Welcome to the official J-Fall 2025 Call for Papers application. Only session proposals submitted through this application will be reviewed by the program committee.

If you have an interesting Java related topic that you would like to present to NLJUG members, this is your chance. A timeslot has 50 minutes. Attendees typically have intermediate to advanced Java skills and are looking for practical content to enhance their knowledge. Most valued sessions include best practices, code samples and/or live demos. Besides regular technical sessions, we are also looking for hands-on labs proposals, unconference-style sessions, keynotes, quickies and ignite sessions. Submitting multiple papers is allowed of course.

Input information

- Session format

•  Technical session - A 50-minute presentation-style session featuring in-depth technical content.
•  Hands-on lab (HOL) - A 120-minute session with self-guided lab instructions for participants who bring their own laptops to experiment with a specific technology. Typically includes one or more instructors for support and troubleshooting.
•  Unconference - A 50-minute, participant-driven session centered around a theme or purpose, facilitated by a discussion leader to encourage audience interaction.
•  Keynote - A 25-minute keynote delivered to the entire J-Fall audience, typically featuring visionary or thought-leadership content.
•  Byte size - A short, 16-minute (2 bytes) talk on a technical or non-technical subject, meant to deliver concise and impactful insights.
•  Ignite session - A fast-paced, 5-minute talk on any topic, with slides that auto-advance every 15 seconds. For more information, see here: https://nljug.org/nieuws/nieuw-op-j-fall-2015-ignite-sessions/

- Tracks

• Java language - Java 11-25, Core Java APIs, Performance, Debugging, Java development tools
• Server Side Java - Server side frameworks such as Jakarta EE, Spring, Quarkus, and other server side technologies.
• Alternative JVM languages - Any other language that runs on the JVM, like Kotlin, Scala, Groovy, Clojure
• Cloud - Cloud Native, Microservices, Serverless, Containerization
• Methodology & Culture - Software Development Methodologies, Culture, CI/CD, DevOps, Soft skills, developer communities, developer productivity
• UI & UX - Front-end development, User Experience, SPA, JavaScript, TypeScript, Android, JavaFX.
• Data & AI - AI, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, LLM, Big Data.
• Security - Encryption, Defensive Practices and Programming, Privacy.
• Architecture - Howto, strategies, techniques, and best practices for getting software architecture right.
• New & Cool - Popular new technology and/or remarkable application of technology in the real world.

Tips for submitting

A regular session timeslot has 50 minutes. Please indicate clearly if the topic is beginner, intermediate, or advanced, as we strive for a balanced program. Most valued sessions include best practices, code samples and/or live demos. Besides regular technical sessions, we are also looking for other session types such as hands-on labs proposals, unconference-style sessions, keynotes, byte size (16 minutes), and ignite sessions.

We are also looking for workshops for the pre-conference event (November 5, the day before the main conference, in the afternoon): Pre-conference workshop - a 4 hour, expert-level workshop.

Do you require travel/hotel expenses compensation? Please motivate.

Just to let you know, we can only provide travel or hotel compensation for selected speakers based on the nature of the session and the limited budget available.

How proposals will be judged

When the deadline has passed, the program committee are handed the session abstracts and they have to individually rate the sessions using a "five star system" (1: bad -- 5: excellent). The committee consists of members from the NLJUG board and is complemented by individuals who stand out in the NLJUG and open source communities. Program committee members individually judge the session abstracts, paying attention to the following criteria in no particular order:

• Is it a hot topic?
• Diversity in topics for this particular conference
• Variety in topics over conferences in the past
• Speaker credentials (pay attention to your speaker bio, especially previous speaking engagements!)
• Evaluation results for speaker from previous conferences/universities, if any
• Whatever other criteria they may find of interest (that's why they stand out, right?)

Finally, the committee sits together and adds up the individual ratings. Remarkably, most of the time this produces very uniform results. Still, the final cut is a tough call. If conflicts arise, the NLJUG board members make the final call, but most of the time we'll manage to come to an agreement before that happens.

Fortunately for us, we do receive lots of proposals. Mostly, over four times the amount of session slots available. This means we have to disappoint people as well. Sometimes we get angry e-mails or funky phone calls in return. That's why we like to share this information with you here and manage expectations up front.

Is it an honest system? Yes, we like to think so. This way we try to eliminate all kinds of conflicts of interest. Quality content first! If you think there's anything wrong with that or have suggestions for improvement, we would love to hear from you. Drop the program committee a line at papers@nljug.org. For more information about J-Fall, please visit https://jfall.nl.

If you have any questions regarding the call for papers, please contact papers@nljug.org.

Thanks,

NLJUG Content Team.