&toepassing=LGH

For more information please contact Prof. dr. Dries Goossens, mail: dries.goossens@ugent.be; Prof. dr. Jeroen Belien, mail: jeroen.belien@kuleuven.be; Prof. dr. Liesje De Boeck, mail: liesje.deboeck@kuleuven.be.

Feel free to circulate this offer to potential candidates and colleagues who are looking for PhD positions, or to contact me if you want more information.

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[DMANET] DeepLearn 2026: early registration March 1st

******************************************************

13th INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL ON DEEP LEARNING

DeepLearn 2026

Orléans, France

July 20-24, 2026

https://deeplearn.irdta.eu/2026/

******************************************************

Co-organized by:

University of Orléans

Centre Val de Loire Doctoral College

Institute for Research Development, Training and Advice – IRDTA
Luxembourg/London

******************************************************

Early registration: March 1st, 2026

******************************************************

SCOPE:

DeepLearn 2026 will be a research training event with a global scope aiming at updating participants on the most recent advances in the critical and fast developing area of deep learning. Previous events were held in Bilbao, Genova, Warsaw, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Guimarães, Luleå, Bournemouth, Bari, and Porto.

Deep learning is a branch of artificial intelligence covering a spectrum of current frontier research and industrial innovation that provides more efficient algorithms to deal with large-scale data in a huge variety of environments: computer vision, neurosciences, speech recognition, language processing, human-computer interaction, drug discovery, biomedicine and healthcare, medical image analysis, recommender systems, advertising, fraud detection, robotics, games, business and finance, biotechnology, physics and astrophysics, biometrics, communications, climate sciences, geographic information systems, signal processing, genomics, materials design, video technology, social systems, earth and sustainability, mathematical proofs, etc. etc.

The field is also raising a number of relevant questions about efficiency and robustness of the algorithms, explainability, transparency, interpretability, risks and safety, as well as important ethical concerns at the frontier of current knowledge that deserve careful multidisciplinary discussion.

Most deep learning subareas will be displayed and main challenges identified through 16 four-hour and a half courses, 2 keynote lectures, 1 round table, and a hackathon competition among participants. Renowned academics and industry pioneers will lecture and share their views with the audience. The organizers are convinced that outstanding speakers will attract the brightest and most motivated students. Face to face interaction and networking will be main ingredients of the event. It will be also possible to fully participate in vivo remotely.

ADDRESSED TO:

Graduates, postgraduates and industry practitioners will be typical profiles of participants. However, there are no formal pre-requisites for attendance in terms of academic degrees, hence people less or more advanced in their career will be welcome as well.

Since there will be a variety of levels, specific knowledge background may be assumed for some of the courses.

Overall, DeepLearn 2026 is addressed to students, researchers and practitioners who want to keep themselves updated about recent developments and future trends. All will surely find it fruitful to listen to and discuss with major researchers, industry leaders and innovators.

VENUE:

DeepLearn 2026 will take place in Orléans, located in the heart of the Loire Valley, which was declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site in 2000. The venue will be:

University of Orléans
Faculty of Law, Economics and Management
11 rue de Blois
45100 Orléans, France

https://www.univ-orleans.fr/en

STRUCTURE:

3 courses will run in parallel during the whole event. Participants will be able to freely choose the courses they wish to attend as well as to move from one to another.

All lectures will be videorecorded. Participants will be able to watch them again for 45 days after the event.

An open session will give participants the opportunity to present their own work in progress in 5 minutes. Also companies will be able to present their industrial developments for 10 minutes.

The school will include a hackathon, where participants will be able to work in teams to tackle several machine learning challenges.

Full live online participation will be possible. The organizers highlight, however, the importance of face to face interaction and networking in this kind of research training event.

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS:

Yingbin Liang (Ohio State University), Convergence Theory: How Fast Do Discrete Diffusion Models Generate?

Le Song (Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence), Multiscale Foundation Models for Biology

PROFESSORS AND COURSES:

Nitesh Chawla (University of Notre Dame), [intermediate] Learning from Imbalanced Data

Yuejie Chi (Yale University), [introductory/intermediate] Statistical and Algorithmic Foundations of Reinforcement Learning

Bo Han (Hong Kong Baptist University), [introductory/intermediate] Trustworthy Machine Learning from Data to Models

Jiawei Han (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), [intermediate] Structure-Guided, Theme-Based Knowledge Discovery with Large Language Models

Mingyi Hong (University of Minnesota), [intermediate] Modern Optimization Algorithms for Large Language Models

Cho-Jui Hsieh (University of California Los Angeles), [intermediate/advanced] Optimizers for Large Language Model Training

Furong Huang (University of Maryland), [advanced] Generative AI Agents

Tara Javidi (University of California San Diego), [intermediate] Active Physical Intelligence for Industrial Scale Monitoring

Yan Liu (University of Southern California), [intermediate] Time Series Foundation Models: From Forecasting to Reasoning

Zhijin Qin (Tsinghua University), [intermediate/advanced] Semantic Communications

Aarti Singh (Carnegie Mellon University), [intermediate] Human Centered AI: Challenges and Opportunities

Suvrit Sra (Technical University of Munich), [introductory/intermediate] Introduction to the Theory of Learning with Transformers

Ivor Tsang (A*STAR Centre for Frontier AI Research), [introductory/intermediate] Long-Horizon Agentic Intelligence

Ming-Hsuan Yang (University of California Merced), [advanced] Recent Advances in Multimodal Understanding and Generation

Tong Zhang (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), [introductory/intermediate] Reinforcement Learning for Large Language Models

Jun Zhu (Tsinghua University), [introductory/advanced] Generative Models: from Virtual to Physical World

OPEN SESSION:

An open session will collect 5-minute voluntary oral presentations of work in progress by participants.

They should submit a half-page abstract containing the title, authors, and summary of the research to david@irdta.eu by July 12, 2026.

INDUSTRIAL SESSION:

A session will be devoted to 10-minute demonstrations of practical applications of deep learning in industry.

Companies interested in contributing are welcome to submit a 1-page abstract containing the program of the demonstration and the logistics needed. People in charge of the demonstration must register for the event.

Abstracts have to be submitted to david@irdta.eu by July 12, 2026.

HACKATHON:

A hackathon will take place, where participants can voluntarily work in teams to tackle several machine learning challenges. They will be coordinated by Professor Sergei V. Gleyzer (University of Alabama). The challenges will be released 2 weeks before the beginning of the school. A jury will judge the submissions and the winners of each challenge will be announced by the end of August 2026. The winning teams will receive a modest monetary prize and the runners-up will get a certificate.

SPONSORS:

Companies/institutions/organizations willing to be sponsors of the event can download the sponsorship leaflet from

https://deeplearn.irdta.eu/2026/sponsors/

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE:

Karim Abed-Meraim (Orléans, local co-chair)
Sergei V. Gleyzer (Tuscaloosa, hackathon chair)
Meryem Jabloun (Orléans, local co-chair)
Carlos Martín-Vide (Tarragona, program chair)
Santiago Montes (Tarragona, webpage)
Sara Morales (Luxembourg, finances)
Florian Nowicki (Orléans, social networks)
Philippe Ravier (Orléans, local chair)
David Silva (London, organization chair)

REGISTRATION:

It has to be done at

https://deeplearn.irdta.eu/2026/registration/

The selection of 6 courses requested in the registration template is only tentative and non-binding. For logistical reasons, it will be helpful to have an estimation of the respective demand for each course.

Since the capacity of the venue is limited, registration requests will be processed on a first come first served basis. The registration period will be closed and the on-line registration tool disabled when the capacity of the venue will have got exhausted. It is highly recommended to register prior to the event.

FEES:

Fees comprise access to all program activities and lunches.

There are several early registration deadlines. Fees depend on the registration deadline.

The fees for on site and for online participation are the same.

ACCOMMODATION:

Accommodation suggestions are available at

https://deeplearn.irdta.eu/2026/accommodation/

CERTIFICATE:

A certificate of successful participation will be delivered indicating the number of hours of academic activities (40). This should be sufficient for those participants who plan to request ECTS recognition from their home university.

QUESTIONS AND FURTHER INFORMATION:

david@irdta.eu

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:

Université d'Orléans

Collège Doctoral Centre-Val de Loire

Universitat Rovira i Virgili

Institute for Research Development, Training and Advice – IRDTA, Luxembourg/London
**********************************************************
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Friday, February 13, 2026

[DMANET] [Algorithms] (IF 2.1, CiteScore 4.5) 2nd volume of the Editor's Choice Articles

We are pleased to share with you the 2nd volume of the Editor's Choice
Articles in the open access journal /Algorithms
/(https://www.mdpi.com/journal/algorithms). These articles are free to
access and can be downloaded below:

1. Hardness and Approximability of Dimension Reduction on the
Probability Simplex

https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4893/17/7/296

2. Verifying Mutual Exclusion Algorithms with Non-Atomic Registers

https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4893/17/12/536

3. A Review on Inverse Kinematics, Control and Planning for Robotic
Manipulators With and Without Obstacles via Deep Neural Networks

https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4893/18/1/23

4. A Scalable Framework for Sensor Data Ingestion and Real-Time
Processing in Cloud Manufacturing

https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4893/18/1/22

5. DDL R-CNN: Dynamic Direction Learning R-CNN for Rotated Object Detection

https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4893/18/1/21

6. Impossibility Results for Byzantine-Tolerant State Observation,
Synchronization, and Graph Computation Problems

https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4893/18/1/26

7. Integrating Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, and
Sensor-Based Technologies: A Systematic Review of Methodologies in
Autism Spectrum Disorder Detection

https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4893/18/1/34

8. SMOTE vs. SMOTEENN: A Study on the Performance of Resampling
Algorithms for Addressing Class Imbalance in Regression Models

https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4893/18/1/37

9. Application Framework and Optimal Features for UAV-Based
Earthquake-Induced Structural Displacement Monitoring

https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4893/18/2/66

10. Intelligent Multi-Fault Diagnosis for a Simplified Aircraft Fuel System

https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4893/18/2/73

We also warmly welcome your submissions if you have relevant work to
contribute. Please feel free to contact our Assistant Editor, Mr. Musea
Wu (musea.wu@mdpi.com), for any questions or assistance.

--

Mr. Musea Wu

Assistant Editor

*News: *

1. /Algorithms/received an increased 2024 Impact Factor of 2.1 and
CiteScore of 4.5

2. /Algorithms/ ranks Q1 in Scopus: "Mathematics - Numerical Analysis"
(https://www.scopus.com/sourceid/21100199795)

3. Recruiting Editorial Board Members for /Algorithms/
(https://www.mdpi.com/about/announcements/14101)

**

*Highly Cited in 2025:*

1. A Review on Inverse Kinematics, Control and Planning for Robotic
Manipulators With and Without Obstacles via Deep Neural Networks

(https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4893/18/1/23)

2. A Scalable Framework for Sensor Data Ingestion and Real-Time
Processing in Cloud Manufacturing

(https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4893/18/1/22)

3. DDL R-CNN: Dynamic Direction Learning R-CNN for Rotated Object Detection

(https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4893/18/1/21)


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[DMANET] [Cryptography] (IF 2.1, CiteScore 5.0) Top Cited Papers in Volume 9

We are sharing with you some top cited papers published in the open
access journal /Cryptography/ (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/cryptography)
Volume 9, which are free to access and can be downloaded here:

1. A Practical Performance Benchmark of Post-Quantum Cryptography Across
Heterogeneous Computing Environments
https://www.mdpi.com/2410-387X/9/2/32

2. Cryptographic Techniques in Artificial Intelligence Security:
A Bibliometric Review
https://www.mdpi.com/2410-387X/9/1/17

3. Compact 8-Bit S-Boxes Based on Multiplication in a Galois Field GF(24)
https://www.mdpi.com/2410-387X/9/2/21

4. Design and Implementation of a Quantum-Assisted Digital Signature
https://www.mdpi.com/2410-387X/9/1/11

5. A Self-Sovereign Identity Blockchain Framework for Access Control and
Transparency in Financial Institutions
https://www.mdpi.com/2410-387X/9/1/9

6. QPUF: Quantum Physical Unclonable Functions for Security-by-Design of
Industrial Internet-of-Things
https://www.mdpi.com/2410-387X/9/2/34

See this full volume via https://www.mdpi.com/2410-387X/9.

Additionally, we welcome your submissions if you have relevant papers to
be submitted. Please contact the journal editorial office
cryptography@mdpi.com.

Best regards,
Xue Cheng
Managing Editor
--
MDPI Branch Office, Wuhan
Cryptography Editorial Office
https://www.mdpi.com/journal/cryptography
MDPI, Grosspeteranlage 5, 4052 Basel, Switzerland

Twitter: @Cryptogr_MDPI https://twitter.com/Cryptogr_MDPI
LinkedIn: Cryptography-MDPI
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[DMANET] Fully Funded PhD Position in TCS and Machine Learning

The Department of Computer Science at the University of Alaska Fairbanks
invites applications for a fully funded PhD position in Theoretical
Computer Science and Machine Learning, beginning in the fall semester of
2026.


Research Environment


The successful candidate will join a research group active in:


• *Theoretical Computer Science, including*


– Graph Algorithms

– Computational Complexity and Fine-grained Complexity

– Computational Geometry


• *Machine Learning, with a particular focus on*


– Dataless Neural Networks

– Theory-inspired learning models


The specific PhD research project will be defined collaboratively with the
student, based on their background, interests, and strengths, and aligned
with the group's broader research directions.


The PhD position is fully funded for the first three years.


*Desired Background*


Applicants are expected to have:


• A Master's degree in Computer Science, Mathematics, or a closely related
field, with strong

preparation in algorithms, theory, or discrete mathematics

• Strong mathematical maturity and interest in foundational and algorithmic
research

• Demonstrated motivation for research at the intersection of theory and
learning

• Programming knowledge in Python is desired


Exceptional candidates with equivalent preparation may also be considered.


*How to Express Interest*


Interested candidates are encouraged to contact directly:

*Dr. Sangram K. Jena*

*Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science*

*University of Alaska Fairbanks*

*skjena@alaska.edu <skjena@alaska.edu>*


Initial contact may include a brief description of academic background,
research interests, and

a CV. Informal inquiries are welcome.


Note: Formal application procedures and timelines will be discussed with
shortlisted candidates.

--
*~Best regards,*
*/ **Sangram K Jena**, Ph.D. ** (*he/him)

Assistant Professor

University of Alaska Fairbanks

Department of Computer Science

525 Duckering Building

Fairbanks, AK 99775

907-474-5829

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[DMANET] Final Call: Xpress Best Paper Award

The Xpress Best Paper Award 2026 nomination deadline is on Feb 14, 2026!
We invite you to nominate or self-nominate papers.
The Xpress Best Paper Award acknowledges outstanding papers in the named areas in which the usage of FICO Xpress Optimization products played a significant role.
Papers published in the two years between January 1, 2024, and December 31, 2025, will qualify for the fourth edition awarded in 2026.
The award includes a $1,500 cash prize.

Detailed information can be found at this blog https://community.fico.com/s/blog-post/a5Q4w000000403KEAQ/fico4407 or the award homepage https://www.i2damo.de/de/xpress-best-paper-award .
Also, see these blogs about the winners of the past three years:
- https://community.fico.com/s/blog-post/a5QQi0000067HNFMA2/fico6140
- https://community.fico.com/s/blog-post/a5QQi000002rzAfMAI/fico5205
- https://community.fico.com/s/blog-post/a5Q4w000001UfWLEA0/fico4101
Please feel free to contact me with any questions.


Timo Berthold, on behalf of the award committee (Layla Martin, Ivana Ljubic, Stefano Gualandi, Ambros Gleixner)
This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential, proprietary and intended solely for the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please delete it immediately.

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[DMANET] Final CfPart: AQUARIUM 2026 - Workshop on Automated QUAntification of Risk In Uncertain Models

# CALL FOR PRESENTATION / PARTICIPATION

1st Workshop on Automated QUAntification of Risk In Uncertain Models
(AQUARIUM)
Lancaster University Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany

- Talk Proposal Submission: 15.02.2026 (AoE) (extended)
- Notification: 17.02.2026 (AoE)
- Workshop: 24.-25.03.2026

Website with up-to-date information:
https://wp.lancs.ac.uk/aquarium-workshop/

Participation without own submission/presentation is also possible. In
that case, please contact Tobias Meggendorfer directly.

# SCOPE

While established in finance and operations research, formally
quantifying (and managing) risk is an emerging topic in various fields
connected to automated (sequential) decision making, e.g. verification
or reinforcement learning. There are numerous ways to quantify risk and
similarly many sources, e.g. probabilistic uncertainties or lack of
knowledge. AQUARIUM aims to bring together researchers investigating
different notions of risk and foster exchange between them.

Topics of interest include but are not limited to:
- Different definitions of risk and their properties
- Different sources of risk, such as stochastic or epistemic
uncertainties or varying models, such as attack-defense / fault trees
and multi-agent systems
- Complexity analysis of and algorithmic solutions for automated
risk-aware decision making
- Case-studies and real-world applications of risk
- Connections between risk and security

# SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

To give a presentation at the workshop, please submit a (non-anonymous)
abstract / talk proposal (1-2 pages, excluding references) via easychair:

http://easychair.org/conferences?conf=aquarium2026

Please use the Springer LLNCS LaTeX style to prepare your submission.
The workshop won't have formal proceedings. You are free / encouraged to
submit work for presentation that is or will be published elsewhere.

# FORMAT

The workshop is planned as a two-day event (ending around noon), with a
mixture of presentations and guided discussion sessions. To encourage
lively exchange, the workshop is planned as in-person only. Leipzig is
well connected and easily reached by car, train, or plane. There are
many hotels within walking distance, and we can offer special rates for
several of them.

We can also support travel and accommodation costs for a limited number
of participants, prioritizing early-career researchers. Please contact
Tobias Meggendorfer (see below) in case you require support.

# ORGANIZERS

- Christel Baier
- Tobias Meggendorfer
- Maximilian Weininger

Please contact Tobias Meggendorfer ( t.meggendorfer@lancaster.ac.uk )
about any arising questions.
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[DMANET] PhD position in machine learning at KTH (Sweden)

We invite applications from talented and highly motivated candidates to pursue a PhD degree in machine learning. The research team focuses on developing novel methods to extract knowledge from data, modelling large-scale complex systems, and exploring new application areas in data science. Areas of interest include but are not limited to models and algorithms for knowledge discovery, novel algorithmic and statistical techniques for big data management, optimization for machine learning, analysis of information and social networks, fairness, accountability, and transparency in learning systems.

Applicants must hold a Master's degree by the time of enrollment. Successful candidates should be highly self-motivated and committed to publishing and presenting high-quality research. Solid background in algorithms design, machine learning, and optimization is essential, along with strong programming and implementation skills.

The advertised position is funded by Wallenberg AI, Autonomous Systems and Software Program (WASP), Sweden's largest individual research program ever, a major national initiative for strategically motivated basic research, education and faculty recruitment. The program addresses research on artificial intelligence and autonomous systems acting in collaboration with humans, adapting to their environment through sensors, information and knowledge, and forming intelligent systems-of-systems. The vision of WASP is excellent research and competence in artificial intelligence, autonomous systems and software for the benefit of Swedish industry.

Supervision: Aristides Gionis (KTH)

Applications must be made online through the KTH job portal. Full position details, including how to apply online can be found at:

https://www.kth.se/lediga-jobb/898611?l=en

The deadline for online applications is March 5, 2026.
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[DMANET] PhD position in models, algorithms, and optimization for machine learning. Joint degree in KTH (Sweden) and NTU (Singapore)

We invite applications from talented and highly motivated candidates to pursue a PhD in machine learning at KTH, Sweden, and NTU, Singapore. This is a fully funded, joint doctoral position that will lead to a joint PhD degree awarded by KTH and NTU. The successful candidate will be supervised by professor Aristides Gionis (KTH), associate professor Kelly Ke Yiping (NTU), and assistant professor Sebastian Dalleiger (KTH). The doctoral student will be recruited and formally enrolled at KTH, and will be required to spend a minimum of 12 months at NTU in Singapore as part of the joint program. The research project is broadly situated in the field of machine learning. Potential research topics include, but are not limited to, algorithmic knowledge discovery, graph mining and social network analysis, optimization for machine learning, representation learning, and fair, accountable, and transparent machine learning.

Applicants must hold a Master's degree by the time of enrollment. Successful candidates should be highly self-motivated and committed to publishing and presenting high-quality research. Solid background in algorithms design, machine learning, and optimization is essential, along with strong programming and implementation skills.

Supervision: Aristides Gionis (KTH), Sebastian Dalleiger (KTH), Kelly Ke Yiping (NTU)

Applications must be made online through the KTH job portal. Full position details, including how to apply online can be found at:

https://www.kth.se/lediga-jobb/898105?l=en

The deadline for online applications is March 5, 2026.
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[DMANET] PhD school on robust optimization in Porquerolles (France) - september 2026 - 2nd call

Dear all

This is the second call for the PhD school on robust optimization at IGESA in Porquerolles (https://maps.app.goo.gl/VismMQ5mrYzMPdDr5), on September 7-11 2026. The school will cover basics of static, adjustable, combinatorial robust optimization, as well as distributionally robust optimization, see the website https://ro2026.sciencesconf.org/?lang=en

The cost of the school will be around 800€ for 4 nights (Monday - Friday), everything included.

To apply to the school, please send a CV to poss@lirmm.fr, with topic « application to ROSCHOOL26 », no later than March 15th. Your CV should include :
a description of your thesis topic and ongoing research
a list of optimization classes that you have taken during your bachelor's, master's and/or doctoral studies

Best,

Michaël Poss


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[DMANET] SISAP 2026: Call for Papers

============================================================================
====

19th International Conference on Similarity Search and Applications, SISAP
2026

October 14-16, 2026, Brno, Czech Republic

CORE Rank B conference, https://www.sisap.org/2026/

Topics in brief: Learned Similarity, Embeddings, Vector Databases, Scalable
Retrieval, Multimedia and Multimodality, Similarity Models and Theory, Demos
and Applications

============================================================================
====

**Important Dates**

Regular paper deadline: May 29, 2026 (AoE)

Demonstration and Doctoral Symposium paper deadline: June 17, 2026 (AoE)

Special Session proposals: February 27, 2026 (AoE), more info below

SISAP Indexing Challenge: June 17, 2026 (AoE), more info below

**Scope**

The International Conference on Similarity Search and Applications (SISAP)
focuses on research in similarity-based data management and retrieval, with
emphasis on embedding-based methods, vector databases, and
machine-learning-driven similarity search.

SISAP covers similarity models, indexing and query processing, scalable and
distributed similarity systems, learned and adaptive techniques, and
similarity-aware database architectures supporting high-dimensional and
multimodal data.

Originating from metric indexing research, SISAP is the only international
conference dedicated exclusively to similarity search, spanning theory,
systems, evaluation, and applications across data management, information
retrieval, and machine learning.

**Topics of Interest**

The SISAP conference solicits original research contributions on similarity
search and its applications. Topics of interest include, but are not limited
to:

Similarity Models and Theory

. Models of similarity and dissimilarity in metric and non-metric spaces

. Intrinsic dimensionality, concentration phenomena, hubness, and
discriminability

. Manifolds, embeddings, and geometric properties of similarity spaces

. Theoretical foundations and limits of similarity search and indexing

Learning and Representations

. Feature extraction and representation learning for similarity search

. Metric learning and learned similarity measures

. Embeddings from self-supervised and foundation models

. Multimodal and cross-modal similarity representations

Similarity Queries and Processing

. Similarity queries and operators (k-NN, range, reverse NN, top-k,
diversity queries)

. Exact, approximate, and probabilistic similarity search

. Similarity joins, ranking, filtering, and aggregation

. Query semantics and languages for similarity-based data

. Cross-modal similarity search

Indexing and Scalable Systems

. Indexing and access methods for similarity search

. Graph-based, tree-based, hashing, quantization, and hybrid approaches

. Learned and adaptive index structures

. Parallel, distributed, and GPU-accelerated similarity processing

. Dynamic, streaming, and update-aware similarity systems

Similarity-Aware Data Management

. Similarity search in database and data management systems

. Vector databases and similarity-native storage engines

. Query optimization and execution for similarity workloads

. Integration of similarity search with relational, graph, and hybrid
systems

. Cloud-native and large-scale similarity services

Evaluation and Benchmarks

. Evaluation methodologies and cost models for similarity processing

. Benchmark datasets, workloads, and experimental frameworks

. Accuracy-efficiency trade-offs and reproducibility

Applications

. Similarity search in multimedia, scientific, industrial, and emerging data
domains

. Similarity search in healthcare, sports, robotics, security, and other
fields

. Dense retrieval and semantic search

. Recommendation systems and personalization

. Search and question-answering within content collections

============================================================================
====

**Regular Papers**

Full papers (from 9 to 14 pages in Springer LNCS format) are expected to be
descriptions of complete technical work, whereas short papers (of up to 8
pages) can describe innovative approaches or preliminary results which may
nevertheless require more work to mature. Vision papers and other position
papers should be submitted as short research papers. Page limits include
references. Any appendices, if needed, can only be posted online, and the
reviewers are not expected to take them into account.

**Demonstration Papers**

Demonstration papers (of up to 8 pages in Springer LNCS format) should
provide the motivation for the demonstrated concepts, the information about
the technology and the system to be demonstrated, and should state the
significance of the contribution. The scenarios within which the
demonstrated system applies should also be explained. Evaluation criteria
for the demonstration proposals include: novelty, technical advances and
challenges, and the overall practical attractiveness of the demonstrated
system. A demonstration submission consists of a paper and an additional
1-page appendix (in PDF format) that illustrates how the demo will be
conducted on-site at SISAP. This additional content will not be published in
the conference proceedings, should the submission be accepted.

**Doctoral Symposium Papers**

A submission to the doctoral symposium consists of a paper and an additional
1-page appendix (both in PDF format), which must be single-author and
written by the student alone. The paper should be no longer than 6 pages in
Springer LNCS format (plus up to 2 pages of references). The paper must
describe the problem being addressed, an outline of the planned methodology,
contributions made so far, and the work lying ahead as part of the author's
PhD study. The additional 1-page appendix will not be published in the
conference proceedings, should the submission be accepted. This appendix
should describe the benefits that would be obtained by attending the
doctoral symposium, namely the student's motivation to attend SISAP, and
their advisor's word on how the student would benefit by attending the
Doctoral Symposium.

============================================================================
====

**Special Session Proposals**

We also welcome special sessions at the conference. Special sessions are
mini-venues that introduce new directions related to the SISAP topics of
interest, but not explicitly listed. Special sessions are typically
organized as a moderated panel, where the authors of special-session papers
will discuss their topic with the panelists. It is expected that special
session chairs and panelists will attend the conference. Special session
papers will supplement the regular research papers and be included in the
LNCS proceedings of SISAP 2026.

Learn more: https://www.sisap.org/2026/call4specialsession.html

============================================================================
====

**SISAP Indexing Challenge**

SISAP Indexing Challenge is an event for researchers and practitioners aimed
at advancing the state-of-the-art in large-scale similarity data management.
The challenge provides a platform to showcase innovative solutions and push
the boundaries of efficiency and effectiveness in indexing, filtering, and
searching. The results provide valuable comparisons of competing approaches
and their implementations from given viewpoints and environments. It is
expected that participants prepare a detailed report of their solution and
results in a typical SISAP's short-paper format, which will be included in
the LNCS proceedings of SISAP 2026.

Learn more: https://www.sisap.org/2026/indexingchallenge.html

============================================================================
====

Dr. Vasileios Mezaris

Research Director

Head of Intelligent Digital Transformation Laboratory

Information Technologies Institute (ITI)

Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH)

6th Km Charilaou-Thermi Road

P.O. Box 60361, 57001 Thermi-Thessaloniki, Greece

Tel: +30 2311 257770, email: bmezaris@iti.gr

web: <http://www.iti.gr/~bmezaris> http://www.iti.gr/~bmezaris

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: The information in this email and any attachments
thereto are confidential, except where the e-mail specifically states that
its contents can be disclosed, and is intended solely for the use of its
intended recipient(s). It may also be subject to legal privilege or
otherwise protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient
of this communication, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying,
distribution, or use of the information contained in or attached to this
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to any third party, but notify the sender immediately and make sure to
delete and permanently destroy the e-mail (including any attachments
thereto) from your filing systems. Internet communications are not secure
and therefore sender/CERTH does not accept any liability for the contents of
this message and for any damage whatsoever that may be caused by viruses.

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