[alife] Final Call For Papers -- Deadline Extend + Best Paper Prize -- IEEE CEC 2016 Special Session on Evolutionary Robotics - Vancouver, Canada

[Joshua Auerbach]

--Apologies for cross posting--

Final CALL FOR PAPERS (paper submission deadline extended to*January 31, 
2016*)
Also note best paper prize below.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

IEEE CEC 2016 -- Special Session on Evolutionary Robotics
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Vancouver, Canada. 25-29 July, 2016


General Chairs:
--------------------
Patricia A. Vargas (Heriot-Watt University - United Kingdom)
Joshua Auerbach (EPFL - Lausanne, Switzerland)
Micael Couceiro (Ingenarius, Ltd - Portugal)
Dario Floreano (EPFL - Lausanne, Switzerland)
Phil Husbands (University of Sussex - United Kingdom)


Website: http://lis2.epfl.ch/events/specialsessions/CEC16/

Evolutionary Robotics (ER) aims to apply evolutionary computation 
techniques,
inspired by Darwin's principle of selective reproduction of the
fittest, to automatically design the control and/or hardware of both
real and simulated
autonomous robots.

Having an intrinsic interdisciplinary character, ER is being employed 
towards
the development of many fields of research, among which we can highlight
neuroscience, cognitive science, evolutionary biology and robotics.

Hence the objective of this special session is to assemble a set of 
high-quality
original contributions that reflect and advance the state-of-the-art
in the area of Evolutionary Robotics, with an emphasis on the
cross-fertilisation between
ER and the aforementioned research areas, ranging from theoretical analysis
to real-life applications.

Papers Publication:
-------------------------
Papers accepted to this special session track will be published in the 
IEEE CEC proceedings.


*New: Best Paper Prize:**
**------------------------- **
**There will be a vote for best paper among those presented at this 
special session.
The authors of the winning paper will receive a copy of the book 
**Horizons of Evolutionary Robotics 
<https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/horizons-evolutionary-robotics>**. *


Post Conference Publication:
-------------------------------------
Authors of best papers will be asked to contribute
to a journal special issue on the topic of "Evolutionary Robotics".



Paper Submission:
------------------------
Submissions should follow the guidance given on the IEEE CEC 2016
conference website: http://www.wcci2016.org/submission.php

When submitting, please select in the submission system the respective
special session title under the list of Main research topic: Evolutionary
Robotics.

All submissions will be peer-reviewed with the same criteria used for
other contributed papers. All accepted papers will be included and
published in the conference proceedings.

Topics of interest include (but are not restricted to):
-------------------------------------------------------------------
. Evolution of robots which display minimal cognitive behaviour,
learning, memory, spatial cognition, adaptation or homeostasis.
. Evolution of neural controllers for robots, aimed at giving an
insight to neuroscientists, evolutionary biologists or advancing
control structures.
. Evolution of communication, cooperation and competition, using
robots as a research platform.
. Co-evolution and the evolution of collective behaviour.
. Evolution of morphology in close interaction with the environment,
giving rise to self-reconfigurable, self-designing, self-healing,
self-reproducing, humanoid and walking robots.
. Evolution of robot systems aimed at real-world applications as in
aerial robotics, space exploration, industry, search and rescue,
robot companions, entertainment and games.
. Evolution of controllers on board real robots or the real-time
evolution of robot hardware.
. Novel or improved algorithms for the evolution of robot systems.
. The use of evolution for the artistic exploration of robot design.


Important Dates:
----------------------
Paper Submission: January 15, 2016 January 31, 2016
Notification of Acceptance: March 15, 2016
Camera-Ready Submission: April 15, 2016

Best,
Josh

-- 
Dr. Joshua E. Auerbach
Postdoctoral Researcher
Laboratory of Intelligent Systems
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne