27th Edition

International Conference on
Descriptional Complexity of Formal Systems

Advancing research in the descriptional complexity of formal systems and structures through collaboration between academia and industry

Dates
August 9-11, 2026
Location
Queen's University
City
Kingston, Ontario, Canada
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Welcome

About DCFS 2026

The premier international conference on descriptional complexity of formal systems and structures

DCFS 2026 will be held in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, on August 9-11, 2026. The conference is organized jointly by the School of Computing at Queen's University and by the IFIP Working Group 1.02 "Descriptional Complexity".

The International Conference on Descriptional Complexity of Formal Systems (DCFS) is a premier venue for research on the descriptional complexity of formal systems and structures, with applications across theoretical computer science and related fields.

🤝 Joint Organization

IFIP

This conference is a collaboration between Queen's University's School of Computing and the IFIP Working Group 1.02 "Descriptional Complexity", bringing together leading researchers in formal systems and descriptional complexity.

📚 Publication

Springer LNCS

Conference proceedings will be published by Springer-Verlag in the renowned Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS) series.

Extended versions of selected papers from the conference will be invited for consideration in a special issue of International Journal of Foundations of Computer Science.

Co-located with CIAA 2026 (August 5-8, 2026)

Timeline

Important Dates

March 13, 2026
Paper Submission Deadline
April 17, 2026
Author Notification
May 1, 2026
Camera-Ready Deadline
August 9-11, 2026
Conference
Submissions

Call for Papers

We invite original research on descriptional complexity of formal systems and structures

Submission Guidelines

📄 Page Limit

Submissions must not exceed 12 pages in Springer-Verlag's Lecture Notes style, excluding the bibliography.

📎 Appendix

Authors may include a clearly marked appendix with additional details essential to substantiate main claims. The appendix will be read at the discretion of the program committee.

📝 Extended Papers

If slightly longer submissions are necessary, authors must contact the program committee chairs in advance for approval.

⚠️ Submission Policy

Simultaneous submissions to other conferences with published proceedings or previously published papers are not allowed.

💻 Format

Only electronic submissions in PDF format are accepted through the EasyChair system.

Submit via EasyChair
Research Areas

Principal Topics

Submissions concerning the descriptional complexity of formal systems and structures (and its applications) are invited for DCFS 2026. Original papers are sought in all aspects of descriptional complexity. Topics include, but are not limited to:

  • Automata, grammars, languages and other formal systems; various modes of operations and complexity measures.
  • Succinctness of description of objects, state-explosion-like phenomena.
  • Circuit complexity of Boolean functions and related measures.
  • Size complexity of formal systems.
  • Structural complexity of formal systems.
  • Trade-offs between computational models and mode of operation.
  • Applications of formal systems-- for instance in software and hardware testing, in dialogue systems, in systems modeling or in modeling natural languages-- and their complexity constraints.
  • Co-operating formal systems.
  • Size or structural complexity of formal systems for modeling natural languages.
  • Complexity aspects related to the combinatorics of words.
  • Descriptional complexity in resource-bounded or structure-bounded environments.
  • Structural complexity as related to descriptional complexity.
  • Frontiers between decidability and undecidability.
  • Universality and reversibility.
  • Nature-motivated (bio-inspired) architectures and unconventional models of computing.
  • Blum Static (Kolmogorov/Chaitin) complexity, algorithmic information.
Keynotes

Invited Speakers

🎤 Distinguished invited speakers will be announced soon. Stay tuned for updates.

Organization

Committees

Program Committee

The complete Program Committee will be announced soon. The following members have been confirmed:

Co-Chair
Cezar Campeanu
Canada
Co-Chair
Luca Prigioniero
UK
Co-Chair
Taylor J. Smith
Canada
Marie-Pierre Beal
France
Pamela Fleischmann
Germany
Dora Giammarresi
Italy
Yo-Sub Han
South Korea
Markus Holzer
Germany
Galina Jiraskova
Slovakia
Stavros Konstantinidis
Canada
Martin Kutrib
Germany
Andreas Malcher
Germany
Ian McQuillan
Canada
Nelma Moreira
Portugal
Rogerio Reis
Portugal
Kai Salomaa
Canada
Shinnosuke Seki
Japan
Gyorgy Vaszil
Hungary

Organizing Committee

Chair
Salimur Choudhury
Canada

Additional organizing committee members will be announced soon.

Location

Conference Venue

🏛️

Queen's University

School of Computing

Kingston, Ontario, Canada

More details about the venue, accommodation options, and local travel information will be provided closer to the conference date.

Ready to Submit Your Research?

Join us at DCFS 2026 and contribute to the advancement of descriptional complexity research

View Submission Guidelines Contact Organizers
Get in Touch

Contact Us

Have questions? We're here to help

✉️

Email

dcfs2026@cs.queensu.ca

For all inquiries regarding paper submissions, registration, venue, or general questions about DCFS 2026