AAMAS 2027 - Call for Blue Sky Ideas

---

The Blue Sky Ideas special track is intended to present and provoke visionary ideas, long-term challenges, new research opportunities, and debate. It serves as an incubator for innovative, risky, and provocative research directions, and aims to provide a forum for publishing and presenting these without being constrained by the result-oriented standards followed in the review process of the main track of the conference. Research visions and ideas can cross disciplines, envisioning new directions relevant for Agents and advancing Multi-Agent Systems research through interdisciplinary viewpoints.

We encourage papers to reflect on the future of the research area and its community within the broader AI and computing landscape. We invite submissions that focus on:

• novel, overlooked, or under-represented application areas to which agent research may contribute;

• potential paths for agent research to contribute to the state of the art in other AI and computing areas and the other way around;

• unexplored theoretical grounds for agent research.

Overall, we aim at papers that help guide the agent community to achieve in the coming years a leading position within AI and computing research.

Important Dates

Author registration on Open Review: 20 Oct 2026

• Abstract submission: 5 Nov 2026

• Paper submission: 12 Nov 2026

• Phase 1 early notification: 30 Nov 2026

• Rebuttal period: 4 - 7 Jan 2027
  

• Phase 2 author notification: 21 Jan 2027

• Camera-ready submission: 11 Feb 2027 (Hard deadline)

• Author registration deadline: TBD

• Conference: 3 - 7 May 2027

All deadlines are at the end of the specified day, Anywhere on Earth (UTC-12).

Evaluation Criteria

Reviewers will assess papers based on the following criteria:

Relevance and Advancement (level of future-thinking)

• Are the ideas presented of interest to members of the Agents and MAS research communities?

• Do the ideas push forward the envelope of Agents/MAS application into the future?

Novelty and Vision (level of “Blue Sky”-ness)

• To what extent are the ideas visionary (as opposed to incremental), novel, and/or out of the box.

Background and Foundation (level of grounded-ness)

• Are the ideas motivated and grounded in a solid understanding of the existing state-of-the-art and older foundational research/theory?

• Do the ideas consider relatively new research ideas (e.g. published in the last 3 years)?

Impact and Practicality (level of real-world applicability)

• How deep and wide is the envisioned impact of the ideas on the research agenda in the Agents and MAS communities?

• How deep and wide is the envisioned impact on the intended beneficiaries of the ideas presented, including practical considerations?

Rigour and Clarity (level of strength of contribution)

• Are the ideas presented in a clear and rigorous way?

• How strong is the level of critical reflection applied in the exploration of these ideas?

Author Track Record (evaluated by track chairs)

• Do the authors possess the underlying background and expertise required to credibly identify, structure, and advocate for this research direction?

Submission

Submissions are limited to 4 pages in length in the AAMAS 2027 format, with any additional pages containing only bibliographic references. The formatting instructions are the same as for the AAMAS 2027 main track. Accepted papers will appear in the conference proceedings and will be presented orally at the conference.

The Blue Sky Ideas track follows the same core policies as the main track: submissions must be original, reviewing is double-blind, and at least one author of each accepted paper will be required to register for the conference by the early registration deadline with the intention of presenting the paper at the conference. See the Call for Papers (Main Technical Track) and Submission Instructions for details.

Mandatory OpenReview Form Fields

In addition to standard details (Title, abstract, PDF upload, and keywords), the submission form requires two mandatory supplementary responses which need to be submitted together with the paper before the submission deadline. We suggest leaving sufficient time to write these.

Rationale for Blue Sky (Visible to Reviewers and Track Chairs)

• Description: Explain why this submission presents a novel vision, open challenge, or paradigm shift suitable for the Blue Sky Ideas track rather than the main AAMAS track.

• Purpose: Helps reviewers in judging whether the contribution aligns with the spirit of the Blue Sky Ideas track versus a research contribution better suited to the main track.

Author Track Record (Visible Only to Track Chairs)

• Description: Summarize the author(s) background, past contributions, and expertise that establish your credibility to articulate this vision for the community.

• Purpose: To ensure that Blue Sky vision papers are grounded in expertise and articulated by qualified researchers, the track chairs will lightly evaluate the authors’ track record to verify academic credibility and authority on the topic before decisions are made.

Two-Phased Review Process

Submissions will undergo a two-phased review process:

• Phase 1 (Early notification): Submissions will receive light reviews. Papers identified during Phase 1 as having no realistic chance of acceptance, or those deemed fundamentally unsuited for the Blue Sky Ideas track, will be rejected early.

• Phase 2 (Full review and rebuttal): Papers advancing past Phase 1 will receive full reviews, followed by an author rebuttal period before Phase 2 notifications.

Contact

AAMAS 2027 Blue Sky Ideas Track Co-Chairs

Enrico Gerding, University of Southampton, UK

Nirav Ajmeri, University of Bristol, UK

Email: aamas2027bs@gmail.com