ANTS'2000 - From Ant Colonies to Artificial Ants: Second International Workshop on Ant Algorithms Brussels, Belgium, September 8-9, 2000 CALL FOR EXTENDED ABSTRACTS (up-to-date information on the workshop is maintained at http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~ants/ants2000/) SCOPE OF THE WORKSHOP The behavior of social insects in general, and of ant colonies in particular, has since long time fascinated researchers in ethology and animal behavior, who have proposed many models to explain their capabilities. Recently, ant algorithms have been proposed as a novel computational model 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. A particularly successful research direction in ant algorithms, known as "ant colony optimization", is dedicated to their application to discrete optimization problems. Ant colony optimization has been applied successfully to a large number of difficult combinatorial problems like the quadratic assignment and the traveling salesman problems, to routing in telecommunications networks, to scheduling problems, and so on. ANTS'2000 is the second edition of the only event entirely devoted to ant algorithms and to ant colony optimization. Also of great interest to the workshop are models of ant colonies behavior which could stimulate new algorithmic approaches. The aims are to give researchers in both real ants behavior and in ant colony optimization an opportunity to meet, to present their latest research, and to discuss current developments and applications. The two-day event will be held in Brussels, Belgium, from September 8 to September 9, 2000. In the evening of September 7 there will be a tutorial on ant algorithms. RELEVANT RESEARCH AREAS Submissions are invited that describe: (1) Models of aspects of real ant colonies behavior that can stimulate new algorithmic approaches, (2) Empirical and theoretical research in ant algorithms and ant colony optimization. (3) Application of ant algorithms and ant colony optimization methods to real-world problems. SUBMISSION OF PAPERS Papers can be submitted either as extended abstracts or as full papers. The length should be of approximately 4 or 10 pages respectively. Formatting and submission instructions are provided at http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~ants/ants2000/ants2000-submission.html. Accepted papers will be published in a booklet that is to be distributed to workshop participants. We are now investigating the possibility of publishing the best papers as a journal special issue. In this case, a further call for full papers, that may be longer than the 10 pages workshop format, will be released. All accepted papers will be presented at the workshop as oral presentations or as a poster. REGISTRATION AND FURTHER INFORMATION Up-to-date information about the workshop will be made available at the ANTS'2000 web site (http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~ants/ants2000/). For information about local arrangements, registration forms, etc., please refer to the above mentioned web site, or contact the local organizer at the address below. A registration fee of BF 7,000 will cover local organization expenses, coffee breaks, and a social dinner on Friday 8 evening. PhD students reduced registration fee: BF 6,000. A proof of inscription is required in that case. IMPORTANT DATES Submission deadline April 15, 2000 Notification of acceptance May 30, 2000 Camera ready copy June 30, 2000 Conference September 8-9, 2000 ANTS'98 CONFERENCE COMMITTEE PROGRAM CHAIR AND LOCAL ARRANGEMENTS Marco DORIGO, IRIDIA, Universite' Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium PROGRAM COMMITTEE Emile AARTS, Philips Research Labs, Eindhoven, The Netherlands Hugues BERSINI, IRIDIA, Universite' Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium Eric BONABEAU, EuroBios, Paris, France Freddy BRUCKSTEIN, Technion, Haifa, Israel Alberto COLORNI, Politecnico di Milano, Italy David CORNE, University of Reading, Great Britain Jean-Louis DENEUBOURG, Universite' Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium Gianni DI CARO, ATR, Kyoto, Japan Marco DORIGO, IRIDIA, Universite' Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium David FOGEL, Natural Selection, La Jolla, CA, USA Luca M. GAMBARDELLA, IDSIA, Lugano, Switzerland Michel GENDREAU, Universite' de Montreal, Canada Deborah GORDON, Stanford University, CA, USA Walter GUTJAHR, University of Vienna, Austria Owen HOLLAND, University of West England, Bristol, UK Vittorio MANIEZZO, Universita' di Bologna, Italy Zbigniew MICHALEWICZ, University of North Carolina, USA Martin MIDDENDORF, Universitaet Karlsruhe, Germany Thomas STUETZLE, Technische Universitaet Darmstadt, Germany Eric TAILLARD, IDSIA, Lugano, Switzerland Guy THERAULAZ, Universite' Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France Gilles VENTURINI, Universite' de Tours, France SUBMISSIONS ADDRESS Submitted papers should be emailed to: mmi@aifb.uni-karlsruhe.de and to ants@iridia.ulb.ac.be PROGRAM CHAIR ADDRESS Marco Dorigo, Ph.D. Chercheur Qualifie' du FNRS Tel +32-2-6503169 IRIDIA CP 194/6 Fax +32-2-6502715 Universite' Libre de Bruxelles Secretary +32-2-6502729 Avenue Franklin Roosevelt 50 http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/dorigo/dorigo.html 1050 Bruxelles http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~ants/ants2000/ Belgium http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/dorigo/ACO/ACO.html CONFERENCE LOCATION Avenue A. Buyl 87 Building C - 4th floor (IRIDIA, Dorigo's lab, is at the 5th floor of the same building). There will be arrows and indications to the workshop room. LIMITED NUMBER OF PLACES The number of participants will be limited. If you intend to participate please fill in and send the intention form available at the workshop web page, or drop a line to ants@iridia.ulb.ac.be. RELATED CONFERENCES Note that just after ANTS'2000 there will be in Paris (85 minutes by train from Brussels) two related conferences: SAB2000, September 11-15, and PPSN-2000, September 16-20.