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International Conference on Membrane Computing 2026
ICMC 2026 – Call for Papers
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1-3 September 2026

International Conference on Membrane Computing 2026

4 September 2026

Honorary Scientific Day in Memory of Prof. Mario J. Pérez-Jiménez

in Seville, Spain

ICMC 2026 website: http://www.gcn.us.es/icmc2026 (alternative url: https://icmc2026.org/)

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Scope and Vision
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Natural computing has seen rapid development as it strives for innovative methods of processing information inspired by biological, chemical and physical processes occurring in nature. Different views on computation converge in this area, often crossing traditional disciplinary boundaries. As such, ICMC 2026 aims to provide an open and inclusive platform for researchers to showcase their work across all forms of natural computing and related paradigms. We particularly encourage submissions that build bridges between different models of computation, as well as work that demonstrates how membrane computing and related approaches can be used to address current challenges in artificial intelligence and complex systems modeling. We also welcome submissions that combine membrane computing with emerging areas such as intelligent systems or digital twins, along with foundational research that enables such connections.

Natural computing is a dynamic and very active research area encompassing multiple perspectives, including models of computation inspired by real-life processes, the synthesis of nature by means of computing, in vivo hardware implementations and novel approaches to information processing. This fact makes the area naturally interdisciplinary, welcoming fundamental and experimental researchers from different areas such as computer science, mathematics, biology, chemistry, physics, sociology or medicine, among others.

Within this landscape, membrane computing, initiated by Gheorghe Păun in 1998, studies bioinspired models of computation, called membrane systems or P systems, that are an abstraction of the structure and functioning of living cells. These are usually non-deterministic, distributed and maximally parallel devices, capturing key organizational and dynamical principles of biological systems in a rigorous computational framework. Membrane computing stands at the intersection of theory, biology, and emerging computational paradigms.

The International Conference on Membrane Computing is the result of the fusion of the European (with 24 editions) and Asian branches (with 13 editions) of the respective Membrane Computing Conferences, to join forces and establish a common forum to discuss the most advanced topics in this area. This joint edition started last year in Chengdu, China.

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Conference Topics
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While membrane computing remains the central topic of the conference, we explicitly welcome contributions that:

- Advance the theory of natural and bio-inspired computation.
- Develop novel models of computation inspired by biological, chemical or physical processes.
- Build bridges between membrane computing and other paradigms.
- Present interdisciplinary applications in science, engineering and technology.
- Contribute to implementation and experimentation on real-life scenarios.

The conference topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

Theoretical aspects of membrane computing
- Variants of computing models: cell-, tissue- and neural-like P systems, among others
- Formal frameworks for computing models
- Computational power of membrane computing models
- Computational complexity theory in membrane computing
- Connections with formal language theory, grammars, automata, logic and related areas

Applications of membrane computing
- Systems biology and bioinformatics
- Ecological and environmental modeling
- Optimization of computationally hard problems
- Robot controller design
- Fault diagnosis of robots, power systems, etc.
- Information and communication technologies
- Digital twin modeling and simulation
- Cryptography and security

Implementation and experimentation
- Software simulation platforms
- Hardware and biochip implementations
- Parallel and distributed implementations
- In silico and in vivo experimental results

Connections with other natural computing paradigms
- DNA computing
- Quantum computing
- Reaction systems
- Virus machines
- Artificial neural networks
- Spiking neural networks and neuromorphic computing
- Cellular automata

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Important Dates
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Submission deadline: July 1, 2026
Notification of acceptance: July 30, 2026
Camera ready version: August 10, 2026
Conference: September 1–3, 2026
Honorary Day: September 4, 2026

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Program committee
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Henry N. Adorna, Quezon City, Philippines
Artiom Alhazov, Chișinău, Rep. of Moldova
Bogdan Aman, Iași, Romania
Péter Battyányi, Debrecen, Hungary
Francis G.C. Cabarle, Quezon City, Philippines
Lucie Ciencialová, Opava, Czech Republic
Erzsébet Csuhaj-Varjú, Budapest, Hungary
Rudolf Freund, TU Wien, Austria
Giuditta Franco, Verona, Italy
Zsolt Gazdag, Szeged, Hungary
Marian Gheorghe, Bradford, U.K.
Ping Guo, Chongqing, China
Juanjuan He, Wuhan, China
Thomas Hinze, Jena, Germany
Florentin Ipate, Bucharest, Romania
Shankara N. Krishna, Bombay, India
Tseren-Onolt Ishdorj, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Savas Konur, Bradford, UK
Alberto Leporati, Milano, Italy
Jia Li, Chongqing, China
Xiyu Liu, Jinan, China
Ravie Chandren Muniyandi, Bangi, Malaysia
Ferrante Neri, Nottingham, UK
Radu Nicolescu, Auckland, New Zealand
Taishin Nishida, Toyama, Japan
Yunyun Niu, Beijing, China
David Orellana-Martín, Sevilla, Spain
Linqiang Pan, Wuhan, China
Andrei Păun, Bucharest, Romania
Gheorghe Păun, Bucharest, Romania
Hong Peng, Chengdu, China
Antonio E. Porreca, Marseille, France
Agustín Riscos-Núñez, Sevilla, Spain, co-chair
Haina Rong, Chengdu, China
Jose M. Sempere, Valencia, Spain
Bosheng Song, Changsha, China
Tao Song, Qingdao, China
Petr Sosík, Opava, Czech Republic
K.G. Subramanian, Chennai, India
D.G. Thomas, Chennai, India
György Vaszil, Debrecen, Hungary
Sergey Verlan, Paris, France
Jun Wang, Chengdu, China
Tingfang Wu, Suzhou, China
Jianhua Xiao, Tianjin, China
Jie Xue, Jinan, China
Hsu-Chun Yen, Taiwan, R.O.C
Jianying Yuan, Chengdu, China
Claudio Zandron, Milano, Italy, co-chair
Xiangxiang Zeng, Xiamen University
Gexiang Zhang, Chengdu, China, co-chair
Ming Zhu, Chengdu, China

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Organizing committee
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Research Group on Natural Computing, Universidad de Sevilla (also known as Sevilla Team)

Agustín Riscos-Núñez (chair)
Gheorghe Păun (honorary chair)
José Antonio Andreu-Guzmán
Carmen Graciani
Miguel Ángel Martínez-del-Amor
David Orellana-Martín
Antonio Ramírez-de-Arellano-Marrero
Álvaro Romero-Jiménez
Luis Valencia-Cabrera

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Submission instructions
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Original research contributions (including significant work-in-progress) on membrane computing, its applications and related subjects are sought.
Contributions reporting in vivo or in silico experimental results are particularly encouraged. Authors are invited to submit their contribution as PDF,
written in English and preferably prepared in LaTeX using Springer LNCS style (llncs) (https://www.springer.com/gp/computer-science/lncs/conference-proceedings-guidelines).

Only electronic submissions are accepted. Simultaneous submission to other conferences or workshops with published proceedings is not allowed.

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Submission and publication
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For submission to ICMC 2026 please visit: https://easychair.org/my/conference?conf=icmc260.

All submissions will be reviewed by at least three referees. To ensure inclusion of an accepted contribution into the (pre)proceedings volume, at least one of its authors must be registered to ICMC 2026. The pre-proceedings volume will be available during the conference.

A selection of accepted papers will be re-reviewed and considered for publication in the International Journal of Membrane Computing.

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Contact information
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David Orellana-Martín, Universidad de Sevilla, dorellana@us.es