The 31th ACM SIGACT-SIGOPS Symposium on Principles of Distributed Computing (PODC 2012) will be held on July 16-18, 2012, on Madeira, Portugal.

Important dates
Regular papers:
Abstract registration: February 10, 2012
Submission: February 15, 2012
Notification: April 20, 2012
Camera-ready: May 13, 2012

Brief announcements:
Submission: February 20, 2012
Notification: April 20, 2012
Camera-ready: May 13, 2012

(All dates refer to 23:59 in Honolulu, Hawaii (time zone HAST). These deadlines are firm.)

PODC solicits papers in all areas of distributed computing. Papers from all viewpoints, including theory, practice, and experimentation, are welcome. The common goal of the conference is to improve understanding of the principles underlying distributed computing.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following subjects:

•distributed algorithms: design, analysis, and complexity
•communication networks: architectures, services, protocols, applications
•multiprocessor and multi-core architectures and algorithms
•shared and transactional memory, synchronization protocols, concurrent programming
•fault-tolerance, reliability, availability, self organization
•Internet applications, social networks, recommendation systems
•distributed operating systems, middleware platforms, databases
•game-theoretic approaches to distributed computing
•peer-to-peer systems, overlay networks, distributed data management
•high-performance, cluster, cloud and grid computing
•wireless networks, mobile computing, autonomous agents
•context-aware distributed systems
•security in distributed computing, cryptographic protocols
•sensor, mesh, and ad hoc networks
•specification, semantics, verification, and testing of distributed systems
Submission
Papers are to be submitted electronically, following the guidelines available on the conference web page (www.podc.org/podc2012). Note that abstracts of regular papers must be submitted five days before the full papers; note also that the deadlines are firm.

A submission for a regular presentation must report original research. Papers submitted for regular presentations must contain results that have not previously appeared, and have not been concurrently submitted to a journal or conference with published proceedings. Any partial overlap with any such published or concurrently submitted paper must be clearly indicated. Papers for regular presentation include (1) a cover page, stating the title of the paper, the authors' names and affiliations, an abstract, and indication of whether the paper should be considered for the best student paper award, and if so the name(s) of the student(s) recommended for the award; (2) an extended abstract of up to 10 pages (excluding figures); and (3) one to two additional pages for references only. Additional details may be included in a clearly marked appendix, which will be read at the discretion of the program committee. This appendix may simply be the complete paper.

Formatting: letter-size (8 1/2 x 11 inch) paper, single-column format, using at least 1 inch margins, 11-point font, and ample spacing all around. Submissions deviating from these guidelines risk rejection without consierdation of their merits.

A submission for a brief announcement must be no longer than 3 single-column pages on letter-size paper using at least 11-point font, including title, authors' names and affiliations, and references. Such submissions may describe work in progress or work presented elsewhere. A submission that is not selected for regular presentation may be invited for a brief announcement.

Publication
Regular papers and brief announcements will be included in the conference proceedings. Regular papers receive up to 10 letter-size pages, brief announcements receive up to 2 letter-size pages.

Awards
Every regular paper is eligible for the best paper award and the best presentation award. Regular papers co-authored by full-time students may also be eligible for the best student paper award---for a paper to be considered, the nominated authors should be full time students at the time of submission and they should be principally responsible for the paper's contributions. The program committee may decline to make these awards or may split them.