See you in Nanjing on October 19-21!
Registration is still open (regular fee, on-site or online participation). Registration details - Registration form
Book your hotel before the end of September: October is the peak tourist season in Nanjing. Accommodation - Travel
Welcome reception on October 19 and gala dinner on October 20.
The preliminary programme is now available, as well as accommodation and travel information.
Elsevier will sponsor an IJAR Best Paper Award, which will be presented to an early-career researcher.
The Theory of belief functions, also referred to as Evidence theory or Dempster-Shafer theory is a well-established mathematical framework for reasoning and decision-making with uncertainty, with applications to machine learning, statistical inference, information fusion, knowledge representation, risk analysis, etc. It is an extension of probability theory and it has well-understood connections with related frameworks such as random sets and imprecise probabilities. Recently, generalised evidence theory, based on random fuzzy sets, has been proposed as a unifying framework encompassing both Dempster-Shafer and possibility theories.
The biennial BELIEF conferences (sponsored by the Belief Functions and Applications Society) are dedicated to the confrontation of ideas, the reporting of recent achievements and the presentation of the wide range of applications of this theory. Previous editions of this conference series were held in Brest, France (2010); Compiègne, France (2012); Oxford, UK (2014); Prague, Czech Republic (2016); Compiègne, France (2018); Shanghai, China (2021); Paris, France (2022); and Belfast, UK (2024).
To support cross-fertilisation among researchers working in different subfields of AI and related disciplines, tutorials and special sessions will be proposed, with emphasis on the links between machine learning, statistical inference and uncertain reasoning, including topics such as quantification of prediction uncertainty, fusion rules for ensemble learning, belief propagation in deep neural networks, links with explainable and symbolic AI, etc. Submissions of papers combining several of these topics, or more generally at the crossroads of belief functions and other AI methods or uncertainty theories, along with relevant applications, are welcome.
The Ninth International Conference on Belief Functions (BELIEF 2026) will be held in Nanjing, China, on October 19-21, 2026.
BELIEF 2026 proceedings will be published by Springer-Verlag in the Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence (LNCS/LNAI) series and indexed by: ISI Web of Science; EI Engineering Index; ACM Digital Library; dblp; Google Scholar; IO-Port; MathSciNet; Scopus; Zentralblatt MATH.
Authors of selected papers from the BELIEF 2026 conference will be invited to submit extended versions of their papers for possible inclusion in a special issue of the International Journal of Approximate Reasoning.
Authors should submit their papers through Microsoft CMT following Springer's submission guidelines.
Papers should be no longer than 8 pages, references included, and should present original contributions with significant results.
The Microsoft CMT service was used for managing the peer-reviewing process for this conference. This service was provided for free by Microsoft and they bore all expenses, including costs for Azure cloud services as well as for software development and support.
Original contributions are solicited on theoretical aspects, but not limited to
as well as on applications to various areas including, but not limited to
Each paper must have at least one author registered with an academic/industrial registration (i.e., not a student registration) with payment received by the author registration deadline to avoid being withdrawn from the conference. A single, academic/industrial registration may cover up to two (2) papers. When registering, please enter the ID number(s) of the paper(s) that you will be covering with your academic/industrial registration.
If you are a student who will be presenting a paper, and you are covering that paper with your registration, then an academic/industrial registration is required for you.
For each accepted paper, BELIEF 2026 requires a presentation by one of the authors, either in person or online if registered for online participation.
Any paper accepted in the technical programme, but not presented on-site or online, will be removed from the official proceedings archived by Springer.
Final versions of accepted papers must strictly adhere to the Springer LNCS templates available here or on Overleaf at Springer LNCS Overleaf. Papers must not exceed 8 pages, with up to 2 additional pages for references. Springer encourages authors to include their ORCID iDs in their papers. Authors should also comply with the Springer Code of Conduct. Please submit the following materials via CMT by July 31, 2026:
The BELIEF 2026 Conference will take place at the Sipailou Campus of Southeast University, Nanjing, China.
Address: 2 Sipailou, Southeast University, Xuanwu District, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China, 210018
Map search: "SEU Sipailou Campus - Zhongshan College". Please note that in China, the Baidu Maps or Gaode (Amap) apps work better than Google Maps.
Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu Province in eastern China, is a historic city with over 2,500 years of history, and was once the capital of several dynasties, including the Ming Dynasty. Renowned for its cultural heritage, it is home to iconic sites such as the old city walls, the Temple of Confucius and the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum. Today, Nanjing is a modern metropolis with a thriving economy, leading universities and a blend of traditional and contemporary architecture. Its strategic location along the Yangtze River has long made it a key centre for trade and culture.
Please note that October is the peak tourist season in Nanjing. Please book your hotel at least three weeks in advance.
For participants not familiar with Chinese, we recommend using Booking.com (in English) to book one of the following hotels:
Price: about 584 RMB (75€) per night, breakfast included
Distance to the venue: about 7 minutes on foot
Address: No. 389, Zhujiang Road, Xuanwu District, 210018 Nanjing, China
Price: about 349 RMB (42€) per night, breakfast included
Distance to the venue: about 12 minutes on foot, or about 3 minutes by shared bicycle
Address: No. 39, North Taiping Road, Xuanwu District, 210000 Nanjing, China
Price: about 305 RMB (39€) per night, breakfast included
Distance to the venue: about 20 minutes on foot, or about 5 minutes by shared bicycle
Address: No. 29-1, Longpan Middle Road, Xuanwu District, 210000 Nanjing, China
10月是南京旅游旺季，请尽可能提前预定酒店。
价格：550人民币/晚
地址：南京玄武区珠江路389号
距离：步行10分钟
价格：300人民币/晚
地址：南京玄武区大石桥街29号
距离：步行10分钟
价格：150人民币/晚
地址：南京玄武区四牌楼61号2楼
距离：步行4分钟
1. Subway (recommended)
2. Bus
Subway (recommended)
Northwestern Polytechnical University, China
Pattern classification with belief functions and deep neural networks
| Type | Early bird (closed on August 31, 2026) | Registration (on-site or online) |
|---|---|---|
| Academic/industrial (Regular) | 2600 RMB (330€) | |
| Student | 1800 RMB (230€) |
The early bird period has ended: the regular registration fee now applies to all registrations, on-site or online.
| Registration fees cover: |
| Full on-site or online participation to the BELIEF 2026 conference, including keynote presentations |
| BELIEF 2026 conference proceedings |
| Gala dinner |
| Welcome reception |
| Coffee breaks and lunches |
| BFAS membership for 4 years |
Participants have to pay the suitable registration fee. Before proceeding, please read the payment guidelines carefully:
The Belief Functions and Applications Society (BFAS) offered a number of grants, covering the registration fees, to allow students with limited funding opportunities to present their work at the conference (on-site or online). The application period closed on June 30, 2026 and the grants have been awarded; applicants were notified in July.
Participants are requested to familiarise themselves with the applicable visa requirements well in advance of the conference. Present worldwide security regulations generally result in more stringent visa requirements and associated longer visa processing times. The BELIEF 2026 organisers cannot intervene with embassies or consulates on behalf of any participant.
In order to obtain a letter of invitation for visa purposes, contact the Organising Committee directly.