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Keynotes Announcement
Ingrid Verbauwhede, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
Bio
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Dr. Ir. Ingrid Verbauwhede is a Professor in the research group COSIC at KU Leuven. She is a fellow of IEEE and of IACR. She is a member of the Royal Academy of Belgium. She received the IEEE 2017 Computer Society Technical Achievement Award. She delivered the 2022 IACR distinguished lecture. She received the 2023 IEEE Don Pederson award for “pioneering contributions to energy-efficient and high-performance secure integrated circuits and systems”, and the 2024 EDAA Achievement Award. She received two EU ERC Advanced Grants: one in 2016 and a second one in 2021. She is also co-founder of the Belfort company, which focuses on hardware acceleration of computing on encrypted data.
She is a pioneer in the field of efficient and secure implementations of cryptographic algorithms on many different platforms: ASIC, FPGA, embedded, and cloud. With her research, she bridges the gaps between electronics, the mathematics of cryptography, and the security of trusted computing. Her group owns and operates an advanced electronic security evaluation lab at the KU Leuven. Her list of publications is available from https://www.esat.kuleuven.be/cosic/people/ingrid-verbauwhede/ or https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ZyG1ZGgAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao
Title: Hardware Security: state of the art.
Abstract
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Hardware security is the root of trust in all modern ICT systems! Depending which community you address, it has a different meaning. It covers efficient, secure implementations of new generations of cryptography such as light-weight crypto, post-quantum crypto as well as advanced schemes such as zero-knowledge proofs, fully homomorphic encryption, and computing on encrypted data in general. On top, implementations also must resist a wide variety of side-channel, fault, and micro-architectural attacks. Post-quantum algorithms promise to resist the attacks developed for quantum computers. Yet, their implementations also must resist attacks on classic platforms.
Besides crypto, secure systems rely on many more security modules, requiring analog and digital circuit techniques to design quality true random number generators, physically unclonable functions, secure key storage, and many more. A recent report on “Revitalizing the U.S. Semiconductor Ecosystem” (from Executive Office of the President, President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, September 2022) describes a set of recommendations on semiconductors and system security. In this presentation, we will demonstrate how our research addresses these recommendations, and we will illustrate this with recent results.
Mathias Soeken, Microsoft
Bio
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Mathias Soeken is Principal Quantum Architect at the Quantum team at Microsoft. From 2015 to 2020, he has been with École Polytechnique Fédérale Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland as postdoctoral scientist. From 2009 to 2015 he worked at the University of Bremen, Germany and has been a regularly visiting post doc at UC Berkeley, CA, USA in the group of Robert K. Brayton. He holds a Ph.D. degree (Dr.-Ing.) in Computer Science from University of Bremen, Germany (2013). His research interests are practical fault-tolerant quantum computing, logic synthesis, and formal verification.
Title: Quantum system architecture for utility scale.
Abstract
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The promise of practical quantum computing is not just theoretical—it's becoming a reality with profound implications for science and industry. Decades of research and development have culminated in a transformative technology poised to revolutionize our approach to solving complex problems. Among the most promising applications of quantum computing, beyond cryptanalysis, is the simulation of quantum systems, particularly in chemistry and materials science.
As we enhance the fidelity and scale of quantum machines, we are on the brink of achieving scientific quantum advantage. This milestone will enable us to tackle a growing array of scientifically significant and classically intractable problems. The journey doesn't stop there; as we progress towards quantum supercomputers, we will unlock commercial quantum advantage, addressing the world's most pressing challenges through quantum-enabled breakthroughs in chemistry, biochemistry, and materials science.
Quantum systems will not operate in isolation. They will synergize with artificial intelligence and classical supercomputing, creating hybrid classical-quantum supercomputing systems. At Microsoft, we are at the forefront of engineering these integrated systems to accelerate scientific discovery and innovation.
Call For Papers
The 23rd ACM International Conference on Computing Frontiers (CF'26) will take place May 19th-21th, 2026 in Catania, Sicily, Italy. Participation is in-person only.
Computing Frontiers (CF) is an eclectic, interdisciplinary, collaborative community of researchers investigating emerging technologies in the broad field of computing: our common goal is to drive the scientific breakthroughs that support society.
CF's broad scope is driven by recent technological advances in wide-ranging fields impacting computing, such as novel computing models and paradigms, advancements in hardware, network and systems architecture, cloud computing, novel device physics and materials, new application domains of artificial intelligence, big data analytics, wearables, and IoT. The boundaries between the state-of-the-art and revolutionary innovation constitute the advancing frontiers of science, engineering, and information technology — and are the CF community's focus. CF provides a venue to share, discuss, and advance broad, forward-thinking, early research on the future of computing and welcomes work on a wide spectrum of computer systems, from embedded and hand-held/wearable devices to supercomputers and data centers.
Topics of Interest
We seek original research contributions at the frontiers of a wide range of topics, including novel computational models and algorithms, new application paradigms, computer architecture (from embedded to HPC systems), computing hardware, memory technologies, networks, storage solutions, compilers, and runtime environments.
- Hardware Frontiers
- Emerging processor architectures, accelerators and memory systems
- Post-exascale high-performance computing
- Quantum computing systems, runtimes, algorithms and applications
- Post-Moore's Law Systems: Neuromorphic, biologically-inspired, superconducting, and hyperdimensional computing
- Distributed Systems and Networking Frontiers
- Multi and Hybrid Cloud computing, and challenges
- IoT, CPS, edge and embedded computing systems
- Breakthroughs in edge-cloud continuum, satellite computing
- Sensor networks and wearable computing
- System Software and Runtime Frontiers
- Virtualization and containerization
- Platforms for workflows and distributed progamming
- Compilers and optimizations for heterogeneous systems
- Big data platforms and analytics
- AI for Systems and Systems for AI
- Distributed AI and federated learning
- System design for efficient AI
- AI for system optimizations
- Agentic AI and AIOps
- Cutting-edge Developments in Computing for Society and Emerging Applications
- AI ethics: Privacy, sustainability, biases
- Emerging applications in education, health, smart cities and emerging markets
- Pushing the Boundaries of Cross-cutting Computing Challenges
- Designing for scale and performance
- Energy efficiency and sustainability
- Security and privacy, impact of quantum and AI
- Reliability, resiliency and dependability
- Algorithmic innovations
- Benchmarking, performance analysis and modeling
We strongly encourage submissions in other emerging fields of computing, and welcome submissions that propose new directions of research and out-of-the-box solutions for grand computing challenges. If in doubt whether your work fits in Computing Frontiers please contact the program co-chairs.
Important Dates
All deadlines are AoE.
Abstract submission: 12 January 2026 (AoE)Paper submission: 19 January 2026 (AoE)
Author Notification: 9 March 2026 (AoE)
Artifact Submission: 16 March 2026 (only for accepted papers)
Artifact Notification: 30 March 2026
Camera Ready: 6 April 2026 (AoE)
Submission
Papers must be submitted through: Coming Soon!
We encourage the submission of both full papers and short papers containing high-quality research describing original, unpublished work.
- Full papers are expected to provide well-rounded contributions, where novelty, originality, and sufficient preliminary evaluation are included. Length: maximum of eight (8) pages (excluding references).
- Short papers may be position papers or may describe preliminary or highly speculative work. Length: maximum of four (4) pages (including references).
All papers should use the double-column ACM conference format. Page limits include figures, tables and appendices. Authors may buy up to two (2) extra pages for accepted full papers, bringing the total length to a maximum of ten (10) pages (excluding references).
As the review process is double-blind, the removal of all identifying information from paper submissions is required (e.g., cite own (previous) work in the third person, avoid references to machines and/or systems that can identify the paper authors, etc.).
Papers not conforming to the above submission policies on formatting, page limits, and the removal of identifying information, are likely to be automatically rejected. Authors are strongly advised to submit their papers with the final list of authors in the submission system, as changes may not be feasible at later stages (due to publisher restrictions).
Submitted papers must represent original unpublished research. If the submission extends from a prior short paper, there should be substantial new content and intellectual contribution, and this should be clearly mentioned. Concurrent submission of the same paper to any other conference or journal is not permitted. While authors may post a draft of their paper on arXiv or as a technical report on their institution's website, they should take care to use a sufficiently different title and name for their system to ensure the anonymity of the submission.
By submitting your article to an ACM Publication, you are hereby acknowledging that you and your co-authors are subject to all ACM Publications Policies, including ACM's new Publications Policy on Research Involving Human Participants and Subjects. Alleged violations of this policy or any ACM Publications Policy will be investigated by ACM and may result in a full retraction of your paper, in addition to other potential penalties, as per ACM Publications Policy.
As per ACM Publications Policies, any use of artificial intelligence (AI) generated content in a paper must be clearly disclosed in the acknowledgements section of the submission. The authors are responsible for the correctness of any generated material. The authors also attest that the submitted paper accurately represents their own novel intellectual contributions, and is not primarily the result of the tool's generative capabilities.
Registration and No-show policy
At least one full registration is required from a submission author for each accepted paper and all accepted papers are expected to be presented in person at the conference. If circumstances arise such that authors are unable to present their papers at the conference, they must contact the PC co-chairs with a proposal for a replacement presenter. A no-show will result in exclusion from the ACM digital library proceedings.
Important update on ACMs new open access publishing model for 2026 ACM Conferences!
Starting January 1, 2026, ACM will fully transition to Open Access. All ACM publications, including those from ACM-sponsored conferences, will be 100% Open Access. Authors will have two primary options for publishing Open Access articles with ACM: the ACM Open institutional model or by paying Article Processing Charges (APCs). With over 1,800 institutions already part of ACM Open, the majority of ACM-sponsored conference papers will not require APCs from authors or conferences (currently, around 70-75%). Authors from institutions not participating in ACM Open will need to pay an APC to publish their papers, unless they qualify for a financial or discretionary waiver. To find out whether an APC applies to your article, please consult the list of participating institutions in ACM Open and review the APC Waivers and Discounts Policy. Keep in mind that waivers are rare and are granted based on specific criteria set by ACM.
Understanding that this change could present financial challenges, ACM has approved a temporary subsidy for 2026 to ease the transition and allow more time for institutions to join ACM Open. The subsidy will offer:
- $250 APC for ACM/SIG members
- $350 for non-members
This temporary subsidized pricing will apply to all conferences scheduled for 2026.
Call for Artifact Evaluation and Disclaimer
The CF’26 Organizing Committee strongly encourages authors on a voluntary basis to present the Artifact Evaluation (AE) documentation to support their scientific results. The Artifact Evaluation is run by a different committee after the acceptance of the paper and does not affect the paper evaluation itself.
Authors may submit the artifact during the submission period or after the notification. To arrange the necessary computing resources, authors are invited to flag the option during the paper registration if they are willing to participate in the evaluation. This is particularly true for artifacts that would require strict or non-common hardware setups. Authors are encouraged, but not required, to include the AE appendix in the paper at the time of submission. Note that the AE appendix does not count toward the page limit.
Artifact Preparation
CF’26 adopts the ACM Artifact Review and Badging (Version 1.1 - August 24, 2020). By "artifact", we mean a digital object that was either created by the authors to be used as part of the study or generated by the experiment itself. Typical artifacts may include system descriptions or scripts to install the environment or reproduce specific experiments. Authors are invited to include a one-page appendix to the main paper (after the references). The appendix does not count toward the page limit.
To prepare the Appendix and avoid common mistakes, authors may refer to the following guide:
https://ctuning.org/ae/checklist.html
A Latex template can be found at the following link:
https://github.com/ctuning/artifact-evaluation/blob/master/docs/template/ae.tex.
Artifact Review Process
The Artifact Evaluation Committee will reproduce the paper by following the instructions included in the appendix and verify ACM roles for assigned badges. For example, in order to have a paper with an Artifact Available badge, the code and data should be stored in a permanent archive with a DOI or another unique identifier.
Authors may be invited by the AE Committee to revise their instructions according to their feedback. At the end of the process, the AE Committee will recommend one or more badges to assign to the paper among those supported by the ACM reproducibility policy.
Special Issue Opportunity
A Special Issue for the Journal of Parallel and Distributed Computing (JPDC) is under evaluation. If finally approved, highly ranked papers from the conference will be invited to submit their extended article by August, 2026. Details to come with final approval.