CFP: Eighth ICLP Doctoral Student Consortium

URL: http://sites.unife.it/iclp-dc-2012/

Introduction

The ICLP Doctoral Consortium (DC) is the eighth doctoral consortium to be offered as part  of the 28th International Conference on Logic Programming. The DC follows the very  positive experience of the previous events held in Sitges (Spain) on October 3rd, 2005, in  Seattle (WA, USA) on August 21st, 2006, in Porto (Portugal) on September 8th, 2007, in  Udine (Italy) on December 10th, 2008, in Pasadena (USA) on July 15th, 2009, in Edinburgh  (Scotland) on July 20th, 2010, and in Lexington (KY, USA) on July 6th, 2011.

The DC will take place during the ICLP 2012 in Budapest, Hungary. The Doctoral Consortium  is designed for doctoral students working in areas related to logic and constraint  programming, with a particular emphasis to students interested in pursuing a career in academia. The Consortium is also open to exceptional Master’s students developing MS Theses  in Logic Programming. The Doctoral Consortium aims to provide students with an opportunity  to present and discuss their research directions and to obtain feedback from peers as well  as world-renown experts in the field.

General Information

The aims of the Doctoral Consortium are:

  • To provide doctoral students working in the field of logic and constraint programming  with a friendly and open forum to present their research ideas, listen to ongoing work  from peer students, and receive constructive feedback.
  • To provide students with relevant information about important issues for doctoral  candidates and future academics.  To develop a supportive community of scholars and a  spirit of collaborative research.
  • To support a new generation of researchers with information and advice on academic,  research, industrial, and non-traditional career paths.

The Consortium is designed for students currently enrolled in a Ph.D. program, though we  are also open to exceptions (e.g., students currently in a Masters program and interested  in doctoral studies). Students at any stage in their doctoral studies are encouraged to  apply. Applicants are expected to be conducting research in the field of Logic Programming;  topics of interest include (but are not limited to):

  • Theoretical Foundations of Logic and Constraint Logic Programming
  • Sequential and Parallel Implementation Technology
  • Static and Dynamic Analysis, Abstract Interpretation, Compilation Technology and  Verification
  • Logic-based Paradigms (e.g., Answer Set Programming, Concurrent Logic Programming,  Inductive Logic Programming)
  • Innovative Applications of Logic Programming

Submissions by students who have presented their work at a previous ICLP Doctoral Consortia  are allowed, but should occur only if there are substantial changes or improvements to the  student’s work.

The Consortium allows participants to interact with established researchers and with other  students, through presentations, question-answer sessions, panel discussions, and invited  presentations. The Doctoral Consortium will provide the possibility to reflect – through  short activities, information sessions, and discussions – on the process and lessons of  research and life in academia. Each participant will give a short, critiqued, research  presentation.

Several renowned faculty members and researchers in the field of Logic Programming will  join in evaluating the submission packets and will participate in the Doctoral Consortium, providing feedback to the presenters.

Important Dates

Submission Deadline:     May 8th, 2012
Acceptance Notification: May 25th, 2012
Camera ready version:    June 10th, 2012
Doctoral Consortium:     September 4th, 2012
ICLP 2012 Conference:    September 4th-8th, 2012

Submission Process

Application Process:

To apply for participation to the ICLP 2012 Doctoral Consortium, prepare a  submission package consisting of a cover letter, a research summary, and a  letter of recommendation (e.g., from your supervisor). The material should  be submitted electronically, in PDF format.

Review Criteria:

The ICLP Doctoral Consortium review committee will select participants based  on their anticipated contribution to the Consortium objectives. Participants  typically have settled on their thesis directions and had their research  proposal accepted by their thesis committee. Students will be selected based  on clarity and completeness of the submission packet, relevance of their research area w.r.t. the focus of the ICLP Conference, stage of research, advisor’s letter, and evidence of promise towards a successful research and academic career, such as published papers or technical reports.

Award:

The ICLP Doctoral Consortium Discussants will review the submissions to select  the ones to be presented. The organizing committee is actively seeking support to offer scholarship packages to accepted participants. We will update the web site as soon as we have more information regarding this.

Submission Package

Send the submission package by e-mail to: [email protected] Include the three documents as separate pdf files in attachment.

All submissions must be in English. Submissions will not be considered if they arrive after the deadline. Your submission should not contain any proprietary or confidential material.

Cover Page:
Please include the following information in the cover page:

  • Statement of interest in participating in the Doctoral Consortium
  • Full name and School and Department in which you are earning your doctorate degree
  • Contact information – address, telephone number, and email address
  • Title of your research and keywords pertinent to your research
  • The URL of your web page (if any)
  • Name of your supervising professor
  • Current stage in your program of study, e.g. (Master/PhD student, start date)

Research Summary:
Prepare your research summary as a PDF document, using the LIPIcs template. (http://www.dagstuhl.de/publikationen/lipics/anleitung-fuer-autoren/?L=1) Make sure to include your complete name, address and affiliation.
The body of your research summary (no more than 6 pages, but 3 is fine as well!)  should provide a clear overview of the research, its potential impact, and its  current status. You are encouraged to include the following sections:

  • Introduction and problem description
  • Background and overview of the existing literature
  • Goal of the research
  • Current status of the research
  • Preliminary results accomplished (if any)
  • Open issues and expected achievements
  • Bibliographical references

Letter of Recommendation:
Include a letter of recommendation written by your Graduate Advisor or Thesis  Advisor. Please, invite your advisor to include an assessment of the current  status of your thesis research and an indication of the expected deadline for  thesis submission. In addition, your advisor should indicate what she/he hopes  you would gain from participation in the Doctoral Consortium.

Chairs

Marco Gavanelli, Engineering Department. Ferrara University, Italy
Stefan Woltran, Institute of Information Systems, TU Wien, Austria

Program Committee

Fabio Fioravanti, University “G. d’Annunzio” of Chieti – Pescara (Italy)
Paul Fodor, Stony Brook University (USA)
Martin Gebser, University of Potsdam (Germany)
Francesca A. Lisi, Universita degli Studi di Bari “Aldo Moro” (Italy)
Marco Maratea, University of Genova (Italy)
Gerardo I. Simari, University of Oxford (UK)
Jon Sneyers, K.U.Leuven (Belgium)