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From: Michael.Luck@dcs.warwick.ac.uk (Michael Luck)
Subject: First UK Workshop on Multi-Agent Systems: Call for Participation
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Message-ID: <1996Sep12.103038.15313@dcs.warwick.ac.uk>
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Organization: Department of Computer Science, Warwick University, England
Date: Thu, 12 Sep 1996 10:30:38 GMT
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                            Call for Participation

                           The First UK Workshop on
                       Foundations of Multi-Agent Systems

                             University of Warwick
                                October 23 1996

			Organised by: The UK FOMAS SIG
		URL: http://www.dcs.warwick.ac.uk/~mikeluck/fomas


The last ten years have seen a marked increase of interest in agent-oriented
technology, in several areas of computer science, including both software
engineering and artificial intelligence. Agents are being used, and touted, for
applications as diverse as personalised information management, electronic
commerce, interface design, computer games, and management of complex
commercial and industrial processes. Several deployed systems already use agent
technology, and many more commercial and industrial applications are in
development.

Multi-agent systems are computational systems in which several agents cooperate
to achieve some task which might not, (or not as easily), otherwise be
achieved. It is a relatively new field of investigation, and one aim of the
workshop is to contribute to the development of a solid foundation on which to
base practical systems.

Multi-agent systems are widely expected to become a significant technology in
the 21st century, and it is crucial that both academics and industrialists
within the UK have access to a forum at which current research and application
issues are presented and discussed. The aim of this workshop is to encourage
and support activity in the research and development of multi-agent systems, in
both academia and industry.

The workshop will comprise three panel sessions addressing Cooperation,
Formalisms for Multi-Agent Systems (MAS), and Methodological Foundations:

	Cooperation

	   * Nick Jennings (Queen Mary and Westfield College, London)
	   * Jim Doran (University of Essex)
	   * Stan Franklin (University of Memphis)
	   * Tim Norman (Queen Mary and Westfield College, London)

	Formalisms for MAS

	   * Mark d'Inverno (University of Westminster)
	   * Maarten de Rijke (University of Warwick)
	   * Mark Ryan/Alessio Lomuscio (University of Birmingham)
	   * Michael Wooldridge (Manchester Metropolitan University)

	Methodological Foundations

	   * Michael Fisher (Manchester Metropolitan University)
	   * Michael Schroeder (University of Hannover)
	   * Aaron Sloman (University of Birmingham)
	   * Geof Staniford (University College Chester)

Participation and Attendance

The Workshop will take place at Radcliffe House on the University of Warwick
campus. The cost, to include lunch and refereshments, is 30 Pounds.
Attendance is limited, and you must register in advance. For a registration
form, please send an email message stating your name, affiliation, address,
telephone and fax numbers to the Workshop Chair, Michael Luck, at the
address below.  

There will be an opportunity for brief presentations of individual work
in the light of the day's proceedings.

Further Activities

We intend to follow up the workshop with the establishment of a World Wide Web
(WWW) repository of information relating to the foundations of multi-agent
systems, including details of relevant people and projects. This is expected to
be a significant resource for the UK research and development community.
Further meetings are also planned.

Organisers

The workshop is being organised by the UK Special Interest Group on Foundations
of Multi-Agent Systems (FOMAS). The advisory board of FOMAS comprises:

Michael Luck (CHAIR)
Department of Computer Science
University of Warwick
Coventry
CV4 7AL
United Kingdom
Email mikeluck@dcs.warwick.ac.uk
Tel +44 1203 523364
Fax +44 1203 525714

Mark d'Inverno
University of Westminster

Michael Fisher
Manchester Metropolitan University

Nick Jennings
Queen Mary & Westfield College

Michael Wooldridge
Manchester Metropolitan University

-- 
Michael Luck                    Department of Computer Science, 
mikeluck@dcs.warwick.ac.uk      University of Warwick, 
Phone: +44 1203 523364          Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK
Fax:   +44 1203 525714          http://www.dcs.warwick.ac.uk/~mikeluck
