CFP: IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary Computation Special Issue on Ant Algorithms and Swarm Intelligence

[Marco Dorigo]

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           IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary Computation 
                        Special Issue on 
               Ant Algorithms and Swarm Intelligence
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            We apologize if you receive multiple copies
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 CALL FOR PAPERS
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The IEEE Transactions on Evolutionary Computation will publish a special 
issue on Ant Algorithms and Swarm Intelligence. 

The behavior of social insects in general, and of ants living in colonies 
in particular, has fascinated researchers in ethology and animal behavior 
for a long time. Many models have been proposed to explain their capabilities.

Recently, ant algorithms and swarm intelligence systems have been offered 
as a novel computational approach that replaces the traditional emphasis on 
control, preprogramming, and centralization with designs featuring autonomy,
emergence, and distributed functioning.  These designs are proving
flexible and robust, able to adapt quickly to changing environments
and to continue functioning even when individual elements fail.

The special issue will be dedicated to the publication of original research 
results on ant algorithms and, more in general, on swarm intelligence. 
Papers that prove new theoretical results on ant algorithms and swarm 
intelligence systems behavior, or that describe their successful applications 
to real-world problems are particularly welcome.

The submission of papers is open to any researcher in ant algorithms.
Researchers taking part in "ANTS'2000 - From Ant Colonies to Artificial Ants: 
Second International Workshop on Ant Colony Optimization" will be invited to 
submit a significantly extended version of their workshop submission to the
special issue.

Up-to-date information on the special issue is maintained at: 
http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~ants/ants2000/ants2000-pub.html

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 EXPECTED TIMELINE 
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The ANTS'2000 workshop will take place September 8 to 9, 2000 in Brussels, 
Belgium. The deadline for the submission of papers to the special issue 
will be approximately four months after the workshop, so that authors have 
the time to improve their papers according to the feedback obtained at the 
workshop.
Every paper will be refereed by at least two experts in the field and by 
at least one of the editors. To make the review process run smoother a 
special panel will be formed before the submission deadline. 
Based on our previous experience, we expect that a high percentage of the 
papers that will eventually be published will need to undergo a revision 
process consisting of at least two iterations. 

The tentative schedule is as follows:

December 31, 2000. Deadline for submissions to the special issue.
March 15, 2001. Referees reports and editors' decisions are sent to authors. 
May 31, 2001. Deadline for the revised versions of the papers. 
July 10, 2001. Referees reports and editors' decisions are sent to authors. 
September 15, 2001. Authors send final versions of the papers to the editors. 
October 15, 2001. Editors send the special issue to the publisher. 

The expected publication year of the special issue will be 2002.


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 THE GUEST EDITORS
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Marco Dorigo, Universite' Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium 
Luca Maria Gambardella, IDSIA, Manno, Switzerland
Martin Middendorf, Universitaet Karlsruhe, Germany 
Thomas Stuetzle, Technische Universitaet Darmstadt, Germany