ANTS 2014 - Ninth International Conference on Swarm Intelligence
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               volume 8667                       ECCAI Logo     FNRS logo     CFWB

Call for Papers

Document updated on October 2, 2014

Scope of the conference

Swarm intelligence is a relatively new discipline that deals with the study of self-organizing processes both in nature and in artificial systems. Researchers in ethology and animal behavior have proposed many models to explain interesting aspects of social insect behavior such as self-organization and shape-formation. Recently, algorithms and methods inspired by these models have been proposed to solve difficult problems in many domains.

An example of a particularly successful research direction in swarm intelligence is ant colony optimization, the main focus of which is on discrete optimization problems. Ant colony optimization has been applied successfully to a large number of difficult discrete optimization problems including the traveling salesman problem, the quadratic assignment problem, scheduling, vehicle routing, etc., as well as to routing in telecommunication networks. Another interesting approach is that of particle swarm optimization, that focuses on continuous optimization problems. Here too, a number of successful applications can be found in the recent literature. Swarm robotics is another relevant field. Here, the focus is on applying swarm intelligence techniques to the control of large groups of cooperating autonomous robots.

ANTS 2014 will give researchers in swarm intelligence the opportunity to meet, to present their latest research, and to discuss current developments and applications.

The three-day conference will be held in Brussels, Belgium, on September 10-12, 2014.

Relevant Research Areas


ANTS 2014 solicits contributions dealing with any aspect of swarm intelligence. Typical, but not exclusive, topics of interest are:
  • Behavioral models of social insects or other animal societies that can stimulate new algorithmic approaches.
  • Empirical and theoretical research in swarm intelligence.
  • Application of swarm intelligence methods, such as ant colony optimization or particle swarm optimization, to real-world problems.
  • Theoretical and experimental research in swarm robotics systems.

Publication Details


Accepted papers will be published in conference proceedings that will be published by Springer in the LNCS series. The journal Swarm Intelligence will publish a special issue dedicated to ANTS 2014 that will contain extended versions of the best research works presented at the conference.

Best Paper Award


A best paper award will be presented at the conference. Continuing the tradition of the ANTS Conference Series, the prize winner will receive a sculpture of an ant expressly created for the ANTS Conference by the Italian sculptor Matteo Pugliese.

Further Information


Up-to-date information will be published on the web site http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/ants2014/. For information about local arrangements, registration forms, etc., please refer to the above-mentioned web site or contact the local organizers at the address below.

Conference Address


ANTS 2014
IRIDIA-CoDE, CP 194/6 Tel +32-2-6502729
Université Libre de Bruxelles Fax +32-2-6502715
Av. F. D. Roosevelt 50 http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/ants2014/
1050 Bruxelles, Belgium email: ants@iridia.ulb.ac.be

Conference Location


Campus du Solbosch, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.

Important Dates


Submission deadline March 16, 2014
Submission deadline March 2, 2014
Notification of acceptance May 7, 2014
Camera ready copy May 21, 2014
Conference September 10-12, 2014

ANTS 2014 Conference Committee


General Chair:
Marco DORIGO IRIDIA, ULB, Brussels, Belgium

Technical Program Chairs:
Simon GARNIER New Jersey Institute of Technology, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ, USA
Marco A. MONTES DE OCA Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Delaware, DE, USA
Christine SOLNON LIRIS, Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon, France

Publication Chair:
Heiko HAMANN, Department of Computer Science, University of Paderborn, Germany

Organization Chairs:
Mauro BIRATTARI IRIDIA, ULB, Brussels, Belgium
Thomas STÜTZLE IRIDIA, ULB, Brussels, Belgium

Local Arrangements:
Manuele BRAMBILLA IRIDIA, ULB, Brussels, Belgium
Lorenzo GARATTONI IRIDIA, ULB, Brussels, Belgium
Andreagiovanni REINA IRIDIA, ULB, Brussels, Belgium