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From: dmeier@ifi.unizh.ch (Daniel Meier)
Subject: Advanced Study Institute on Autonomous Agents (ASI-AA-95)
Message-ID: <1995Apr18.144435.15009@ifi.unizh.ch>
Sender: dmeier@ifi.unizh.ch (Daniel Meier)
Organization: University of Zurich, Department of Computer Science
Date: Tue, 18 Apr 1995 14:44:35 GMT
Lines: 457


Please find enclosed:

-- Description of the program for ASI-AA-95

-- Timetable of ASI-AA-95

-- Application form for ASI-AA-95

Please note that the application deadline is April 29th, 1995.
All applications will be considered, however, the available positions are
limited.

The documents mentioned above can be found in the following WWW page:
http://www.ifi.unizh.ch/asi-aa.html. The documents are in postcript format 
for enabling appropriate printing.

We hope to see at the Study Institute:

Sincerely Yours,

Daniel Meier and Marinus Maris

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Daniel Christoph Meier
AI Lab, Department of Computer Science        Tel + 41 - 1 - 257 45 75
University Zurich-Irchel                      Fax + 41 - 1 - 363 00 35
Winterthurerstrasse 190                      Home + 41 - 1 - 920 58 03
CH - 8057 Zurich, Switzerland                      dmeier@ifi.unizh.ch
----------------------------------------------------------------------



	   Practice  and  Future  of  Autonomous  Agents:
			     ASI-AA-95
                   (final call for participation)
                        
		   23 September - 1 October 1995
		      Centro Stefano Franscini
		 Monte Verit'a, Ticino, Switzerland


(Follow-up meeting of the NATO Advanced Study Institute "The Biology
and Technology of Intelligent Autonomous Agents", which took place
Spring 1993 in Trento, Italy).


Sponsored by:

  Swiss Federal Institute of Technology; Computer Science Department,
  University of Zurich; SGAICO (Swiss Group for Artificial Intelligence and
  Cognitive Science); Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, MIT; Applied AI
  Systems, Ottawa, Canada; Nippon Signal, Japan; Uchidate, Japan; EBARA, Japan.

Goal of the Advanced Study Institute "Practice and Future of Autonomous Agents"

  The goal of the Advanced Study Institute (ASI) is to bring together the
  world's leading experts in the field of autonomous agents (AA) for an
  extended period of time in order to bring the existing research community
  closer together and to extend it to younger researchers.  As a result we
  expect a state-of-the-art assessment of the field, including a research
  agenda for the near future.  We hope that many joint research endeavors
  will emerge from the close collaboration in the workshops.

Current Situation:  Autonomous Agents Research in 1995

  Because technical skills about robot building are now widely available,
  promoting these skills at an ASI is no longer the primary objective.
  However, from a conceptual point of view there are still many fundamental
  issues in AA design that we do not yet sufficiently understand.
  Moreover, there is less need to provide complete coverage of all aspects
  of the field since by now they are well-known in the research community.
  For this reason the meeting will be focused on a number of core aspects
  of real world autonomous agents.  When the study institute will take
  place, roughly 2 1/2 years will have passed since the one in Trento took
  place.  Therefore, it is important to evaluate what has been achieved in
  the meantime.


Main topics of the Advanced Study Institute

  The field of autonomous agents has significantly matured during the last
  few years.  We are beyond the stage where robots are designed mainly
  based on intuition.  It is therefore a good time to make an assessment of
  the current state of the theory of autonomous agents.

  Theory: What are the recent developments in the theory of autonomous
	  agents?

  Design: How can autonomous agents be designed which show sophisticated
	  kinds of behavior?

  Performance measures: How can the performance of the agents be
	  quantified?

Topic areas:

  The Cog project; behavioral economics approach; evolutionary approaches;
  "complete autonomous systems"; self-organization, learning, and
  grounding; dynamical systems; collective behavior; industrial session.

Confirmed speakers (list to be completed):

  Randy Beer, Case Western Reserve University, US;
  Ren'e te Boekhorst, University of Zurich, CH;
  Rodney Brooks, MIT, US;
  Dave Cliff, University of Sussex, UK;
  Daniel Dennett, Turfts University, USA;
  Rodney Douglas, Oxford University, UK;
  Philippe Gaussier, ENSEA ETIS, F;
  Inman Harvey, University of Sussex, UK;
  Leslie Kaelbling, Brown University, US;
  Charlotte Hemelrijk, University of Zurich, CH;
  Phil Husbands, University of Sussex, UK;
  Maja Mataric, Brandeis University, US;
  David McFarland, Oxford University, UK;
  Gregor Sch"oner, Marseille, F;
  Tim Smithers, University of the Basque Country, SP;
  Luc Steels, Free University of Brussels, B;
  Takashi Gomi, Ottawa, Canada.


Workshop organizers (list to be completed):

  Rodney Brooks,          Jean-Daniel Nicoud,          Marinus Maris,
  Lynn Andrea Stein,      Luc Steels, Tim Smithers,    Christian Scheier,
  Matthew Marjanovic,     Ren'e Schaad,                Daniel Meier
  Francesco Mondada,      Dimitrios Lambrinos,         and others.


Format:

  The ASI consists of the following parts: lectures, workshops, background
  lectures, poster/demo session, special robot event, panel discussions.


  Lectures. The lectures will provide a state-of-the-art overview of the
	field including the currently hottest research topics.  They have
	a tutorial and a research aspect and should be attended by
	everyone.

  Workshops. The afternoons and some evenings are reserved for workshops.
	They are conducted in parallel and will consist of concrete case
	studies with active contributions of all the participants.  This
	can also include presentations.  The case studies will include all
	three aspects of AA, namely theory, design, and performance
	evaluation and will address questions like: How could the designs
	of particular agents be improved?  How would the agents look like
	if viewed from a different design perspective?  etc.  Because the
	participants already have experience in the field these workshops
	will be a main forum for exchanging ideas.  A list of the workshops
	will be announced early next year.

  Background lectures. To embed the topics of the workshop into a larger
	framework a number of background lectures will be held in the
	evenings.

  Poster/Demo Sessions. The poster and demonstration sessions will give all
	participants the opportunity to present their own work.  This is
	also a forum to facilitate communication during the ASI.

  Panel discussions. Panel discussions will be organized to work out the
	strengths, weaknesses, points of agreement and disagreement of the
	various approaches.

  Special event. A special event will be organized which should capture the
	"spirit" of the ASI.  Because the various workshop groups will have
	their own robots to work with, the goal is having some or all of
	them work together on a common task (heterogeneous collective
	robots).  This could not only be a lot of fun, but is also of great
	theoretical interest.  More details on this special event will be
	announced later.


Application Procedure

  Deadline for applications:   Saturday, April 29, 1995 (new date)
  Notification of acceptance:  Saturday, May 27, 1995 (new date)

  The application should include:

    1. Statement of contribution.  A two-page description of the
       contribution participants plan to make in terms of demos,
       contribution to workshops, etc.
    2. Poster/Demo.  Each participant is expected to contribute a poster
       presentation.  Demonstrations are also of great interest.  An
       abstract should be submitted with the application.
    3. Background information.  A short description of the research
       background (CV) should be submitted with the application.
    4. Robots and simulations.

  Participants are encouraged to bring along their own robots and/or
  simulation environments.  It would be great to have a large variety of
  different types of robots for the special event.  They should all think
  about the special event and prepare their own robots in a way that will
  make success on a common task/game more likely.  Please state if you can
  bring a robot (and if yes, what kind).  This is not a condition for
  participation.

Fees

  Registration:    academic CHF 400.00, industrial CHF 600.00
  Room and board:  academic CHF 800.00, industrial CHF 1400.00

  Note: This includes 8 nights at the hotel, 3 meals a day, and coffee
  during breaks. The calculation of the costs for room and board are based
  on the assumption that the participants reside in the conference hotel
  (double rooms with a superb view of the Lago Maggiore and the Swiss and
  Italian mountains).  If you prefer a single room, there are many local
  hotels available in Ascona, a nearby village which is a very popular
  tourist resort.



Organization

  Director:
  Rolf Pfeifer, University of Zurich, Switzerland

Program Committee:

  Rodney Brooks, MIT, Cambridge, Mass., USA
  Jean-Daniel Nicoud, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland
  Tim Smithers, University of the Basque Country, San Sebastian, Spain
  Luc Steels, Free University of Brussels, Belgium
      (organizer of the previous ASI in Trento)
  Takashi Gomi, Applied AI Systems, Ottawa, Canada

Local organization:

  Autonomous Agents Research Group,
  AI Lab, Department of Computer Science,
  University of Zurich, Switzerland

Further information:

  Rolf Pfeifer
  AI Lab, Computer Science Department
  University of Zurich                 E-mail:   pfeifer@ifi.unizh.ch
  Winterthurerstrasse 190              Fax:       + 41 - 1 - 363 00 35
  CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland          Phone:   + 41 - 1 - 257 43 20/31

  WWW information:
  Consult the following WWW page at URL: http://www.ifi.unizh.ch/asi-aa.html
  It will always contain the most recent program, additional
  information about the workshops, travel information, etc.

		   Schedule, ASI-AA-95, 23 Sept - 1 Oct. 1995

Time     Sat. 23   Sun. 24      Mon. 25          Tu. 26          We. 27
Morning		   Opening
                   Pfeifer
                   Cog based     Fungus Eaters   Evolutionary    Fungus Eaters
                   Approach                       Approach
                   Theory        Theory          Design          Design
                   Brooks/        Pfeifer et al.  Harvey et al.   Pfeifer et al.
                    Dennett    	

		   Evolutionary  Dynamical       Behavioral       Dynamical
		    Approaches    systems         Ecosystems       systems
                   Theory        Theory          Design           Design
                   Harvey  et    Smithers et     Steels/McFarland Smithers et
                    al.           al.                              al.
Lunch	
									
After-
noon		   Behavioral    Cog based       workshops        social event
                    Economics     Approach
                   Theory        Design
                   Steels/       Brooks/
                    McFarland     Dennett

	  poster   Collective    Industrial      workshops        social event
	  session   Behavior      Session
	     1     Design
                   Mataric       Gomi et al.
                       
Diner     welcome  robot event                                    social event
          recep-   & workshop
          tion     organization
          				
Evening	  poster   background    industrial      workshops        social event
          session   lecture 1    session (ctd.)
             2     Neuromorphic
                   Sensors & VLSI
                   Douglas
                       


Second part of the advanced study institute

Time               Th. 28         Fr. 29         Sat. 30           Sun. 1
              
Morning            Fungus Eaters  Cog based      Fungus Eaters     summary of
                                   Approach                         workshops
                   Design         Performance    Performance       panel
                   Gaussier et    Brooks/Dennett Pfeifer et al.    discussion
                    al.

	           Fungus Eaters  Behavioral     workshops         event for
                   Reinforcement   Economics                        local
                   Learning       Performance                      schools
                   Kaelbling et    Steels/
                    al.           McFarland
                    
Afternoon          workshops      workshops      workshops         good-bye
                                                                    party &
                                                                    departure
      
                   workshops      sightseeing    workshops


Diner                             sightseeing   

Evening            background     sightseeing    The Big
                   lecture 2                     Event
                                                 all robots
                                                 present



Tracks:
Cog based Approach - Coordinator: Brooks
	topics: theory, design & performance
	lecturers: Brooks, Dennett
	workshop: Brooks, Dennett, Stein, graduate students
Evolutionary Approaches - Coordinator: Harvey
	topics: theory, design & performance
	lecturers: Cliff, Husbands, Harvey
	workshop: see Khepera-based workshop
Behavioral Economics - Coordinator: Steels
	topics: theory, design & performance
	lecturers: Steels, McFarland
	workshop: Steels, McFarland, graduate students
"Fungus Eaters ": Complete Autonomous Systems - Coordinator: Pfeifer
	topics: theory, design (self-organization/reinforcement learning,
 	 structurally constrained learning) & performance
	lecturers: Pfeifer, Gaussier, Meier, te Boekhorst
	workshop: Pfeifer, Millan, graduate students (see also Khepera-based
	           workshop)
Dynamical Systems - Coordinator: Smithers
	topics: theory, design & class work 
	lecturers: Smithers, Schoener, Beer
	workshop: Smithers, Schoener, Beer
Khepera-based Workshop - Coordinator: Mondada
	topics: 
	evolutionary approaches  (Cliff, Floreano, Husbands, Harvey, Mondada,
	Parisi)
	neural control architectures (Gaussier, Mondada, graduate students)
Industrial Session
	Coordinator: Gomi
Robot Event: Collective behavior 
	Coordinator: Mataric

				      				      
				   ASI-AA-95
			 September 23 - October 1, 1995
			Monte Verita, Ticino, Switzerland
		       Registration & Accommodation Form


Participant

title:         ...........................			
last name:     ........................... first name: ........................
affiliation:   ...........................		
address:       ...........................
               ...........................	
city:          ........................... zip code:   ........................
country:       ...........................			

phone business: .......................... phone home: ........................	
fax:		.......................... email:      ........................

Accompanying Person (not participating at the conference, if applicable)
last name:      .......................... first name:  .......................	

Registration Fees
                          price per person	total
industrial participants:  SFr. 600.--           ..........
academic participants:    SFr. 400.--           ..........
(letter on university 
 letterhead required)
                                    subtotal 1: ..........

Workshops

preference:   workshop title:         organizer:
...           Cog based Approach      R. Brooks
...	      Dynamical Systems       T. Smithers
...	      Behavioral Economics    L. Steels
...	      Khepera-based Workshop  J.-D. Nicoud
...	      Fungus Eaters           R. Pfeifer

Note: 
please mark preferences 1 to 5 for each workshop (1- most preferred,
5- least preferred)

Application

Please make sure that the following application material is enclosed:
- statement of contribution
- summary of the poster
- background information

Accommodation

Most participants will be staying at the conference center, the luxurious 
"Monte Verita" hotel (double rooms and double occupancy).

                               price per person	 no. of persons	 total:
industrial participants
and accompanying persons:      SFr.  1400.--     ....            ..........
academic participants:	       SFr.   800.--     ....	         ..........
                                                     subtotal 2:

Note: 
- Please add the name of the person you would like to share
  a room with (if known): ..............................................
- Stay is from September 23 to October 1, 1995 based on double room occupation;
  prices include room and full board for 9 days and 8 nights.
- A limited number of hotel rooms outside the conference center are available
  on special request.

Grand Total:
subtotal 1:		subtotal 2:		Total:	

Payments can be made by:
... Eurocheque (max. SFr. 300.- / check, made payable to the address below)
... Master card    ... Visa card   ... American Express   ... Diners Card
credit card number : .........  .........  .........  ......... exp.: ....-....
name of card holder: ..........................................................

date:  ..........................  signature:  ................................

Note:
Cancellation before August 15 are subject to a 10 % handling fee. After 
August 15, no refund is possible.

Registration & payment must be received by: April 29, 1995

Please return registration material to: 
Rolf Pfeifer, ASI-AA-95, Department of Computer Science, 
University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland








-- 
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Daniel Christoph Meier
AI Lab, Department of Computer Science        Tel + 41 - 1 - 257 45 75
University Zurich-Irchel                      Fax + 41 - 1 - 363 00 35
