** Call for Nominations ***
 
***************************************************************************************************
2010 IFAAMAS Award for Influential Papers in Autonomous Agents and Multiagent
Systems                    
***************************************************************************************************

In 2006 The International Foundation for Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent
Systems established an award to recognize publications that have
made influential and long-lasting contributions to the field.
Candidates for this award are papers that have proved a key result,
led to the development of a new subfield, demonstrated a significant
new application or system, or simply presented a new way of thinking
about a topic that has proved influential. A list of previous winners
of this award is appended below.

This award is presented annually at the AAMAS Conference, in this case
AAMAS-2010 in Toronto in May.  Winning papers must have been published
at least 10 years before the award presentation, therefore this year's
eligible set comprises papers published in 2000 or earlier, in any
recognized forum (journal, conference, workshop).

To nominate a publication for this award, please send the full
reference plus a brief statement (150 words or fewer) about the
significance of the paper to Lin Padgham (chair of the 2010 committee
for this award), lin.padgham@.... (Please put NOMINATION in the
subject line.)

Nominations are due by 18th January 2010.

2010 Influential Paper Award Committee:
Lin Padgham (chair), Sarit Kraus, Michael Wellman, Catherine
Pelachaud, Joerg Mueller

-------------------------------------------

Previous Award Winners

2009
The award was given to the series of edited collections of papers on
Distributed AI published in the late 1980s:

M. N. Huhns. (Ed.) (1987)
Distributed Artificial Intelligence. London, Pitman.

A. Bond and L. Gasser. (Eds.) (1988)
Readings in Distributed Artificial Intelligence. San Mateo, CA, Morgan
Kaufmann.

L. Gasser and M. N. Huhns. (Eds.) (1989)
Distributed Artificial Intelligence (Volume II). Pitman and Morgan
Kaufmann.

2008
BRATMAN, M. E., ISRAEL, D. J. & POLLACK, M. E. (1988) Plans and
resource-bounded practical reasoning. Computational Intelligence, 4,
349-355.

DURFEE, E. H. & LESSER, V. R. (1991) Partial global planning: A
coordination framework for distributed hypothesis formation. IEEE
Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, 21, 1167-1183.

2007
GROSZ, B. J. & KRAUS, S. (1996) Collaborative plans for complex group
action. Artificial Intelligence, 86, 269-357.

RAO, A. S. & GEORGEFF, M. P. (1991) Modeling rational agents within a
BDI-architecture. Second International Conference on Principles of
Knowledge Representation and Reasoning.

ROSENSCHEIN, J. S. & GENESERETH, M. R. (1985) Deals among rational
agents. Ninth International Joint Conference on Artificial
Intelligence.                              

2006
COHEN, P. R. & LEVESQUE, H. J. (1990) Intention is choice with
commitment. Artificial Intelligence, 42, 213-261.

DAVIS, R. & SMITH, R. G. (1983) Negotiation as a metaphor for
distributed problem solving. Artificial Intelligence, 20, 63-109.   

[Please distribute widely and accept our apologies for cross-posting.]

---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -
ISAmI 2010 :: CALL FOR PAPERS
---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -

International Symposium on Ambient Intelligence
16th-18th June, 2010 :: Guimaraes, Portugal
http://isami2010.di.uminho.pt

---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -
Submission deadline: 8th February, 2010
---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -

Ambient Intelligence (AmI) is a recent paradigm emerging from
Artificial Intelligence (AI), where computers are used as proactive
tools assisting people in their day-to-day, making everyone’s life
more comfortable.

The interaction with computers is changing quickly, as we no longer
need to do it in ways not natural for us, since a main concern of
AmI consists in to make possible the interaction with computational
systems using friendly interfaces, allowing input through natural
language or simple gestures.

This inclusion of technology in our day-to-day objects and
environments should be as invisible as possible, because of the
computational power and communication technologies embedding in
most of the devices we use nowadays.

Human interaction with computing power embedded systems should happen
without noticing it. The only awareness people should have arises
from AmI: more safety, comfort and wellbeing, emerging in a natural
and inherent way.

As defined by the IST Advisory Group (ISTAG), AmI has born thanks to
three new key technologies: Ubiquitous Computing, Ubiquitous
Communication and Intelligent User Interfaces, which are starting to
change the way we see computers.

ISAmI is the International Symposium on Ambient Intelligence, aiming
to bring together researchers from various disciplines that
constitute the scientific field of Ambient Intelligence to present
and discuss the latest results, new ideas, projects and lessons.

Brand new ideas will be greatly appreciated as long as relevant
revisions and actualizations of previously presented work, project
summaries and PhD thesis.

ISAmI 2010 will be held in the beautiful and historic city of
Guimarães, Portugal, nominated by UNESCO as a World Cultural
Heritage. With exceptional opportunities for sightseeing and
gastronomy, Guimarães is a wonderful venue for a great symposium.

---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -
SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS
---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -

Everyone interested in participating and presenting his work in this
symposium may do so by sending a contribution. There are three
possibilities:

1. Long papers: consisting of original, relevant and previously
unpublished sound research results, related to any of the topics of
the conference, with a maximum of 8 (eight) pages.

2. Short papers: can be project reports, a summary of a PhD thesis or
work in progress, with no more than 4 (four) pages.

3. Doctoral consortium: PhD students are invited to present the topic
and progress of their research, in order to obtain feedback from a
panel of experts. The length of these papers should not exceed
8 (eight) pages.

Papers should be written in English.

---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -
PAPERS FORMAT
---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -

Papers must be prepared according to Springer’s templates (MS Word or
LaTeX format) for the Advances in Intelligent and Soft Computing
volume series (www.springer.com/series/4240).

---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -
PUBLICATION
---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -

All accepted papers will be published in a special volume of Advances
in Intelligent and Soft Computing (Springer), indexed by ISI
Proceedings, DBLP and Springerlink, among others.

Authors of selected papers will be encouraged and assisted to submit
an extended version to the Journal of Ambient Intelligence and Smart
Environments (IOS Press).

For each paper, at least one author is required to register and
attend the symposium to present the paper, so as to have it included
in the symposium proceedings.

---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -
SUBMITTING PAPERS
---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -

In order to submit a paper, authors must register at ISAmI 2010
conference management system (cmt.research.microsoft.com/ISAmI2010).

All papers must be submitted in electronic format (PDF format, word
document or latex and images).

---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -
IMPORTANT DATES
---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -

Paper submission deadline:     8th February, 2010
Notification of acceptance:    8th March, 2010
Final version submission:     29th March, 2010
ISAmI 2010 Conference:   16th-18th June, 2010

---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -
TOPICS
---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -

The topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

* Ambient Intelligence
* Ambient Assisted Living
* Ubiquitous Computing
* Artificial Intelligence for AmI
* Distributed Computing
* Domotics (Home Automation)
* Pervasive Computing
* Context Aware Computing
* Agent & Multiagent Systems for AmI
* Mobile Computing
* Robotics
* Computational Creativity
* Sentient Computing
* e-Health
* Context Modelling
* e Learning

---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -
SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE CHAIRS
---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -

Juan Carlos Augusto, University of Ulster, UK
Juan M. Corchado, University of Salamanca, Spain

---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -
ORGANIZING COMMITTEE CHAIRS
---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -

Paulo Novais, CCTC/University of Minho, Portugal
Cesar Analide, CCTC/University of Minho, Portugal

---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -
CONTACTS
---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -

e-mail:  isami2010@...
Website: http://isami2010.di.uminho.pt

---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -

--
ISAmI 2010
1st International Symposium on Ambient Intelligence
16th-18th June, 2010, Guimarães, Portugal
e-mail: isami2010@...
Website: isami2010.di.uminho.pt

[Please distribute widely and accept our apologies for cross-posting.]

---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -
SOCO 2010 :: CALL FOR PAPERS
---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -

International Workshop on
Soft Computing Models for Industrial Applications
16th-18th June, 2010 :: Guimaraes, Portugal
http://soco2010.di.uminho.pt

---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -
Submission deadline: 8th February, 2010
---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -

Soft computing represents a collection or set of computational
techniques in machine learning, computer science and some engineering
disciplines, which investigate, simulate and analyze very complex
issues and phenomena. This workshop is mainly focused on its
industrial applications.

SOCO 2010 is the 5th International Workshop on Soft Computing Models
in Industrial Applications and provides interesting opportunities to
present and discuss the latest theoretical advances and real world
applications in this multidisciplinary research field.

SOCO 2010 will be held in the beautiful and historic city of
Guimarães, Portugal, nominated by UNESCO as a World Cultural
Heritage. With exceptional opportunities for sightseeing and
gastronomy, Guimarães is a wonderful venue for a great workshop.

---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -
SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS
---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -

Everyone interested in participating and presenting his work in this
workshop may do so by sending a contribution. There are three
possibilities:

1. Long papers: consisting of original, relevant and previously
unpublished sound research results, related to any of the topics of
the conference, with a maximum of 8 (eight) pages.

2. Short papers: can be project reports, a summary of a PhD thesis or
work in progress, with no more than 4 (four) pages.

3. Doctoral consortium: PhD students are invited to present the topic
and progress of their research, in order to obtain feedback from a
panel of experts. The length of these papers should not exceed
8 (eight) pages.

Papers should be written in English.

---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -
PAPERS FORMAT
---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -

Papers must be prepared according to Springer’s templates (MS Word or
LaTeX format) for the Advances in Intelligent and Soft Computing
volume series (www.springer.com/series/4240).

---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -
PUBLICATION
---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -

All accepted papers will be published in a special volume of Advances
in Intelligent and Soft Computing (Springer), indexed by ISI
Proceedings, DBLP and Springerlink, among others.

For each paper, at least one author is required to register and
attend the symposium to present the paper, so as to have it included
in the symposium proceedings.

---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -
SUBMITTING PAPERS
---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -

In order to submit a paper, authors must register at SOCO 2010
conference management system (cmt.research.microsoft.com/SOCO2010).

All papers must be submitted in electronic format (PDF format, word
document or latex and images).

---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -
IMPORTANT DATES
---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -

Paper submission deadline:     8th February, 2010
Notification of acceptance:    8th March, 2010
Final version submission:     29th March, 2010
SOCO 2010 Conference:    16th-18th June, 2010

---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -
TOPICS
---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -

The topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

* Causal Models
* Case-based Reasoning
* Chaos Theory Fuzzy Computing
* Evolutionary Computing
* Neuro Computing
* Probabilistic Computing
* Immunological Computing
* Hybrid Methods
* Intelligent Agents and Agent Theory
* Interactive Computational Models

The application fields of interest cover, but are not limited to:

* Decision Support
* Process and System Control
* System Identification and Modelling
* Optimization
* Signal or Image Processing
* Vision or Pattern Recognition
* Condition Monitoring
* Fault Diagnosis
* Systems Integration
* Internet Tools
* Human Machine Interface
* Time Series Prediction
* Robotics
* Motion Control & Power Electronics
* Biomedical Engineering
* Virtual Reality
* Reactive Distributed AI
* Telecommunications
* Consumer Electronics
* Industrial Electronics
* Manufacturing Systems
* Power and Energy
* Data Mining
* Data Visualisation
* Intelligent Information Retrieval
* Bio-inspired Systems
* Autonomous Reasoning
* Intelligent Agents

---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -
SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE CHAIRS
---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -

Emilio Corchado, University of Burgos, Spain

---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -
ORGANIZING COMMITTEE CHAIRS
---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -

Paulo Novais, CCTC/University of Minho, Portugal
Cesar Analide, CCTC/University of Minho, Portugal

---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -
CONTACTS
---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -

e-mail:  soco2010@...
Website: http://soco2010.di.uminho.pt

---------------------------------- - - - - - - - - - -  -  -  -  -   -

--
SOCO 2010
5th Int. Workshop on Soft Computing Models in Industrial Applications
16th-18th June, 2010, Guimarães, Portugal
soco2010.di.uminho.pt
soco2010@...

********************************************************************************
Call for IFAAMAS-09 Victor Lesser Distinguished Dissertation Award nominations
********************************************************************************

IMPORTANT: The contact person has changed.

Nominations are invited for the 2009 Victor Lesser Distinguished 
Dissertation Award sponsored by IFAAMAS, the International Foundation 
for Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems ([[http://www.ifaamas.org]]).

This award includes a certificate signed by the IFAAMAS Chair and 
1500EUR. Eligible doctoral dissertations are those defended between 
January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009 in the area of Autonomous Agents 
or Multiagent Systems.

The award will be based on the originality, significance, and real or 
potential impact of the work.  Evidence of such impact may come from 
existing pre- or post-defense publications of the work at highly selective 
conferences and journals, and/or from comments of the supervisor and 
references.  Work that resulted primarily from the student's initiative 
will be considered more favorably. The selection committee will be the 
final arbiter in the decision process. The selection committee might decide 
to consult external assessors and reserves the right not to award the prize 
if the nominations do not meet the expected quality level.

The dissertation must be nominated by the thesis supervisor and must 
be supported by the following documents:

*A.* A pdf file of the dissertation. If the dissertation is not written 
in English, the nomination must include a long paper in English, with the 
nominee as the first author, published in a journal or a prestigious conference.

*B.* A list of citations to published papers based primarily on work reported 
in the dissertation with links to corresponding pdf files.

*C.* A recommendation from the supervisor nominating the dissertation for 
the IFAAMAS-09 Victor Lesser Distinguished Dissertation Award. The recommendation 
should argue the merit of the dissertation and highlight, where relevant, how 
the work resulted from the initiative of the student. This document, not to 
exceed 500 words, should also certify the eligibility of the PhD by asserting that 
the PhD was defended in calendar year 2009.

*D.* Up to three reference letters of no more than 500 words in length, signed and 
scanned as pdf files, from researchers familiar with the research of the candidate 
and with related research expertise.

These documents must be placed on a web page and only a link to this page e-mailed 
to the chair of the selection committee, Michael Huhns, at [[huhns@...]] on or 
before February 5, 2010.

Though the nomination is to be submitted by the student's supervisor, it is assumed 
that the student has consented that the dissertation be considered for this award 
and, if selected, commits to attend the AAMAS10 conference where he/she will receive 
the award and will give an hour-long presentation on this work in a special session. 
The cost of attending the conference is not covered by the award.

Selection committee:
Michael Huhns (Chair)
Ana Bazzan
Ariel Procaccia
Mike Wooldridge
Makoto Yokoo

***** Call for Doctoral Mentoring Program Submissions *****

Ninth International Joint Conference on
AUTONOMOUS AGENTS AND MULTIAGENT SYSTEMS (AAMAS 2010)
Toronto, Canada
Symposium Date: May 10, 2010
Conference Dates: May 10-14, 2010
http://www.cse.yorku.ca/AAMAS2010/

The AAMAS 2010 doctoral mentoring program is intended for Ph.D.
students in advanced stages of their research. This program will
provide an opportunity for students to interact closely with
established researchers in their fields, to receive feedback on
their work and to get advice on managing their careers.  Specifically,
the goals of the program are:

- To match each student with an established researcher in the community
(who will act as a mentor). The mentor will interact closely with
the student, will provide feedback on research, help form new
contacts, etc.
- To allow students an opportunity to present their work to a
friendly audience of other students as well as mentors.
-To provide students with contacts and professional networking opportunities.

The doctoral mentoring program will consist of opportunities for
interactions between mentors and their mentorees prior to the
conference, as well as a one day doctoral symposium.

Submission Requirements

We encourage submissions from Ph.D. students at advanced stages of
their research within the Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems
field. Based on the submissions, the organizing committee will
select a group of students that will be invited to participate in
the program. Participants will be expected to take active part in
all doctoral mentoring program activities.

The submission package should include:
- A two-page extended abstract of the student's thesis (in the AAMAS
submission format)
- A personal research statement (one page)
- A short (2-page) resume (CV)
- A recommendation letter from the advisor.

Submissions should be sent via email to johnt@....

Important Dates

Jan 30, 2010: Submission package due
Feb 27, 2010: Acceptance notification
May 10, 2010: Doctoral mentoring symposium

For questions, please contact the doctoral mentoring co-chairs:

Gita Sukthankar
University of Central Florida
gitars@...

John Thangarajah
RMIT, Australia
johnt@...

Sorry for cross postings!

Call for papers
Normative Multiagent Systems (NorMAS 2010)
29th March– 30th March 2010, De Montfort University, Leicester
An AISB2010 Symposium

Workshop description
Normative systems are “systems in the behavior of which norms play a
role and which need normative concepts in order to be described or
specified.” A normative multi-agent system combines models for normative
systems (dealing for example with obligations, permissions and
prohibitions) with models for multi-agent systems. Normative multi-agent
systems provide a promising model for human and artificial agent
co-ordination, because they integrate norms and individual intelligence.
They are a prime example of the use of sociological theories in
multi-agent systems, and therefore of the relation between agent theory
- both multi-agent systems and autonomous agents - and the social
sciences - sociology, philosophy, economics, legal science, etc.

Topics of interest include (but are not limited to):
* Norm representation:
- Formal languages for the representation of norms
- Legal reasoning
- Norm-aware cognitive architectures

* Norm dynamics:
- Formal models of the evolution of normative systems
- Norm creation and propagation
- Norm emergence

* Socio-economical foundations:
- Models of norm-related sociological notions (e.g., blame)
- Norms and social welfare
- Norm enforcement
- Institutions

* NorMAS applications

Important Dates
Paper submission deadline: January 15, 2010.
Notification of acceptance: February 6, 2010.
Camera ready version: TBA
Symposium: 29th March - 30th March 2010

After the symposium a selection of papers will be published in a special
issue of a relevant journal.

Paper Submission Guidelines
- The paper should be written in English.
- The maximum length of a paper is 6 A4-sized pages in ECAI format
    (format download:
http://www.aisb.org.uk/convention/aisb08/download.html).
- The paper should be in PDF format.
- The paper should present unpublished work.
- Please submit via the online paper submission system Easychair
(http://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=normas2010).

Program Committee
Thomas Agotnes, Bergen University College, Norway
Giulia Andrighetto, Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies
(ISTC), Italy
Guido Boella, Dipartimento di Informatica, Università di Torino, Italy
Olivier Boissier, ENS Mines Saint-Etienne, France
Cristiano Castelfranchi, Institute of Cognitive Sciences and
Technologies (ISTC), Italy
Paul Davidsson, Blekinge Institute of Technology, Sweden (chair)
Bruce Edmonds, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK
Guido Governatori, The University of Queensland, Australia
Davide Grossi, ILLC University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands (chair)
Joris Hulstijn, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Rodger Kibble, Goldsmiths University of London, UK
Sanjay Modgil , King’s College, UK
Tim Norman, University of Aberdeen, UK
Pablo Noriega, IIIA - CSIC - Barcelona, Spain
Gabriella Pigozzi, University of Luxembourg, Luxemburg
Jeremy Pitt, Imperial College London, UK
Leendert van der Torre, University of Luxembourg, Luxemburg
Wamberto Vasconcelos, University of Aberdeen, United Kingdom
Harko Verhagen, Stockholm University, Sweden (chair)

Previous NorMAS Meetings
NorMAS05@AISB2005, selection of papers published in CMOT (vol 12, no
2-3, 2006)
NorMAS07@Dagstuhl, selection of papers published in JAAMAS (vol 17, no
1, 2008)
NorMAS08@Deon08, selection of papers to be published in Logic Journal of
the IGPL
NorMAS09@Dagstuhl, selection of papers to be published in Journal of
Algorithms in Cognition, Informatics and Logic

Contact
For further inquiries please contact Harko Verhagen via
verhagen@.... The workshop website is located at:
http://staff.science.uva.nl/~grossi/NorMAS10Site/home.html

     (apologies if you receive multiple copies of this call)

Final Call for Tutorial Proposals

Ninth International Joint Conference on
AUTONOMOUS AGENTS AND MULTIAGENT SYSTEMS
             (AAMAS 2010)

Toronto, Canada
May 10-14, 2010

http://www.cse.yorku.ca/AAMAS2010

The AAMAS-10 Organizing Committee invites proposals for the Tutorial
Program, to be held on May 10--11, immediately before to the technical
conference. AAMAS-10 Tutorials should serve one or more of the
following objectives:

    * Introduce novices to major topics of AAMAS research.
    * Provide instruction in established practices and methodologies.
    * Survey a mature area of AAMAS research or practice.
    * Motivate and explain an AAMAS topic of emerging importance.
    * Introduce expert non-specialists to an AAMAS area.
    * Survey an area of agent research especially relevant for people
      from industry

Important Dates:
----------------
November 13, 2009: Tutorial Proposal Submission Deadline
December  4, 2009: Tutorial Acceptance Notifications
April  4, 2010: Deadline for submitting tutorial materials
May  10--11, 2010: AAMAS-2009 Tutorials

Further Information:
---------------------
For further information on submission requirements and responsibilities with
respect to accepted proposals please refer to the full call for proposals
on the AAMAS 2010 website

http://www.cse.yorku.ca/AAMAS2010/#content=call4_tutorial_proposal