Biologically-inspired Machine Learning
         A workshop during ACAI-99, 14-15 July 1999, Crete, Greece

     ***   Note extended deadline for submissions: 15 March 1999  ***

     Final Call for Papers and Participation

     The BIML workshop will take place during two afternoon sessions
     (July 14th and 15th) of ACAI-99, which will take place between
     5-16 July 1999, at Chania in the island of Crete, Greece. It will
     consist of invited and contributed talks, and several panel and
     small-group discussions to encourage a genuinely interactive
     atmosphere.

     Technical description:

     The biologically-inspired machine learning approach is attractive
     not only as a methodology for the development and testing of
     theories of learning in biological systems, but also as an
     approach for the design of practical machine learning systems. The
     research methodology of this approach fuses techniques from
     several disciplines, including Artificial Intelligence, Cognitive
     Science, Psychology, Neuroscience, Simulation/Modelling, and
     Robotics. It is the intention of this workshop to examine the
     interplay between biological and artificial learning, illuminate
     the commonalities and differences, and lead to a fruitful exchange
     of ideas and techniques. Topics of interest include but are not
     restricted to:

        * modelling of cognitive, perceptual and motor development and
          adaptation in humans and animals
        * modelling of learning in infants
        * modelling of brain and cognitive disorders and recovery
        * bio-inspired robot learning
        * artificial neural networks
        * evolutionary approaches to learning
        * learning in social environments by observation, imitation and
          cooperation.

     Program committee:

        * Frederic Alexandre, Cortex Group, INRIA-Lorraine/CRIN-CNRS,
          France.
        * Luc Berthouze, Humanoid Interaction Laboratory, ETL, Japan.
        * Andreas Birk, Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, VUB,
          Belgium.
        * Kerstin Dautenhahn, Department of Cybernetics, U. Reading,
          UK.
        * John Hallam, Institute of Perception, Action and Behaviour,
          U. Edinburgh, UK.
        * Gillian Hayes, Institute of Perception, Action and Behaviour,
          U. Edinburgh, UK.
        * Dolores Canamero, Artificial Intelligence Research Institute,
          CSIC, Barcelona, Spain.
        * Frederic Kaplan, Sony CSL, Paris, France.
        * Risto Miikkulainen, Dept. of Computer Science, University of
          Texas, Austin, USA
        * Chrystopher Nehaniv, Interactive Systems Engineering Group,
          U. Hertfordshire, UK.
        * Stefan Schaal, Computational Learning and Motor Control Lab,
          USC/ERATO, USA/Japan.
        * Patrick van der Smagt, Institute of Robotics and System
          Dynamics, German Aerospace Center, Germany.

     Paper submission:

     Papers describing research in Biologically-inspired Machine
     Learning are welcome. Submitted papers should be up to six A4
     pages (two columns, single-spaced, body text size 10 pt), should
     be in Postscript format, and should be sent by email to
     biml@cogsci.ed.ac.uk. Papers should include full contact details
     (including email address) and affiliation of authors. In addition
     to regular papers, graduate students and other people interested
     in participating in this workshop can send a summary of their
     research work (max. two pages). All accepted full papers will be
     included in the workshop proceedings. Selected summaries will be
     included if space permits.

     Registration:

     All participants of the ACAI-99 main event will be able to
     participate in the workshop without extra cost. The registration
     fee for attending the workshop only will be 150 ECU (to include
     coffee breaks and the workshop's proceedings).

     Please note that since the number of participants is limited,
     priority will be given to people submitting full papers or short
     research summaries.

     Student Grants:

     Students can apply for grants to partially cover the expenses
     associated with attending ACAI-99 (and the workshop). Grants from
     ECCAI and from the ACAI organising committee are available. See
     main ACAI page (under `registration') for more details.

     Timetable:

      March 15:   deadline for submission of papers and research summaries.
      March 30:   notification of acceptance/rejection.
      April 15:   deadline for submission of final camera-ready manuscripts.
      July 14-15: workshop in Greece.

     Organisers:

     John Demiris
     Institute of Perception, Action and Behaviour
     Division of Informatics
     University of Edinburgh, 5 Forrest Hill, Edinburgh EH1 2QL,
     Scotland, UK
     E-mail: johnde@dai.ed.ac.uk

     Gert Westermann
     Institute for Adaptive and Neural Computation
     Division of Informatics
     University of Edinburgh, 2 Buccleuch Place, Edinburgh EH8 9LW,
     Scotland, UK
     E-mail: gert@cogsci.ed.ac.uk

     WWW links with up-to-date information about BIBL and ACAI-99:

     BIML workshop: http://www.cogsci.ed.ac.uk/~biml/
     ACAI-99: http://www.iit.demokritos.gr/skel/eetn/acai99/index.html