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<p style="margin:0cm;text-align:justify"><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Dear all </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin:0cm;text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Roboto;color:black">IFAAMAS, the International Foundation for Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (</span><a href="http://www.ifaamas.org/"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Roboto;color:#1A73E8">http://www.ifaamas.org</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Roboto;color:black">)
</span><span style="font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"> is pleased to announce the call for
</span><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Roboto;color:black">2021 Victor Lesser Distinguished</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin:0cm;text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Roboto;color:black">Dissertation Award. Nominations are invited for the award which is sponsored by IFAAMAS and will be presented at AAMAS-2022 (</span><a href="https://aamas2022-conference.auckland.ac.nz"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Roboto;color:#1155CC">https://aamas2022-conference.auckland.ac.nz</span></a><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Roboto;color:black">). </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin:0cm;text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Roboto;color:black">Eligible doctoral dissertations are those defended between January 1, 2021 and November 1, 2021 in the area of Autonomous Agents or Multiagent Systems.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin:0cm;text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Roboto;color:black">This award includes a certificate and a 1500 EUR payment.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin:0cm;text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Roboto;color:black">The selection of the dissertation will be based on the originality, significance, and impact of the work. Evidence of such impact include publications at
highly selective conferences and journals in</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin:0cm;text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Roboto;color:black">the field, with due importance given to the AAMAS conference series and JAAMAS. Research output that resulted primarily from the student's initiative will
be considered more favourably. The</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin:0cm;text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Roboto;color:black">selection committee will be the final arbiter in the decision process. The selection committee might decide to consult external assessors and reserves the
right to not award the prize if the</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin:0cm;text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Roboto;color:black">nominations do not meet the expected quality level.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin:0cm;text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Roboto;color:black">The dissertation must be nominated by the thesis supervisor and must be supported by the following documents, all should be delivered via the link below before
or on November 25, 2021:</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br>
<br>
<o:p></o:p></p>
<ul style="margin-top:0cm" type="disc">
<li style="color:black;margin-top:0cm;margin-bottom:0cm;text-align:justify;mso-list:l3 level1 lfo1;vertical-align:baseline">
<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Roboto">A link to a PDF file of the dissertation. If the dissertation is not written in English, the nomination must include an accessible link to a substantial manuscript in English, with the nominee as the first author,
published in a peer-reviewed journal or conference.<o:p></o:p></span></li></ul>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br>
<br>
<span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<ul style="margin-top:0cm" type="disc">
<li style="color:black;margin-top:0cm;margin-bottom:0cm;text-align:justify;mso-list:l1 level1 lfo2;vertical-align:baseline">
<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Roboto">A PDF that contains a list of publications that have arisen from the dissertation, with links to the published papers. <o:p></o:p></span></li></ul>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br>
<br>
<span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<ul style="margin-top:0cm" type="disc">
<li style="color:black;margin-top:0cm;margin-bottom:0cm;text-align:justify;mso-list:l2 level1 lfo3;vertical-align:baseline">
<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Roboto">A recommendation from the dissertation supervisor, on departmental letterhead, nominating the dissertation for the IFAAMAS-20 Victor Lesser Distinguished Dissertation Award. The recommendation should explain
the contribution of the dissertation to the field of autonomous agents and multiagent systems, argue the merit and possible future impact of the work, and highlight, where relevant, how the work resulted from the initiative of the student. Finally, this
document should certify the eligibility of the PhD by asserting that the PhD was defended successfully between January 1, 2021 and November 1, 2021.<o:p></o:p></span></li></ul>
<p class="MsoNormal"><br>
<br>
<span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<ul style="margin-top:0cm" type="disc">
<li style="color:black;margin-top:0cm;margin-bottom:0cm;text-align:justify;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo4;vertical-align:baseline">
<span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Roboto">The names, email addresses, and affiliations of at least one and at most three referees, familiar with the research of the candidate and experts in the pertinent research area, who will directly email their
recommendations for the candidate to the chair of the selection committee (Kate Larson (kate.larson@uwaterloo.ca), University of Waterloo). A reference letter should be no more than 500 words in length and should be on official letterhead, signed and emailed
as a PDF file. <o:p></o:p></span></li></ul>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin:0cm;text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Roboto;color:black">NOTE: IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE DISSERTATION SUPERVISOR TO CONTACT THE REFEREES AND ENSURE THAT LETTERS (max 500 words, signed, and on letterhead) ARE
SUBMITTED BY THE DEADLINE.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin:0cm;text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Roboto;color:black">Though the nomination is to be submitted by the nominee's dissertation supervisor, it is required that the nominee has consented that the dissertation be
considered for this award and, if selected for the award, commits to attend the AAMAS-2022 conference, where he/she will receive the award and will give a presentation in a special session of the conference on the work contained in the dissertation. The cost
of attending the conference is not covered by the award.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin:0cm;text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Roboto;color:black">Submission link:
</span><a href="https://forms.gle/sxpxRoGWNBUbMMYx7"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Roboto;color:#1155CC">https://forms.gle/sxpxRoGWNBUbMMYx7</span></a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin:0cm;text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Roboto;color:black">Submission deadline: Nov 25, 2021</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p style="margin:0cm;text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Roboto;color:black">For questions, please contact the chair of the selection committee, Kate Larson, University of Waterloo (kate.larson@uwaterloo.ca).</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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