[alife] Final Call for Extended Abstracts: 2nd Workshop on Open-Ended Evolution (OEE2) at ALIFE XV

[Tim Taylor]

               *** FINAL CALL FOR EXTENDED ABSTRACTS ***
           OEE2: The Second Workshop on Open-Ended Evolution
	              http://alife.org/ws/oee2

Taking place at the 15th International Conference on the Synthesis and
Simulation of Living Systems (ALIFE XV), Cancún, Mexico, 4-8 July 2016

                      ~~~~~ Important Dates ~~~~~

Abstract submission deadline: 16 May 2016
Notification of acceptance:   30 May 2016
Website-ready abstract due:   13 June 2016
Workshop date:                TBC (one full day during the conference
                                     week of 4-8 July 2016)

                         ~~~~~ Overview ~~~~~

Following the success of the First Workshop on Open-Ended Evolution
(OEE1) at the ECAL 2015 conference, the Second Workshop on Open-Ended
Evolution (OEE2) will take place at the ALIFE XV conference in Cancún,
Mexico in July 2016.

 From the first experiments with digital evolution in the 1950s to the
increasingly sophisticated simulations of the present day, the concept
of open-ended evolution (OEE) has been a central concern for
Artificial Life researchers.

The first workshop closed with a better appreciation of what remains
to be learned about open-ended evolution, and a clearer picture of the
most important open research questions, as set out in the OEE1
Workshop Report (a draft version of which can be downloaded from the
OEE2 workshop website).

                     ~~~~~ Topics of Interest ~~~~~

The goal of the OEE2 workshop is to build upon the outcomes of OEE1 by
discussing recent progress on the following key issues:

* Behavioral hallmarks of systems undergoing OEE
* Hypothesized requirements (mechanisms) for systems to undergo OEE
* Empirical demonstrations of hallmarks or requirements of OEE in
   models or natural systems

The workshop will emphasize precise, operational, quantitative,
empirical definitions of hallmarks and requirements for OEE, and will
presume that there could be more than one interesting and important
kind of OEE. We also encourage critical reflections about all these
topics.

              ~~~~~ Submission of Extended Abstracts ~~~~~

We invite contributions in the form of extended abstracts for oral
presentation. Submissions should be a minimum of 2 pages in length,
and prepared according to the ALIFE XV paper format
[http://xva.life/call-for-papers/]. Abstracts should be submitted by
email to oee2 at deepevo.com on or before 16 May 2016.

Abstracts will be selected for presentation on the basis of their
alignment with the topics of interest listed above, and the extent to
which they build upon the outcomes of the OEE1 workshop as documented
in the OEE1 Workshop Report (a draft version of which can be
downloaded from the OEE2 workshop website).

After the workshop, authors of selected workshop presentations will be
invited to write up and submit their results to a peer-reviewed
special issue on OEE to be published in the journal Artificial Life.

Please note that participation at the workshop will require
registration for the ALIFE XV conference [http://xva.life/].

                        ~~~~~ Organizers ~~~~~

* Mark Bedau <mab at reed.edu>, Reed College, USA
* Alastair Channon <a.d.channon at keele.ac.uk>, Keele University, UK
* Tim Taylor <tim at tim-taylor.com>, University of York, UK