*** First Call for Research Papers (2nd Round) ***
International Conference on Software and Systems Reuse, Product Lines, and Configuration (VARIABILITY 2026)
29 September - 2 October 2026, 5* St. Raphael Resort and Marina Limassol, Cyprus
https://conf.researchr.org/home/variability-2026
The International Conference on Software and Systems Reuse, Product Lines, and Configuration (VARIABILITY 2026) invites high-quality contributions from researchers and practitioners in software engineering, systems engineering, and related disciplines focussing on a broad spectrum of methods, concepts, and tools for variability. VARIABILITY aims to be the premier forum for the exchange of ideas, experiences, and results in all aspects of software and systems variability management, reuse, software configuration, and customization.
As software and systems become increasingly configurable, reusable, and adaptable, managing their variability across all lifecycle phases is more critical—and more challenging —than ever. VARIABILITY 2026 seeks to bring together the diverse communities that address these challenges from theoretical, technical, and practical perspectives.
VARIABILITY results from a merge of three prominent conferences focussing on software and systems variability, configuration and reuse: SPLC (the International Systems and Software Product Line Conference, 29 successful editions), VaMoS (the International Working Conference on Variability Modelling of Software-Intensive Systems, 19 successful editions), and ICSR (the International Conference on Systems and Software Reuse, 22 successful editions).
VARIABILITY is by design open as a conference. It welcomes new fields of variability- intensive research, such as artificial intelligence, hybrid software-hardware systems, etc. For this first edition of VARIABILITY, we strive to continue the success of the predecessor conferences ICSR, SPLC, and VaMoS by welcoming high-quality submissions for the research track in numerous closely related areas, such as systems and software product lines, systems and software reuse, configurable systems and software, product configuration, and systems and software variability. We will award the best research paper and the best artifact paper.
Topics of Interest
We invite contributions on variability management, reuse, and configuration across all phases of the software and systems lifecycle. The topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
Requirements & Domain Engineering • Domain analysis and variability modeling • Decision modeling and support • Customization and personalization specification • Requirements variability and traceability
Architecture & Design • Variability-aware software architectures • Architecture-centric product line engineering • Model-driven engineering (MDE) • Multi-product lines, program families, product lines of product lines, software ecosystems
Implementation & Code Generation • Generative programming and code synthesis • Modularization techniques for reusable code • Programming languages and frameworks for variability • Open-source strategies for software reuse
Testing, Verification & Quality Assurance • Testing and analysis of configurable systems • Safety and security in variable systems • Formal Methods for Software Product Lines • Non-functional properties: quality-aware analysis, quality-driven configuration • Reuse in testing, verification, and quality assurance
Evolution, Maintenance & Operation • Refactoring and restructuring of configurable systems • Reverse engineering, variability mining, and refactoring • Runtime variability and dynamic (software) product lines • Maintenance strategies for large-scale reused systems • Variability in DevOps and CI/CD pipelines
AI and Data-Driven Methods • Machine learning for variability management • AI-assisted product configuration • Data and repository mining from product lines and configuration histories • Recommendation systems for reuse and customization
Publication of Proceedings
Accepted papers will be published in the VARIABILITY 2026 proceedings by Springer in the LNCS series.
Submission Guidelines
Paper Types We invite the following types of submissions:
• Full Papers (up to 18 pages excluding references): Research papers must present original, unpublished work with validated results through empirical evaluation, formal analysis, or implementation-based experiments. Submissions must clearly articulate the problem, its relevance, the proposed contribution, and validation results.
• Short Papers (6 - 8 pages excluding references): Short papers present early-stage research, novel ideas, or conceptual proposals that are not yet fully developed or validated but offer promising directions. These papers should articulate the vision, motivation, and potential impact.
Formatting Papers must use the Springer LNCS template according to: https://www.springer.com/gp/computer-science/lncs/conference-proceedings-gui...
Springer provides author guidelines that should be consulted for further details: https://resource-preview-cms.springernature.com/springer-cms/rest/v1/content...
Submission Link Submissions should be made via Easy Chair, selecting the research track: https://easychair.org/conferences?conf=variability2026
Paper Originality, Double-Anonymous Policy, Reviewing All papers must be original and not under review elsewhere. Submissions will be double- anonymous and reviewed by at least three experts. Submissions will be evaluated based on their novelty, relevance, rigor, transparency, and presentation. Authors of submissions to the first deadline might be invited to submit a revision of their papers to the second deadline, which will be reviewed as a revision.
Revisions Research-track papers can be submitted to the first or second cycle. In the first cycle, papers can receive the following decisions: accept, revision, or reject. Revision means that the reviewers believe that the paper has potential, but that its quality or contribution is not yet ready for publication. Such papers are offered lightweight shepherding by a community member, who is not necessarily a PC member or reviewer. Revised papers should be submitted to the second cycle together with a response letter, explaining how the reviewer comments were addressed. They are then reviewed by the same PC members. Papers rejected in the first cycle can be resubmitted in the second cycle, but need to contain an appendix “Changes to First-Cycle Submission” at the end of the PDF (after references, regardless of the page limit) that lists the major changes in bullet-point format.
Best Paper Awards
Springer will sponsor the awards for bet papers with an overall amount of €1000.
Journal Special Issue
Selected accepted papers will be invited to submit extended versions with at least 30% additional and original material, to be published in a special issue in a reputable Software Engineering journal (currently under negotiation).
Important Dates (AoE)
• Paper Submission Deadline (2nd Round): 2 April 2026 • Notification of Acceptance (2nd Round): 1 June 2026 • Camera-Ready Deadline: 15 July 2025 • Author Registration: 15 July 2025
Organisation
General Chairs • George A. Papadopoulos, University of Cyprus, Cyprus • Gilles Perrouin, FNRS & University of Namur, Belgium
Research Track Chairs • Thorsten Berger, Ruhr University Bochum, Germany • Ina Schaefer, KIT, Germany
Industry Track Chairs • Shaukat Ali, Simula Research Lab and Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway • Martin Becker, Fraunhofer IESE, Germany
Journal First Track Chairs • Mathieu Acher, University Rennes, Inria, CNRS, IRISA, France • Xhevahire Tërnava, LTCI, Télécom Paris, Institut Polytechnique de Paris, France
Doctoral Symposium Track Chairs • Rick Rabiser, LIT CPS, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria • Iris Reinhartz-Berger, University of Haifa, Israel
Demos and Tools Track Chairs • Sandra Greiner, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark • Leopoldo Teixeira, Federal University of Pernambuco
Projects Showcase Chairs • Daniel Struber, Chalmers, University of Gothenburg, Radbound University, Sweden • Dalila Tamzalit, Nantes Université, France
Hall of Fame Chairs • Martin Becker, Fraunhofer IESE, Germany • Goetz Botterweck, Lero - The Irish Software Research Centre and University of Limerick, Ireland • Natsuko Noda, Shibaura Institute of Technology, Japan
Workshops Chairs • Lidia Fuentes, Universidad de Malaga, Spain • Malte Lochau, University of Siegen, Germany
Tutorials Chairs • Loek Cleophas, Eindhoven University of Technology and Stellenbosch University, The Netherlands • Mahsa Varshosaz, IT University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Proceedings Chair • Sophie Fortz, King's College London, UK
Publicity Chairs • Wesley Assunção, North Carolina State University, USA • Kentaro Yoshimura, Hitachi Ltd, Japan
Local Organiser and Finance Chair • George A. Papadopoulos, University of Cyprus, Cyprus