[alife] ANTS 2008, Final Call for Papers

[Thomas Stützle]

    ***  Apologies if you have received this CFP more than once  ***


			      ANTS 2008
		   Sixth International Conference on
	    Ant Colony Optimization and Swarm Intelligence


	       September 22-24, 2008. Brussels, Belgium


	      More details and up-to-date information at
		   http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/ants2008



Scope of the Conference 
=======================

Swarm intelligence is a relatively new discipline that deals with the
study of self-organizing processes both in nature and in artificial
systems. Researchers in ethology and animal behavior have proposed
many models to explain interesting aspects of social insect behavior
such as self-organization and shape-formation. Recently, algorithms
inspired by these models have been proposed to solve difficult
computational problems.

An example of a particularly successful research direction in swarm
intelligence is ant colony optimization, the main focus of which is on
discrete optimization problems. Ant colony optimization has been
applied successfully to a large number of difficult discrete
optimization problems including the traveling salesman problem, the
quadratic assignment problem, scheduling, vehicle routing, etc., as
well as to routing in telecommunication networks. Another interesting
approach is that of particle swarm optimization, that focuses on
continuous optimization problems. Here too, a number of successful
applications can be found in the recent literature. Swarm robotics is
another relevant field. Here, the focus is on applying swarm
intelligence techniques to the control of large groups of cooperating
autonomous robots.
  
ANTS 2008 will give researchers in swarm intelligence the opportunity
to meet, to present their latest research, and to discuss current
developments and applications.

The three-day conference will be held in Brussels, Belgium, on
September 22-24, 2008. Tutorial sessions will be held in the mornings
before the conference program.



Relevant Research Areas
=======================

ANTS 2008 solicits contributions dealing with any aspect of swarm
intelligence. Typical, but not exclusive, topics of interest are:

+ Behavioral models of social insects or other animal societies that
can stimulate new algorithmic approaches.

+ Empirical and theoretical research in swarm intelligence.

+ Application of swarm intelligence methods, such as ant colony
optimization or particle swarm optimization, to real-world problems.

+ Theoretical and experimental research in swarm robotics systems.



Publication Details
===================

Conference proceedings will be published by Springer in the LNCS
series. The journal Swarm Intelligence will publish a special issue
dedicated to ANTS 2008 that will contain extended versions of the best
research works presented at the conference.



Best Paper Award
================

A best paper award will be presented at the conference.



Further Information
===================

Up-to-date information will be published on the web site
http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/ants2008/. For information about local
arrangements, registration forms, etc., please refer to the
above-mentioned web site or contact the local organizers at the
address below.



Conference Address
==================

ANTS 2008
IRIDIA, CP 194/6                 Tel +32-2-6502729
Université Libre de Bruxelles    Fax +32-2-6502715
Av. F. D. Roosevelt 50           http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/ants2008
1050 Bruxelles, Belgium          email: ants at iridia.ulb.ac.be



Conference Location
===================

Salle Dupréel, Building S, Campus du Solbosch, Université Libre de
Bruxelles, Av. Jeanne 44, 1050 Brussels, Belgium.



Important Dates
===============

Submission deadline                  Mar 16, 2008
Notification of acceptance           May 16, 2008
Camera ready copy                    May 30, 2008
Conference                  September 22-24, 2008



ANTS 2008 Conference Committee
============================

General Chair
    Marco Dorigo, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium

Technical Program Chairs
    Christian Blum, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona,
Spain
    Maurice Clerc, University of Essex, Colchester, UK
    Alan Winfield, University of West of England, Bristol, UK

Publication Chair
    Mauro Birattari, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium

Publicity Chair
    Thomas Stützle, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium



Sponsors
========

AntOptima                                         
    http://www.antoptima.com
  
Comp2Sys, Marie Curie Early Stage Training Site
    http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/comp2sys

French Community of Belgium (through the research project ANTS)
    http://www.cfwb.be

IEEE Computational Intelligence Society (as a technical co-sponsor) 
    http://www.ieee-cis.org



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