Doctoral SymposiumMODELS 2026

About

MODELS is the premier conference series for model-based software and systems engineering. Since 1998 MODELS has covered all aspects of modeling, from languages and methods to tools and applications. MODELS participants originate from a wide variety of backgrounds, including researchers, academics, engineers, and industry professionals.

MODELS 2026 is a forum for participants to share the latest research and practical experiences around modeling, modeling languages, and model-based software and systems engineering. Respective contributions advance the fundamentals of modeling and report applications of modeling in areas such as cyber-physical systems, embedded systems, socio-technical systems, cloud computing, big data, machine learning, security, open source, and sustainability.

The goal of the MODELS 2026 Doctoral Symposium is to provide an international forum for students registered for a research degree to interact with and engage with academic mentors working in model-based engineering. The symposium supports contributors directly, led by a champion from the Programme Committee, and provides independent and constructive feedback about contributors’ already completed and planned research. To this end, the Symposium Programme Committee comprises experts in various fields of model-based engineering.

The Symposium will have a one-day workshop format, featuring short presentations by the students whose papers are accepted by peer reviewers, interactive feedback from the mentors (who are among the peer reviewers) and colleagues (i.e., fellow doctoral students in the Symposium), and plenty of time for open discussion and exchange. The workshop is open to all research students, mentors, presenters, and all other conference participants, except that we request that the research supervisors not attend their own supervisee’s presentations.

Submissions (exclusively authored by a student) can only be accepted from students registered on a research degree within a recognized research institution. We welcome mainly submissions of early/middle-stage PhD students (with at least 6 months of work already performed prior to the submission date). This condition is set so students can take advantage of feedback and discussions in their research and towards their thesis.

Topics of Interest

MODELS 2026 solicits submissions on a variety of topics related to modeling for software and systems engineering including, but not limited to:

• Fundamentals of model-based engineering, including the definition of syntax and semantics of modeling languages and model transformation languages.
• New paradigms, formalisms, applications, approaches, frameworks, or processes for model-based engineering such as low-code/no-code development, digital twins, etc.
• Definition, use, and analysis of model-based generative and re-engineering approaches.
• Model-based monitoring, analysis, and adaptation heading towards intelligent systems.
• Development of model-based systems engineering approaches and modeling-in-the-large, including interdisciplinary engineering and coordination.
• Applications of AI to model-related engineering problems, e.g., approaches based on search, machine learning, large language models (AI for modeling).
• Model-based engineering foundations for AI-based systems (modeling for AI).
• Human and organizational factors in model-based engineering.
• Tools, meta-tools, and language workbenches for model-based engineering, including model management and scalable model repositories.
• Hybrid multi-modeling approaches, i.e., integration of various modeling languages and their tools.
• Evaluation and comparison of modeling languages, techniques, and tools.
• Quality assurance (analysis, testing, verification, fidelity assessment) for functional and non-functional properties of models and model transformations.
• Collaborative modeling to address team management issues, e.g., browser-based and cloud-enabled collaboration.
• Evolution of modeling languages and related standards.
• Modeling education, e.g., delivery methods and curriculum design.
• Modeling in software engineering, e.g., applications of models to address common software engineering challenges.
• Modeling for specific challenges such as collaboration, scalability, security, interoperability, adaptability, flexibility, maintainability, dependability, reuse, energy efficiency, sustainability, and uncertainty.
• Modeling with, and for, novel systems and paradigms in fields such as security, cyber-physical systems (CPSs), the Internet of Things, cloud computing, DevOps, blockchain technology, data analytics, data science, machine learning, Big Data, systems engineering, socio-technical systems, critical infrastructures and services, robotics, mobile applications, conversational agents, and open-source software.
• Empirical studies on the application of model-based engineering in areas such as smart manufacturing, smart cities, smart enterprises, smart mobility, smart society, etc.

All papers must be submitted electronically in PDF format via Easychair at https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=models26docsymp.

Submissions must use the following structure:

• Problem: Briefly introduce the problem or research questions that the research intends to address, stating the target audience. Explain why the problem is important and needs to be addressed. Be clear why it is feasible to address the problem/research questions in the relevant research degree.
• Expected contributions: Give a summary list of the expected contributions the research will make, to theory and practice, noting potential identified non-academic contributions if relevant.
• Related work: Present a critical review of a relevant selection of related work, which shows how the research will differ from or extend the published state of the art.
• Proposed approach: Summarise the approach planned / in progress to address the problem. Justify the approach, and show how it draws upon published works, existing methods and tools. Be clear about any risks or ethical issues arising from the research area of the conduct of the research and how these have been / will be addressed. If there are no risks or ethical issues, state this clearly.
• Evaluation plan: Outline the evaluation plan, which will demonstrate that the problem has been addressed or research questions answered, and will demonstrate how the research goes beyond the existing state of the art (typical approaches to evaluation might include some or all of prototyping, industry case studies, benchmarking, user studies, experiments, etc.).
• Current status: Summarise the work completed to date, including any results obtained, and present the timeline for completion of the research and write-up.

Submissions must not exceed five (5) pages including references. Submissions must adhere to the ACM formatting instructions, available for both LaTeX and Word users. LaTeX users must use the provided acmart.cls and ACM-Reference-Format.bst without modification, enable the conference format in the preamble of the document (i.e., \documentclass[sigconf,review]{acmart}), and use the ACM reference format for the bibliography (i.e., \bibliographystyle{ACM-Reference-Format}). The review option adds line numbers, thereby allowing referees to refer to specific lines in their comments.

By submitting to the MODELS Doctoral Symposium Track, authors acknowledge that they are aware of and agree to be bound by the ACM Policy and Procedures on Plagiarism. By submitting your article to an ACM Publication, you are hereby acknowledging that you and your co-authors are subject to all ACM Publications Policies, including ACM’s new Publications Policy on Research Involving Human Participants and Subjects. Please ensure that you obtain an ORCID ID, so you can complete the publishing process for your accepted paper.

Papers will be reviewed by at least two members of the program committee. ACM will publish all accepted submissions as part of the MODELS Companion. Papers are accepted conditional on the author registering for the symposium at the MODELS 2026 conference by the early registration deadline and presenting the paper at the symposium.