[agents] CFP: ArgMAS 2012

[McBurney, Peter]

[With apologies for cross postings]



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



CALL FOR PAPERS



Ninth International Workshop on Argumentation in Multi-Agent Systems



ArgMAS 2012



http://www.mit.edu/~irahwan/argmas/argmas12/





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



Submissions are invited for the Ninth International Workshop on Argumentation in Multi-Agent Systems (ArgMAS2012), to be held in Valencia, Spain as part of AAMAS 2012.



ArgMAS 2012 will focus on the concepts, theories, methodologies, and applications of computational models of argument in creating 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). A single agent may use argumentation techniques to perform individual reasoning, 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 2012 will be to bring together the community of researchers working on argumentation in multi-agent systems. The workshop has the following technical goals:



(a) To explore the use of argumentation in practical reasoning.

(b) To investigate how argumentation can be used to enable rational interaction between autonomous agents.

(c) 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.

(d) To explore strategic reasoning and behaviours in argumentation-based interaction.

(e) To better understand how argumentation relates to other areas of multiagent research, such as game theory, agent communications, and planning.

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



The workshop solicits papers looking at either theory or practice, or both. 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.



Different agents within a multiagent system potentially have differential access to information and capabilities, different beliefs, different preferences and desires, and different goals and values.   A key aspect of the scientific study of multiagent systems therefore is the development of methods and procedures for identifying, assessing, reconciling, and arbitrating between such differences.  Market mechanisms and voting procedures are two methods for dealing with such differences. Argumentation theory is another.  In recent years, formal theories of argument and argument interaction have been proposed, and this has led to the study of computational models of argument.  The ArgMAS series of workshops has focused on computational argumentation within the context of agent reasoning and multiagent systems.



The workshop will be of interest to anyone studying or applying default reasoning in autonomous agents, single-agent reasoning and planning under uncertainty, strategic single-agent reasoning in the context of potential competitor actions, and the rational resolution of the different beliefs and intentions of multiple agents within multiagent systems.



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 behavior 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 (approximate, to be confirmed):



Submission Deadline:        27 January 2012

Notification of Decisions:   24 February 2012

Camera Ready Due:           5 March 2012

Workshop:                       4 or 5 June 2012





Proceedings:

The proceedings of ArgMAS will be printed and 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 Computer Science (LNCS) series. This publication will have an ISBN number, and would be available both in printed form, as well as electronically in SpringerLink online.





Submission Procedure:

As with previous workshops, each ArgMAS submission will be reviewed by two members of the expert program committee.  Contributors may submit either full papers (not longer than 20 pages) OR a two-page position statement that outlines their interests, background, and discussion of an aspect of the workshop theme.   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 submitted should be in PDF format, and must be submitted through our dedicated EasyChair site, here:



          https://www.easychair.org/account/signin.cgi?conf=argmas2012





Submitted papers should give full names and contact details for all authors. At least one author of each accepted papers must register for the workshop.





Organization:

The workshop organizers of ArgMAS 2012 are:



Peter McBurney (Contact Organizer)

Department of Informatics, King's College London

Tel:  + 44 20 7848 1253

Email:  peter.mcburney at kcl.ac.uk<mailto:peter.mcburney at kcl.ac.uk>



Simon Parsons

Department of Computer and Information Science Brooklyn College, CUNY, Brooklyn, 11210 NY USA

Email: parsons at sci.brooklyn.cuny.edu<mailto:parsons at sci.brooklyn.cuny.edu>



Iyad Rahwan

MIT Media Lab, Cambridge MA 02139, USA

Email: irahwan at acm.org<mailto:irahwan at acm.org>





Program Committee (To Be Confirmed):



*        Leila Amgoud, IRIT, Toulouse, France

*        Katie Atkinson, University of Liverpool, UK

*        Jamal Bentahar, Concordia University, Canada

*        Elizabeth Black, King's College London, UK

*        Guido Boella, Università di Torino, Italy

*        Carlos Chesnevar, Universitat de Lleida, Spain

*        Yannis Dimopoulos, University of Cyprus, Cyprus

*        Paul Dunne, University of Liverpool, UK

*        Rogier van Eijk, Utrecht University, Netherlands

*        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

*        Timothy 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

*        Guillermo Simari, Universidad Nacional del Sur, Argentina

*        Yuqing Tang, City University of New York, USA

*        Francesca Toni, Imperial College, London, UK

*        Paolo Torroni, Università di Bologna, Italy

*        Gerard Vreeswijk, Utrecht University, Netherlands

*        Douglas Walton, University of Windsor, Canada

*        Simon Wells, University of Dundee, UK



END of CALL FOR PAPERS

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