[alife] Levels of Selection in Evolution Workshop at ECAL 2009: Call for Extended Abstracts

[Simon Powers]

CALL FOR EXTENDED ABSTRACTS

Levels of Selection and Individuality in Evolution: Conceptual Issues and
the Role of Artificial Life Models
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Workshop at ECAL 2009 conference (13-16 September, Budapest, Hungary)

Submission deadline: Monday 22 June 2009
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Understanding how new levels of biological organisation, selection, and
individuality can arise are exciting and open challenges in both
evolutionary biology and artificial life. In attempting to understand these
issues we are forced to ask questions that challenge our existing
preconceptions of evolutionary theory, such as what kinds of entities can
natural selection act on, what are the properties that define an individual,
and how can new levels of heredity arise? In this workshop we aim to provide
a forum to discuss and debate these issues, drawing on the philosophical and
modelling expertise of artificial life researchers in areas such as
autonomy, emergence, and self organisation.

Confirmed Invited Speaker: Prof. Eörs Szathmáry (Collegium Budapest)

The main focus of this workshop will be on discussion of important
conceptual issues and the application of techniques and philosophy from
artificial life in addressing these. Submissions are invited that discuss
any aspect of levels of selection, organisation, and individuality in
evolution, including:

    * Multi-level selection
    * Evolution of cooperative behaviour
    * Prebiotic evolution and the origins of life
    * Philosophical issues in levels of selection and the major transitions
    * Comparisons of the utility of different types of model
    * Cultural evolution and other non-genetic sources of heredity
    * Inclusive fitness / kin selection
    * Species-level selection; ecosystem selection
    * How to recognise genuine higher-level selection
    * Niche construction
    * Self-organisation as a support for higher-level selection

Submission Process
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Extended abstracts of up to 1000 words (optional: up to 2 figures) should be
submitted in the ECAL 2009 format (10pt minimum, single space, wide
margins). Please email submissions to Simon Powers (stp05r at ecs.soton.ac.uk).

All suitable submissions will undergo peer review by 3 members of the
program committee for relevance, quality, and ability to generate
discussion.
Accepted submissions will be allocated either a brief oral presentation or a
poster. Submissions to this workshop may be based on papers submitted to
ECAL 2009 or elsewhere, but must focus on raising issues for discussion.

Important dates
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Submission :   Monday 22 June 2009
Notification of acceptance :  Monday 13 July 2009
Workshop:    During ECAL 2009 (13-16 September 2009)

Organising Committee
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Simon Powers
Rob Mills
Richard A. Watson
Alexandra Penn
Hywel Williams

Program committee: TBA

Workshop website:
http://www.sense.ecs.soton.ac.uk/levels-of-selection-workshop-2009/
ECAL 2009 website: http://www.ecal2009.org/