Special Track on TAP (Tests and Proofs)FM 2026

Accepted Papers

Call for Papers

Special Track on Tests and Proofs (TAP)

Since 2007, the Test and Proof (TAP) conference has long been a leading venue for research on the intersection of dynamic analyses, in particular software testing, and formal verification. Now, TAP is joining the 27th International Symposium on Formal Methods (FM 2026) as a new special track. This track provides a premier international forum for researchers and practitioners working at the intersection of formal verification and software testing. By joining FM, the TAP track offers authors a wider, more diverse audience and the prestige of publication in the main, open-access FM 2026 proceedings, published by Springer in the LNCS series. We invite you to be part of this exciting new chapter for the tests and proofs community!

Track Highlight: FM 2026 Keynote by Professor Cristian Cadar

We are thrilled to announce that TAP Track at FM 2026 will feature a keynote talk by Professor Cristian Cadar of Imperial College London. Professor Cadar is a world-renowned authority on software reliability, security, and verification, and is particularly celebrated for his pioneering contributions to symbolic and dynamic execution (e.g., KLEE). His selection as a main symposium keynote speaker is a powerful testament to the increasing importance of the core topics of the TAP track to the broader computer science community.

Scope and Topics of Interest

Research in verification has seen an increase in heterogeneous techniques and a synergy between the traditionally distinct areas of dynamic and static analysis. There is growing awareness that dynamic techniques such as testing and static techniques such as proving are complementary rather than mutually exclusive. The TAP track solicits high-quality, original research on the interplay between dynamic techniques (e.g., testing and runtime verification) and formal verification (e.g., proving, model checking, and abstract interpretation). The track aims to foster new collaborations and advance the state of the art in creating reliable and secure software and systems. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following areas:

Foundations for Combining Testing and Verification

• Formalisms and theories that unify testing and proof
• Semantic foundations for combined static and dynamic analysis
• Proof theory for test-case generation and specification conformance
• Type systems with a testing and proving focus
• Formal models of test-based and proof-based development

Synergistic Techniques and Tools

• Combination of model checking, theorem proving, and runtime verification
• Synergies between symbolic execution, fuzzing, and formal analysis
• Test-case generation from formal specifications
• Using test execution results to guide or automate proof discovery
• Static analysis for test-suite reduction, prioritization, and optimization
• Verification-based and property-based testing
• Formal methods for testing AI/ML-based systems
• AI/ML techniques for enhancing formal verification and testing
• Derivation of specifications and contracts from tests
• Combination of static and dynamic analysis for security vulnerability detection

Applications and Empirical Evaluation

• Case studies and experience reports applying combined test-and-proof techniques to industrial systems (e.g., in security, cyber-physical systems, autonomous systems, blockchain, or IoT)
• Empirical comparisons of different verification, testing, and combined techniques
• Tool demonstration papers for new and innovative tools that support tests and proofs
• Application of TAP techniques to challenge problems and benchmarks

Important Dates

All deadlines are Anywhere on Earth (AoE, UTC-12h). The deadlines for the TAP track are aligned with the FM 2026 Research Track.

Submission Categories and Guidelines

The TAP track papers can be submitted in all paper categories supported by the FM 2026 Research Track and submissions to the TAP track will be reviewed following the policies and quality criteria of the FM Research Track.

The TAP track solicits papers in the following categories:

• Regular Papers (max 15 pages, excluding references and appendices): For mature, original research contributions.
• Long Tool Papers (max 15 pages, excluding references and appendices): For presenting mature tools, their theoretical foundations, and empirical evaluations.
• Case Study Papers (max 15 pages, excluding references and appendices): For in-depth reports on the application of TAP techniques to significant, real-world problems. The complete development should be made available at the time of review. The usual criteria for novelty, reproducibility, correctness and the ability for others to build upon the described work apply.
• Short Papers (max 6 pages, excluding references and appendices): For presenting novel but not yet fully mature ideas, or for tool demonstration papers that focus on a tool’s features and usage. A tool demonstration paper need not present the theory behind the tool, but can focus on the tool’s features, how it is used, its evaluation and examples and screenshots illustrating the tool’s use.

Papers should be original work, not published or submitted elsewhere, in Springer LNCS format, and written in English.

Submit your papers at https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=fm2026

Go for Research/TAP Track submission, and select TAP Track in the topic selection inside the submission form.

For all papers, an appendix can provide additional material such as details on proofs or experiments. The appendix is not part of the page count and will only be read at the discretion of the reviewers.

Reviewing is single-blind. Each paper will be evaluated by at least three members of the Program Committee. Papers will be accepted or rejected in the category in which they were submitted and will not be moved between categories.

Authors of papers reporting experimental work are strongly encouraged to make their experimental results available for use by the reviewers.

Authors of tool and tool demonstration papers should make their tools available for use by the reviewers.

Authors of accepted papers are strongly encouraged to submit their supporting artifacts to the FM 2026 Artifact Evaluation track.

Publication

All accepted papers for the TAP track will be published as part of the main FM 2026 conference proceedings. The proceedings will be published by Springer in their open-access Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS) series. At least one author of an accepted paper must register for the conference and present the work.

Steering Committee

• Wolfgang Ahrendt (Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden)
• Bernhard K. Aichernig (Graz University of Technology, Austria)
• Jasmin Blanchette (LMU, Germany)
• Achim D. Brucker (University of Exeter, UK)
• Catherine Dubois (chair) (Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Informatique pour l’Industrie et l’Entreprise, France)
• Nikolai Kosmatov (Thales Research and Technology, France)
• Burkhart Wolff (University Paris-Saclay, France)

History of the TAP Conference Series

The TAP track at FM 2026 builds upon a long and successful history as a standalone conference. For over 15 years, the International Conference on Tests and Proofs has been a vibrant community hub for advancing research in the integration of static and dynamic analysis. The previous editions of the conference were:

• TAP 2024: Milan, Italy (LNCS 15153)
• TAP 2023: Leicester, United Kingdom (LNCS 14066)
• TAP 2022: Nantes, France (LNCS 13361)
• TAP 2021: Online (LNCS 12740)
• TAP 2020: Bergen, Norway (LNCS 12165)
• TAP 2019: Porto, Portugal (LNCS 11823)
• TAP 2018: Toulouse, France (LNCS 10889)
• TAP 2017: Marburg, Germany (LNCS 10375)
• TAP 2016: Vienna, Austria (LNCS 9762)
• TAP 2015: L’Aquila, Italy (LNCS 9154)
• TAP 2014: York, UK (LNCS 8570)
• TAP 2013: Budapest, Hungary (LNCS 7942)
• TAP 2012: Besancon, France (LNCS 7305)
• TAP 2011: Zurich, Switzerland (LNCS 6706)
• TAP 2010: Malaga, Spain (LNCS 6143)
• TAP 2009: Zurich, Switzerland (LNCS 5668)
• TAP 2008: Prato, Italy (LNCS 4966)
• TAP 2007: Zurich, Switzerland (LNCS 4454)