This is the twelfth in the CIVIL-COMP series of conferences concerned with the application of computers to civil, structural and environmental engineering. The first Civil-Comp Conference was held in 1983. The conference will provide a forum for the presentation and dissemination of recent developments in the use of computers in civil, structural and environmental engineering. A major objective of the conference will be to link research and innovative ideas to engineering practice.

Short to medium length papers describing the application of computers to civil, structural and environmental engineering projects will be particularly welcome. In addition, it is hoped that significant research and review papers on civil, structural and environmental engineering computational research topics will be presented.

The conference runs concurrently with the The First International Conference on Soft Computing Technology in Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering. Participants may attend sessions from either conference.

The range of topics considered by the Conference will include: Professional Issues for Engineering Computer Users - Misuse of Computers - Data Management and Retrieval Systems - Software Standards, Quality Assurance and Benchmarking - Model Verification and Validation - Uncertainty Models - Human Computer Interaction - Data Acquisition and Control Systems - Structural Engineering including Steel, Bridge, Composite, Reinforced Concrete and Masonry Structures - Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering - Structural Integrity - Formfinding, Topology and Structural Morphology - Space, Tension and Shell Structures - Soil-Structure Interaction (static and dynamic) - Buckling and Stability - Linear and Non-linear Dynamics - Analysis of Semi-rigid Connections - Environmental Engineering - CAD (including steel, concrete, masonry and composite) - Transport and Highways Engineering - Geotechnical Analysis and Design - Foundation Engineering - Dam Engineering - Slope Design - Ground Vibration - Construction Automation and Robotics - Construction Management - Project Management - Management Systems - Civil Engineering Surveying - Civil Engineering Management - Lifetime Costs - Productivity - Sustainable Urban Environments - Water Resources Enginering - Enviromental Modelling - Mobile Computing - GIS - Virtual Reality - Structural Control - Fracture Mechanics - Modelling of Concrete Durability - Rock Mechanics - Offshore Structures - Computer Controlled Site Instrumentation - Quality Assessment - Optimisation - Structural Optimisation and Sensitivity Analysis - Numerical Modeling in Geotechnics - Monitoring of Structures & Buildings - Real-Time 3D Simulation - Computer Supported Collaborative Design - New advances in Structural Health Monitoring Technologies - Fuzzy Methods.

A list of computing technology that may be described with respect to the above domains includes: Integrated Design Systems - Information Technology - Parallel and Distributed Processing - Supercomputing - Heterogenous Computing - Simulation - Computer Aided Design - Graphics and Design - Safety Analysis - Product Modelling - Optimization - Information Systems - Virtual Reality - World Wide Web Applications - Visualisation - Simulations and Modeling - Decision Support Systems - New Algorithms - Computational Technology - Genetic Algorithms - Neural Networks - Decision Support Systems - Product Modelling - Design Integration - Grid Computing - Mathematical Software - OOP - Adaptive Methods - Case Based Design - Knowledge-Based Systems.

To encourage young researchers to attend the conference a 1000 Euro Young Researcher Best Paper Prize will be awarded to the best paper presented at the conference. To read the full terms and conditions of this competition, please click here.

A number of special sessions will be organised at this Conference. Papers may be submitted directly to the Conference Editor or via the special session organisers if you wish to participate in their session. Over the coming months the list of special sessions will gradually grow. Please visit this page regularly to keep up to date. Please also note the important dates.

• sessions to follow

Proposals for the organisation of a special session on your specialist topic including ten to sixteen papers and an optional special lecture are welcome. Please complete the following session proposal form and send it to the conference editor at the address below.

The Conference Editors are Professor Barry H.V. Topping (Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK and University of Pécs, Hungary), Professor L.F. Costa Neves (University of Coimbra, Portugal) and Professor R.C. Barros (University of Porto, Portugal).

The members of the editorial board for this conference will be announced in due course.

The opening keynote lecture will be given by Prof. D.M. Frangopol, Lehigh University, bethlehem PA, USA. A list of the other invited plenary and special lectures will be announced in due course.

The conference proceedings which will be available on the first day of the conference will be published by Civil-Comp Press.

A selection of papers will be published in special issues of Computers & Structures and Advances in Engineering Software. The procedure for submitting papers for these journal special issues will be available at the conference. (Only papers presented at the conference are eligible for special issue publication.)

The venue for the conference is Hotel Tivoli Madeira *****, Rua Simplício dos Passos Gouveia, no.29, 9004-576, Funchal, Madeira, Portugal. The Tivoli Madeira is a 5 star resort and conference hotel located 5 mins from Funchal city centre. This award-winning hotel overlooks the beachfront promenade and guests are guaranteed views of the sea.

All presentations, lunches and coffees will be at this location. For information on how to get to the venue, click here.

Accommodation is available at Hotel Tivoli Madeira. Bookings should be made directly with the hotel. Special conference rates have been negotiated with the hotel if you use the special rate booking form available from this page. September is high season in Madeira. Many hotels are fully booked during this period, it is therefore vital that you book your hotel room as soon as possible in 2009.