ICML 2026 Call for Post-Conference Workshops

ICML workshops will be held on Saturday, July 11th, and Sunday, July 12th, following the ICML main conference. Similar to the main conference, workshops will take place in person. We invite researchers interested in chairing one of these workshops to submit proposals. Workshop organizers have several responsibilities, including coordinating workshop participation and content, publicizing and providing the program in a timely manner, and moderating the program throughout the workshop.

ICML also solicits proposals for affinity workshops. The format and aims of these workshops should be described by the workshop organizers, following, for instance, the template set out by similar workshops that took place at ICML and NeurIPS in recent years (Black in AI, Indigenous in AI, LatinX in AI, Muslims in ML, New in ML, Queer in AI, WiML, etc.). Affinity workshops will primarily be held throughout the main conference from Tuesday, July 7th to Friday, July 10th. Proposals should follow a similar format as regular workshop proposals and be submitted, together with regular workshops, through OpenReview following the submission instructions below. The Inclusion & Accessibility Chairs will make decisions on acceptance for affinity workshops. If you have any questions, please reach out to inclusion-accessibility-chairs@icml.cc.

Workshops

The goal of the workshops is to provide an informal forum for researchers to discuss emerging research questions and challenges. Workshops will last for one day, with morning and afternoon sessions and free time between the sessions for individual exchange. To encourage workshop variety, all workshops will be one-day workshops.

The workshops can be on any subject relevant to a significant fraction of the ICML community. Schedules may encourage lively debates, and topics should lean more towards exploring new ideas, open problems, and interdisciplinary areas compared to the main conference. Workshops should encourage contributed content and reserve a significant portion of time for open/panel discussions and posters. A diverse group of speakers is more likely to bring diverse and surprising viewpoints on a topic. As a result, we encourage workshop organizers to be cognizant of designing panels and speaker lists that are inclusive.

Below, we include the criteria by which workshop submissions will be evaluated:

1. Fit for ICML (how the theme of the workshop connects to ICML papers and past workshops)
2. Potential impact (promising topic)
3. Novelty and originality (emerging topic)
4. Quality of the abstract and clarity of purpose
5. Organizers' relevant expertise (please avoid excessive self-promotion)
6. Diversity in the organizing team and speakers
7. Confirmed invited speakers with sufficient coverage of the topic
8. Room for contributed work (e.g., posters and contributed talks)
9. Room for discussion: degree to which the proposed program offers opportunity for discussion

General advice: 

In recent years, the number of workshop submissions has increased profoundly, and thus having a workshop accepted at ICML has become significantly more difficult than it used to be a few years ago. Thus, the selection committee will often have to take into account factors not listed above when making decisions. Inevitably, there will be proposals that follow all guidelines but still get rejected. Likewise, some great proposals may violate some guidelines, but still be considered strong enough to be accepted. In addition to the criteria listed above, we provide some additional guidance that we hope will help to increase the probability that your proposal will be successful.

Aim for a topic that is going to be of broad interest, but specific enough for a focused and productive workshop that will stand out as a submission. For example, the topic “AI Safety” may have broad interest, but will not likely distinguish your proposal from other proposals. On the other hand, “Uncertainty Representation under Distribution Shifts” is also likely to have broad appeal, but is more focused and distinctive. Ask yourself: is it likely there will be a dozen other proposals on almost exactly the same theme? If so, think of a more distinctive question to address with your workshop. It could be that there is a salient and focused question that is likely still to have many submissions (e.g., “Variable Inference-Time Computation”). It’s still reasonable to submit a proposal on such a topic (with the understanding that it may have more competition), but still try to have a fresh perspective on that theme that will distinguish your proposal. 

Similarly, workshop proposals that are the first (or perhaps second) iteration of a particular theme are more likely to be successful than long-running workshops (e.g., “the 10th workshop on ML for x”), as there is a desire to give opportunities to new groups of people, and new themes. In general, it is also expected that the organizing team will be fully engaged with the workshop proposal, and workshop logistics if the proposal is accepted. The submission should make clear how each organizer will play an important role. This level of engagement and broad ownership is more likely to be achieved with smaller organization teams. We discourage workshop proposals that involve 1 or 2 key organizers, along with several other organizers or “advisory panels” with only peripheral involvement, or proposals that have organizers who are also organizers on many other workshop proposals (especially if those proposals are on a similar theme). 

Regarding speakers, there is sometimes a temptation to invite speakers because they are generally popular speakers, rather than their work having a close connection with the theme of the workshop: avoid this temptation! It leads to many proposals having basically the same set of “usual suspects” regardless of topic. Instead, focus on who is the best fit to the workshop theme. 

Finally, the organization of the proposal has a significant effect on decisions: workshop proposals that are highly polished, and show a lot of forward planning, for example through confirmed speakers, and attention to detail regarding the structure and logistics of the workshop, indicate that there will be fewer crises of organization at the time of the conference (e.g., unresponsive or missing organizers).

Obviously, many of these (and other) factors are outside of the control of the workshop organizers, and some of these will only surface after the submissions are received. There is therefore no guarantee that any proposal will be accepted, even if it follows guidelines and receives a strong set of reviews; so it is important to have your expectations calibrated accordingly. The process, selection criteria, and constraints are different from paper reviewing, even though aspects of the process may feel like paper reviewing. 

Submission Instructions

Workshop submissions will be made through OpenReview. Please follow the URL below and check the required format for the application well before the proposal deadline. You may submit and update your application online right up until this deadline.

Important dates for workshop submissions:

• Workshop submissions open: January 21, 2026.
• Workshop application deadline: February 13, 2026, AOE.
• Workshop notification: March 20, 2026.
• Suggested Submission Date for Workshop Contributions: April 24, 2026 AOE.
• Universal notification deadline for all submissions to individual ICML workshops: May 15, 2026, AOE.

* AOE = Anywhere On Earth.

Proposals should be submitted electronically at the URL here OpenReview. 

Submission format

Proposals should be two pages long, in single-column A4 or letter format, with font size 11 or greater, excluding organizer contact details/CVs and bibliographic references. Due to the increase in submissions, failure to abide by formatting constraints could lead to rejection of the proposal. New for 2026: Limit of at most 8 organizers will be allowed; we recommend around 5-6 organizers.  

Proposals should clearly specify the following:

• Workshop title
• Brief description of the topics to be covered, and an explanation as to why the workshop will appeal to ICML audiences.
• Short description and rough timetable of all planned activities (talks, posters, panels), detailing planned in-person and virtual elements. Note: workshops are 1-day long and typically start around 9:00 am and must finish by 5:30 pm. 
• List of invited speakers, specifying who has been confirmed. We strongly recommend that all speakers present in person. However, virtual talks will be allowed in special circumstances to account for hard constraints (e.g. denied visas) or to significantly increase the diversity of speakers. 
• Description of the history of the workshop (if it previously took place, then when/where)
• Similar past and current events at ICML and NeurIPS in the last 1-2 years, even if not organized by the present workshop organizers: New workshops are welcome to build on prior workshops if a good case is made; completely original workshops are also welcome
• List of organizers with email addresses, web page URLs, pointers to Google Scholar or other similar citation service pages, a one-paragraph bio for each organizer, describing research expertise, and previous experience organizing scientific meetings. Unless explicitly indicated, we will assume all organizers are intending to participate in person. New for 2026: Specify if the organizers are part of other ICML workshop proposals. 
• Names of two organizers designated as contacts for all communications
             

To facilitate the participation of people unable to travel, workshop contents should be available online, as well. Workshop organizers are asked to manage the virtual elements (e.g., hosting and recording presentations and papers, streaming, and virtual poster sessions). The ICML organizers will assist with central support as needed.

ICML does not provide travel funding for workshop speakers; in the past, some workshops have sought and received funding from external sources to bring in outside speakers. The organizers of each accepted workshop will be given five complimentary full conference registrations to distribute among workshop organizers and/or participants. In the event that the conference is sold out, each workshop will be given a number of guaranteed registrations for workshop contributors, so please let us know in your application how many such registrations you anticipate you will need. 

FAQ

• Can we host a virtual workshop?
  • No, virtual workshops will not be supported this year.
     
• Do organizers need to attend the workshop in person?
  • At least one organizer must attend the workshop in person.
     
• Can workshop speakers give virtual talks?
  • It is expected that talks will be in person. Virtual talks can only be given in special circumstances to account for hard unanticipated constraints (e.g. denied visas). The organizers will need to coordinate with the remote speaker. Virtual speakers should also commit to engaging with other presenters and participants of the workshop throughout the day of the workshop, and organizers should provide a means for interaction between the physical and virtual components of the workshop.
     
• Is there a limit on the number of workshop organizers?
  • Yes. Starting 2026, we are limiting the number of workshop organizers to at most 8 with a recommendation of 5-6. You can also have volunteers that help you run the workshop, but listed organizers are restricted to at most 8. 
     
• Will there be complementary registrations to ICML if the workshop is accepted?
  • Yes, each accepted workshop will receive 5 complementary registrations. These complementary registrations are for both the workshop + main conference. We leave the distribution of these complementary registrations to the main organizer of the workshop, but usually the workshop organizers give the free registrations to their plenary speakers. Note that once a registration has been given there is no way to get it back. These registrations will be distributed to the main organizer of the workshop shortly after acceptance of the workshop to ICML. 

• Will there be technical support to help with the workshop?
  • We will be providing SlidesLive support for livestreaming and recording in-person components of the workshops this year. There will be no SlidesLive support for pre-recording videos. We instead suggest using zoom to pre-record and present remote talks, and will offer a limited number of zoom licenses to help support this.

• What equipment will be provided to each accepted workshop?
  • Each accepted workshop will be provided 1 meeting room/exhibition hall, an AV standard set (1 podium mic & 1 Q&A mic), panel table with 1 wireless microphone, and tape for putting up posters. Workshops can order (at the expense of the organizers/sponsors) additional items (e.g., extra microphones, extra furniture, sponsor tables, catering, etc.).  

ICML 2026 Workshop Chairs

workshop-chairs@icml.cc

Courtney Paquette (Mathematics and Statistics, McGill University)
Gergely Neu (Universitat Pompeu Fabra & ICREA)