Workshop on Natural Computing

We warmly invite researchers, practitioners, and members of the scientific community at all career stages to share their research, present new ideas, and connect with peers working in related areas. We particularly encourage PhD students and early-career researchers to participate and present their work in a friendly and supportive environment designed to foster discussion, feedback, and collaboration across disciplines. This workshop is part of the ITAT conference, which takes place in hotel Vršatec, Biele Karpaty, Slovakia, from September 25th to September 29th 2026. The specific date for the workshop itself will be announced.

We welcome contributions in the area of natural computing, broadly understood as both computation occurring in natural systems and computational approaches inspired by nature. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Molecular computing (e.g., DNA computing)
• Cell-inspired computing, including membrane and amorphous computing
• Cellular automata, swarm intelligence, and nature-inspired algorithms
• Artificial immune systems and artificial life
• Synthetic biology, biological networks (genetic, protein-protein, and transport networks)
• Deep learning methods and their applications

Invited talk:

• TBA

Regular Papers

Regular paper submissions should be 5–12 pages long, written in English using LaTeX in A4 one-column format following the CEURart style (overleaf template). Papers must present original and previously unpublished research results and should be submitted via the EasyChair system.

Each submission will undergo a peer-review process based on two independent anonymous reviews conducted by members of the program committee. Acceptance decisions will be made on the basis of these reviews.

Accepted regular papers will be published in the ITAT proceedings within the CEUR Workshop Proceedings series (CEUR-WS.org), indexed in Scopus.

Overview and Work-in-Progress Papers

In addition to regular papers, participants are invited to submit Overview or Work-in-Progress contributions in the form of an extended abstract. These submissions provide an opportunity to present ongoing research, preliminary results, or broader research perspectives.

The submission and presentation requirements are the same as for regular papers. Each contribution will be evaluated by two reviewers; however, the review process will focus solely on the suitability of the submission for inclusion in the workshop program.

Accepted extended abstracts will not be published in the CEUR Workshop Proceedings. Instead, the collection of these contributions will be made available for download on the workshop website. All publication rights remain with the authors.

Why participate?

• Present your ongoing or early-stage research and receive constructive feedback
• Exchange ideas with experts and fellow PhD students in an open and supportive setting
• Build collaborations within an international research community
• Develop confidence and scientific presentation skills in a friendly, low-pressure environment
• Gain publication experience in peer-reviewed proceedings

Program committee (preliminary)

• Luděk Cienciala, Silesian Univerzity in Opava
• Lucie Ciencialová, Silesian University in Opava (co-chair)
• Erzsébet Csuhaj-Varjú, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest
• Alberto Leporati, Università degli Studi di Milano - Bicocca
• Agustín Riscos Núñez, University of Seville
• Petr Sosík, Silesian University in Opava
• Jose M. Sempere, Universitat Politècnica de València
• György Vaszil, University of Debrecen
• Sergey Verlan, University of Paris Est Créteil, IUT de Sénart-Fontainebleau
• Claudio Zandron,Dipartimento di Informatica, Sistemistica e Comunicazione, Universita' di Milano-Bicocca