Third 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!
Important Dates
• Submission deadline: 10 November 2025
• Notification of acceptance: 30 January 2026
• Camera-ready deadline: 13 February 2026
• Conference: 8–10 June 2026
Conference Scope
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.
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.
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.
Topics of Interest
Papers are solicited in all areas of swarm intelligence, including, but not limited to:
• Theoretical foundations of swarm intelligence and collective phenomena
• Modeling and analysis of self-organizing systems in nature, including many-particle systems, cellular systems, insect colonies, bird flocks, and human crowds
• Decision making in large groups e.g. consensus dynamics, mean-field games, social choice theory
• Swarm robotics, including colloidal systems, micro-robots, drones, and other autonomous vehicles
• Swarm optimization algorithms, including ACO, PSO, ABC
• LLMs and GenAI-in-the-loop systems in combination with swarm intelligence
• Large-scale distributed networks, such as smart dust, smart cities, or social networks
• Robotic materials and modular robots capable of self-repair, self-assembly or shape-shifting
• Distributed learning, coordination, and control in many-agent systems
• Human-centered swarm intelligence and human-swarm interaction
• Sustainable technologies for artificial and bio-hybrid swarms
• Creative and expressive uses of swarm principles in art, design and education
• Benchmarking and reproducibility in swarm intelligence research
• Ethical and societal implications of applications of swarm intelligence research
• Applications of swarm intelligence to real-world challenges
Speakers
• Plenary: Sharon Glotzer (Michigan, USA)
• Perspective: Amanda Prorok (Cambridge, UK), Liam Young (SCI Arc, USA), Thomas Watteyne (Analog Devices, 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
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 Matteo Pugliese.
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.
More information: https://ants2026.org
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