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<b style="font-size: 12pt;">Final Call for Papers</b></div>
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<b>ANTS 2026 – 15th International Conference on Swarm Intelligence</b></div>
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June 8–10, 2026</div>
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darmstadtium – Science and Congress Center, Darmstadt, Germany</div>
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<a class="OWAAutoLink" id="OWA86bb6c0c-3566-25d2-03ae-b4c413fbab2d" href="https://ants2026.org/">https://ants2026.org</a></div>
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📢 The submission deadline is approaching!</div>
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<b>Important Dates</b></div>
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• Submission deadline: 10 November 2025</div>
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• Notification of acceptance: 30 January 2026</div>
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• Camera-ready deadline: 13 February 2026</div>
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• Conference: 8–10 June 2026</div>
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<b>Conference Scope</b></div>
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Since its inception in 1998, ANTS has been a highly selective, single-track meeting that provided a forum for discussing advances in the field of swarm intelligence. It solicits submissions presenting significant, original research from researchers and practitioners
of any area related to swarm intelligence.</div>
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Swarm intelligence is an interdisciplinary and rapidly evolving field, rooted in the study of self-organizing processes in both natural and artificial systems. Researchers from disciplines ranging from ethology to statistical physics have developed models that
explain collective phenomena, such as decision-making in social insect colonies and collective movements in human crowds. Swarm-inspired algorithms and methods have proven effective in solving complex optimization problems and creating multi-robot and networked
systems of unparalleled resilience, adaptability and scalability. Applications of swarm intelligence continue to grow and become increasingly critical for addressing societal challenges such as environmental sustainability, food security, health, and global
conflicts.</div>
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The 2026 theme is:</div>
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<b>"Reaching beyond – swarm intelligence across systems, disciplines, and communities."</b></div>
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The conference seeks to encourage new perspectives, help bridge traditional boundaries and enable open debate on what could be ambitious, exploratory, and groundbreaking endeavors to embark on.</div>
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<b>Video Submissions</b></div>
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Authors may optionally submit an accompanying video with their paper. Accepted videos will be published as electronic supplementary material on Springer Nature Link and peer-reviewed alongside the paper.</div>
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🏆 Up to four Best Video Awards (EUR 250 each) sponsored by Springer Nature will recognize outstanding submissions.</div>
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<b>Topics of Interest</b></div>
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Papers are solicited in all areas of swarm intelligence, including, but not limited to:</div>
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Theoretical foundations of swarm intelligence and collective phenomena</li><li class="elementToProof" style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">
Modeling and analysis of self-organizing systems in nature, including many-particle systems, cellular systems, insect colonies, bird flocks, and human crowds</li><li class="elementToProof" style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">
Decision making in large groups e.g. consensus dynamics, mean-field games, social choice theory</li><li class="elementToProof" style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">
Swarm robotics, including colloidal systems, micro-robots, drones, and other autonomous vehicles</li><li class="elementToProof" style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">
Swarm optimization algorithms, including ACO, PSO, ABC</li><li class="elementToProof" style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">
LLMs and GenAI-in-the-loop systems in combination with swarm intelligence</li><li class="elementToProof" style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">
Large-scale distributed networks, such as smart dust, smart cities, or social networks</li><li class="elementToProof" style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">
Robotic materials and modular robots capable of self-repair, self-assembly or shape-shifting</li><li class="elementToProof" style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">
Distributed learning, coordination, and control in many-agent systems</li><li class="elementToProof" style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">
Human-centered swarm intelligence and human-swarm interaction</li><li class="elementToProof" style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">
Sustainable technologies for artificial and bio-hybrid swarms</li><li class="elementToProof" style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">
Creative and expressive uses of swarm principles in art, design and education</li><li class="elementToProof" style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">
Benchmarking and reproducibility in swarm intelligence research</li><li class="elementToProof" style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">
Ethical and societal implications of applications of swarm intelligence research</li><li class="elementToProof" style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">
Applications of swarm intelligence to real-world challenges</li></ul>
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<b>Invited plenary talks</b></div>
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Guido de Croon, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands</li><li class="elementToProof" style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">
Sharon Glotzer, University of Michigan, USA</li></ul>
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<b>Invited perspective talks</b></div>
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Amanda Prorok, University of Cambridge, UK</li><li class="elementToProof" style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">
Thomas Watteyne, Analog Devices, USA</li><li class="elementToProof" style="font-family: Aptos, Aptos_EmbeddedFont, Aptos_MSFontService, Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;">
Liam Young, SCI Arc, USA</li></ul>
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<b>Submissions</b></div>
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Papers should be <b>7–11 pages (excluding references)</b> using the Springer LNCS LaTeX template. The proceedings will be published in the <b>LNCS series</b>. Selected works will be invited for an extended version in a <b>special issue of <i>Swarm Intelligence</i></b>.</div>
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📥 <b>Submit your paper now via the portal at <a class="OWAAutoLink" id="OWA98d7cad2-5002-c280-0dad-c76357a2ae72" href="https://ants2026.org/">https://ants2026.org</a></b></div>
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Continuing with a tradition started at ANTS 2002 , the "Best Paper Award" at ANTS 2026 consists of a custom made sculpture of an ant specially made for the ANTS conference series by the Italian sculptor <a class="OWAAutoLink" id="OWAea511970-7e09-eb59-d08c-f9404a05baa5" href="http://www.matteopugliese.com/">Matteo
Pugliese</a>.</div>
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<b>Venue</b></div>
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ANTS 2026 will be held for the first time in Darmstadt, Germany, at the <b>darmstadtium – Science and Congress Center</b>, hosted by <b>Technical University of Darmstadt</b>. The venue is within walking distance of the <b>UNESCO World Heritage Mathildenhöhe</b>,
offering a unique blend of cutting-edge research and cultural heritage.</div>
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🔗 More information: <a class="OWAAutoLink" id="OWAca8a96c6-35ab-dc82-8a00-15de126ae7b7" href="https://ants2026.org/">https://ants2026.org</a></div>
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Follow us on <a class="OWAAutoLink" id="OWA1aa704e4-09ba-9e48-524c-15752a06bce8" href="https://bsky.app/profile/ants2026.bsky.social">Bluesky</a> and <a class="OWAAutoLink" id="OWA1f12c0cf-e9f9-49b6-cffd-8992a99cecaa" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ants-conferences-a2970b14b">LinkedIn</a></div>
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