Machine Learning List: Vol. 13, No. 7 Saturday, Nov 17, 2001 Contents Calls for Papers and Meeting Anouncements 6th ICCNS: Call for Abstracts Call for papers: COLT 2002 CFPs: special issue on Support Vector Machines ISDA 2002 - First Call for Papers SAB'02 CFP Call for Papers -- KES2002, Italy SARA 2002 CFP : KES2002 Special Session : Causality in Knowledge-Based Systems CFP : KES2002 Special Session : Classification in Knowledge-Based Systems UAI-2002 CFP CFP: ALife VIII 2002 IEEE SMC - Special Session on Evolutionary Optimization [CEC2002] Submissions URL Active Job Announcements Post-doctoral and Ph.D.student positions The Machine Learning List is moderated. Contributions should be relevant to the scientific study of machine learning. Please send submissions for distribution to: ml@isle.org. For requests to be added, removed, or to change your email address, send email to: ml-request@isle.org. In general, submissions should be no more than a few full-screens of text. For meeting announcements, highlight the conference or workshop web page and give a summary description of the goals of the event. Information such as the list of program committee members, talk schedules, and registration forms are unnecessary and should not be included. Job adds are usually no more than a few full-screens so they should fit naturally. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Calls for Papers and Meeting Anouncements ------------------------------ From: Cynthia Bradford Subject: 6th ICCNS: Call for Abstracts Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2001 13:59:46 -0400 CALL FOR ABSTRACTS SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON COGNITIVE AND NEURAL SYSTEMS Tutorials: May 29, 2002 Meeting: May 30 - June 1, 2002 Boston, Massachusetts http://www.cns.bu.edu/meetings/ Sponsored by Boston University's Center for Adaptive Systems and Department of Cognitive and Neural Systems with financial support from the Office of Naval Research This interdisciplinary conference has drawn about 300 people from around the world each time that it has been offered. Last year's conference was attended by scientists from 31 countries. The conference is structured to facilitate intense communication between its participants, both in the formal sessions and during its other activities. As during previous years, the conference will focus on solutions to the fundamental questions: - How Does the Brain Control Behavior? - How Can Technology Emulate Biological Intelligence? The conference will include invited tutorials and lectures, and contributed lectures and posters by experts on the biology and technology of how the brain and other intelligent systems adapt to a changing world. The conference is aimed at researchers and students of computational neuroscience, connectionist cognitive science, artificial neural networks, neuromorphic engineering, and artificial intelligence. CALL FOR ABSTRACTS Session Topics: * vision * spatial mapping and navigation * object recognition * neural circuit models * image understanding * neural system models * audition * mathematics of neural systems * speech and language * robotics * unsupervised learning * hybrid systems (fuzzy, evolutionary, digital) * supervised learning * neuromorphic VLSI * reinforcement and emotion * industrial applications * sensory-motor control * cognition, planning, and attention * other Contributed abstracts must be received, in English, by January 31, 2002. Notification of acceptance will be provided by email by February 28, 2002. A meeting registration fee must accompany each Abstract. See Registration Information below for details. The fee will be returned if the Abstract is not accepted for presentation and publication in the meeting proceedings. Registration fees of accepted Abstracts will be returned on request only until April 19, 2002. ------------------------------ From: Jyrki Kivinen Subject: Call for papers: COLT 2002 Date: Thu, 25 Oct 2001 16:07:51 +1000 (EST) CALL FOR PAPERS: Fifteenth Annual Conference on Computational Learning Theory The Fifteenth Annual Conference on Computational Learning Theory (COLT 2002) will be held during the week July 8-12, 2002 in Sydney, Australia. The conference will be co-located with ICML-2002. We invite submission of papers about the theory of machine learning. Possible topics include: * analysis of learning algorithms for specific classes of hypotheses, including established classes (e.g. neural networks, graphical models, decision trees, logical formulae, automata, pattern languages, grammars) and new classes; * bounds on the generalization ability of learning algorithms; * learning algorithms based on large margin hypotheses (SVM, boosting); * worst-case relative loss bounds for sequential prediction algorithms; * analysis of adaptive algorithms for decision, planning and control; * bounds on the computational complexity of learning; * learning with queries and learning in the limit; * new learning models that either capture important details of specific applications or that address general issues in a new way. We also welcome theoretical papers about learning that do not fit into the above categories; we are particularly interested in papers that include ideas and viewpoints that are new to the COLT community. While the primary focus of the conference is theoretical, papers can be strengthened by the inclusion of relevant experimental results. Papers that have appeared in journals or other conferences, or that are being submitted to other conferences, are not appropriate for submission to COLT. PAPER SUBMISSIONS: We will be setting up a server to receive electronic submissions. Although electronic submissions are preferred, hard-copy submissions will also be possible. Details of the submission procedure will be made available on the conference web page http://www.learningtheory.org/colt2002. Please check this page for updates on submission and conference details. If you have questions, send e-mail to the program co-chairs (Jyrki.Kivinen@faceng.anu.edu.au, rsloan@nsf.gov). IMPORTANT DATES: Submissions, electronic or hard-copy, must be received by 23:59 GMT on Monday, January 28, 2002. Authors will be notified of acceptance or rejection on or before Friday April 5, 2002. Final camera-ready versions must be received by Friday April 19. SUBMISSION FORMAT: Unlike previous COLT conferences, we are asking the authors to submit a full paper, which should be in the Springer LNAI format (see http://www.springer.de/comp/lncs/authors.html) and no longer than 15 pages. Authors not using LaTeX2e are asked to contact the program chairs well in advance of the submission deadline. The paper should include a clear definition of the theoretical model used and a clear description of the results, as well as a discussion of their significance, including comparison to other work. Proofs or proof sketches should be included. ------------------------------ From: Chih-Jen Lin Subject: CFPs: special issue on Support Vector Machines Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2001 08:01:27 +0800 CALL FOR PAPERS: special issue on SVM NEUROCOMPUTING An International Journal published by Elsevier Science B.V., vol. 42-47, 24 issues, in 2002 ISNN 0925-2312, URL: http://www.elsevier.nl/locate/neucom Special Issue on Support Vector Machines Paper Submission Deadline: February 28, 2002 Further information: http://www.csie.ntu.edu.tw/~cjlin/svmcfp.html Support Vector Machines (SVMs) are currently a very active research area within machine learning. Motivated by statistical learning theory they have been successfully applied to numerous tasks within data mining, computer vision and bioinformatics, for example. SVMs are examples of a broader category of learning approaches which utilize the concept of kernel substitution, thereby making the task of learning more tractable by exploiting an implicit mapping into a high dimensional space. SVMs have many appealing properties for machine learning. For example, the classic SVM learning task involves quadratic programming: there is only one solution and this may be found by using many of the efficient algorithms developed in optimization theory. Furthermore, recently developed model selection strategies can be applied, so that few, if any, learning parameters must be set by the operator. Above all, they have been found to work very well in practice. The Neurocomputing journal invites original contributions for the forthcoming special issue on Support Vector Machines from a broad range of areas. Some topics relevant to this special issue include, but are not restricted to: -- Theoretical foundations, algorithms, and implementations -- Model selection and hyperparameter tuning -- Choosing kernels for special situations -- Probabilistic treatment of SVMs -- SVM methods for large scale problems -- Benchmarking SVMs against other methods -- Feature selection methods for SVMs -- Key applications including, but not restricted to data mining, bioinformatics, text categorization, machine vision, etc. ------------------------------ From: Ajith Abraham Subject: ISDA 2002 - First Call for Papers Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2001 09:02:06 +1100 After the success of ISDA 2001, we are organising: ISDA 2002: Second International Workshop on Intelligent Systems Design and Applications in Atlanta, USA. Venue: Atlanta, USA Date: 07-08 August 2002, Workshop URL: http://isda2002.softcomputing.net/ Intelligent Systems Design and Applications (ISDA 2002) is an International workshop that brings together international soft computing / artificial intelligence researchers, developers, practitioners, and users. The aim of ISDA 2002 is to serve as a forum to present current and future work as well as to exchange research ideas in this field. ISDA 2002 invites authors to submit their original and unpublished work that demonstrate current research in all areas of soft computing and computational intelligence including design of artificial neural networks, fuzzy systems, evolutionary algorithms, hybrid systems, agents, and their applications in science, technology, business and commercial. Topics of interest include but not limited to: Applications/techniques using the following, but not limited to: - Artificial Neural Networks - Fuzzy Systems - Evolutionary Algorithms - Hybrid Soft Computing - All Other Intelligent Systems PAPER SUBMISSION Authors of contributed and invited papers are requested to submit, before February 28, 2002, an article not exceeding 4 pages of their research presentation (each additional page costs US$50.00 per page). Please type each article single spaced on one side of 8.5x11 size paper with one inch margin on all sides. IMPORTANT DATES Submission deadline: February 28, 2002 Notification of acceptance: March 22, 2002 Camera ready papers and pre-registration due : April 15, 2002 ------------------------------ From: Bridget Hallam Subject: SAB'02 CFP Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2001 15:00:20 +0000 (GMT) CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT and CALL FOR PAPERS FROM ANIMALS TO ANIMATS The Seventh International Conference on the SIMULATION OF ADAPTIVE BEHAVIOR (SAB'02) http://www.isab.org.uk/sab02 An International Conference organized by The International Society for Adaptive Behavior (ISAB) 4-10 August 2002, Edinburgh, UK The objective of this interdisciplinary conference is to bring together researchers in computer science, alife, control, artificial intelligence, robotics, neurosciences, ethology, and related fields so as to further our understanding of the behaviors and underlying mechanisms that allow natural and artificial animals to adapt and survive in uncertain environments. The conference will focus on experiments with well-defined models --- robot models, computer simulation models, mathematical models --- designed to help characterize and compare various organizational principles or architectures underlying adaptive behavior in real animals and in synthetic agents, the animats. In addition there will be sessions on psychological issues and on the industrial applications of animat research. Contributions treating any of the following topics from the perspective of adaptive behavior will receive special emphasis: The Animat approach Philosophical and psychological issues Characterization of agents and environments Passive and active perception Motor control Visually-guided behaviors Action selection Behavioral sequencing Navigation and mapping Internal models and representation Learning and development Motivation and emotion Emergent structures and behaviors Collective and social behavior Neural correlates of behavior Evolutionary and co-evolutionary approaches Autonomous robotics Software agents and virtual creatures Applied adaptive behavior Animats in education Authors should make every effort to suggest implications of their work for both natural and artificial animals, and to distinguish the portions of their work which use simulation from those using a physical agent. Papers that do not deal explicitly with adaptive behavior will be rejected. Submission Instructions Detailled submission instructions can be found on the conference Web site. Otherwise, contact sab02-nopdf@isab.org.uk for alternative submission procedures. IMPORTANT DATES (2002) JAN 18: Submissions must be received FEB 22: Notification of acceptance or rejection (via e-mail) MAR 08: Camera ready revised versions due AUG 04 -- 10: Conference dates General queries to: sab02@isab.org.uk WWW Page: http://www.isab.org.uk/sab02 ------------------------------ From: Lakhmi Jain Subject: Call for Papers -- KES2002, Italy Date: Fri, 2 Nov 2001 09:45:09 +1030 Call for Papers Sixth International Conference on Knowledge-Based Intelligent Information Engineering Systems 16, 17 & 18 September 2002 Podere d'Ombriano, Crema, Italy www.bton.ac.uk/kes/kes2002/ www.kes.unisa.edu.au The sixth conference in the very successful KES series will be held in the delightful setting of the Italian countryside. We are pleased to invite papers on Intelligent Systems and Techniques, Applications of Intelligent Techniques and related areas including Information Technology and the Internet. The conference will consist of plenary sessions, and contributory sessions mainly on the theory and applications of knowledge-based intelligent information systems including but not limited to the following topics: - Generic Intelligent Techniques: Artificial neural networks, machine learning, knowledge-based & expert Systems, case-based reasoning, fuzzy and neuro-fuzzy techniques, genetic algorithms, artificial life, intelligent agents; - Intelligent Applications: SUBMISSION OF PAPERS Papers are invited from researchers, engineers and other practitioners in the field, on the subject of research, descriptions of practical experiences, or other original contributions of interest to the technical community. Contributions from industry and commerce are very welcome. Please see the web site for details of the required paper format and submission details. All oral and poster papers must be presented by one of the authors, who must pay fees. To ensure high quality, all papers will be thoroughly reviewed. Extended versions of selected papers will be considered for publication in the International Journal of Knowledge-Based Intelligent Engineering Systems (www.brighton.ac.uk/kes/journal/). PROVISIONAL DEADLINES For General Sessions:- * Receipt of papers: 1 April 2002 * Notification of acceptance: 1 May 2002 * Final papers to reach KES secretariat by: 1 June 2002 If you have been invited to contribute a paper for a Special/Invited Session, please contact the Session Chair for deadlines relating to the Session. Final papers for Special/Invited Sessions must reach the KES Secretariat by 1 June 2002. CONFERENCE VENUE: KES2002 will be hosted at Podere d'Ombriano, in a wonderful setting in the Lombardy countryside near Crema, about 40km south-east of Milan and 30km from Linate international airport. Crema is a quiet small town with many sites of artistic and cultural interest. Low cost accommodation will be provided in student study-rooms, or there are many good-quality hotels nearby. Delegates will be invited to a conference reception with drinks and a formal welcome. A sumptuous conference banquet with fine wines will be held at a prominent location. ------------------------------ From: Sven Koenig Subject: SARA 2002 Date: Sun, 4 Nov 2001 12:13:31 -0500 (EST) CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT SARA-2002 Symposium on Abstraction, Reformulation and Approximation Kananaskis Mountain Lodge, Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada August 2-4, 2002 (immediately after AAAI-2002) OVERVIEW SARA-2002 is an Artificial Intelligence symposium on all aspects of abstraction, reformulation, and approximation. Like past SARAs, it will consist of stimulating technical presentations spanning the traditional boundaries that fragment Artificial Intelligence research. Attendance is limited to approximately 50 participants. Graduate students whose research involves techniques of abstraction, reformulation or approximation are highly encouraged to attend, and some financial support is expected to be available for them. SARA-2002 will be situated amidst the spectacular Rocky Mountains of the Kananaskis Valley, 60 miles west of Calgary, Alberta, and 45 miles southeast of Banff, Alberta. To make it convenient for AAAI-2002 attendees to participate in SARA, a luxurious bus will drive from the AAAI conference site to the SARA site the afternoon of August 1. Additional information, including a complete call for papers, may be obtained from the symposium home page: http://www.cs.ualberta.ca/~holte/SARA2002/ If you would like to receive updates about the conference, please send email to holte@cs.ualberta.ca and ask to be added to the SARA mailing list. ------------------------------ From: Colette Faucher Subject: CFP : KES2002 Special Session : Causality in Knowledge-Based Systems Date: Wed, 07 Nov 2001 19:09:22 -0800 Knowledge-Based Intelligent Information Engineering Systems & Allied Technologies 16, 17 & 18 September 2002, Podere d'Ombriano, Crema, Italy Special Session Causality in Knowledge-Based Systems Topic : This session aims at studying the role that the notion of causality plays in knowledge-based systems. At least, three problems occur concerning causality in that context : the discovery of causal knowledge, its representation and its use. Contributions to that session are expected to deal with the following sub-topics : - Causal knowledge discovery; - Causal information representation; - Causal information exploitation in the different forms of reasoning that are used in the framework of knowledge-based systems. Both theoretical papers and papers describing practical experiences will be welcome. Instructions for Authors : Only electronic copies of the papers in Microsoft Word, PDF or Postscript forms are acceptable for review purposes and must me sent to the session chair. However, please note that you will be required to send hard copy of the final version of your paper, if it is accepted; electronic submission of final papers is not allowed. Papers must correspond to the requirements detailed in IOS Instructions for the Preparation of a Camera-Ready Manuscript. The maximum length of papers is five pages, prepared according to the IOS instructions. Longer papers will be subject to an Additional Page charge. Important Dates : Deadline for submission intention : December 15, 2001 Deadline for submission (Receipt of papers) : February 10, 2002 Notification of acceptance : April 10, 2002 Camera-ready papers by : May 10, 2002 E-mail : colette.faucher@iuspim.u-3mrs.fr or colette.faucher@wanadoo.fr Website of the session : http://perso.wanadoo.fr/colette.faucher/kes2002-causality.html ------------------------------ From: Colette Faucher Subject: CFP for KES2002 Special Session : Classification in Knowledge-Based Systems Date: Wed, 07 Nov 2001 22:46:52 -0800 6th International Conference on Knowledge-Based Intelligent Information Engineering Systems & Allied Technologies 16, 17 & 18 September 2002, Podere d'Ombriano, Crema, Italy Special Session Classification in Knowledge-Based Systems Topic : This session aims at studying methods of classification in the framework of knowledge-based systems. Contributions to this session are expected to deal with one of two views of the classification process : - for the classical approach to classification, sub-topics of interest would be : new methods of matching using prior knowledge, new strategies for exploring hierarchies in order to classify data, particular types of knowledge representation which allow to refine the matching step, etc=8A - for the heuristic approach to classification, sub-topics of interest would be : new methods for generalizing specific data, definition of innovating heuristic matching methods, improvement of the refining step, etc The previous list is not exhaustive, provided that the contributions are relevant to the topic description. Both theoretical papers and papers describing practical experiences will be welcome. Instructions for Authors : Only electronic copies of the papers in Microsoft Word, PDF or Postscript forms are acceptable for review purposes and must me sent to the session chair. However, please note that you will be required to send hard copy of the final version of your paper, if it is accepted; electronic submission of final papers is not allowed. Papers must correspond to the requirements detailed in IOS Instructions for the Preparation of a Camera-Ready Manuscript. The maximum length of papers is five pages, prepared according to the IOS instructions. Longer papers will be subject to an Additional Page charge. Important Dates : Deadline for submission intention : December 15, 2001 Deadline for submission (Receipt of papers) : February 10, 2002 Notification of acceptance : April 10, 2002 Camera-ready papers by : May 10, 2002 E-mail : colette.faucher@iuspim.u-3mrs.fr or colette.faucher@wanadoo.fr Website of the session : http://perso.wanadoo.fr/colette.faucher/kes2002-classification.html ------------------------------ From: uai02@cs.ucla.edu Subject: UAI-2002 CFP Date: Fri, 9 Nov 2001 16:42:05 -0800 (PST) 18th Conference on Uncertainty in AI UAI-2002 First Call for Papers August 1-4, 2002 http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~uai02 Since 1985, the Conference on Uncertainty in Artificial Intelligence (UAI) has been the primary international forum for presenting new results on the use of principled methods for reasoning under uncertainty within intelligent systems. The scope of UAI is wide, including, but not limited to, representation, automated reasoning, learning, decision making and knowledge acquisition under uncertainty. We encourage submissions to UAI-2002 that report on advances in these core areas, as well as those dealing with insights derived from the construction and use of applications involving reasoning under uncertainty. The 18th Conference on Uncertainty in Artificial Intelligence will be held in August, 2002 at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada. The main technical session will be on August 2-4, and will be preceded with a tutorial program on August 1st. The UAI-2002 venue is in close proximity to several other conferences, including KDD (July 23-25), AAAI (July 28 - August 1), and ISMB (August 3-7). PAPER SUBMISSION: UAI-2002 requires electronic submission of papers and abstracts according to instructions posted at the conference home page. If authors have special circumstances that prevent electronic submission, arrangements can be made directly with the program co-chairs listed below. Authors are required to submit a title and a short abstract a week before the paper submission deadline. Submitted papers must be prepared according to the UAI-2002 proceedings format and must be no more than eight (8) pages long, including figures and bibliography. Papers that deviate from these guidelines will be rejected without review. The conference home page contains format information and provides access to style files and templates. KEY DATES: March 18, 2002, 23:59 PST: Abstract submission. March 25, 2002, 23:59 PST: Full paper submission. March 25, 2002, 23:59 PST: Student paper certification. May 5, 2002: Author notification of accepted papers. June 3, 2002: Camera ready copy of accepted papers. These deadlines will be strictly enforced. CONFERENCE ORGANIZATION Please direct general inquiries to the General Conference Chair at koller@cs.stanford.edu. ------------------------------ From: Russell Standish Subject: CFP: ALife VIII Date: Mon, 12 Nov 2001 11:14:38 +1100 Artificial Life VIII: Call for Papers UNSW, Sydney, Australia, 9th-13th December, 2002 Artificial life is an interdisciplinary scientific and engineering enterprise investigating the fundamental properties of living systems through the simulation and synthesis of life-like processes in artificial media. The Artificial Life VIII conference will showcase the best current work in this area of research and highlight promising new avenues of investigation. It continues a successful series of international conferences started in 1987 by Chris Langton. All authors of contributed papers are strongly encouraged to explain how their work sheds light on the fundamental properties of living systems. In addition, authors should take note of the list of fundamental open problems in artificial generated after a special roundtable discussion at the previous Artificial Life conference (Bedau et al., "Open problems in artificial life", Artificial Life _6_ (2000): 363-376). Authors are encouraged either to link their work to one of the problems listed there, or to identify another important open problem that their work addresses. Papers are welcome in (but not limited to) the following topic areas: * Origin of life, self-organization, self-replication * Development and differentiation * Evolutionary and adaptive dynamics * Robots and autonomous agents * Communication, cooperation and collective behavior * ALife simulation and synthesis tools and methodologies * Applications of ALife technologies * Philosophical, ethical, social, and cultural implications Full information about conference paper format and submission procedures is available through the conference web site http://alife8.alife.org. In addition to a variety of social and cultural events taking advantage of the venue in Sydney, the Conference will include a series of workshops and tutorials for special interest groups. An Artificial Life VIII Workshop Proceedings will be published at the Conference. Anyone interested in organizing or participating in a workshop or tutorial should contact the Workshops and Tutorials Chair: Dr. Hussein Abbass (abbass@cs.adfa.edu.au). See you in Sydney, Russell Standish Conference Chair ------------------------------ From: Ruhul Sarker Subject: 2002 IEEE SMC - Special Session on Evolutionary Optimization Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2001 14:00:23 +1100 2002 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics October 6-9, 2002 Hammamet, Tunisia http://smc02.ec-lille.fr/home.html Call for Papers Special Session on Evolutionary Optimization A special session of the conference (2002 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics) is devoted to "Evolutionary Optimization". Papers are being solicited for this session. Topics of this special session include, but are not limited to, the following area: * Unconstrained and constrained Scalar Optimization using EAs * Multiobjective Optimization using EAs * Applications / Case Studies covering: o General OR/MS problems, o Well known NP hard problems and o Real-world applications * Hybrid optimisation algorithms (combining two or more different EAs or conventional techniques with EAs) * Comparison of Conventional Techniques with EAs, and * Experimental methods on EAs IMPORTANT DATES: March 1, 2002: Deadline for submission of extented abstracts (two pages) / full or draft papers May 1, 2002: Acceptance / Rejection notification June 15, 2002: Final camera-ready papers due in electronic form & author pre-registration For more info please visit the conference website: http://smc02.ec-lille.fr/home.html ------------------------------ From: CEC Publicity Subject: [CEC2002] Submissions URL Active Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2001 16:13:3 -00 To access the submissions page, Click on: https://commerce9.pair.com/nnc/conferences/wcci2002/cec/review/upload.phps REMINDER - Submission Deadline is December 1, 2001. CALL FOR PAPERS 2002 Congress on Evolutionary Computation May 12-17, 2002 Hilton Hawaiian Village, Honolulu, HI The annual Congress on Evolutionary Computation (CEC) is one of the premier international conferences in the field. It covers all topics in evolutionary computation: from combinatorial to numerical optimization, from supervised to unsupervised learning, from co-evolution to collective behaviors, from evolutionary design to evolvable hardware, from molecular to quantum computing, from ant colony to artificial ecology, etc. The emphasis of the Congress will be on original theories and novel applications of evolutionary computation techniques. The Congress welcomes paper submissions from researchers, practitioners, and students worldwide. The 2002 Congress will be held in conjunction with the International Joint Conference on Neural Networks (IJCNN) and the IEEE International Conference on Fuzzy Systems (FUZZ-IEEE) as part of the World Congress on Computational Intelligence (WCCI). Crossfertilization of the three fields will be strongly encouraged. The Congress will feature keynote speeches and tutorials by world-leading researchers. It also will include a number of special sessions and workshops on the latest hot topics. Your registration admits you to all events and includes the World Congress proceedings and banquet. The deadline for submissions is 15 October 2001. Look for more details on paper submission and conference registration coming soon at http://www.wcci2002.org. CEC is jointly supported by the IEEE Neural Networks Council, the Evolutionary Programming Society, and the Institution of Electrical Engineers. ------------------------------ Jobs ------------------------------ From: Olivier Coenen Subject: Post-doctoral and Ph.D.student positions Date: Wed, 07 Nov 2001 20:55:07 -0800 Post-doctoral and Ph.D. Student Positions available IN THEORETICAL AND COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE Sony Computer Science Laboratory - Paris A post-doctoral research associate position and a Ph.D. student position are available immediately for theoretical and computational studies of sensorimotor integration and control. Highly motivated and creative individuals are sought for a period of 1 1/2 year (Post-doctoral) and up to 3 years (Ph.D. student) to join our research efforts. The interested candidates will be building mathematical and computational models of neural processing, with a particular emphasis on representation and learning in the cerebellum. Research interests include unsupervised learning, information theory and probabilistic approaches to representation and learning in networks of (spiking) neurons, reinforcement learning and robotic learning and control. The candidates will have the opportunity to work across disciplines and levels of investigation, from analytical models and detailed compartmental models of neurons to the creation of a unique computing platform. The models will be informed and constrained by neurobiological and psychological data. Current collaborations will give the candidates the possibility to interact closely with theoreticians, experimental neurophysiologists, and computer and hardware scientists at universities in Paris and abroad. The Sony Computer Science Laboratory is a fundamental research center located in the Quartier Latin, in the center of Paris. It is next door to the renown Ecole Normale Superieure and only a few steps away from a large number of universities in Paris (Sorbonne, Jussieu, College de France, etc.). The laboratory has interests in cognition, music, language, and robotics. Candidates should have a solid analytical background and a keen interest in neuroscience. Experience in machine learning algorithms and in computational models is desirable. Excellent computer programming skills (Matlab, C or C++) are essential. Applicants should send in plain text or pdf format a curriculum vitae (CV) with a list of publications (PhD applicants should include details of course work and grades), a statement of research interests, and names, addresses, emails and phone numbers of at least three referees to coenen@csl.sony.fr (email preferred) ------------------------------ End of ML-LIST Digest Vol 13, No. 7 ***********************************