[agents] [AAMAS-14] 2nd Call for Workshops

[Matthew Taylor]

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              AAMAS 2014 -- Call for Workshop Proposals
                       http://aamas2014.lip6.fr
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The AAMAS-2014 Organizing Committee invites proposals for the Workshop
Program to be held on May 5-6, 2014 immediately prior to the main
technical program of the AAMAS conference. The main goal of the
AAMAS-2014 workshop program is to stimulate and facilitate discussion,
interaction, and comparison of approaches, methods, and ideas related
to specific topics, both theoretical and applied, in the general area
of Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems. The AAMAS-2014 workshops
will provide an informal setting where participants will have the
opportunity to discuss specific technical topics in an atmosphere that
fosters the active exchange of ideas.

The 2014 edition of AAMAS will see, for the first time, an integration
of workshops and tutorials, traditionally held separately. The
AAMAS-2014 Organizing Committee asks all workshops to include a
tutorial session. A tutorial session might include, for example, a
discussion of the main issues in the research themes of interest to
the workshop, and give a historical perspective, particularly for
long-running workshops. It would be an excellent way to attract new
participants and introduce students to the workshop. There is no
restriction on the length of the proposed tutorial.

Members from all areas of the AAMAS community are invited to submit
workshop proposals for review. Workshops on new and emerging topics,
applications, and on broader topics of interest to a wider community
are particularly encouraged. Workshops can vary in length, but most
will be one full day in duration. Workshop organizers and attendees
must register for their workshop and preferably also for the main
AAMAS conference. Attendance is limited to registered participants.


*** Important Dates ***

November 06, 2013: Proposal Submission Deadline
November 25, 2013: Notification of Selected Workshops
December 04, 2013: Deadline for posting Workshop Call for Papers
December 04, 2013: AAMAS-2014 Workshop Program Announced
January  22, 2014: Recommended deadline for Workshop Submissions
February 19, 2014: Recommended deadline for Workshop Notification
March    19, 2014: Deadline for complete workshop notes submission
                   to the workshop chairs
March    19, 2014: Deadline for posting Workshop Call for Participation
May     5-6, 2014: AAMAS-2014 Workshops


*** Requirements for Submission ***

Proposals for workshops should be a maximum of five pages in length
(in plain ASCII text), and should contain the following information:

1.  Title of the workshop.

2.  A technical description of the workshop, specifying the workshop
    goals, the technical issues that it will address, and the
    relevance of the workshop to the main conference.

3.  A discussion of why and to whom the workshop is of interest.

4.  A brief description of a proposal for a tutorial session to be
    held as part of the workshop.

5.  A list of related workshops held within the last three years, if
    any, and their relation to the proposed workshop.  Information
    about previous offerings of the proposed workshop: when and where
    it has been offered in the past (i.e., with AAMAS or another
    conference), organizers names and affiliations, number of
    submissions, acceptances and registered attendees, and follow-up
    publications, if any (e.g., journal special issues).

6.  For workshops that have had previous editions (even if they had
    different titles and were not held with AAMAS), include a list of
    URLs of the websites of the previous editions.

7.  A preliminary workshop agenda and a proposed schedule for
    organizing the workshop. This should include a brief description
    of how the organizers intend to encourage an atmosphere
    appropriate for a workshop.

8.  Description of the paper review process and acceptance standards.

9.  If available, a list of tentatively confirmed attendees.

10. The names, affiliations, postal addresses, phone numbers, and
    email addresses of the proposed workshop organizing
    committee. This committee should consist of three or four people
    knowledgeable about the technical issues to be addressed.  The
    organizing committee should include individuals from multiple
    institutions.

11. The name of the primary contact for the organizing committee (this
    person must reply promptly to email messages).

12. A description of the qualifications of the individual committee
    members with respect to organizing an AAMAS workshop, including a
    list of workshops previously arranged by any members of the
    proposed organizing committee, if any.

13. List of potential program committee members, including their title
    and affiliations.

14. Expected duration of the workshop (usually a full day).

15. A list of places (distribution lists, web sites, journals, etc.)
    where the workshop is planned to be advertised.

All proposals should be submitted by electronic mail, in plain ASCII
text, to the AAMAS-2014 Workshop Chairs, email address
aamas2014.workshops at gmail.com, as soon as possible and no later than
Wednesday November 6th, 2013.

The selection of the workshops to be included in the final AAMAS
program will be done by the general chairs of AAMAS 2014 based on the
advice of the workshop chairs. The selection is based upon multiple
factors, including: the scientific/technical interest of the topics,
the clarity of the proposal in addressing the requested information,
the innovative character of workshop topics, the cross-disciplinary
nature of the workshop, the proposed tutorial session, and the
capacity of the conference workshop program.


*** Responsibilities of AAMAS and workshop organizers ***

For all accepted proposals, AAMAS will be responsible for:
- Providing publicity for the workshop series as a whole.
- Providing logistic support and a meeting place for the workshop.
- Together with the organizers, determining the workshop date and time.
- Provide one free workshop registration when the workshop has more
  than 15 registrations.
- AAMAS reserves the right to cancel workshops, for example in case
  of low number of registrants.

Workshop organizers will be responsible for:
- Setting up a website for the workshop.
- Advertising the workshop and issuing a call for papers (by December
  4, 2012) and a call for participation (by March 19, 2013).
- Collecting and evaluating submissions, notifying authors of
  acceptance or rejection on a timely basis, and ensuring a
  transparent and fair selection process.
- All workshop organizers are strongly advised to adopt the same
  deadlines for paper submissions and notifications of acceptance,
  i.e., January 29, 2014 for submissions of contributions to
  workshops, and February 26, 2014 for notifications.
- Creating the PDF file with the whole workshop notes and making it
  available to the workshops chair by March 19, 2014, as well as a
  list of audio-visual requirements and any special room
  requirements. The workshops notes will only be given to participants
  in electronic form, so please include the following sentence in your
  call for papers: "Workshop notes including all accepted papers will
  be distributed to AAMAS-2014 registrants in electronic form. Printed
  workshop notes will NOT be made available to workshop participants."
- Ensuring that the workshop organizers and the participants register
  for the workshop and are invited to register to the main conference
  (at least one author must register for the workshop in order for a
  paper to appear in the workshop proceedings). AAMAS reserves the
  right to cancel any workshop if the above responsibilities are not
  fulfilled.


*** Submissions and Inquiries ***

Please send proposals and inquiries to: aamas2014.workshops at gmail.com


*** Workshop Co-Chairs ***

Rafael H. Bordini
PUCRS, Brazil
r.bordini at pucrs.br

José M. Vidal
University of South Carolina, SC, USA
vidal at sc.edu