Call for Papers

The 41st International Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Computer Science is planned to take place from 12th March to 14th March 2024 in Clermont-Ferrand, France.

For the second time, STACS 2024 will consist of two tracks, A and B, to facilitate the work of the program committee(s).

Track A focuses on algorithms, data structures and complexity.
Track B focuses on automata, logic, semantics, and theory of programming.
Authors are invited to submit papers presenting original and unpublished research on theoretical aspects of computer science. Typical areas include:
Track A. Algorithms, Data Structures
and Complexity

Design of parallel algorithms
Distributed algorithm
Approximation algorithms
Parameterised algorithms
Randomised algorithms
Analysis of algorithms
Combinatorics of data structures
Computational geometry
Cryptography
Algorithms for machine learning
Algorithmic game theory
Quantum algorithms
Computational and structural complexity theory
Parameterised complexity
Randomness in computation

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

Automata theory
Games and multi-agent systems
Algebraic and categorical methods
Models of computation
Concurrency
Timed systems
Finite model theory
Database theory
Semantics
Type systems
Program analysis
Specification and verification
Rewriting and deduction
Learning theory
Logical aspects of computability and complexity


** These lists are not exhaustive. In particular, both tracks also welcome submissions about current challenges.
Important Dates
Submission September 28, 2023 (11:59 PM AoE)
Rebuttal November 21-23, 2023
Acceptance December 13, 2023
Final version January 18, 2024
STACS 2024 March 12-14, 2024
Submissions

Submissions will be through EasyChair

Authors are invited to submit an extended abstract or full paper with at most 12-15 pages, excluding a title page, the references section and a possible appendix, to the appropriate track. The title page consists, for instance, of the title of the paper, the abstract, and keywords, but *no* author information. The first section of the paper should start on the next page, and the appendix, if any, should also start on the next page after the bibliography. The PCs reserve the right to reassign a paper to a different track. The usage of the LIPIcs style file is mandatory; no changes to font size, page geometry, etc. are permitted. Please refer to Lipics author instructions; Submissions not in the correct format or submitted after the deadline will not be considered.

The paper should contain a succinct statement of the issues and of their motivation, a summary of the main results, and a brief explanation of their significance, accessible to non-specialist readers. Proofs omitted due to space constraints should be put into an appendix, to be read by the program committee members at their discretion. An appendix consisting of a full version of the paper is encouraged. Simultaneous submission to other conferences with published proceedings or to journals is not allowed. PC members are excluded from submitting to their own track.

As in the previous years, STACS 2024 will employ a lightweight double-blind reviewing process: submissions should not reveal the identity of the authors in any way. The purpose of the double-blind reviewing is to help PC members and external reviewers come to an initial judgment about the paper without bias, not to make it impossible for them to discover the authors if they were to try. Nothing should be done in the name of anonymity that weakens the submission or makes the job of reviewing the paper more difficult. In particular, important references should not be omitted or anonymised. In addition, authors should feel free to disseminate their ideas or draft versions of their paper as they normally would. For example, authors may post drafts of their papers on the web, submit them to arXiv, and give talks on their research ideas.

Authors will be invited to give a list of persons with a Conflict of Interest (COI). A Conflict of Interest is limited to the following categories:

Family member or close friend.
Ph.D. advisor or advisee (no time limit), or postdoctoral or undergraduate mentor or mentee within the past five years.
Person with the same affiliation.
Involved in an alleged incident of harassment. (It is not required that the incident be reported.)
Reviewer owes author a favour (e.g., recently requested a reference letter).
Frequent or recent collaborator (within last 5 years) cannot objectively review your work.

If you are unsure about a conflict in which a reviewer may have positive bias towards your paper, we recommend erring on the side of not declaring it since PC members and sub-reviewers will be also asked if they feel that they can fairly evaluate your paper. If an author believes that they have a valid reason for a Conflict of Interest not listed above, then she or he can contact PC chairs. Falsely declared conflicts (i.e., do not satisfy one of the listed reasons) risk rejection without consideration of merit. When PC chairs have doubt about claimed Conflict of Interest, they may request that STACS advocates confidentially verify the conflict. If authors are uncertain, they are encouraged to email PC chairs or STACS advocates. Authors will be asked to declare conflicts with PC members during submission, but an author can contact PC chairs directly if she or he has a conflict with an individual who is likely to be asked to serve as a sub-reviewer for the paper.

There will be a rebuttal period for authors, see below for the dates. Authors will receive the reviews of their submissions (via EasyChair) and have three days to submit rebuttals (via EasyChair). These rebuttals become part of the PC discussions, but entail no specific responses.

At least one author of each accepted paper is expected to register at the conference. For authors who cannot present their paper in person a possibility for remote presentation will be offered.
Proceedings

Accepted papers will be published in the proceedings of the symposium. As usual, these proceedings will appear in the Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs) series, based at Schloss Dagstuhl. This guarantees perennial, free and easy electronic access, while the authors retain the rights over their work. With their submission, authors consent to sign a license authorising the program committee chairs to organise the electronic publication of their paper, provided the paper is accepted.

The final camera-ready of each accepted paper should be formatted in accordance with the LIPIcs guidelines and taking reviewer comments into account. General instructions regarding the preparation of the camera-ready version and the style can be found at LIPIcs author instructions Notice that there is a limit of 15 pages for the main body of the final camera-ready, excluding the bibliography, the front page(s) (authors, affiliation, keywords, abstract, ...) and a brief appendix (of up to 5 pages) from this page limit. Any appendices to the initial submission were officially not under review and thus should not be included in the proceedings. In general, major new content can be added only if suggested by the reviewers. You are however more than welcome to have the proceedings paper link to an extended version published elsewhere (e.g., on arXiv) – the precise link to such an extended version may even be provided later, during author approval period (expected in February).
STACS Code of Conduct

STACS 2024 intends to join http://safetoc.org. Registering for STACS 2024 thus will likely require that you agree to follow the Code of Conduct described below.

STACS is committed to be a respectful forum for its participants, free from any violence, discrimination or harassment of any nature. All STACS attendees are expected to behave accordingly.

If you experience or witness violence, discrimination, harassment or other unethical behaviour at the conference, we encourage you to seek advice and remedy through one or more of the following options:

• Consult with the SafeToC advocates of STACS (to be named before the conference).
• Report to the conference chair, the PC chairs or the Steering Committee chair.

The chairs are entitled to remove registered participants from the conference (without refunding the conference fees) if they are deemed to pose an ethical risk to other participants. The conference chair may contact the local university committee dedicated to address violence, unethical behaviour or harassment of any kind. Besides having an appointment with the victim, this committee can assist with medical support and with taking legal action.
Contact Information
Web: http://www.stacs-conf.org
Email: stacs2024@easychair.org