UCNC 2026 | 23rd International Conference on Unconventional Computation and Natural Computation

Conference Info

The International Conference Series on Unconventional Computation and Natural Computation (UCNC) provides a forum bringing together scientists from many different backgrounds who are interested in novel forms of computation, human-designed computation inspired by nature, and computational aspects of natural processes.

The 23rd International Conference on Unconventional Computation and Natural Computation (UCNC 2026) will be held at the University of Trieste in Trieste, Italy, from June 22, 2026 to June 26, 2026. It will continue the tradition of focusing on current important theoretical and experimental developments and their critical evaluation.

Aims and Scope

Papers and poster presentations are sought in all areas that relate to unconventional computation and natural computation. Both theoretical and experimental papers are welcome.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Molecular computing
• Quantum computing
• Neural computation
• Evolutionary computation
• Robotics
• Optical computing
• Chaos computing
• Collision-based computing
• Self-assembling and self-organizing systems
• Super-Turing computation
• Cellular automata
• Boolean automata networks
• Discrete dynamical systems and symbolic dynamics
• Reaction systems
• Swarm intelligence
• Ant algorithms
• Artificial immune systems
• Artificial life
• Membrane computing
• Amorphous computing
• Physarium computing
• Computational systems biology
• Computational neuroscience
• Synthetic biology
• Cellular (in-vivo) computing

Important Dates

• Conference: June 22-26, 2026
• Submission Regular and Short Papers: March 13, 2026
• Notification Regular and Short Papers: April 30, 2026
• Camera ready Regular and Short Papers: May 8, 2026
• Submission Posters and Late-Breaking Abstracts: May 8, 2026
• Notification Posters and Late-Breaking Abstracts: May 29, 2026
• Camera ready Posters and Late-Breaking Abstracts: June 5, 2026

Submission

Accepted regular and short papers will be published in the Springer Lecture Notes in Computer Science Series (LNCS) as post-proceedings.

The are four submission categories:

• regular papers: they contain original research not yet communicated at other conferences or in any journal. Regular papers should not exceed 16 pages.
• short papers: they are intended for communicating new, original, not yet published research which is of smaller scope. Short papers should not exceed 8 pages and have shorter presentation time.
• late-breaking abstracts (LBA) are informal presentations of new research and/or research direction proposals as well as presentations of research that has already been presented at other conferences, with the purpose of further dissemination of results or research directions. They should not exceed 3 pages.
• posters: Posters should be one page in A0 format (plus 1 page abstract in LNCS format).

Papers must not be under simultaneous consideration by any other conference with published proceedings. All accepted papers, late-breaking abstracts, and posters must be presented at the conference by at least one registered author.

Please note that these guidelines apply only to the main conference submissions; satellite workshops have their own submission procedures and publication arrangements.

Papers must be submitted in Portable Document Format (PDF) and must be formatted in the LNCS style. Authors using LaTeX can download the needed macros at Springer-Verlag site (LaTex style). Papers must respect the page limits given above. Full proofs should be given should appear in a clearly marked technical appendix which can also contain an additional material. Appendixes will not be included in the proceedings.

Authors of selected papers will be invited to submit updated and extended versions for publication in a special issue of “Natural Computing”, an international journal by Springer-Verlag.

More information: https://ucnc2026.units.it/