This category dominates modern computer science, with its conferences having the largest attendance and highest submission counts.

1. NeurIPS (Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems)

• Why it's Top-Tier: NeurIPS is the most influential conference in the world for machine learning and artificial intelligence. It's the epicenter of deep learning, neural network, and computational neuroscience research.

• Main Topics: Deep learning, reinforcement learning, algorithms, large language models (LLMs), and applications.

• Expected 2026 Date: December 2026

2. ICML (International Conference on Machine Learning)

• Why it's Top-Tier: A direct peer to NeurIPS, ICML is a premier event for all aspects of machine learning. It is known for its strong focus on machine learning theory, algorithms, and models.

• Main Topics: Supervised and unsupervised learning, ML theory, optimization, and robotics.

• Expected 2026 Date: July 2026

3. ICLR (International Conference on Learning Representations)

• Why it's Top-Tier: ICLR has rapidly become a top-tier event, known for its focus on one thing: deep learning. It's famous for its "open review" process and is where many foundational papers on transformers and large-scale models are published.

• Main Topics: Deep learning, representation learning, generative models, and AI infrastructure.

• Expected 2026 Date: Spring 2026

4. AAAI (AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence)

• Why it's Top-Tier: AAAI is one of the longest-running and most comprehensive AI conferences. It covers the full spectrum of artificial intelligence, from "classic" AI (like search and planning) to modern machine learning.

• Main Topics: Knowledge representation, reasoning, NLP, machine learning, and AI ethics.

• Expected 2026 Date: February 2026

Computer Vision, Data Mining & HCI

5. CVPR (Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition)

• Why it's Top-Tier: CVPR is the undisputed #1 conference for all computer vision research. It has an enormous impact (the highest h-index of any conference) and is co-sponsored by the IEEE Computer Society.

• Main Topics: Image recognition, object detection, 3D vision, autonomous driving, and generative adversarial networks (GANs).

• Expected 2026 Date: June 2026

6. SIGKDD (ACM SIGKDD Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining)

• Why it's Top-Tier: KDD is the premier international conference for data mining and knowledge discovery. It uniquely brings together researchers and industry practitioners to discuss data science at scale.

• Main Topics: Data mining, data science, algorithm scalability, and applied data analytics.

• Expected 2026 Date: August 2026

7. CHI (ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems)

• Why it's Top-Tier: CHI is the most prestigious conference in the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). It is a highly interdisciplinary event that sets the standard for user experience, usability, and interactive system design.

• Main Topics: Human-Computer Interaction, user experience (UX) design, usability testing, and novel interactive technologies.

• Expected 2026 Date: Spring 2026

Systems, Software Engineering & Networking

8. ICSE (International Conference on Software Engineering)

• Why it's Top-Tier: As the flagship conference of the ACM and IEEE, ICSE is the most important and selective conference for all of software engineering.

• Main Topics: Software development, testing, maintenance, analysis, and AI for software engineering (AI4SE).

• Expected 2026 Date: Spring 2026

9. OSDI (Symposium on Operating Systems Design and Implementation)

• Why it's Top-Tier: OSDI is a premier venue for systems researchers. It focuses on the design, implementation, and evaluation of computer systems, with a heavy emphasis on practical, running systems.

• Main Topics: Operating systems, distributed systems, cloud computing, and systems security.

• Expected 2026 Date: Summer 2026

10. IEEE INFOCOM (IEEE International Conference on Computer Communications)

• Why it's Top-Tier: INFOCOM is a top-ranked, IEEE-sponsored conference that covers theoretical and systems research in networking and computer communications.

• Main Topics: Network protocols, network architecture, data center networking, IoT, and network performance.

• Expected 2026 Date: May 2026

Conclusion

While this list represents the "pinnacle" of computer science, these conferences are also famously competitive, with acceptance rates often in the 15-20% range.

Beyond this top 10, thousands of other high-quality, specialized conferences (many sponsored by IEEE, ACM, and Springer) offer invaluable opportunities to publish work for EI Compendex and Scopus indexing, build your academic profile, and network with peers.