-*------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ACO-list Wednesday 3 April 2002, Volume 2 : Number 2 Send announcements of other activities to: ACO-list@iridia.ulb.ac.be Send subscription requests to: ACO-list-request@iridia.ulb.ac.be Note that if you search on "-*" you will skip from one message to the next. -*----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today's Topics: - ANTS'2002 Call for Papers - Deadline remainder - WOMA III Call for Papers - ICONIP'02 - SEAL'02 - FSKD'02 Call for Papers -*----------------------------------------------------------------------------- CALENDAR OF ACO-RELATED ACTIVITIES: (with ACO-list issue reference) ANTS'2002 3rd Int. Wkshp on Ant Algorithms, Brussels(B) Sep 11-14 2002 (v2n1) WOMA III 3rd Int. Wkshp on Memetic Algorithms, 7th Sep 2002, Granada(E) (v2n2) ICONIP'02 9th International Conference on Neural Information Processing, SEAL'02 4th Asia-Pacific Conference on Simulated Evolution And Learning, FSKD'02 Int. Conference on Fuzzy Systems and Knowledge Discovery, Singapore, Nov 18-22 2002 (v2n2) -*----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 19 Mar. 2002 From: mdorigo@iridia.ulb.ac.be ANTS'2002 - From Ant Colonies to Artificial Ants: Third International Workshop on Ant Algorithms Brussels, Belgium, September 11-14, 2002 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CALL FOR PAPERS (up-to-date information on the workshop is maintained on the web at http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~ants/ants2002/) SCOPE OF THE WORKSHOP The behavior of social insects in general, and of ant colonies in particular, has long since fascinated both the scientist and the layman. 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, ant algorithms have been proposed as a novel computational model that replaces the traditional emphasis on control, preprogramming, and centralization with designs featuring autonomy, emergence, and distributed functioning. These designs are proving flexible and robust, they are able to adapt quickly to changing environments and they continue functioning when individual elements fail. A particularly successful research direction in ant algorithms, known as "ant colony optimization", is dedicated to their application to discrete optimization problems. Ant colony optimization has been applied successfully to a large number of difficult combinatorial problems including the traveling salesman problem, the quadratic assignment problem, scheduling problems as well as to routing in telecommunication networks. ANTS'2002 is the third edition of the only event entirely devoted to ant algorithms and to ant colony optimization. Also of great interest to the workshop are models of ant colony behavior which could stimulate new algorithmic approaches. The workshop will give researchers in both real ant behavior and in ant colony optimization an opportunity to meet, to present their latest research, and to discuss current developments and applications. The three-day workshop will be held in Brussels, Belgium, September 12-14, 2002. In the late afternoon of September 11th there will also be a tutorial on ant algorithms. RELEVANT RESEARCH AREAS ANTS'2002 solicits contributions dealing with any aspect of ant algorithms and Ant Colony Optimization. Typical, but not exclusive topics of interest are: (1) Models of aspects of real ant colony behavior that can stimulate new algorithmic approaches. (2) Empirical and theoretical research in ant algorithms and ant colony optimization. (3) Application of ant algorithms and ant colony optimization methods to real-world problems. (4) Related research in swarm intelligence. SUBMISSION PROCEDURE & PUBLICATION DETAILS Conference proceedings will be published by Springer-Verlag in the Lecture Notes on Computer Science series (http://www.springer.de/comp/lncs/index.html), and distributed to the participants at the conference site. Submitted papers must be between 8 and 12 pages long, and must conform to the LNCS style (http://www.springer.de/comp/lncs/authors.html). It is important that submissions are already in the LNCS format (papers that do not respect this formatting may not be considered). Submitted papers should be either in Postscript or PDF format and should be emailed to: ants-submissions@iridia.ulb.ac.be. Each submission will be acknowledged by email. Each submitted paper will be peer reviewed by at least two referees. BEST PAPER AWARD A best paper award will be presented at the workshop. REGISTRATION AND FURTHER INFORMATION By submitting a camera-ready paper, the author(s) agree that at least one author will attend and present their paper at the workshop. A registration fee of 200 EUR will cover organization expenses, workshop proceedings, the possibility to attend a tutorial on ant algorithms in the late afternoon of September 11, coffee breaks, and a workshop social dinner on Friday 13 evening. A reduced PhD student registration fee of 150 EUR is available. A proof of inscription to a doctoral school will be necessary. Up-to-date information about the workshop will be available at the ANTS'2002 web site (http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~ants/ants2002/). 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. LIMITED NUMBER OF PLACES The number of participants will be limited. If you intend to participate please fill in and email the INTENTION FORM available at the workshop web page to: ants-registration@iridia.ulb.ac.be Only researchers that have received a confirmation to their intention form may take part in the workshop. IMPORTANT DATES Submission deadline April 14th, 2002 Notification of acceptance May 31st, 2002 Camera ready copy June 16th, 2002 Tutorial Sep 11th, 2002 Workshop Sep 12-14, 2002 ANTS'2002 CONFERENCE COMMITTEE PROGRAM CHAIR Marco DORIGO, IRIDIA, ULB, Belgium (mdorigo@ulb.ac.be) TECHNICAL PROGRAM AND PUBLICATION CHAIRS Gianni DI CARO, IRIDIA, ULB, Belgium (gdicaro@ulb.ac.be) Michael SAMPELS, IRIDIA, ULB, Belgium (msampels@ulb.ac.be) LOCAL ARRANGEMENTS Christian BLUM, IRIDIA, ULB, Belgium (cblum@ulb.ac.be) Mauro BIRATTARI, IRIDIA, ULB, Belgium (mbiro@ulb.ac.be) PROGRAM COMMITTEE Payman ARABSHAHI, JPL, NASA, Pasadena, CA, USA Nigel BEAN, University of Adelaide, Australia Freddy BRUCKSTEIN, Technion, Haifa, Israel Oscar CORDON, University Of Granada, Spain David CORNE, University of Reading, Great Britain Jean-Louis DENEUBOURG, Universite' Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium Luca M. GAMBARDELLA, IDSIA, Lugano, Switzerland Michel GENDREAU, Universite' de Montreal, Canada Walter GUTJAHR, University of Vienna, Austria Owen HOLLAND, University of West England, Bristol, Great Britain Vittorio MANIEZZO, Universita' di Bologna, Italy Alcherio MARTINOLI, Caltech, Pasadena, CA, USA Daniel MERKLE, Universitaet Karlsruhe, Germany Peter MERZ, University of Tübingen, Germany Nicolas MEULEAU, NASA, CA, USA Martin MIDDENDORF, Catholic Univ. of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, Germany Ben PAECHTER, Napier University, Edinburgh, Great Britain Rainer PALM Siemens, Munich, Germany Van PARUNAK, Altarum Institute, Ann Arbor, MI, USA Carles SIERRA, CSIC, Bellaterra, Spain Thomas STUETZLE, Technische Universitaet Darmstadt, Germany Tatsuya SUDA, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA Guy THERAULAZ, Universite' Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France Thanos VASILAKOS, ICS-FORTH, Crete, Greece PROGRAM CHAIR ADDRESS Marco Dorigo, Ph.D. Chercheur Qualifie' du FNRS Tel +32-2-6503169 IRIDIA CP 194/6 Fax +32-2-6502715 Universite' Libre de Bruxelles Secretary +32-2-6502729 Avenue Franklin Roosevelt 50 http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~mdorigo/ 1050 Bruxelles http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~ants/ants2002/ Belgium http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/dorigo/ACO/ACO.html CONFERENCE LOCATION Avenue A. Buyl 87, 1050 Brussels, Belgium, Building C - 4th floor (IRIDIA, Dorigo's lab, is at the 5th floor of the same building). There will be signs giving directions to the workshop room. RELATED CONFERENCES Note that just before ANTS'2002, the conference PPSN-VII will take place in Granada, Spain (http://ppsn2002.ugr.es/ppsn2002.shtml). -*----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 15 Feb. 2002 From: Natalio.Krasnogor@nottingham.ac.uk CALL FOR PAPERS WOMA III - 2002 The 3th international Workshop on Memetic Algorithms 7 of September 2002 Granada, Spain In conjunction with PPSN VII The next international Workshop on Memetic Algorithms (WOMAIII), will be the third in a series of workshops dedicated exclusively to Memetic Algorithms. The WOMA series is a forum where the international community of researchers, practitioners and vendors, that work on aspects related to memetic algorithms, can engage in fruitful discussions and learning and can contribute to the advancement of our field. WOMA III will take place in association with PPSN VII: The Seventh International Conference on Parallel Problem Solving from Nature, Granada, Spain, September 7th--11th 2002. (http://ppsn2002.ugr.es/) This workshop, along with the other PPSN-affiliated Workshops will be on September 7th (and some workshops will continue on September 8th). PPSN Tutorials will be on September 8th, and the PPSN conference sessions will be 9th--11th Motivation: ----------- Memetic algorithms (MAs) are evolutionary algorithms (EAs) that apply a separate local search process to refine individuals (e.g. improve their fitness by hill-climbing). These methods are inspired by models of adaptation in natural systems that combine evolutionary adaptation of populations of individuals with individual learning within a lifetime. Additionally, MAs are inspired by Richard Dawkin's concept of a meme, which represents a unit of cultural evolution that can exhibit local refinement. Thus a memetic model of adaptation exhibits the plasticity of individuals that a strictly genetic model fails to capture. Under different contexts and situations, MAs are also known as hybrid EAs, genetic local searchers, Baldwinian EAs, Lamarkian EAs, etc. From an optimization point of view, MAs are hybrid EAs that combine global and local search by using an EA to perform exploration while the local search method performs exploitation. Combining global and local search is a strategy used by many successful optimization approaches, and MAs have in fact been recognized as a powerful algorithmic paradigm for evolutionary computing. In particular, the relative advantage of MAs over EAs is quite consistent on complex search spaces. For more details about MAs please visit the Memetic Algorithms Web Page in http://www.densis.fee.unicamp.br/~moscato/memetic_home.html. Alternatively you can join the Memetic Algorithms discussion list group in http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MALL/ It is the goal of this new edition of the workshop to push forward our understanding of both the theory and the deployment of MA. The themes of the workshop include (but are not limited to): o Memetic algorithms applications: - scheduling - transport - logistic - network optimization - process optimization - space craft trajectory optimization - bioinformatic - planning - MAs in new challenging domains. - timetabling - evolvable hardware - robotics - telecommunications - mechanical and structural engineering. o Memetic algorithms theory: - Theory of MAs and memetics - Software engineering issues. - Kolmogorov, Computational and PLS Complexity issues. - Convergence of MAs. - Competent MAs. - Distributed/Parallel MAs. - Theoretical/Experimental comparisons/integration with other soft techniques, e.g., expert systems, simulated annealing, knowledge based systems, heuristic search, tabu search, ant colony optimization, genetic programming, etc. - MAs for Multiobjective optimization. - MAs for discrete optimization. - MAs for continuous optimization. - MAs for mixed domains. - MAs for optimization of non-stationary problems - Frameworks for describing and classifying MAs. - Practical guidelines to combine local search and EAs. - Scalability of MAs. - New MA architectures. - MA performance predictions. - Landscape analysis. Submissions: ------------ Authors are invited to submit papers for WOMAIII. All submissions will be done by e-mail and should include the three following files: a] A cover letter with the following information: (1) the names of the authors (2) the contact person and address (3) e-mail address (4) title of the paper and keywords b] A full length paper (see details below) of at most 16 pages. c] an abstract version of your full length paper of at most two pages. The format for both b] and c] must follow PPSN main conference format outlines ( http://www.springer.de/comp/lncs/authors.html ) and the files sent must be postscripts or pdf files (other formats will not be accepted). Papers should describe significant, original and unpublished work. The submission, consisting of and e-mail with the three files mentioned before as an attachment, should be submitted not later than June 27th 2002 to Natalio Krasnogor at the following e-mail address: Natalio.Krasnogor@nottingham.ac.uk The subject of the e-mail must be: WOMAIII contribution Papers will be fully refereed by the program committee and the accepted ones, notified by August 5th, will be presented during the workshop. The abstract of the accepted paper (file c]) will appear in a workshop handout. The full length versions of the workshop's papers (file b]) will be published in a post-conference book (with an ISBN number) dedicated exclusively to WOMAIII. Acceptance at the workshop means acceptance for this volume. Final camera ready copies for the edited volume should be re-submitted (amended with the reviewers comments) before the 5th of September. Deadlines: ---------- * Paper(abstract and full length) submissions for the workshop --> June 27th 2002 * Notification and reviewers comments to be received by --> August 5th 2002 * Camera ready of full papers amended for the edited volume --> September 5th 2002 Format of the Workshop: ----------------------- WOMAIII will be a full day workshop and we anticipate that the format will allow for interaction and discussions among authors and participants. Full details about the format will appear at a later stage in the workshop's web page: http://dirac.chem.nott.ac.uk/~natk/Public/WOMAIII/WOMAIII.html Registration: ------------- Registration for PPSN entitles you to attend this workshop (and any others), as well as tutorials. However, a substantially reduced registration package will be available for those who want to attend only the events during the PPSN workshop/tutorials weekend. The cost of this will reflect the cost of printing workshop/tutorial handout materials. Program Committee: ------------------ Edmund Burke University of Nottingham, UK Carlos Coello-Coello Centro de Investigacion y de Estudios Avanzados del IPN, Mexico David Corne University of Reading, UK Peter Cowling University of Bradford, UK William Hart (co-chair) Sandia National Laboratory, USA Graham Kendall University of Nottingham, UK Joshua Knowles Universite' Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium Natalio Krasnogor (co-chair) University of Nottingham, UK Peter Merz University of Tuebingen, Germany Pablo Moscato University of Campinhas, Brasil Ben Paechter Napier University, UK Jim Smith (co-chair) University of the West of England, UK Marc Schoenauer INRIA, France Xin Yao University of Birmingham, UK Other Information: ------------------ For information about the venue please visit: http://www.visitagranada.com/ingles/main.html WOMA III web page is located in http://dirac.chem.nott.ac.uk/~natk/Public/WOMAIII/WOMAIII.html Updates and information regarding the workshop will appear in that page. For more information, contact any of the co-chairs that appear below: Natalio Krasnogor Automated Scheduling, Optimization and Planning Research Group. School of Computer Science and Information Technology and Computational Biophysics and Chemistry Group. School of Chemistry University of Nottingham University Park, Nottingham NG8 2BB United Kingdom e-mail: natalio.krasnogor@nottingham.ac.uk James E. Smith Intelligent Computer System Centre University of the West of England -*----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 15 Feb. 2002 From: nef@ntu.edu.sg ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 9th International Conference on Neural Information Processing (ICONIP'02) 4th Asia-Pacific Conference on Simulated Evolution And Learning (SEAL'02) International Conference on Fuzzy Systems and Knowledge Discovery (FSKD'02) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- November 18 - 22, 2002, Orchid Country Club, Singapore http://www.ntu.edu.sg/home/nef Organized by: School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Sponsored by: Asia-Pacific Neural Network Assembly SEAL & FSKD Steering Committees Lee Foundation In Co-Operation with: IEEE Neural Network Council International Neural Network Society European Neural Network Society SPIE ---------------------------------- CALL FOR PAPERS, SPONSORSHIPS, AND SPECIAL SESSION PROPOSALS ---------------------------------- ICONIP'02, SEAL'02, and FSKD'02 will be jointly held in Orchid Country Club, Singapore from November 18 to 22, 2002. The conferences will not only feature the most up-to-date research results in neural information processing, evolutionary computation, fuzzy systems, and knowledge discovery, but also promote cross-fertilization over these exciting and yet closely-related areas. Registration to any one of the conferences will entitle a participant to the technical sessions and the proceedings of all three conferences, as well as the conference banquet, buffet lunches, and tours to two of the major attractions in Singapore, i.e., Night Safari and Sentosa Resort Island. Many well- known researchers will present keynote speeches, panel discussions, invited lectures, and tutorials. About Singapore --------------- Located at one of the most important crossroads of the world, Singapore is truly a place where East and West come together. Here you will find Chinese, Indian, and Malay communities living together, their long established cultures forming a unique backdrop to a clean and modern garden city. English is spoken everywhere and is the common business language of all. Few places on earth promise such a delight for the palate, with gourmet cuisine from over 30 countries. Exotic resorts in neighboring countries are only a short bus/ferry ride away. Orchid Country Club (OCC) ------------------------- The venue for this year's conferences is at one of Singapore's premier country club, a 25-minute bus ride from the city. Away from the hustle and bustle of downtown Singapore, the tranquil setting of the resort is ideal for serious technical discussions with an accommodating space and ambience for relaxation. Not to miss out on the splendor of downtown Singapore, the organizer has also secured good quality and affordable accommodation in the heart of the city with pre-arranged transport to/from the OCC. For golf enthusiasts, OCC is equipped with the largest computerized driving range in South East Asia and boasts of a 27-hole golf course with facilities for night golfing, ideal for relaxation after each day of technical discussions. Visit the OCC website at http://www.orchidclub.com Night Safari and Sentosa Resort Island -------------------------------------- It is said that a visit to Singapore is not complete without making a trip to two of the Republic's famous attractions. The only one of its kind in the world, the Night Safari provides a setting for visitors to experience what it is like to observe animals in their nocturnal habitat. The island of Sentosa offers some unique attractions and a visit there will also provide a glimpse and imagery of Singapore's past and present. Visits to these two attractions will be included as recreation for the joint conference. (Websites: http://www.zoo.com.sg/safari/, http://www.sentosa.com.sg) Submission of Papers -------------------- Authors are invited to submit electronic files (postscript, pdf or Word format) through the conference home page. Papers should be double-column and use 10 pt Times Roman or similar fonts. The final version of a paper should not exceed 5 pages in length. A selected number of accepted papers will be expanded and revised for possible inclusion in edited books and peer-reviewed journals, such as "Soft Computing" and "Knowledge and Information Systems: An International Journal" by Springer-Verlag. Special Sessions ---------------- The conferences will feature special sessions on specialized topics to encourage in-depth discussions. To propose a special session, email the session title, name of the conference under which the special session will be oragnized, contact information of the organizer(s), and a short description on the theme and topics covered by the session to Xin Yao, Special Sessions Chair (x.yao@cs.bham.ac.uk), with a copy to Lipo Wang, General Chair (Cc: elpwang@ntu.edu.sg). Sponsorship ----------- The conferences will offer product vendors a sponsorship package and/or an opportunity to interact with conference participants. Product demonstration and exhibition can also be arranged. For more information, please visit the conference website or contact Tong Seng Quah, Sponsorship/Exhibition Chair (itsquah@ntu.edu.sg), with a copy to Lipo Wang, General Chair (Cc: elpwang@ntu.edu.sg). Keynote Speakers ---------------- Shun-ichi Amari, RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Japan David Fogel, Natural Selection, Inc., USA Mitsuo Kawato, ATR, Japan Xin Yao, The University of Birmingham, UK Lotfi A. Zadeh, University of California, USA Important Dates --------------- Paper/Summary Deadline : April 30, 2002 Notification of Acceptance : July 15, 2002 Final Paper/ Registration : August 15, 2002 Registration Fee ---------------- The registration fee for regular participants before August 15, 2002 is S$680 (approximately US$370 as at February 6, 2002), which includes the proceedings, lunches, banquet, and tours. Honorary Conference Chairs -------------------------- Shun-ichi Amari, Japan Hans-Paul Schwefel, Germany Lotfi A. Zadeh, USA International Advisory Board ---------------------------- Sung-Yang Bang, Korea Meng Hwa Er, Singapore David B. Fogel, USA Toshio Fukuda, Japan A. Galushkin, Russia Tom Gedeon, Australia Zhenya He, China Mo Jamshidi, USA Nikola Kasabov, New Zealand Sun-Yuan Kung, USA Tong Heng Lee, Singapore Erkki Oja, Finland Nikhil R. Pal, India Enrique H. Ruspini,USA Harcharan Singh, Singapore Ah Chung Tsoi, Australia Shiro Usui, Toyohashi, Japan Lei Xu, China Benjamin W. Wah, USA Donald C. Wunsch II, USA Xindong Wu, USA Youshou Wu, China Yixin Zhong, China Jacek M. Zurada, USA Advisor ------- Alex C. Kot, Singapore General Chair ------------- Lipo Wang, Singapore Program Co-Chairs ----------------- ICONIP'02: Kunihiko Fukushima, Japan Soo-Young Lee, Korea Jagath C. Rajapakse, Singapore SEAL'02: Takeshi Furuhashi, Japan Jong-Hwan Kim, Korea Kay Chen Tan, Singapore FSKD'02: Saman Halgamuge, Australia Special Sessions: Xin Yao, UK Finance Chair ------------- Charoensak Charayaphan, Singapore Local Arrangement Chair ----------------------- Meng Hiot Lim, Singapore Proceedings Chair ----------------- Farook Sattar, Singapore Publicity Chair --------------- Chunru Wan, Singapore Sponsorship/Exhibition Chair ---------------------------- Tong Seng Quah, Singapore Tutorial Chair -------------- P. N. Suganthan, Singapore For More Information -------------------- Please visit the conference home page or contact: Lipo Wang, ICONIP'02-SEAL'02-FSKD'02 General Chair School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Nanyang Technological University Block S2, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798 Email: elpwang@ntu.edu.sg Phone: +65 790 6372 Conference Secretariat ---------------------- ICONIP'02-SEAL'02-FSKD'02 Secretariat Conference Management Center/CCE, NTU Administration Annex Building #04-06 42 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639815 Email: nef@ntu.edu.sg Fax: +65 793 0997 -*-----------------------------------------------------------------------------