[agents] CFP: Argumentation in Multi-Agent Systems (ArgMAS 2011)

Thu Dec 16 10:18:17 EST 2010

WITH APOLOGIES FOR CROSS-POSTINGS

                CALL FOR PAPERS:

           Eighth International Workshop on 

ARGUMENTATION IN MULTI-AGENT SYSTEMS (ArgMAS 2011)

          http://www.mit.edu/~irahwan/argmas/argmas11/

                   Taipei, Taiwan                 

                 2 or 3 May 2011

International Workshop to be held in conjunction with AAMAS 2011

           http://www.aamas2011.tw/

The ArgMAS Workshop series web site:

          http://www.mit.edu/~irahwan/argmas/

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

Overview 

This workshop will focus on the concepts, theories, methodologies, and
applications of computational models of argumentation in building autonomous
agents and multi-agent systems. Argumentation can be abstractly defined as
the formal interaction of different arguments for and against some
conclusion (eg, a proposition, an action intention, a preference, etc.). An
agent may use argumentation techniques to perform individual reasoning, in
order to resolve conflicting evidence or to decide between conflicting
goals.   Multiple agents may also use dialectical argumentation in order to
identify and reconcile differences between themselves, through interactions
such as negotiation, persuasion, and joint deliberation.

The main goal of ArgMAS 2011 will be to bring together the community of
researchers working on argumentation in multi-agent systems. The workshop
has the following technical goals:

- To explore the use of argumentation in practical reasoning. 

- To investigate how argumentation can be used to enable rational
interaction between autonomous agents. 

- To explore the applicability of argumentation for solving a variety of
problems in multi-agent systems, such as information exchange, negotiation,
team formation, deliberation, etc. 

- To explore strategic reasoning and behavior in argumentation-based
interaction. 

- To understand how argumentation relates to other areas of multi-agent
research, such as game theory, agent communications, and planning. 

- To present and encourage implemented systems which demonstrate the use of
argumentation in multi-agent systems. 

- The workshop will solicit papers looking at both theory and practice. 

In particular, the workshop aims at bridging the gap between the vast amount
of work on argumentation theory and the practical needs of multi-agent
systems research.

This workshop builds on the following successful workshops in the same
series: 

ArgMAS 2010 held in conjunction with AAMAS 2010, in Toronto, Canada 

ArgMAS 2009 held in conjunction with AAMAS 2009, in Budapest, Hungary 

ArgMAS 2008 held in conjunction with AAMAS 2008, in Estoril, Portugal 

ArgMAS 2007 held in conjunction with AAMAS 2007, in Honolulu, Hawai'i, USA 

ArgMAS 2006 held in conjunction with AAMAS 2006, at Future University,
Hakodate, Japan 

ArgMAS 2005 held in conjunction with AAMAS 2005, at Universiteit Utrecht,
Utrecht, The Netherlands 

ArgMAS 2004 held in conjunction with AAMAS 2004, at Columbia University, New
York, USA. 

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

Post-proceedings of previous editions of the workshop have been published in
the following Springer LNCS volumes:  

          P. McBurney, I. Rahwan and S. Parsons (Eds.) (2011). Argumentation
in Multi-Agent Systems, 7th International Workshop, ArgMAS 2010, Toronto,
Canada, May, 2010. Revised Selected and Invited Papers, Lecture Notes in
Artificial Intelligence, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Germany.  (Forthcoming)

          P. McBurney, I. Rahwan, S. Parsons, and N. Maudet (Eds.) (2010).
Argumentation in Multi-Agent Systems, 6th International Workshop, ArgMAS
2009, Budapest, Hungary, May 12, 2009. Revised Selected and Invited Papers,
Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence, Volume 6057, Springer-Verlag,
Berlin, Germany.

      I. Rahwan and P. Moraitis (Eds.) (2009). Argumentation in Multi-Agent
Systems: Fifth International Workshop, ArgMAS 2008, Estoril, Portugal, May
2008 Revised Selected and Invited Papers, Lecture Notes in Artificial
Intelligence, Volume 5384, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Germany.

       I. Rahwan, S. Parsons, and C. Reed (Eds.) (2008). Argumentation in
Multi-Agent Systems: Forth International Workshop, ArgMAS 2007, Honolulu,
HI, USA, May 2007 Revised Selected and Invited Papers, Lecture Notes in
Artificial Intelligence, Volume 4946, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Germany.  

       N. Maudet, S. Parsons and I. Rahwan (Eds.) (2007). Argumentation in
Multi-Agent Systems: Third International Workshop, ArgMAS 2006 Hakodate,
Japan, May 8, 2006 Revised Selected and Invited Papers, Lecture Notes in
Artificial Intelligence, Volume 4766, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Germany.  

       S. Parsons, N. Maudet, P. Moraitis, and I. Rahwan (Eds.) (2006).
Argumentation in Multi-Agent Systems Second International Workshop, ArgMAS
2005, Utrecht, Netherlands, July 26, 2005, Revised Selected and Invited
Papers. Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence, Volume 4049,
Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Germany.  

      I. Rahwan, P. Moraitis and C. Reed (Eds.) (2005). Argumentation in
Multi-Agent Systems: Proceedings of the First International Workshop
(ArgMAS'04): Expanded and Invited Contributions. Lecture Notes in Artificial
Intelligence, Volume 3366, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Germany.  

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

Topics 

We solicit papers dealing with, but not limited to, the following areas: 

Computational models for argumentation

Argumentation-based decision making

Argumentation-based joint deliberation

Argumentation-based persuasion

Argumentation-based inquiry

Argumentation-based negotiation and conflict resolution 

Argumentation and risk assessment 

Argumentation for legal reasoning 

Argumentation for electronic democracy 

Argumentation for coordination, cooperation and team formation 

Argumentation and game theory in multi-agent systems 

Human-agent argumentation 

Argumentation and preferences modeling 

Strategic behaviour in argument-based dialogues 

Deception, trust, reputation in argument-based interaction 

Computational complexity of argumentation dialogues 

Properties of argumentation dialogues (termination, success, etc) 

Hybrid argumentation-based models 

Implemented argumentation-based multi-agent systems 

New application areas 

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

Important Dates (Strict):

Submission Deadline: 28 January 2011 

Notification of Acceptance/Rejection: 27 February 2011

Camera-ready copy due: 4 March 2011

Workshop: 2 or 3 May 2011 (To be confirmed) 

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

Publication:

The electronic proceedings of ArgMAS will be distributed at the workshop. 

As with previous ArgMAS workshops, it is planned to publish revised versions
of the accepted full papers in an edited book as part of the Springer
Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence (LNAI) series. This publication
would have an ISBN number, and would be available both in printed form, as
well as electronically on the SpringerLink online library. 

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

Submission Procedures 

As with previous workshops, each ArgMAS submission will be reviewed
anonymously by two members of the expert program committee.   

Contributors may submit either full papers (not longer than 18 pages) or a
2-page position statement that outlines their interests, background, and
discussion of an aspect of the workshop theme.  These page limits assume
papers conform to the LNCS style.

Authors are encouraged to submit their papers in the Springer Lecture Notes
in Computer Science (LNCS) style, since this will be the format required for
the planned post-proceedings book.   Formatting instructions, as well as the
style and sample files, can be found here: 

      http://www.springer.de/comp/lncs/authors.html 

Papers must be submitted through the dedicated EasyChair site, which may be
found via:

http://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=argmas2011  

At least one author of each accepted papers must register for the workshop. 

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

Organising Committee:

Co-Chairs: 

Peter McBurney (Corresponding Organizer) 

Department of Computer Science, University of Liverpool, UK

Email:   mcburney [at] liverpool.c.uk  (until 1 March 2011)

Simon Parsons

Department of Computer and Information Science, Brooklyn College, Brooklyn,
NY USA

Iyad Rahwan

MIT Media Lab, Boston, MA, USA and Masdar Institute, Abu Dhabi, UAE.

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

ArgMAS Steering Committee:

Antonis Kakas (University of Cyprus, Cyprus) 

Nicolas Maudet (Universite Paris Dauphine, France) 

Peter McBurney (University of Liverpool, UK) 

Pavlos Moraitis (Paris Descartes University, France) 

Simon Parsons (Brooklyn College, City University of New York, USA) 

Iyad Rahwan (MIT Media Lab, Boston, MA, USA and Masdar Institute, Abu Dhabi,
UAE) 

Chris Reed (University of Dundee, UK). 

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

Program Committee (to be confirmed):

    * Leila Amgoud, IRIT, Toulouse, France

    * Katie Atkinson, University of Liverpool, UK

    * Jamal Bentahar, Concordia University, Canada

    * Guido Boella, Università di Torino, Italy

    * Brahim Chaib-draa, Laval University, Canada

    * Carlos Chesnevar, Universitat de Lleida, Spain

    * Yannis Dimopoulos, University of Cyprus, Cyprus

    * Paul Dunne, University of Liverpool, UK

    * Rogier van Eijk, Utrecht University, Netherlands

    * Frank Guerin, University of Aberdeen, UK

    * Joris Hulstijn, Utrecht University, Netherlands

    * Anthony Hunter, University College, London, UK

    * Antonis Kakas, University of Cyprus, Cyprus

    * Nikos Karacapilidis, University of Patras, Greece

    * Nicolas Maudet, Universite Paris Dauphine, France

    * Sanjay Modgil, King's College, London, UK

    * Pavlos Moraitis, Paris Descartes University, France

    * Tim Norman, University of Aberdeen, UK

    * Nir Oren, University of Aberdeen, UK

    * Enric Plaza, Spanish Scientific Research Council, Spain

    * Henry Prakken, Utrecht University, The Netherlands

    * Chris Reed, University of Dundee, UK

    * Michael Rovatsos, University of Edinburgh, UK

    * Guillermo Simari, Universidad Nacional del Sur, Argentina

    * Elizabeth Sklar, City University of New York, USA

    * Francesca Toni, Imperial College, London, UK

    * Leon van der Torre, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg

    * Paolo Torroni, Università di Bologna, Italy

    * Gerard Vreeswijk, Utrecht University, Netherlands

    * Douglas Walton, University of Windsor, Canada

    * Simon Wells, University of Dundee, UK

    * Michael Wooldridge, University of Liverpool, UK.

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END CFP