Evolutionary Computation for Autonomous Cyber-Physical Systems
Webpage: https://sites.google.com/view/ec4acps26/
Description
Scope:
Autonomous Cyber-Physical Systems (ACPS) have a wide range of applications in our daily lives, including autonomous driving on the road, autonomous vessels in maritime operations, drones in the air, and robotics applications in the healthcare domain (1) . Evolutionary Computation (EC) has already been used to support the design, development, testing, operation, and maintenance of ACPSs. EC is now increasingly used in conjunction with advanced technologies such as digital twins, foundation models, and quantum computing (2, 3). EC4CPS solicits papers on both novel EC algorithms and the application of existing ones to any ACPS-related activities. Moreover, we welcome submissions on the use of EC together with emerging technologies, such as foundation models, digital twins, and quantum algorithms, for ACPS.
Content:
We solicit submissions that use EC in the context of autonomous cyber-physical systems, alone or in combination with emerging technologies, including but not limited to foundation models, digital twins, and quantum computing. The submission can cover various aspects of ACPS, e.g., modeling and simulation across different settings (e.g., software-in-the-loop and hardware-in-the-loop), code generation for ACP, testing and debugging ACPS, and the operation of ACPS with digital twins. The submissions can cover the following topics, including but not limited to:
- New EC algorithms
- Application of existing EC algorithms for ACPS
- The use of foundation models (e.g., vision language models, large language models) for the automated design of EC algorithms
- Using foundation models as part of EC algorithms
- Using EC for digital twins for ACPS
- Quantum search and optimization for ACPS
- Real-world applications
- Human evaluation of EC
- Uncertainty quantification and handling in EC
- Safety assurance of ACPS
- Runtime verification
- Ethical aspects
- Interpretability and explainability
- Reducing the simulation-reality gap in ACPS with EC
- Real-time optimization of ACPS
References:
1 R. Dashora and M. R. Babu, “A survey on state-of-the-art computing for cyber-physical systems,” AIP Conference Proceedings, vol. 2755, no. 1, p. 020001, 09 2023. Online. Available: https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0150080
2 H. Sartaj, S. Ali, P. Arcaini, and A. Arcuri, “Search-based software engineering and ai foundation models: Current landscape and future roadmap,” 2025. Online. Available: https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.19625
3 S. Ali, P. Arcaini, and A. Arrieta, “Foundation models for the digital twins creation of cyber-physical systems,” in Leveraging Applications of Formal Methods, Verification and Validation. Application Areas: 12th International Symposium, ISoLA 2024, Crete, Greece, October 27–31, 2024, Proceedings, Part V. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag, 2024, p. 9–26. Online. Available: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-75390-9 2
Submission format
Full papers and extended abstracts:
- Full papers (8 pages + references): Must cover the ACM Open APC (see below for more information)
- Extended Abstracts (up to 4 pages): Are not eligible for APC - no fee paid by the authors for ACM Open Access. An Extended Abstract provides a summary of a work-in-progress, typically just enough for readers to understand the idea, scope, and potential impact. It often lacks full methodology, detailed results, or extensive references.
Important dates
- Submission opening: February 2, 2026
- Submission deadline:
March 27, 2026April 03, 2026 - Notification: April 24, 2026
- Camera-ready: May 5, 2026
- Author's mandatory registration: May 11, 2026
ACMs new Open Access publishing model for 2026 ACM Conferences
Starting January 1, 2026, ACM will fully transition to Open Access. All ACM publications, including those from ACM-sponsored conferences, will be 100% Open Access. Authors will have two primary options for publishing Open Access articles with ACM: the ACM Open institutional model or by paying Article Processing Charges (APCs). With over 2,600 institutions already part of ACM Open, the majority of ACM-sponsored conference papers will not require APCs from authors or conferences (currently, around 76%).
Authors from institutions not participating in ACM Open will need to pay an APC to publish their papers, unless they qualify for a financial waiver. To find out whether an APC applies to your article, please consult the list of participating institutions in ACM Open and review the APC Waivers and Discounts Policy. Keep in mind that waivers are rare and are granted based on specific criteria set by ACM.
Understanding that this change could present financial challenges, ACM has approved a temporary subsidy for 2026 to ease the transition and allow more time for institutions to join ACM Open. The subsidy will offer:
- $250 APC for ACM/SIG members
- $350 for non-members
This represents a 65% discount, funded directly by ACM. Authors are encouraged to help advocate for their institutions to join ACM Open during this transition period.
This temporary subsidized pricing will apply to all conferences scheduled for 2026.
Additionally, SIGEVO will provide an additional subsidy of $125 to papers accepted to GECCO 2026 (and only for 2026) that are subject to APCs. This will make the final amounts to be paid:
- $125 (USD) for SIGEVO members
- $225 (USD) for non-members
It is IMPORTANT to mention that both forms of subsidy (by ACM and by SIGVO) only apply to GECCO 2026. Moreover, it is still to be determined how the SIGEVO subsidy will be implemented, either directly to the APC or in other forms.
Finally, we note that APC charges apply to accepted Full Papers, but Abstracts (1-2 pages), Extended Abstracts (1-4 pages) and Tutorials ARE NOT APC Eligible; i.e., an APC will not have to be paid for these types of contributions.
ACM Authorship and Peer Review Policies on Generative AI
GECCO follows the official ACM policies on authorship and peer review, including the use of generative AI tools.
Under ACM's Authorship policy, generative AI tools and technologies cannot be listed as authors of an ACM published Work. The use of generative AI tools and technologies for assistance must be fully disclosed in the manuscript's Acknowledgments section. Authors are fully accountable for the originality, accuracy, and integrity of all submitted material.
In accordance with ACM's Peer Review policy, reviewers must not upload or share submitted manuscripts or review materials with generative AI systems. Reviewers may use generative AI or tools with the sole purpose of improving the quality and readability of reviewer reports for the author.
ACM is actively developing tools to help identify improper AI use in submissions, and GECCO may employ available detection methods. Submissions found to violate ACM policies may be rejected.
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Organizers
Shaukat Ali is a Chief Research Scientist, Research Professor, and Head of the Department at Simula Research Laboratory in Oslo, Norway. He focuses on devising novel methods for developing cyber-physical systems by applying advanced techniques, including artificial intelligence, digital twins, and quantum computing. He regularly serves as a program committee member for software engineering conferences (e.g., ASE, FSE, ICSE-SEIP, ICST) and as an organizing committee member. Moreover, he serves as an associate editor for ACM TOSEM, Springer EMSE, Springer ASE, and Springer SOSYM journals. He is one of the first research scholars in the world to establish the field of quantum software testing. He has organized/co-organized many conferences and workshops in software engineering, cyber-physical systems, search-based software engineering, and quantum computing. More information is available here: https://www.simula.no/people/shaukat