 | ANTS 2026: 15th International Conference on Swarm Intelligence Darmstadtium - Science and Congress Center Darmstadt, Germany, June 8-10, 2026 |
| Second Call for Papers |
| |
| ANTS 2026 |
| 15th International Conference on Swarm Intelligence |
| June 8-10, 2026. darmstadtium - Science and Congress Center, Darmstadt, Germany |
| https://ants2026.org |
| |
| |
| The submission portal is now open! |
| |
| |
| Conference Scope |
| |
| Since 1998, ANTS has been a highly selective, single-track conference bringing together researchers and practitioners working on swarm intelligence. The meeting solicits original contributions from all areas related to natural and artificial collective systems. |
| |
| Swarm intelligence has grown into a truly interdisciplinary field, spanning biology, physics, computer science, robotics, optimisation, and the social sciences. Inspired by collective behaviour in nature, swarm-based methods are now being applied to solve complex problems in optimisation, robotics, distributed systems, and beyond. They are increasingly critical in tackling challenges in areas such as environmental sustainability, health, and resilience in global systems. |
| |
| The 2026 theme is: |
| "Reaching beyond - swarm intelligence across systems, disciplines, and communities." |
| We invite ambitious, exploratory, and cross-disciplinary work to broaden the field’s horizons. |
| |
| For this edition, authors may also submit an accompanying video with their paper. If accepted, the video will appear as electronic supplementary material on Springer Nature Link alongside the publication. |
| |
| |
| Relevant Research Topics |
| |
| Papers are solicited in all areas of swarm intelligence, including, but not limited to: |
- Theoretical foundations of swarm intelligence and collective phenomena
- Modelling and analysis of self-organising natural and artificial systems
- Decision-making in large groups and consensus dynamics
- Swarm robotics and collective autonomous systems
- Swarm optimisation algorithms (ACO, PSO, ABC, etc.)
- Swarm intelligence combined with LLMs and generative AI
- Distributed learning, coordination, and control in multi-agent systems
- Swarm-inspired applications in smart cities, materials, and networks
- Human-swarm interaction and human-centred swarm design
- Sustainable and bio-hybrid swarm technologies
- Creative and artistic uses of swarm principles
- Benchmarking, reproducibility, ethics, and societal implications
|
| |
| Important Dates |
| |
| Submission deadline: November 10, 2025 |
| Notification of acceptance: January 30, 2026 |
| Camera-ready deadline: February 13, 2026 |
| Conference: June 8-10, 2026 |
| |
| |
| Plenary Talks |
| |
| Sharon Glotzer, University of Michigan, USA |
| |
| |
| Perspective Talks |
| |
| Thomas Watteyne, Analog Devices, USA |
| Liam Young, SCI Arc, USA |
| |
| |
| Submissions |
| |
| Papers should be 7–11 pages (excluding references) using the Springer LNCS LaTeX template. The proceedings will be published in the LNCS series. Selected works will be invited for an extended version in a special issue of Swarm Intelligence. |
| Submit your paper now via the portal at https://ants2026.org. |
| |
| |
| Venue |
| |
| ANTS 2026 will be held for the first time in Darmstadt, Germany, at the darmstadtium – Science and Congress Center, hosted by Technical University of Darmstadt. The venue is within walking distance of the UNESCO World Heritage Mathildenhöhe, offering a unique blend of cutting-edge research and cultural heritage. |
| |
| |
| ANTS 2026 Organizing Committee |
| |
| General chair |
| Roderich Gross, Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany |
| |
| Honorary chair |
| Marco Dorigo, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium |
| |
| Technical program chairs |
| Aaron T. Becker, University of Houston, USA |
| Gianni Di Caro, Carnegie Mellon University, Qatar |
| Bahar Haghighat, University of Groningen, The Netherlands |
| M. Ani Hsieh, University of Pennsylvania, USA |
| |
| Publicity chair |
| Razanne Abu-Aisheh, University of Bristol, UK |
| |
| Publication chair |
| Mohamed Salah Talamali, The University of Sheffield, UK |
| |
| Local organizing committee |
| Usama Ali, Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany |
| Uta Drews, Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany |
| Ecem Isildar, Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany |
| Jenny von Trzebiatowski, Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany |
| |
| Paper submission chair |
| Julian Rau, Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany |
| |
| ANTS 2026 Steering Committee |
| Marco Dorigo, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium |
| Andries Engelbrecht, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa |
| Heiko Hamann, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany |
| Alcherio Martinoli, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland |
| Radhika Nagpal, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA |
| Thomas Stuetzle, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium |
| Guy Theraulaz, CNRS CRCA, Toulouse, France |
| |
| |
|
