Call for Workshop Proposals
The deadline for submission has now passed. This was the call for workshop proposals.
Following the regular program of the Neural Information Processing Systems 2001 conference in Vancouver, BC, Canada, workshops on various current topics in neural information processing will be held on December 7 and 8, 2001, in Whistler, BC, Canada, at the Whistler/Blackcomb Resort. We invite researchers interested in chairing one of these workshops to submit workshop proposals.
Selected workshops may be invited to submit their workshop proceedings for publication as part of a new series of monographs for the post-NIPS workshops.
The goal of the workshops is to provide an informal forum for researchers to discuss important research questions and challenges. Controversial issues, open problems, and comparisons of competing approaches are encouraged and preferred as workshop topics. Representation of alternative viewpoints and panel-style discussions are particularly encouraged. Workshop topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
Active Learning, Architectural Issues, Attention, Audition, Bayesian Analysis, Bayesian Networks, Benchmarking, Brain Imaging, Computational Complexity, Computational Molecular Biology, Control, Genetic Algorithms, Graphical Models, Hippocampus and Memory, Hybrid Supervised/Unsupervised Learning Methods, Hybrid HMM/ANN Systems, Implementations, Independent Component Analysis, Mean-Field Methods, Markov Chain Monte-Carlo Methods, Music, Network Dynamics, Neural Coding, Neural Plasticity, On-Line Learning, Optimization, Recurrent Nets, Robot Learning, Rule Extraction, Self-Organization, Sensory Biophysics, Signal Processing, Spike Timing, Support Vectors, Speech, Time Series, Topological Maps, and Vision.There will be six hours of workshop meetings per day, split into morning and afternoon sessions, with free time in between for ongoing individual exchange or outdoor activities.
Click for detailed descriptions of previous workshops.
Workshop organizers have several responsibilities including:
- Coordinating workshop participation and content, which includes arranging short informal presentations by experts, arranging for expert commentators to sit on a discussion panel, formulating a set of discussion topics, etc.
- Moderating the discussion and reporting its findings and conclusions to the group during evening plenary sessions.
- Writing a brief summary and/or coordinating submitted material for post-conference electronic dissemination.
Interested parties should submit a short proposal for a workshop of interest via email by July 8, 2001.
Proposals should include title, description of what the workshop is to address and accomplish, proposed workshop length (1 or 2 days), planned format (e.g., lectures, group discussions, panel discussion, combinations of the above, etc.), and proposed speakers. Names of potential invitees should be given where possible. Preference will be given to workshops that reserve a significant portion of time for open discussion or panel discussion, as opposed to pure ``mini-conference'' format. An example format is:
- Tutorial lecture providing background and introducing terminology relevant to the topic.
- Two short lectures introducing different approaches, alternating with discussions after each lecture.
- Discussion or panel presentation.
- Short talks or panels alternating with discussion and question/answer sessions.
- General discussion and wrap-up.
The proposal should motivate why the topic is of interest or controversial, why it should be discussed, and who the targeted group of participants is. It also should include a brief resume of the prospective workshop chair with a list of publications to establish scholarship in the field. We encourage workshops that build, continue, or arise from one or more workshops from previous years. Please mention any such connections.
NIPS does not provide travel funding for workshop speakers. In the past, some workshops have sought and received funding from external sources to bring in outside speakers. In addition, the organizers of each accepted workshop can name up to four people (six people for 2-day workshops) to receive free registration for the workshop program.
Submissions should include contact name (if there is more than one organizer, please designate one organizer as the ``contact person'') as well as addresses, email addresses, phone and fax numbers for all organizers.
Proposals should be emailed as plain text to nips-workshop-proposal@cs.unm.edu. Please do not use attachments, Microsoft Word, postscript, html, or pdf files. Questions may be addressed to nips-workshop-admin@cs.unm.edu.