[TYPES/announce] Call for Papers TAP 2020

[Catherine DUBOIS]

[Please accept our apologies for duplicates]

=====================================================
First Call for Papers

14th International Conference on Tests And Proofs
TAP 2020 Bergen (Norway), June 22-26, 2020
https://tap.sosy-lab.org/2020/

Part of STAF 2020
=====================================================

Important Dates
---------------

Abstract:                            January 15, 2020
Paper:                                January 22, 2020
Notification:                      March 16, 2020
Camera-Ready Version:   April 17, 2020
Conference:                      June 22-26, 2020


Aim and Scope
-------------

The TAP conference promotes research in verification and formal
methods that targets the interplay of proofs and testing: the
advancement of techniques of each kind and their combination, with the
ultimate goal of improving software and system dependability.

Research in verification has recently seen a steady convergence of
heterogeneous techniques and a synergy between the traditionally
distinct areas of testing (and dynamic analysis) and of proving (and
static analysis). Formal techniques for counter-example generation
based on, for example, symbolic execution, SAT/SMT-solving or
model checking, furnish evidence for the potential of a combination of
test and proof. The combination of predicate abstraction with testing-like
techniques based on exhaustive enumeration opens the perspective
for novel techniques of proving correctness. On the practical side,
testing offers cost-effective debugging techniques of specifications
or crucial parts of program proofs (such as invariants).  Last but not
least, testing is indispensable when it comes to the validation of the
underlying assumptions of complex system models involving
hardware and/or system environments. Over the years, there is
growing acceptance in research communities that testing and proving
are complementary rather than mutually exclusive techniques.

The TAP conference aims to promote research in the intersection of
testing and proving by bringing together researchers and practitioners
from both areas of verification.


Topics of Interest
------------------

TAP's scope encompasses many aspects of verification technology,
including foundational work, tool development, and empirical
research. Its topics of interest center around the connection between
proofs (and other static techniques) and testing (and other dynamic
techniques). Papers are solicited on, but not limited to, the
following topics:

- Verification and analysis techniques combining proofs and tests
- Program proving with the aid of testing techniques
- Deductive techniques supporting the automated generation of test vectors
   and oracles (theorem proving, model checking, symbolic execution, SAT/SMT
   solving, constraint logic programming, etc.)
- Deductive techniques supporting novel definitions of coverage criteria,
- Program analysis techniques combining static and dynamic analysis
- Specification inference by deductive and dynamic methods
- Testing and runtime analysis of formal specifications
- Search-based technics for proving and testing
- Verification of verification tools and environments
- Applications of test and proof techniques in new domains,
   such as security, configuration management, learning
- Combined approaches of test and proof in the context of formal
   certifications (Common Criteria, CENELEC, …)
- Case studies, tool and framework descriptions, and experience
   reports about combining tests and proofs


Submission Instructions
-----------------------

TAP 2020 accepts papers of four kinds:

- Regular research papers: full submissions describing original
research, of up to 16 pages (excluding references).

- Tool demonstration papers: submissions describing the design and
implementation of an analysis/verification tool or framework, of up
to 8 pages (excluding references). The tool/framework described in
a tool demonstration paper should be available for public use.

- Short papers: submissions describing preliminary findings, proofs
of concepts, and exploratory studies, of up to 6 pages (excluding
references).

- Journal-first extended abstracts, of up to 4 pages, summarizing recently
published articles in high-quality journals. The aim of journal-first papers
is to further enrich the program of TAP, as well as to provide an more 
flexible
path to dissemination of results in the field. The summarized journal 
article
should have been published (or accepted) by 1 July 2018 or later, and report
new results (as opposed as simply extending prior conference work with
'appendix' material, or minor enhancements). Journal-first submissions 
must be
marked as such in the submission’s title, and must explicitly include full
bibliographic details (including a DOI) of the journal publication they are
based on.

Accepted submissions will be published in Springer's LNCS series. Papers 
have to
adhere to Springer's LNCS format and must be submitted in PDF format at the
EasyChair submission site:

https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=tap2020


Committees
----------

Information about all committees can be found under
https://tap.sosy-lab.org/2020

Program Chairs :

Wolfgang Ahrendt (Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden)
Heike Wehrheim (Paderborn University, Germany)

Contact
-------
tap2020 at easychair.org