CALL FOR RESEARCH PAPERS
The annual ACM/IFIP Middleware conference is a major forum for the discussion of innovations and recent scientific advances of middleware systems with a focus on the design, implementation, deployment, and evaluation of distributed systems, platforms and architectures for computing, storage, and communication. The conference will include a high quality single-track technical program, invited speakers, an industrial track, panel discussions involving academic and industry leaders, poster and demonstration presentations, a doctoral symposium, tutorials and workshops.

Topics of Interest
Original submissions of research papers on a diverse range of topics are sought, particularly those identifying new research directions. The topics of the interest for the conference include, but are not limited to:

Cloud and data centers
Virtualization, auto-scaling, provisioning, and scheduling
Data-intensive computing (big data) and data analytics
Stream Processing
Middleware Systems for Machine learning
Mobile and pervasive systems and services
Middleware techniques for Internet-of-Things, smart cities
Fog, Edge computing
Middleware for cyber-physical and real-time systems
Energy and power-aware techniques
Event-based, publish/subscribe, and peer-to-peer solutions
Networking, network function virtualization, software-defined networking
Middleware for multimedia systems
Fault tolerance and Consistency
Blockchains
Middleware support for Security and privacy
Monitoring, resource management and analysis
Middleware Design principles
Programming abstractions and paradigms for middleware
Reconfigurable, adaptable, and reflective middleware
Reviews of middleware paradigms, e.g., object models, aspect orientation, etc.
Methodologies and tools for middleware systems design, implementation, verification, and evaluation

Original papers of three types are sought:

Research Papers: These papers report original research on the above topics, and will be evaluated on significance of the problem, novelty of the solution, advancement beyond prior work, sufficient supporting evidence and clarity of the presentation.
Experimentation and Deployment Papers: These papers describe complete systems, platforms, and/or comprehensive experimental evaluations of alternative designs and solutions to well-known problems. The emphasis during the evaluation of these papers will be less on the novelty and more on the demonstrated usefulness and potential impact of the contributions, the extensive experimentation involved, and the quality and weight of the lessons learned.
Big Ideas Papers: These are papers that have the potential for opening up new research directions. For such papers, the potential to motivate new research is more important than full experimental evaluation, though some preliminary evidence of the effectiveness of the approach or idea is important.

Important Dates, Deadlines, Conditions
Starting in 2021, we are offering two submission deadlines, and we are providing the possibility of getting one-shot-revision decisions in lieu of rejection. A more detailed explanation of the changes are provided below.

First Round (Closed): Fall/Winter deadline:
Abstract Submission Deadline (Closed): November 20, 2020
Full paper submissions due (Closed): December 1, 2020
Notification to authors (Accept/ Accept minor-revision/ Revise/ Reject): February 28, 2021
Revised submissions due: April 2, 2021
Notifications of decisions of revised papers (Accept/Reject): April 22, 2021
Final paper files (camera ready copy) due: May 2, 2021

Second round: Spring/Summer deadline:
Abstract Submission Deadline: May 15, 2021
Full paper submissions due: May 22, 2021
Notification to authors (Accept/ Accept minor-revision/ Revise/ Reject): August 15, 2021
Revised submissions due: September 15, 2021
Notifications of decisions of revised papers (Accept/Reject): September 30, 2021
Final paper files (camera ready copy) due: October 15, 2021