The 2026 Neuro-Inspired Computing Elements (NICE) Conference is the 13th annual meeting of researchers in the neural computing field.

Like previous editions, NICE 2026 will focus on the interplay between neural theory, neural algorithms, neuromorphic architectures and hardware, and applications for neural computing technology. NICE aims to involve diverse participation from all over the world and bring together research communities with universities, government, and industry.

NICE 2026 will be held March 24-27, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

Submission Guidelines

For submissions, we will accept regular papers (4-8 pages, not including references) that will be reviewed by the program committee. The length of the paper will not influence decisions, which will be peer-reviewed on the sole quality and clarity of the work. Papers should cover unpublished work and emphasize the novel aspects and the potential impact on the neural computing community. Preference will be given towards submissions describing ambitious approaches to bringing neural inspiration into real-world computing applications. From these submissions we will invite several short talks, lightning talks, and poster presentations.

As with previous years, NICE is planning on publishing an online proceedings volume, details are below. Authors can also opt out of including their paper in the proceedings. We also welcome Abstracts (1-2 pages) for 'Work in Progress' or 'Late Breaking News'. Abstract submissions will not be included in the proceedings.

Please Note: No additional supplementary material may be included beyond the 8 page limit.

Publication: 2026 NICE Conference Proceedings

The 2026 NICE proceedings will be published and indexed through IEEE Conference Proceedings.

Please see IEEE Template Download for formatting instructions for IEEE conferences in LaTEX and Word. EasyChair submissions should be a PDF of your paper, with camera ready versions (per the IEEE instructions) due after acceptance.

List of Topics

Listed below are the topics for the conference, together with a non-exhaustive list of relevant sub-topics.

During submission, please indicate which of the following topics your paper impacts from the drop-down menu.

Architectures and Hardware
Neuromorphic Hardware
Analog/Mixed-Signal and Beyond-CMOS Hardware
Compute-In-Memory Architectures
Next-Generation Architectures
Computational and Systems Neuroscience
Neural circuits: Theory and Experimental Support
Local learning and Plasticity
Connectomics
Neural Algorithms and Machine Learning
Neuroscience-Inspired Algorithms
Resource-Constrained and/or Hardware-Aware Artificial Neural Networks
Spiking Neural Networks
Neuromorphic Computing Applications
Emerging Applications
Robotics and Automation
High-Performance Computing
Edge Computing
Biosignal Processing and Brain-Computer Interfaces
Bio-Inspired Sensing
Event-Driven Sensing
Novel Neuromorphic Sensors
Efficient Spike-Based Information Coding and Processing
Algorithms and Software Frameworks for Neuromorphic Computing
Tools and Programming/Mapping Frameworks
Benchmarks, Neuromorphic Datasets
Theoretical Frameworks and Models for Neuromorphic Engineering
Memory-efficient Spike-Based Simulators

Committees

Organizing Committee

Murat Okandan (NICE Workshop Foundation)
Brad Aimone (Sandia National Laboratories)
Jennifer Hasler (Georgia Tech)
Steve Furber (University of Manchester)
Johannes Schemmel (Heidelberg University)
Dhireesha Kudithipudi (UT San Antonio)
Bjorn Kindler (Heidelberg University)
Gert Cauwenberghs (UCSD)
Suma G. Cardwell (Sandia National Laboratories)
Sebastian Billaudelle (INI, UZH & ETH Zürich)

Local Chair

Jennifer Hasler (Georgia Tech)

Program Chairs

Suma G. Cardwell (Sandia National Laboratories)
Sebastian Billaudelle (INI, UZH & ETH Zürich)
Organizing Committee

Venue

NICE 2026 will be held in Atlanta, GA, USA. More details to be announced soon.

Contact

All questions about submissions should be emailed to Dr. Suma G. Cardwell (sgcardw@sandia.gov) and Dr. Sebastian Billaudelle (sebastian@ini.uzh.ch).

Sponsors

If you are interested in helping sponsor NICE 2026, please contact Prof. Jennifer Hasler (jennifer.hasler@ece.gatech.edu) and Dr. Brad Aimone (jbaimon@sandia.gov).