                     CALL FOR PAPERS

          Nineteenth International Conference on
    THEORY AND APPLICATIONS OF SATISFIABILITY TESTING
                     --- SAT 2016 ---

            Bordeaux, France, July 5-8, 2016

     Abstract submission deadline: February  14, 2016
        Paper submission deadline: February 21, 2016

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The International Conference on Theory and Applications of Satisfiability Testing (SAT) is the premier annual meeting for researchers focusing on the theory and applications of the propositional satisfiability problem, broadly construed. In addition to plain propositional satisfiability, it also includes Boolean optimization (such as MaxSAT and Pseudo-Boolean (PB) constraints), Quantified Boolean Formulas (QBF), Satisfiability Modulo Theories (SMT), and Constraint Programming (CP) for problems with clear connections to Boolean-level reasoning.

Many hard combinatorial problems can be tackled using SAT-based techniques including problems that arise in Formal Verification, Artificial Intelligence, Operations Research, Computational Biology, Cryptography, Data Mining, Machine Learning, Mathematics, et cetera. Indeed, the theoretical and practical advances in SAT research over the past twenty years have contributed to making SAT technology an indispensable tool in a variety of domains.

SAT 2016 aims to further advance the field by soliciting original theoretical and practical contributions in these areas with a clear connection to Satisfiability. Specifically, SAT 2016 invites scientific contributions addressing different aspects of SAT interpreted in a broad sense, including (but not restricted to) theoretical advances (such as exact algorithms, proof complexity, and other complexity issues), practical search algorithms, knowledge compilation, implementation-level details of SAT solvers and SAT-based systems, problem encodings and reformulations, applications (including both novel application domains and improvements to existing approaches), as well as case studies and reports on findings based on rigorous experimentation.

SAT 2016 takes place in the nice city of Bordeaux, which is located in the South West of France. Bordeaux is well-known to be the world wine capital, and also ranked UNESCO town.

IMPORTANT DATES

February 14, 2016: Abstract submission deadline
February 21, 2016: Paper submission deadline
March 21-23, 2016: Author response period
April 3, 2016: Author notification
April 23, 2016: Camera-ready versions of papers due
July 4, 2016: Pre-conference workshops
July 5-8, 2016: Main conference

SCOPE

SAT 2016 welcomes scientific contributions addressing different aspects of the satisfiability problem, interpreted in a broad sense. Domains include MaxSAT and Pseudo-Boolean (PB) constraints, Quantified Boolean Formulae (QBF), Satisfiability Modulo Theories (SMT), as well as Constraint Satisfaction Problems (CSP). Topics include, but are not restricted to:

Theoretical advances (including exact algorithms, proof complexity, and other complexity issues);
Practical search algorithms;
Knowledge compilation;
Implementation-level details of SAT solving tools and SAT-based systems;
Problem encodings and reformulations;
Applications (including both novel applications domains and improvements to existing approaches);
Case studies and reports on insightful findings based on rigorous experimentation.

OUT OF SCOPE

Papers claiming to resolve a major long-standing open theoretical question in Mathematics or Computer Science (such as those for which a Millennium Prize is offered, are outside the scope of the conference because there is insufficient time in the schedule to referee such papers; instead, such papers should be submitted to an appropriate technical journal.

PAPER CATEGORIES

Submissions to SAT 2016 are solicited in three paper categories, describing original contributions.

LONG PAPERS (9 to 15 pages, excluding references)
SHORT PAPERS (up to 8 pages, excluding references)
TOOL PAPERS (up to 6 pages, excluding references)

LONG and SHORT papers should contain original research, with sufficient detail to assess the merits and relevance of the contribution. For papers reporting experimental results, authors are strongly encouraged to make their data and implementations available with their submission. Submissions reporting on case studies are also encouraged, and should describe details, weaknesses, and strengths in sufficient depth. LONG papers and SHORT papers will be evaluated with the same quality standards, and are expected to contain a similar contribution per page ratio.

The authors should choose between a LONG or a SHORT paper depending on the space they need to fully describe their contribution. The classification between LONG and SHORT papers is mainly a way to balance the workload of the reviewing process among PC members. It also impacts the duration of the presentation of the work during the conference. It is the responsibility of the authors to make sure that their paper is self-contained in the chosen limit of pages. There will be no requalification of the submissions by the PC.

TOOLS papers must obey to a specific content criteria in addition to their size limit. A tool paper should describe the implemented tool and its novel features. Here “tools” are interpreted in a broad sense, including descriptions of implemented solvers, preprocessors, etc., as well as systems that exploit SAT solvers or their extensions to solve interesting problem domains. A demonstration is expected to accompany a tool presentation. Papers describing tools that have already been presented previously are expected to contain significant and clear enhancements to the tool.

Submissions should not be under review elsewhere nor be submitted elsewhere while under review for SAT 2016, and should not consist of previously published material.

Submissions not consistent with the above guidelines may be returned without review.

Besides the paper itself, authors may submit a supplement consisting of one file in the format of a gzipped tarball (.tar.gz or .tgz) or a gzipped file (.gz) or a zip archive (.zip). Authors are encouraged to submit a supplement when it will help reviewers evaluate the paper. Supplements will be treated with the same degree of confidentiality as the paper itself. For example, the supplement might contain detailed proofs, examples, software, detailed experimental data, or other material related to the submission. Individual reviewers may or may not consult the supplementary material; the paper itself should be self-contained.

Long and short papers may be considered for a best paper award. If the main author is a student, both in terms of work and writing, the paper may be considered for a best student-paper award. Use the supplement to your submission to state (in a brief cover letter) if the paper qualifies as a student paper.

Links to information on the Springer LNCS style are available through the SAT 2016 website.

All papers submissions are done exclusively via EasyChair.

One author of each accepted paper is expected to present it at the conference.

PROCEEDINGS

All accepted papers are expected to be published in the proceedings of the conference, which will be published within the Springer LNCS series.

STUDENT GRANTS

A limited number of student travel support grants will be available from our sponsors. Applicants should acquire a letter of support from their advisor and prepare a statement detailing why the travel support is needed. This information should be emailed to the SAT’16 conference chairs at sat2016@easychair.org by March 31st, 2016. Determinations will be made shortly after the notification to the authors.