Background

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Data Science competitions have emerged as influential platforms for advancing research, driving technological innovation, and facilitating practical applications across diverse domains. Renowned competitions hosted by leading international conferences such as IJCAI, AAAI, NeurIPS, and KDD not only foster algorithmic breakthroughs but also accelerate the transition of theoretical advances into practical solutions addressing real-world problems. In recognition of the transformative role these competitions play in shaping the future of AI and data science, Frontiers of Computer Science (FCS) is organizing a special issue titled "Frontiers of AI and Data Science Competitions" This special issue aims to showcase recent achievements, consolidate valuable experiences from competition participants and organizers, and articulate emerging trends and strategic visions for competition-driven AI and data science research.

Topics of Interest

We invite high-quality submissions from competition chairs, organizers, contestants (i.e., champions, and runners-up) from prestigious AI and data science competitions (e.g., IJCAI, AAAI, NeurIPS, KDD, etc.). For competition organizers and chairs, we invite News Summaries of:

· Critical reviews and analyses

· Forward-looking perspectives, trends, and future opportunities in AI and data science competitions

We also invite Regular Papers (champions only) and short-form Letters (both champions and runners-up, no more than 3 pages and 10 references) of:

· Advanced algorithms and methodologies developed for competition tasks

· Best practices, practical experiences, strategic insights, and findings of participated tasks

Important Dates

· Submissions Deadline: November 30, 2025

· First-round Review Decisions: January 31, 2026

· Deadline for Revision Submissions: March 31, 2026

· Notification of Final Decisions: April 30, 2026

· Tentative Publication: August 2026

 

Guest Editors
- Hao Liu, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou), Guangzhou, China, liuh@ust.hk
- James Kwok, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China, jamesk@cse.ust.hk

Online Submission

Please submit your manuscript through the online system at: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/hepfcs. Please state the Competition you organized or attended, and the Rankings you achieved in the cover letter. Otherwise, manuscript would be returned.

Select manuscript type: “Frontiers of AI and Data Science Competitions”, Templates and additional submission guidelines are available on the submission website.