Software and Systems Engineering in Astrophysics
A Special Issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417) belonging to the section "Computing and Artificial Intelligence".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 July 2026) | Viewed by 1189
Editor
Interests: computer science; software engineering; software for astrophysics instruments
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
This Special Issue aims to explore the challenges, methodologies, and innovations in software and systems engineering within the field of astrophysics. Modern astrophysical observatories, both ground-based and space-borne, rely on increasingly complex software infrastructures to support observation scheduling, data acquisition, instrumentation control, pipeline automation, and long-term data preservation. As scientific goals become more ambitious and systems more distributed, rigorous engineering practices are essential for ensuring the reliability, maintainability, and performance of mission-critical software.
We welcome contributions addressing software architectures, real-time systems, control software for astronomical instrumentation, workflow orchestration for data processing, model-based systems engineering (MBSE), DevOps practices adapted to scientific environments, and innovative solutions for open-source collaboration in astrophysics.
This Special Issue is intended for researchers, engineers, and practitioners working at the intersection of computer science and astronomy and aims to foster cross-disciplinary dialogue and knowledge sharing that can help shape the future of software-intensive astrophysical infrastructures.
Dr. Vito Conforti
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- astrophysical software systems
- control software for telescopes
- software architecture
- open-source collaboration
- systems integration
- observatory control
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