The IEEE Navigation Conference (NAVICON) 2026 Organizing Committee invites proposals for Special Sessions on technologies, algorithms, and sensors for navigation in a broad sense. Specifically, we are seeking topics on emerging technologies or topics from diverse yet related domains, where the special session may provide a comprehensive overview of the state of the art.

Special Session organizers are encouraged to contact a diverse set of potential authors and compile a preliminary list of committed papers aligned with the session’s scope for submission to the IEEE NAVICON. Upon acceptance of the Special Session, the organizers of the Special Session are responsible for soliciting submissions to their session, as participation in the Special Session is by invitation only from the organizers. Papers submitted to the Special Session will undergo peer-review, following NAVICON standards for regular papers. Special Session organizers will chair the session at the conference.

Proposal Requirements: The following information must be included in a special session proposal:

  • Title of the proposed special session

  • Names and affiliations of the organizers, including brief bio and contact information

  • Brief session summary (max. 100 words), to be published on the website

  • Session abstract, including the significance of the topic for the conference attendees and the community (max. 500 words)

  • List of committed papers, including a tentative title, author list, and a short abstract for each paper (max. 200 words). Five to ten committed papers are required (with no single author co-authoring more than 2 of the papers).

This session summary will be available both on the conference website and in the proceedings. The expected length of the proposal should not exceed 3 pages (including the list of contributions).

Evaluation Criteria: Special session proposals will be evaluated based on:

  • Relation to the scope of NAVICON

  • Timeliness of the topic

  • Number, quality, and relevance of committed (and potential) papers

  • Qualifications of the organizers

The proposals will be evaluated well before the deadline for the paper submission. All accepted Special Sessions will be included among the topics available for authors to submit their papers to. Participation in a Special Session is by invitation only.

Please note that all papers submitted to a special session will undergo the same review process as the regular papers of the conference to ensure that contributions meet the high-quality standards of NAVICON. In the event that a special session receives more papers than the schedule can accommodate, it may be divided into multiple parts. The special sessions might be scheduled as either oral or poster session at the discretion of the conference organization to better fit the program.

Please submit proposals to [email protected] by April 29, 2026.