[agents] 2nd Call for Workshop Proposals: AAMAS 2017 - Sixteenth International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems

[Sebastian Stein]

** Please note the approaching deadline for the (optional) intention to
submit: September 26, 2016 **


WORKSHOP PROPOSALS


AAMAS-2017 invites proposals for the Workshop Program, to be held on May
8-9, 2017, immediately prior to the technical AAMAS conference. The
objective of the AAMAS-2017 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-2017 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.


All members of the AAMAS community are invited to submit workshop proposals
for review. We encourage workshops that focus on emerging topics and
applications, on open research questions and challenges, and on broader
topics that are of interest to a wider community.


Workshops can vary in length from half a day to two days, though we expect
most to be one full day in duration. As attendance will be limited to
registered participants, workshop organisers and attendees must register
for their workshop, whose fee will be separate from the main conference
fee. Workshop attendees do not need to register for the main AAMAS
conference, but are encouraged to do so. AAMAS-2017 reserves the right to
cancel workshops whose attendance does not support their running costs.





AAMAS-2017 is happy to announce that Springer is planning to publish two
books based on a selection of the workshop papers. The aim of these books
is to encourage innovative and visionary papers, even if their research
work is still at a preliminary stage, as well as encourage the submission
of good quality papers in general to all AAMAS-2017 workshops. To achieve
these aims, the first book will be a compilation of the most visionary
papers of the AAMAS-2017 Workshops, where one paper will be selected from
each AAMAS-2017 workshop. This book will be published under Springer’s Lecture
Notes in Artificial Intelligence (LNAI) - Hot Topics
<http://www.springer.com/series/558>series. The second book will be a
compilation of the best papers of the AAMAS-2017 Workshops, where again one
paper (different from the selected visionary paper) will be selected from
each AAMAS-2017 workshop. This second book will be published under
Springer’s Communications in Computer and Information Science (CCIS)
<http://www.springer.com/series/7899> series. By submitting a workshop
proposal the workshop organisers commit to perform this selection in
collaboration with the Workshop Co-chairs.





IMPORTANT DATES

STRICT DATES

When submitting workshop proposals, the organisers commit to respect the
following deadlines.



September 26, 2016  (optional) Email workshop chairs (
aamasworkshops2017 at gmail.com)

declaration of intent to submit a workshop.  The email should contain the
proposed workshop title and a short description of the topic.

October 17, 2016

Deadline for full workshop proposal submission

November 7, 2016

Acceptance notification

March 10, 2017

Deadline for sending two nominated “visionary papers” and two nominated
“best papers” to the AAMAS-2017 Workshop Co-chairs.  (Note: half day
workshops are only required to nominate one paper.)

April 10, 2017

Deadline for sending the AAMAS-2017 Workshop Co-chairs: (1) the LATEX files
of the  agreed upon “visionary paper” and the agreed upon “best paper”; and
(2) the PDF of the workshop proceedings, together with a list of
audio-visual requirements and any special room requirements.

May 8-9, 2017

AAMAS-2017 Workshop days



SUGGESTED DATES


Although we do not require all workshops to follow the same timeline for
issuing their call for papers, paper submission, acceptance notification,
and camera ready submission, we strongly suggest the following dates to
ensure workshop organisers meet the strict deadlines above, especially
those on March 17 and April 10, 2017.


November 30, 2016

Deadline to post, disseminate, and publicise the workshop’s 1stcall for
papers

December 19, 2016

Deadline to post, disseminate, and publicise the workshop’s 2ndcall for
papers

January 11, 2017

Deadline to post, disseminate, and publicise the workshop’s 3rdcall for
papers

January 24, 2017

Acceptance notification for the AAMAS-2017 conference papers

February 7, 2017

Deadline for paper submissions to the workshop

March 2, 2017

Deadline for announcing accepted papers by the workshop

March 17, 2017

Deadline for collecting camera-ready papers (including latex files) from
authors



REQUIREMENTS FOR SUBMISSION


The workshop proposals should be submitted electronically as a single PDF
file through the Easychair system.

The submission website is https://easychair.org/conferen
ces/?conf=aamasworkshops2017



Proposals for workshops should be a maximum of five pages in length, and
should contain the following information:



   1. Title and acronym of the workshop.
   2. A brief technical description of the workshop, specifying the
   workshop’s goals, the technical issues that it will address, the relevance
   of the workshop to the main conference, together with a brief discussion of
   why and to whom the workshop is of interest.
   3. A preliminary workshop format and a proposed schedule for organising
   the workshop, including the desired length for the workshop (usually 1 full
   day). Please include a brief description of how the organisers intend to
   encourage an atmosphere appropriate for a workshop, and indicate whether
   you intend to have any activities other than contributed talks (e.g.,
   invited talks, panels, or posters).
   4. A list of related workshops held within the last three years, if any,
   and their relation to the proposed workshop. Please include, when
   information is available: when and where they have been offered in the past
   (i.e., with AAMAS or another conference), organisers’ names and
   affiliations, number of submitted/accepted papers, approximate attendance
   numbers, and follow-up publications (e.g., journal special issues).


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.



   1. Description of the paper review process and acceptance standards.
   2. The names, affiliations, URLs, and email addresses of the proposed
   workshop organisers. This committee must consist of two to four people
   knowledgeable about the technical issues to be addressed. The organising
   committee should include individuals from multiple institutions, spreading
   across different regions. By submitting the workshop proposal, the
   organisers commit to fulfilling their responsibilities, outlined below in
   the “Responsibilities” section.
   3. The name of the primary contact for the organising committee.
   4. Mini CVs of the organising committee members, focusing on the
   qualifications of the individual committee members with respect to
   organising an AAMAS workshop, and including a list of key publications
   demonstrating scholarship in the field and a list of workshops previously
   arranged, if any. Note that strong proposals should include organisers who
   bring differing perspectives to the workshop topic and who are actively
   connected to the communities of potential participants.
   5. A list of potential program committee members, including their titles
   and affiliations.
   6. A tentative list of places (distribution lists, websites, journals,
   etc.) where the workshop is planned to be advertised.
   7. If available, a list of tentatively confirmed attendees.



SELECTION CRITERIA

The selection of workshops for the final program will be based upon
multiple factors, including the scientific/technical interest of the topics
in relation to the AAMAS community, the clarity of the proposal in
addressing the requested information, the innovative character of workshop
topics, the cross-disciplinary nature of the workshop, the capacity of the
organisers in leading a successful workshop, and the capacity of the
conference workshop program. Please note that AAMAS may request proposers
addressing similar or overlapping content areas to merge their proposals.




RESPONSIBILITIES


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 organisers, determining the workshop date and time.

•   AAMAS reserves the right to cancel workshops, for example in case of a
low number of registrants.


WORKSHOP ORGANISERS WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR:

•   Replying promptly to email messages from the AAMAS-2017 Workshop
Co-chairs.

•   Setting up a website for the workshop and providing its URL to the
Workshop Co-chairs.

•   Adding the following text to the workshop’s call for papers, preferably
under a section on “proceedings”:



The most “visionary paper” will be published by Springer in a book under
the Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence (LNAI) - Hot Topics series.
The book will be a compilation of the most visionary papers of the
AAMAS-2017 Workshops, where one paper will be selected from each AAMAS-2017
workshop.

Additionally, the “best paper” will be published by Springer in a book
under the Communications in Computer and Information Science (CCIS) series.
The book will be a compilation of the best papers of the AAMAS-2017
Workshops, where one paper will be selected from each AAMAS-2017 workshop.

Authors of the selected most visionary paper and the best paper are
expected to provide their latex files promptly upon request.



•   Advertising the workshop and issuing the call for papers and the call
for participation promptly, as per the suggested dates above.

•   Collecting and evaluating submissions, notifying authors of acceptance
or rejection on a timely basis, and ensuring a transparent and fair
selection process.

•   All workshop organisers are strongly advised to adopt the suggested
deadlines for paper submissions, notifications of acceptance, and camera
ready submissions, as per the suggested dates above.

•   Sending two nominated “visionary papers” and two nominated “best
papers” to the AAMAS-2017 Workshop Co-chairs by March 10, 2017 the latest.
Please note this is a strict deadline. Workshop organisers shall also
collaborate with the Workshop Co-chairs in the selection process of their
workshop’s  “visionary paper” and “best paper”.

•   Sending the latex files of the  agreed upon “visionary paper” and the
agreed upon “best paper” to the AAMAS-2017 Workshop Co-chairs by April 10,
2017 the latest. Please note this is a strict deadline.

•   Making the PDF of the workshop proceedings available to the AAMAS-2017
Workshop Co-chairs by April 10, 2017, together with a list of audio-visual
requirements and any special room requirements. Please note this is a
strict deadline. For the proceedings, no shared latex format is required
but \documentclass{proc} is encouraged.

•   Ensuring that the workshop organisers and the participants register for
the workshop and are invited to register to the main conference. Please
note that at least one author must register for the workshop in order for a
paper to appear in the workshop proceedings.

•   Devising a schedule that meshes with shared breaks (coffee and lunch).

•   Coordinating and moderating workshop participation and content.



AAMAS RESERVES THE RIGHT TO CANCEL ANY WORKSHOP IF THE ABOVE
RESPONSIBILITIES ARE NOT FULFILLED.




INQUIRIES


Please send any inquiries to the AAMAS-2017 Workshop Co-chairs (
aamasworkshops2017 at gmail.com).



Workshop Co-Chairs

Juan Antonio Rodriguez Aguilar

Artificial Intelligence Research Institute (IIIA-CSIC), Spain


Gita Sukthankar

University of Central Florida