International School on Neural Nets "E.R. Caianiello"

[Tagliaferri Roberto]

Galileo Galilei Foundation
World Federation of Scientists
Ettore Maiorana Centre for Scientific Culture

Galilelo Galilei Celebrations 
Four Hundreds Years Since the Birth of Modern Science

International School on Neural Nets "E.R. Caianiello"

1st Course: Learning in Graphical Models

A NATO Advanced Study Institute

Erice-Sicily: 27 September - 7 October 1996

Sponsored by the: - European Union - International Institute for Advanced
                  Scientific Studies (IIASS) - Italian Institute for 
                  Philosophical Studies - Italian Ministry of Education -
                  Italian Ministry of University and Scientific Research -
                  Italian National Research Institute (CNR) - Sicilian
                  Regional Government - University of Salerno

Programme and Lecturers

- Introduction to Graphical Models
  J. Whittaker, University of Lancaster, UK

- Introduction to Bayesian Methods
  D. Mackay, University of Cambridge, UK

- Introduction to Neural Networks
  M. Jordan, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA

- Learning of Directed Graphs
  D. Heckerman, Microsoft Research, Redmond, WA, USA

- The Helmholz Machine
  G. Hinton, University of Toronto, Canada

- Model Selection
  G. Cooper, University of Pittsburg, PA, USA

- Latent Variables Methods
  R. Neal, University of Toronto, Canada

- Stochastic Grammars
  S. Omohundro, NEC Research, Princeton, NJ, USA

- Statistical Mechanics and Clustering Models
  J. Buhmann, University of Bonn, Germany

- Bayesian Learning of Graphical Models
  R. Cowell, University College, London, UK

- Priors for Graphical Models
  D. Geiger, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA

- Independence and Decorrelation
  E. Oja, Helsinki University of Technology, Finland

- Bayesian Learning and Gibbs Sampling
  D. Spiegelhalter, MRC, Cambridge, UK

Purpose of the course

Neural Networks and Bayesian belief networks are learning and interface
methods that have been developed in two largely distinct reasearch communities.
The purpose of this Course is to bring together researchers from these two
communities and study both kinds of networks as istances of a general unified
graphical formalism. The Course will focus on probabilistic methods for learning
in graphical models, with attention paid to algorithm analysis and design, 
theory and applications.

General Information

Persons wishing to attend the Course should apply in writing to:

- Prof. Maria Marinaro
IIASS "E.R. Caianiello"
Via G. Pellegrino, 19
84019 Vietri sul mare (SA), Italy
Tel: + 39 89 761167
Fax: + 39 89 761189

They should specify:

i) date and place of birth together with present nationality;
ii) degree and other academic qualifications;
iii) present position and place of work.

Young persons with only little experience should include a letter of
recommendation from the head of their research group or from a senior 
scientist active in the field.
The total fee, which includes full board and lodging (arranged by the
School), is $1000 USD. Thanks to the generosity of the sponsoring Institutions,
partial support can be granted to some deserving students who need financial 
help. Requests to this effect must be specified and justified in the application
letter.

Closing date for application: July 15, 1996

No special application form is required.

Admission to the Course will be decided in consultation with the Advisory
Committee of the School consisting of Professors D. Hecherman, M.I. Jordan,
M. Marinaro and A. Zichichi.
It is regretted that it will not be possible to allow any person not selected
by the Committee of the School to follow the Course.
Participants must arrive in Erice on September 27, no later than 5 p.m.

More information about this Course and the other activities of the Ettore
Majorana Centre can be found on the WWW at the following address:
             http://www.ccsem.infn.it


D. Heckerman - M.I. Jordan   Directors of the Course
M.I. Jordan - M. Marinaro    Directors of the School
A. Zichichi                  Director of the Centre