The 4th USENIX Workshop on Hot Topics in Parallelism (HotPar '12) will bring together researchers and practitioners doing innovative work in the area of parallel computing. Multicore and multithreaded processors are pervasive, and core counts are increasing. This trend is driven by limits on energy consumption in computer systems and the poor energy performance of increasingly complex uniprocessors. Parallel architectures can potentially mitigate these problems, but larger core counts will be successful only if languages, systems, and applications can take advantage of parallel hardware. Navigating this change will require new parallel programming paradigms, new methods of application design, new structures for system software, and new models of interaction among applications, compilers, operating systems, and hardware.

Submissions
We request submissions of position papers that propose new directions for research or products in these areas, advocate non-traditional approaches to the problems engendered by parallelism, or potentially generate controversy and discussion. We encourage submissions from practitioners as well as from researchers. HotPar recognizes the broad impact of multicore computing and seeks relevant contributions in all fields, including application design, languages and compilers, systems, and architecture. We particularly encourage contributions containing highly original ideas that are likely to have a significant impact.

To ensure a productive workshop environment, attendance will be limited to 75 participants. Each potential participant should submit a position paper of five or fewer pages (not including references, which can be on extra pages). Papers will be selected based on the submission's originality, technical merit, topical relevance, and likelihood of leading to insightful technical discussion at the workshop.

The main body of each paper must be no longer than 5 single-spaced 8.5" x 11" pages, including figures and tables, but not including references; two-column format, using 10-point type and a text block 6.5" wide x 9" deep. Author names and affiliations should appear on the title page. Extra pages are only allowed for references.

Position papers must be in PDF and must be submitted via the Web submission form, which will be available here soon. The deadline for paper registration and abstract submission is Tuesday, January 24, 2012, 11:59 p.m. PST. There will be no extension of the deadline. Complete paper submissions are due Tuesday, January 31, 2012, 11:59 p.m. PST.

All papers will be available online to registered attendees before the workshop. If your accepted paper should not be published prior to the event, please notify production@usenix.org. The papers will be available online to everyone beginning on the first day of the workshop, June 7, 2012.

Authors of accepted papers will be invited to present their paper at the workshop. Submission of the paper implies the author's consent to present the paper if it is accepted. In continuation of the successful format of HotPar '11, there will be ample time for questions during the presentations, as well as for "hallway" conversations.

Simultaneous submission of the same work to multiple venues, submission of previously published work, or plagiarism constitutes dishonesty or fraud. USENIX, like other scientific and technical conferences and journals, prohibits these practices and may take action against authors who have committed them. See the USENIX Conference Submissions Policy for details. Questions? Contact your program co-chairs, hotpar12chairs@usenix.org, or the USENIX office, submissionspolicy@usenix.org.

Papers accompanied by nondisclosure agreement forms will not be considered. Accepted submissions will be treated as confidential prior to publication on the USENIX HotPar '12 Web site; rejected submissions will be permanently treated as confidential.