<div dir="ltr"><p style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"><b>Call for Papers:</b></span></p><p style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"><b><br></b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">*******************************************************************************</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">***   Rule Challenge @ RuleML+RR 2026   ***</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">***   24-26 August 2026   ***</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">***   Vilnius, Lithuania   ***</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">*******************************************************************************</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">The <b>20th International Rule Challenge</b> is the <b>premier forum</b> of</span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial,sans-serif"> the 10th International Conference on Rules and Reasoning (</span><a href="https://2026.declarativeai.net/events/ruleml-rr/" target="_blank" style="background-color:transparent;font-family:Arial,sans-serif">RuleML+RR 2026</a>) <span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial,sans-serif">designed to <b>benchmark </b>and<b> validate</b> innovative rule-oriented tools, prototypes, and applications. It bridges the gap between theory and practice by fostering competition among solutions tailored to research, industry, and government.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Participants are invited to showcase <b>solutions</b> <b>to</b> <b>complex</b>, <b>real-world problems</b>, or <b>drive the community’s research agenda</b> by proposing new open challenges.</span></p><div><br></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Accordingly, submissions are welcome in two main categories:</span></p><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial,sans-serif"><ul><li><span style="background-color:transparent"><b>Challenge Proposals:</b></span><span style="background-color:transparent"> Papers defining rigorous benchmarks, industrial bottlenecks, or novel problems that require rule-based reasoning. Submissions must provide the necessary infrastructure for evaluation, including task descriptions, datasets, and success criteria, highlighting opportunities for rule-based approaches to provide solutions.</span></li><li><span style="background-color:transparent"><b>Challenge Solutions:</b> </span><span style="background-color:transparent">Papers providing empirical evidence of a system's performance such as benchmarking or comparative analyses of rule engines, evaluating rule-based machine learning, or presenting high-impact case studies. Submissions may also cover industrial experiences, rule- and model-driven engineering, or innovative applications. </span></li></ul></span><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"><b>Key themes</b> of the Rule Challenge include, but are not limited to the following: </span></p><ul><li><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Rule-based machine learning tools and techniques </span></li><li><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Neuro-symbolic reasoning</span></li><li><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Large language models (LLMs) and rule learning </span></li><li><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Rule-based approaches in Artificial Intelligence (AI) </span></li><li><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Rule-based approaches for explainable AI</span></li><li><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Rule-based Complex Event Processing / Recognition (CEP/CER) </span></li><li><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Stream reasoning </span></li><li><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Business rules modelling </span></li><li><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Rule standardization for research, industry and government</span></li><li><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Graph-relational data and knowledge systems </span></li><li><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Higher-order logic and modal logic systems </span></li><li><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Rule and ontology combinations </span></li><li><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Distributed rule systems / Multi-agent systems </span></li><li><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Ontology-Based Data Access (OBDA) systems </span></li><li><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Answer Set Programming (ASP) systems </span></li><li><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Constraint Logic Programming (CLP) systems </span></li><li><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial,sans-serif">(Controlled) Natural language interfaces </span></li><li><span style="background-color:transparent;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Arial,sans-serif">Rules and model-driven engineering</span></li></ul><br><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">The challenge seeks high-quality, original papers, potentially referencing online material, and ranging between <b>8-15 pages</b>. Accepted papers will be published as part of CEUR proceedings and should be in the CEUR-WS.org style template CEURART (1-column variant).</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Please submit your paper via:</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><a href="https://cmt3.research.microsoft.com/DAI2026/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline">https://cmt3.research.microsoft.com/DAI2026/</span></a></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">to the Rule Challenge track.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"><b>Important Dates (Anywhere on Earth - AoE):</b></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"></p><ul><li><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> June 5th, 2026: Paper submission deadline</span></li><li><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"> July 3rd, 2026: Notification of acceptance</span></li></ul><p></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"><b>Chairs:</b></span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Szymon Bobek, Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Zeynep G. Saribatur, TU Wien, Austria</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline"><b>Program Committee:</b></span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Dörthe Arndt, TU Dresden</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Juliana Bowles, University of St Andrews</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Stefania Costantini, University of L'Aquila</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Joao Gama, INESC TEC - LIAAD</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Ognjen Savkovic, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Marek Sikora, Silesian University of Technology</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">William Van Woensel, University of Ottawa</span></p><br><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;vertical-align:baseline">Further information can be found on the Rule Challenge website:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><a href="https://2026.declarativeai.net/events/ruleml-rr/rule-challenge" target="_blank" style="text-decoration-line:none"><span style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;background-color:transparent;font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;text-decoration-line:underline;vertical-align:baseline">https://2026.declarativeai.net/events/ruleml-rr/rule-challenge</span></a></p></div>