Connectionists: NIPS*2007 - Call for Workshop Proposals

[Sumit Basu]

                     CALL FOR WORKSHOP PROPOSALS
      NIPS 2007 Post-Conference Workshops -- December 7 and 8, 2007
     Neural Information Processing Systems -- Natural and Synthetic
  Whistler Resort & Spa and the Whistler Hilton Resort & Spa, BC, CANADA 
                        http://www.nips.cc/ 
                 Proposal Deadline: 3rd August 2007


Following the Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS) 2007
Conference in Vancouver, Canada, workshops on a variety of current
topics in neural information processing will be held on December 7 and
8, 2007, in Whistler, BC, Canada.

We invite researchers interested in chairing a workshop to submit a
proposal.  The goal of the workshops is to provide an informal forum
for researchers to discuss important research questions and
challenges.  The emphasis should be on discussion; the workshop format
should not be simply a mini-conference but should aim for a dynamic
sharing of ideas. We particularly encourage workshops that will bring
together unusual groupings for the transfer of ideas and
methods. Controversial issues, open problems, and comparisons of
competing approaches are not only encouraged but preferred as workshop
topics.  Representation of alternative viewpoints and panel-style
discussions are encouraged. Workshop topics should be developed with a
view to make an interesting workshop for the participants; proponents
should familiarize themselves with previous workshops and the topics
covered in recent NIPS papers.

We are especially interested in workshops that bridge traditional
discipline or sub-discipline boundaries and endeavor to define new
research directions, as opposed to workshops that are merely a forum
for the presentation of recent results. We particularly encourage
neuroscience topics and those that connect neuroscience and computer
science.


Format
------
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.


Organizer Responsibilities
--------------------------
Workshop organizers have several responsibilities, including:

  --Coordinating workshop participation and content, including arranging
    short informal presentations by domain experts, arranging for expert
    commentators to sit on discussion panels, formulating discussion
    topics, etc;
  --Moderating the discussion, and reporting its findings and
    conclusions to all NIPS workshop participants during the evening
    plenary sessions;
  --Writing a brief summary and/or coordinating submitted material for
    post-conference electronic dissemination;
  --Potentially organizing pre-reading for the workshop if accepted
    (this might take the form of a position paper, or a tutorial, or
    even just a reading list);
  --Ensuring they have unambiguous acceptance to attend from any people
    named as confirmed in the proposal;
  --Attending the workshop (multiple organizers are all expected to attend).


Submission Instructions
-----------------------
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 and any confirmed speakers 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 relevant terminology;
  --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% 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, each workshop should
include no more than 12 talks per day and preferably fewer. Poster
spotlights and sessions have been effectively incorporated into
previous workshops and are another good way to facilitate informal
discussion.

We encourage organizers to give thought how they might make effective
use of pre-distribution of written material in order to maximize the
time available for discussion, noting however that asking invited
speakers to prepare written materials is unlikely to enhance the
chances of acceptance of such invitations.

The proposal should motivate why the topic is of interest, why it
should be discussed, and the targeted group of participants; in
essence, it should explain why NIPS needs a workshop on this topic and
what its impact will be. It should include a brief CV of the
prospective workshop chair(s) 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,
although an argument that there were n workshops previously on a topic
and therefore we need a (n+1)th are discouraged; some genuine novelty
is necessary.  Please mention any such connections.  Descriptions of
previous workshops may be found at:

http://nips.cc/Conferences/2006/Workshops/ 
http://nips.cc/Conferences/2005/Workshops/ 
http://nips.cc/Conferences/2004/Workshops/ 

Unfortunately, NIPS cannot 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 any
case, the organizers of each accepted workshop can name two
individuals to receive free registration for the workshop program.

Proposals should be emailed as plain text to:
Bob.Williamson at anu.edu.au by 3rd August 2007 (please do not use
attachments, Word, postscript, html, or pdf files). 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.  Proposers are encouraged to
ensure their proposal is as cogent, coherent and concise as possible.


Selection Criteria
------------------
In selecting workshops from the proposals, we will take account of:

  --Alignment with the interests of NIPS attendees (as evidenced by
    previous NIPS papers and workshops);
  --Alignment with emerging trends in the fields of interest to NIPS;
  --Extent to which the workshop attempts to be agenda setting as
    opposed to merely reporting new results or a "me too" activity;
  --Degree of cross-disciplinarity;
  --Evidence that workshop chairs can effectively manage the discussions
    (based for example on past workshop or conference organization);
  --Caliber of invited speakers;
  --Realism of the schedule (ten 15 minute talks back-to-back is not...)
  --Fraction of proposed invited speakers who can confirm their
    attendance conditional on the workshop being approved;
  --Overall interest and excitement of the proposal and its potential to
    positively impact the field;
  --Overall balance of fields and interests.

Applicants are encouraged to ensure that these aspects of their
proposed workshop are clear in their proposal.


Process
-------
The selection of workshops will be done by the workshop co-chairs. We
may recommend the merger of multiple proposals that overlap in a
particular area; proponents are not obliged to accept such
suggestions, in which case we will choose between competing proposals
on a given topic. Our aim is to select the best set of workshops for
participants; this does not necessarily mean the largest number of
workshops. We expect to make a decision on which workshops will be
invited to run within two weeks of the submission deadline. There will
be no extensions granted for proposal submissions. We look forward to
working with workshop chairs to generate a range of interesting, high
quality sessions.

Bob Williamson,      Adrienne Fairhall,         Charles Isbell
(ANU & NICTA )   (University of Washington)     (Georgia Tech)
                                                  
                NIPS 2007 Workshops Co-Chairs