VERIFAI-26: workshop on AI and verification -- Call for Papers

[Sebastien Mosser]

Hi montrealers,

Please find below a Call for Papers for a workshop organized by Bertrand in Villebrumier, which may be of interest to some of you working on V&V & AI.

Cheers

Seb

--
  Sébastien Mosser, PEng, PhD
  Associate Chair, Dept. of Computing and Software

  Associate Director, McMaster Centre for Software Certification (McSCert)
  Associate Professor of Software Engineering

  McMaster University, http://mosser.github.io

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VERIFAI-26: workshop on AI and verification -- Call for Papers

--- IN SHORT ---
Theme: The Interplay between Artificial Intelligence and Software Verification (VERIFAI-26)
Dates: 8-11 March 2026
Location: Villebrumier LASER center, near Toulouse & Montauban, Southwest France

Deadline for submissions (full papers or extended abstracts): 20 December 2025
Publication: post-conference proceedings in Springer Lecture Notes in Computer Science

Conference web page: https://www.laser-foundation.org/verifai-26/
Submission link: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=verifai2026

--- SCOPE ---

AI has already revolutionized the way we approach software development; and we are still at the beginning.

AI-guided software construction suffers, however, from major limitations, in particular the phenomenon of hallucination, suggesting that we need to combine AI techniques with advanced verification techniques.

The VERIFAI workshop, the first of its kind, is devoted to the interplay between the two technologies: not only how to verify AI tools but also (the main focus) how verification techniques can make "vibe coding" efficient and reliable.

The workshop is intended for discussion. Participants will be selected on the basis of submitted papers; at that stage, extended abstracts (2 to 5 pages) are acceptable. Based on the initial articles and feedback at the workshop, revised articles will be, after refereeing, published in post-workshop proceedings in Springer LNCS.

--- EXAMPLE TOPICS ---
• Using verification and validation techniques to filter, control and certify AI-produced software.
• Using AI to generate and validate both implementations and specifications
• Analyses of the quality of AI-generated software and vibe coding.
• Using AI to generate and run proofs and other static analyses.
• Using AI to generate and run tests.
• AI-based verification tools.
• Using AI for software engineering tasks other than coding: vibe requirements, vibe specification, vibe contracting, vibe design, vibe testing, vibe verifying...
• The hallucination phenomenon and how to deal with it.
• Empirical studies of properties of AI-supported software.
• Experience reports in academia and industry.
• Verifying AI systems.
The word "verification" in the title of the VERIFAI workshop should be understood in a broad sense, including "validation" ("V & V") and a wide range of software analysis techniques, from proofs to tests.
Empirical analyses providing quantitative assessments of the use of AI to produce software are particularly welcome.


--- SUBMISSION GUIDELINES ---

Papers must be original and not simultaneously submitted to another journal or conference. The following paper categories are welcome (page indications refer to Springer LNCS format):

 Full papers (up to 18 pages)
 Extended abstracts (2 to 5 pages)

--- Program Committee ---
(Partial list as of 20 Oct. 2025. See the web page for up-to-date list.)

 Saddek Bensalem (University of Grenoble-Alpes, France)
 Amel Bennaceur (Open University, UK)
 Silvia Bonfanti (University of Bergamo, Italy)
 Jean-Michel Bruel (University of Toulouse, France)
 Swarat Chaudhuri (University of Texas, USA)
 Benoît Combemale (IRISA, France)
 Sophie Ebersold (University of Toulouse, France)
 Angelo Gargantini (University of Bergamo, Italy)
 Li Huang (Constructor Institute of Technology, Switzerland)
 Mikoláš Janota (Czech Technical University, Prague)
 Guy Katz (Hebrew University, Israel)
 Atif Mashkoor (Johannes Kepler University, Austria)
 Tim Menzies (North Carolina State University, USA)
 Bertrand Meyer (Eiffel Software, USA/Switzerland)
 Rosemary Monahan (Maynooth University, Ireland)
 Iulian Neamtiu (New Jersey Institute of Technology, USA)
 Omer Landry Nguena Timo (Université du Québec en Outaouais, Canada)
 Manuel Oriol (Constructor Institute of Technology, Switzerland)
 Meriem Ouederni (University of Toulouse, France)
 Cesare Pautasso (University of Lugano, Switzerland)
 Bernard Steffen (TU Dortmund, Germany)
 Xingyu Zhiao (University of Warwick, UK)

--- PUBLICATION ---

VERIFAI-26 proceedings will be published in Springer LNCS (Lecture Notes in Computer Science), part of the LASER Villebrumier center LNCS subseries.

--- VENUE ---
The conference will be held in Villebrumier, near Montauban, in the Southwest of France. Participants will be housed onsite. Villebrumier is easily reached: 10 minutes from the train station in Montauban (4 hours from Paris by TGV) or 30 minutes from Toulouse-Blagnac airport, with connections to most important European airports. Shuttles will be organized from both of these locations (March 8) and back (March 11). The Villebrumier center provides an excellent environment for scientific seminars in a convenient setting.

--- CONTACT ---
See the Web page for full up-to-date information and contact email: https://www.laser-foundation.org/verifai-26/