Announcements

ACM TODAES Best Paper Award

ACM Transactions on Design Automation of Electronic Systems (TODAES) is seeking nominations for the 2026 TODAES Best Paper Award. The nomination deadline is February 10, 2026.

All papers published in the ACM TODAES between January 2025 and December 2025 are eligible. The best paper will be selected based on originality, timeliness, potential impact and overall quality.

The award will be announced and recognized during the 2026 Design Automation Conference, July 26-29, 2026, Long Beach, CA.

A nomination should include the following material:

• Name and email of the nominator
• Title and author list of the paper, and the issue in which the paper was published
• A brief supporting statement of no more than 200 words
• A PDF copy of the paper

Submit the nominations using this link: https://forms.gle/jLdGSSa6uSkac3bA9. For any questions, email Ann Franchesca Laguna, Managing Editor of ACM TODAES, at ann.laguna@dlsu.edu.ph.

Both nominations by peers and self-nominations are welcome.

Contacts:

Ann Franchesca Laguna at ann.laguna@dlsu.edu.ph

Jiang Hu: jianghu@tamu.edu

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TODAES Rookie Author of the Year (RAY) Award

ACM Transactions on Design Automation of Electronic Systems (TODAES) introduced the TODAES Rookie Author of the Year (RAY) Award, which aims to highlight the achievement of junior researchers in the Design and Design Automation of Electronic Systems field.  Specifically, the award recognizes an author whose first-ever peer-reviewed journal paper as a lead author is published in ACM TODAES.

The lead author of a paper refers to the author who contributed the most to the submission. Since people may adopt different ways to order the authors, any nomination for the RAY Award must make it clear that the nominee is the lead author. If two authors satisfy this requirement (meaning they made equal contributions and are both rookie authors), both can receive the RAY award.

We are now seeking nominations for the 2026 TODAES RAY Award. The nomination deadline is February 10, 2026. All papers published in the ACM TODAES between January 2025 and December 2025 are eligible. The RAY award will be selected based on originality, timeliness, potential impact, and overall quality. The RAY award will be announced and recognized during the 2026 Design Automation Conference, July 26-29, 2026, Long Beach, CA.

A nomination should include the following material:

• Name and email of the nominator
• Title and author list of the paper, and the issue in which the paper was published
• Confirmation that the paper is the first peer-reviewed journal publication in ACM or IEEE, where the nominee is the lead author.
• A brief supporting statement of no more than 150 words.
• A PDF copy of the paper

Submit the nominations using this link: https://forms.gle/36YAq2TZ6cemxrdVA by February 10, 2026. If you have questions, e-mail Ann Franchesca Laguna at ann.laguna@dlsu.edu.ph, Managing Editor of ACM TODAES, at ann.laguna@dlsu.edu.ph. No self-nomination is allowed.

Contacts:

Ann Franchesca Laguna at ann.laguna@dlsu.edu.ph

Jiang Hu: jianghu@tamu.edu

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TODAES Test of Time Paper Award

ACM Transactions on Design Automation of Electronic Systems (TODAES) introduced the TODAES Test of Time Paper Award. This award will recognize an outstanding paper that was published in TODAES at least 10 years ago and has created a significant impact in the field of EDA. 

We are now seeking nominations for the 2026 TODAES Test of Time Paper Award. The nomination deadline is February 10, 2026. As the inaugural Test of Time Paper Award selection, eligibility is restricted to papers published in ACM TODAES between January 1996 and December 2005. The award will be selected based on evident impact in the field of EDA. The award will be announced and recognized during the 2026 Design Automation Conference, July 26-29, 2026, Long Beach, CA.

A nomination should include the following material:

• Name and email of the nominator
• Title and author list of the paper, and the issue in which the paper was published
• A brief supporting statement of no more than 200 words
• One sentence quote that summarizes the impact of this paper
• A PDF copy of the paper

Submit the nominations using this link: https://forms.gle/55NajeW5eU6YqUtH8 by February 10, 2026. If you have questions, e-mail Ann Franchesca Laguna at ann.laguna@dlsu.edu.ph, Managing Editor of ACM TODAES, at ann.laguna@dlsu.edu.ph. No self-nomination is allowed.

Contacts:

Ann Franchesca Laguna at ann.laguna@dlsu.edu.ph

Jiang Hu: jianghu@tamu.edu

Starting January 1, 2026, all ACM publications (including those from SIGDA-sponsored conferences) will be 100% Open Access under ACM’s new publishing model. Authors whose institutions are not part of the ACM Open program will be required to pay an Article Processing Charge (APC) unless they qualify for a waiver or discount.

To ease this transition and ensure inclusiveness, SIGDA has established the Financial Hardship Waiver (FHW) program for 2026. This initiative, jointly funded by ACM and SIGDA, provides a limited number of waivers to cover APCs for eligible authors presenting at SIGDA-sponsored conferences.

Eligibility Criteria

Requests will be evaluated according to ACM’s and SIGDA’s guidelines. To qualify, all of the following conditions must be met:

• All authors must be affiliated with institutions not participating in ACM Open.
• The corresponding author must be a current SIGDA member.
• Papers with co-authors affiliated with for-profit companies are not eligible, as such organizations are expected to cover publication costs for their employees.
• Priority will be given to authors from low-income countries or from institutions and research groups without active grant funding. Additional documentation may be requested.

Application Procedure

Waiver requests can only be submitted after the paper is accepted, during the ACM e-rights process. Authors should select the waiver request option available within the ACM e-rights system and provide the requested information. Requests will be jointly evaluated by the Program Chair of the respective conference and the SIGDA FHW Committee based on the established eligibility criteria.

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For more information about ACM Open, participating institutions, and ACM’s waiver policy, please visit: https://libraries.acm.org/acmopen