CMSC 2026 – Call for Contributions (second round)

*(Apologies for cross-posting)*


Dear all,


We are pleased to invite you to submit your work to the 8th edition of the
international conference *Creative Mathematical Sciences Communication*,
which will be held in Padova, Italy, from October 12 to October 15, 2026.


The CMSC conference series, initiated in 2013, aims to explore new ways of
communicating the rich mathematical ideas fundamental to computer science.
There’s a need and an appetite among mathematicians and computer scientists
for outreach and engagement at all levels. Bringing together researchers,
educators, and communicators, the conference aims to explore new approaches
to mathematical and computational thinking and lay the groundwork for
innovative teaching and research engagement methods at all educational
levels.


The organizers of CMSC believe that engaging in mathematical science goes
in two directions. Certain areas of research, such as algorithms and
combinatorics, are accessible even to elementary-age children, while
conversely, interaction with non-specialists, including young learners, can
spark new research questions. Creating opportunities for broad, inclusive
engagement in the mathematical sciences not only enriches researchers but
also brings lasting benefits to society as a whole.


Therefore, we invite both researchers (working in areas such as
mathematics, computer science, engineering, and education) and teachers
(working at any level) to contribute and attend the conference. Any
participant who submits a contribution (i.e., a standard paper or a poster)
that passes the reviewing process will have the opportunity to present
their work during the conference. At the bottom, you'll find the full Call
for Contributions.



*DEADLINES FOR STANDARD PAPER SUBMISSIONS (ROUND 2):*
As with other computer science conferences, a submission consists of two
parts. In the first one, the corresponding author must create a new
submission on the platform and indicate the title and abstract. Then, in
the second part, the full version of the paper must be uploaded in PDF.
Submissions containing only the title and abstract will be considered
incomplete and desk-rejected.

   - *Title and abstract of the paper*: May 29th, 2026
   - *PDF of the full paper*: June 5th, 2026
   - *Notification of acceptance*: July 12th, 2026

*DEADLINES FOR POSTER SUBMISSIONS:*

   - *Poster submission:* August 14th, 2026
   - *Notification of acceptance for posters: *September 04th, 2026

We are also very glad to announce the CMSC 2026 speakers. In particular:


*PLENARY SPEAKERS:*

   - Timothy C. Bell, University of Canterbury
   - Vanesa Guerrero Lozano, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid
   - Neeldhara Misra, Indian Institute of Technology

*TEACHERS’ DAY SPEAKERS:*

   - Centro Montessori SPES Padova, Italy
   - Maria Francesca Carfora, National Research Council of Italy, Institute
   for Applied Mathematics “Mauro Picone”
   - Lorella Carimali, Liceo Scientifico Vittorio Veneto, Milan
   - Frances Rosamond, University of Bergen
   - TBA

*OTHER EVENTS*

On Friday, October 16th, 2026, interested participants of CMSC will be
welcome to join an informal algorithms colloquium focusing on geometric
parameterized complexity, hosted on the same campus. More details will
follow on the website.


If you would like to know more or have questions, you can write to us at
[email protected] or visit our website https://cmsc2026.github.io for
more details.


Looking forward to seeing you in Padova!



*CMSC 2026 Organizers *Maarten Löffler, Utrecht University (program
co-chair)
Alice Raffaele, University of Padova (organizing co-chair)
Francesco Silvestri, University of Padova (organizing and program chair)



*Program Committee *Tim Bell, University of Canterbury, New Zealand

Sergio Canazza, University of Padua, Italy

Sarah Carruthers, Vancouver Island University, Canada

Valentina Dagiene, Vilnius University, Lithuania

Henning Fernau, University of Trier, Germany

Bernd Gärtner, ETH Zurich, Switzerland

Henry Hickman, University of New South Wales, Australia

Thore Husfeldt, IT University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Jyothi Krishnan, IT Gandhinagar, India

Martina Landman, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom

Lukas Lehner, TU Wien, Austria

Michael Lodi, University of Bologna, Italy

Zuzana Masárová, ISTA / Grow Trails, Austria

Monica Mattei, International School of Turin, Italy

Valia Mitsou, Université Paris Cité, France

Matthias Mnich, Hamburg University of Technology, Germany

Elena Mumford, Eindhoven, The Netherlands

Rüdiger Reischuk, ITCS, Universität zu Lübeck, Germany

Giovanni Righini, University of Milan, Italy

Inge Schwank, University of Cologne, Germany

Jacqueline Staub, University of Trier, Germany

Jay Thakkar, IIT Gandhinagar, India

Josef Tkadlec, Charles University, Czechia

Sebastian Wild, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Germany



*Steering Committee *Frances Rosamond, University of Bergen, Norway (Chair)
Małgorzata Bednarska-Bzdęga, Adam Mickiewicz University Poznań, Poland
Tim Bell, University of Canterbury, New Zealand
Sarah Carruthers, Vancouver Island University, Canada
Valentina Dagiene, Vilnius University, Lithuania
Michael Fellows, University of Bergen, Norway
Valia Mitsou, IRIF, Paris Diderot University, France
Jam Ramanujam, The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai, India
Rüdiger Reischuk, University of Lübeck, Germany
Eljakim Schrijvers, Eljakim IT, Netherlands (International Chair)
Matt Skoss, The Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers, Australia
Verena Specht-Ronique, HLTM Marburg, Germany
Brett Stephenson, University of Tasmania, Australia


---------------------------------------------------------------------------

*CMSC 2026 – Call for Contributions*

Authors are invited to submit manuscripts on topics related to the
conference’s scope (see below). All manuscripts will be peer-reviewed by
members of the Programme Committee.

More precisely, CMSC welcomes the following contributions:

   - *Standard papers* from 3 to 12 pages; the papers should be in one of
   the following categories:
      - Research papers (e.g., empirical, qualitative, quantitative, theory
      building, research methods, comparative studies, transferability
of methods
      and results from other disciplines)
      - Best practice papers/country reports/experience reports
      - Description of creative products, for instance, a dance or song
      performance
      - Position/discussion papers
      - Using art as a vehicle for teaching.
   - *Poster proposals* up to 3 pages for:
      - work in progress
      - short description of published work

The page limitations include references. Papers may have an appendix, whose
length must not exceed 3 pages; reading of the appendix is at the
discretion of the reviewers. Accepted papers will be published in the
Springer Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS) series. The submissions
should be formatted accordingly. Posters will not be published.

Work submitted to CMSC as standard papers should be novel and original.
Material that has been previously published can be presented as a poster,
or it can be submitted as a standard paper only if the work has been
significantly revised. Note, however, that while novel work is highly
valued, constructive replication of previous studies can also be a
significant contribution, and a new interpretation or evaluation of
previously published work can make a good contribution.

All inquiries about submissions should be sent to [email protected].


*Conference Scope*

The main topics of the conference include, but are not limited to:

   - Teaching Computer Science in early childhood, primary, secondary, and
   higher education
   - CS Unplugged
   - Computational Thinking / Algorithmic Thinking
   - Broadening engagement and diversity for the exact sciences
   - Teacher education in Mathematics and Computer Science
   - Teaching CS in relation to other subjects
   - Linking mathematical and computational content for fundamental
   competency development
   - Contests and competitions
   - Education for students with special needs
   - Education within resource-limited environments
   - Education in conflict-affected areas

*Accepted Contributions*

For all accepted contributions, we expect at least one author to attend the
conference and present the work. Given the creative nature of CMSC, you
will have a free choice of how to present your work, as long as it fits the
schedule and conference locations. We encourage authors to contact the
organizers before the submission for inquiries about special requirements
of the presentation. Possible formats include, but are not limited to:

   - a traditional plenary conference talk
   - a video showing a live performance
   - an installation of limited size
   - a test session for an educational activity (with other participants as
   test subjects)

In addition, for a selected number of accepted papers, it would be possible
to present their work during the last day, at the Teachers’ Day, to
teachers from primary/secondary schools. More details will be provided in
Summer 2026.


*Submission Guidelines*

All contributions (papers and posters) must be submitted through the Microsoft
CMT platform <https://cmt3.research.microsoft.com/CMSC2026>, using LNCS
templates. More details will be posted soon. Submissions must be formatted
according to the Springer LNCS style guidelines using LaTeX. The maximum
length of the paper (including references, but excluding the optional
appendix) is 12 pages.


*Standard Paper Requirements*

All submissions must be formatted according to the Springer LNCS style
<https://www.springer.com/gp/computer-science/lncs/conference-proceedings-guidelines>
guidelines using LaTeX <https://www.latex-project.org/>.


*Poster Requirements*

To prepare a poster submission (up to 3 pages), authors are also asked to
use the same Springer LNCS style
<https://www.springer.com/gp/computer-science/lncs/conference-proceedings-guidelines>
and to use LaTeX <https://www.latex-project.org/>. The purpose of the
poster is to stimulate discussion with conference participants about your
presented activity during the conference. During the poster session, the
poster presenters should be present at their booth to give short
presentations to interested participants.

The final poster of an accepted poster submission should have the following
requirements:

   - Size and orientation: A1 portrait (594 × 841 mm)
   - Minimum information required: title, author(s), institution(s),
   contact information, problem statement, description of work, gained
   results, future work, and primary references. Please bring a printed poster
   of the correct size to the conference.

*Submission Platform*

The Microsoft CMT service was used to manage the peer-review process for
this conference. This service was provided free of charge by Microsoft,
which covered all expenses, including costs for Azure cloud services, as
well as software development and support.

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