DM: Call for Workshops, ACAI-99 machine learning school

[Giorgos Paliouras]

Apologies for possible multiple copies of this announcement.

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                     MACHINE LEARNING AND APPLICATIONS
           Advanced Course on Artificial Intelligence 1999 (ACAI-99)
                         5-16 July 1999, Greece
                      * Call for Workshop Proposals *
               (http://www.iit.demokritos.gr/skel/eetn/acai99)

      European Coordinating Committee on Artificial Intelligence 
(ECCAI)
                           (http://www.eccai.org)
                                      &
                Hellenic Artificial Intelligence Society (EETN)
                   (http://www.iit.demokritos.gr/skel/eetn)


The ECCAI Advanced Course on Artificial Intelligence for 1999 
(ACAI-99) is 
organised by the Hellenic Artificial Inteligence Society (EETN) on a 
Greek 
island. In the context of ACAI-99, we plan to organise a series of 
Workshops 
on the application of Machine Learning in a variety of problems. 

Each ACAI-99 Workshop will provide an informal setting where Workshop 
participants will have the opportunity to meet and discuss specific 
technical topics in an atmosphere which encourages the active 
exchange 
of ideas among researchers and practitioners. Researchers from all 
the 
segments of Machine Learning community are invited to submit Workshop 
Proposals for review. However, since a strong emphasis is given to 
applications of Machine Learning, professionals and managers from 
relevant 
areas are also encouraged to cooperate with researchers in the 
submission 
of Workshop Proposals.

To encourage interaction and a broad exchange of ideas, the Workshops 
will 
be kept as small as possible. Attendance should be limited to persons 
registered for the main ACAI-99 event, as well as to persons planning 
to 
attend only the specific Workshops.

Workshops are intended to be genuinely interactive events and not 
miniature conferences. Thus, although the format of Workshop 
presentations 
will be determined by the organizers proposing the workshop, enough 
time 
must be allocated for general discussion. Workshops will be held 
during 
the afternoon sessions of ACAI-99 and in the period of 5-16 July.


** Requirements for Submission **

Proposals for Workshops should be between two and three pages in 
length, 
and should contain the following information: 
* A brief technical description of the Workshop. 
* A brief discussion of why the Workshop is of interest. 
* The names, addresses, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses of the 
  proposed Workshop organizing committee. This committee should 
consist 
  of at least two people knowledgeable in the technical issues to be 
  addressed by the Workshop. 
* The name of one member of the organizing committee who is 
designated 
  as the primary contact. 
* A list of Workshops previously arranged by any members of the 
proposed 
  organizing committee. Although previous experience with similar 
workshops 
  is not required, this would clearly be helpful. 
* Estimation about the number of Workshop attendees, and, if possible 
a 
  list of potential attendees. 
* A proposed schedule for organizing the Workshop and a preliminary 
agenda. 

Proposers are encouraged to send their draft proposal to potential 
participants for comments before submission. 


** Timetable **

All proposals should be submitted by electronic mail, to 
                  vangelis@iit.demokritos.gr, 
in plain ASCII text as soon as possible, but no later than October 
30, 1998. 
Organizers will be notified for the selected Workshops no later than 
December 1, 1998. 

Each Workshop Organizing Committee will be responsible for producing 
a 
Call for Participation in the workshop by December 10, 1998. The Call 
must 
note that the number of participants is strictly limited. It should 
also 
make clear the process by which the Workshop Organizing Committee 
will 
select the participants. 

By April 1, 1999, the Workshop organisers must provide a provisional 
list 
of Workshop participants, working notes to be duplicated for the 
workshop 
(up to a total of 100 pages per Workshop and up to 10 pages per 
participant), 
and a list of audio-visual requirements and any special room 
requirements. 
A final list of Workshop participants must be provided by June 10, 
1999. 

By October 1, 1999, the Workshop organisers are also required to 
prepare 
a report on the Workshop results for possible publication. The report 
should be sent to the Workshops Chair. 

ACAI-99 will be responsible for the following: 
* Providing logistical support and a meeting place for the Workshop. 
* In conjunction with the organizers, determining the Workshop date 
and 
  time. (Organizing committee constraints will be accommodated to the 
  greatest possible extent, but the Workshop chair has the final 
decision 
  on any given Workshop's date and time.) 
* Duplicating working notes as described above and distributing them 
to 
  the participants. 

ACAI-99 reserves the right to cancel any workshop if deadlines are 
missed, 
or if the number of registered attendees at the Workshop is too low 
to 
support the costs associated with running the workshop. 

To cover costs, a fee of ECU 100 will be charged to each Workshop 
participant. NOTE that anyone registered for the main ACAI-99 event 
can 
also attend all the Workshops. 

Please submit your proposals and any inquiries to: 
    Dr. Vangelis Karkaletsis, Workshops Chair
    Institute of Informatics & Telecommunications,
    National Centre for Scientific Research (NCSR) "Demokritos"
    15310 Aghia Paraskevi Attikis,
    Athens, GREECE
    E-mail: vangelis@iit.demokritos.gr
    Tel: +301-6503197
    Fax: +301-6532175

** Important dates for ACAI-99: **

October 30, 1998  Deadline for Submission of Workshop Proposals
December 1, 1998  Announcement of Selected Workshops
March 1, 1999     Deadline for Grant Applications &
                  Submission of Student Papers
March 15, 1999    Announcement of Grant Offers & 
                  Collected Student papers
April 1, 1999     Deadline for Workshop Programmes and
                  Delivery of Workshop Material
April 15, 1999    Deadline of Early Registration
June 15, 1999     Deadline of Late Registration

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