[fg-arc] iFM 2020 (Integrated Formal Methods): Call for Papers

[iFM 2020]

==========================================================
CALL FOR PAPERS
iFM 2020

16th International Conference on integrated Formal Methods
16-20 November 2020, Lugano, Switzerland

https://ifm20.si.usi.ch/
===========================================================

=== COVID-19 ===
Due to the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we have decided that iFM 2020 will not take place physically and will be replaced by a virtual event. However, the paper selection process will not be affected: an LNCS proceedings will be prepared as usual. We will announce the plans for how the virtual conference will take place in the following weeks (in time for the paper submission deadline).

Authors of all of accepted papers:
- must present in the virtual conference in 2020 (either a live presentation, or pre-recorded talk)
- may, at their discretion, also present in person in 2021

=== Important dates ===
Abstract submission: 15 June 2020
Paper submission: 22 June 2020
Notification: 14 August 2020
Co-located events: 16-17 November 2020
Main conference: 18-20 November 2020

Deadlines expire at 23:59 anywhere on earth on the dates displayed above.

Submission site: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=ifm2020 

=== Objectives and scope ===
In recent years, we have witnessed a proliferation of approaches that integrate several modelling, verification and simulation techniques, facilitating more versatile and efficient analysis of software-intensive systems. These approaches provide powerful support for the analysis of different functional and non-functional properties of the systems, complex interaction of components of different nature as well as validation of diverse aspects of system behaviour. The iFM conference series is a forum for discussing recent research advances in the development of integrated approaches to formal modelling and analysis. The conference covers all aspects of the design of integrated techniques, including language design, verification and validation, automated tool support and the use of such techniques in software engineering practice. 

Areas of interest include but are not limited to:
- Formal and semi-formal modelling notations
- Combining formal methods  with different simulation and system analysis techniques
- Program verification, model checking, and static analysis
- Theorem proving, decision procedures, SAT/SMT solving
- Runtime analysis, monitoring, and testing
- Program synthesis
- Analysis and synthesis of hybrid, embedded, probabilistic, distributed, or concurrent systems
- Abstraction and refinement
- Model learning and inference 
- Approaches to integrating formal methods into software engineering practice

=== Submission guidelines ===

iFM 2020 solicits high quality papers reporting research results and/or experience reports related to the overall theme of formal method integration.

We accept papers in the following categories:

(1) Regular papers (limit 18 pages) on
- original scientific research results
- tools, their foundation and evaluations
- applications of formal methods, including rigorous evaluations

(2) Short papers (limit 8 pages) on
- any subject of interest in the area of formal methods that can be described with sufficient detail within the page limit

Page limits include bibliography. Appendices may be included, which will only be read by a reviewer at their discretion.

Regular and short papers submitted in categories (1) and (2) must be original, unpublished, and not submitted for publication elsewhere. Papers in these two categories will undergo a thorough review process. Submissions will be judged on the basis of significance, relevance, correctness, originality, and clarity.

Submissions for both categories should be made using the iFM 2020 Easychair site:

https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=ifm2020 

Submissions must be in PDF format, using the Springer LNCS style files.

Springer requires that authors should consult Springer’s authors’ guidelines (ftp://ftp.springernature.com/cs-proceeding/svproc/guidelines/Springer_Guidelines_for_Authors_of_Proceedings.pdf) and use their proceedings templates, either for LaTeX (ftp://ftp.springernature.com/cs-proceeding/llncs/llncs2e.zip) or for Word (ftp://ftp.springernature.com/cs-proceeding/llnc/word/splnproc1703.zip), for the preparation of their papers. Springer encourages authors to include their ORCIDs (https://goo.gl/hbsa4D) in their papers. After a paper is accepted, the corresponding author of each paper, acting on behalf of all of the authors of that paper, must complete and sign a Consent-to-Publish form. The corresponding author signing the copyright form should match the corresponding author marked on the paper. Once the files have been sent to Springer, changes relating to the authorship of the papers cannot be made.

The conference proceedings will be published in Springer's Lecture Notes in Computer Science series. A special issue of the Formal Aspects of Computing - FAOC journal (https://link.springer.com/journal/165) is planned for extended versions of selected papers from iFM 2020.

All accepted papers must be presented at the conference. Their authors must be prepared to sign a copyright transfer statement. At least one author of each accepted paper must register to the conference by the early registration date, and present the paper. Since iFM 2020 will be a virtual conference, presentations will take place online. The conference organisation will define details and schedule of the virtual event and communicate them to authors.

=== Organisation ===

= General chair =
Carlo A. Furia (Università della Svizzera Italiana (USI), Switzerland)

= PC chairs =
Brijesh Dongol (University of Surrey, UK)
Elena Troubitsyna (KTH, Sweden)

= Local Organisation = 

Web Chair 
Mohammad Rezaalipour (USI Università della Svizzera italiana, CH)

Publicity Chair
Diego Marcilio (USI Università della Svizzera italiana, CH)

Finance Chair
Elisa Larghi (USI Università della Svizzera italiana, CH)

= Program committee =
Erika Abraham (RWTH, Aachen University, Germany)
Wolfgang Ahrendt (Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden)
Yamine Ait Ameur (IRIT/INPT-ENSEEIHT, France)
Étienne André (Université de Lorraine, France)
Richard Banach (The University of Manchester, UK)
Maurice H. ter Beek (ISTI-CNR, Italy)
Pierre-Evariste Dagand (CNRS-LIP6, France)
Ferruccio Damiani (University of Torino, Italy)
John Derrick (University of Sheffield, UK)
Brijesh Dongol (University of Surrey, UK)
Marc Frappier (University of Sherbrooke, Canada)
Carlo A. Furia (Università della Svizzera Italiana (USI), Switzerland)
Marieke Huisman (University of Twente, Netherlands)
Fuyuki Ishikawa (National Institute of Informatics, Japan)
Einar Broch Johnsen (University of Oslo, Norway)
Stephan Merz (Inria Nancy, France)
Paritosh Pandya (IIT Mumbai, India)
Patrizio Pelliccione (Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden)
Luigia Petre (Åbo Akademi University, Finland)
R. Ramanujam (Institute of Mathematical Sciences, India)
Steve Schneider (University of Surrey, UK)
Emil Sekerinski (McMaster University, Canada)
Silvia Lizeth Tapia Tarifa (University of Oslo, Norway)
Stefano Tonetta (FBK, Italy)
Elena Troubitsyna (KTH, Sweden)
Juri Vain (Tallin Technical University, Estonia)
Tomáš Vojnar (Brno University of Technology, Czech Republic)
Farn Wang (NTU, Taiwan)
Heike Wehrheim (University of Paderborn, Germany)
Kirsten Winter (University of Queensland, Australia)
Naijun Zhan (Chinese Academy of Sciences, China)