NIPS 2004 Call for Workshops

[John Platt]

		       CALL FOR WORKSHOPS --- NIPS 2004
	Neural Information Processing Systems --- Natural and Synthetic
	      Friday, December 17 --- Saturday, December 18, 2004
		      Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
				http://nips.cc
		Deadline for Workshop Proposals: August 1, 2004

Following the regular program of the Neural Information Processing Systems 2004
Conference in Vancouver, BC, Canada, workshops on various current topics in
Neural Information Processing will be held on December 17 and 18, 2004, in
Whistler, BC, Canada. We invite researchers interested in chairing one of these
workshops to submit proposals for possible workshops. The goal of the workshops
is to provide an informal forum for researchers to discuss important research
questions and challenges. Controversial issues, open problems, and comparisons
of competing approaches are encouraged and preferred as workshop topics.
Representation of alternative viewpoints and panel-style discussions are also
particularly encouraged. Workshop topics include, but are not limited to, the
following:

Active Learning, Attention, Audition, Bayesian Networks, Bayesian Statistics,
Benchmarking, Bioinformatics, Brain Imaging, Computational Complexity, Control,
Genetic Algorithms, Graphical Models, Hippocampus and Memory, Human-Computer
Interfaces, Hybrid Supervised/Unsupervised Learning, Implementations,
Independent Component Analysis, Kernel Methods, Mean-Field Methods, Music,
Network Dynamics, Neural Coding, Neural Plasticity, On-Line Learning,
Optimization, Recurrent Nets, Robotics, Rule Extraction, Self-Organization,
Sensory Biophysics, Signal Processing, Spike Timing, Speech, Time Series,
Topological Maps, and Vision.

Detailed descriptions of previous workshops may be found at: http://nips.cc
under Previous Conferences.

There will be six hours of workshop meetings per day, split into morning and
afternoon sessions, with free time between the sessions for ongoing individual
exchange or outdoor activities. Selected workshops may be invited to submit
proceedings for publication in the post-NIPS workshops monographs series
published by the MIT Press.

Workshop organizers have several responsibilities including:
* Coordinating workshop participation and content, which includes arranging
short informal presentations by experts, arranging for expert commentators to
sit on a discussion panel, formulating a set of discussion topics, etc.
* Moderating the discussion, and reporting its findings and conclusions to the
group during the evening plenary sessions.
* Writing a brief summary and/or coordinating submitted material for
post-conference electronic dissemination.

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS:
Interested parties must submit a proposal for a workshop via email by August
1,2004. Proposals should include a title, description of what the workshop is
to address and accomplish, proposed workshop length (1 or 2 days), planned
format (e.g., lectures, group discussions, panel discussion, combinations of
the above, etc.), and proposed speakers. Names of potential invitees should be
given where possible. Preference will be given to workshops that reserve a
significant portion of time for open discussion or panel discussion, as opposed
to a pure "mini-conference" format. An example format is:
* Tutorial lecture providing background and introducing terminology relevant to
the topic.
* Discussion or panel presentation.
* Short talks or panels alternating with discussion and question/answer
sessions.
* General discussion and wrap-up.

We suggest that organizers allocate at least 50 percent of the workshop
schedule to questions, discussion, and breaks. Past experience suggests that
workshops otherwise degrade into mini-conferences as talks begin to run over.
For the same reason, we strongly recommend that each workshop include no more
than 12 talks per day.

The proposal should state why the topic is of interest, why it should be
discussed, and who the targeted group of participants is. It should also
include a brief resume of the prospective workshop chair with a list of
publications to establish scholarship in the field. We encourage workshops that
build, continue, or arise from one or more workshops from previous years.
Please mention any such connections.

NIPS does not provide travel funding for workshop speakers. In the past, some
workshops have sought and received funding from external sources to bring in
outside speakers. In addition, the organizers of each accepted workshop can
name up to four people (six people for 2-day workshops) to receive discounted
registration for the workshop program.

Submissions should include the name, address, email address, phone and fax
numbers for all organizers. If there is more than one organizer, please
designate one organizer as the primary contact.

Proposals should be emailed as plain text to nips-prp at umich.edu (please do not
use attachments, Word, postscript, html, or PDF files)

NIPS 2004 WORKSHOP CO-CHAIRS:
* Satinder Singh, University of Michigan
* Daniel D. Lee, University of Pennsylvania

Questions may be emailed to nips-adm at umich.edu

	      DEADLINE FOR WORKSHOP PROPOSALS: AUGUST 1, 2004
	      REMINDER: Deadline for Papers --- June 4, 2004