CFP: Workshop on Knowledge-based techniques for problem solving and reasoning

IJCAI 2016 Workshop on Knowledge-based techniques for problem solving and reasoning (KnowProS 2016)

July 9-11, 2016, New York, U.S.A.

http://ktiml.mff.cuni.cz/~bartak/KnowProS2016/

 

Despite recent attempts in various subareas of AI to integrate technologies to solve complex problems such as autonomous cars, there are still gaps between research communities that prevent efficient transfer of knowledge. For example, knowledge representation techniques focus on formal semantics and flexibility of modeling frameworks and put less emphasis on actual problem solving that requires efficient tools. Other communities such as planning and search put emphasis on efficiency of problem solving, but less attention is given to how the real problem is modeled, the connection between modeling and efficiency of problem solving, and the capability of the models to support other important features like plan revision and adaptation. This workshop attempts to bridge these particular communities with the goal to exchange information leading to more efficient problem solving starting with the problem requirements and finishing with the solved problem.

 
Workshop topics:

Formal problem modeling is a critical step during problem solving. A good modeling framework should be flexible enough to describe important properties of problems solved and should allow application of efficient problem solving techniques. This workshop attracts papers at the frontier between formal problem modeling and problem solving. Papers should see the formal models from the perspective of problem solving and vice versa — problem solving techniques are seen in relation to models of the problem. For example, the paper can discuss the relation between planning domain models and planning algorithms or show how to enhance the domain model by extra information such as control knowledge.
Papers discussing methods on how to obtain information that is useful for efficient problem solving are welcome.

We are in particular interested in papers addressing some of the following questions. How do the formal models relate to efficiency of problem solving? How do various modeling frameworks compare from the perspective of problem solving? How can the model be acquired? How can the model be verified and validated? How can the formal model be reformulated to get an efficiently-solvable model? How can the solution be checked with respect to the model? How does the model evolve in time? How can the model support solution revisions at execution time?

Application papers are also welcome, if they highlight the relation between the formal model of the problem and the solving approach. Description of specific models for specific problems is also possible, if the particular modeling techniques are studied from the perspective of problem solving.

Possible topics of papers:

  • Modeling approaches (problem modeling, knowledge engineering)
  • Formalisms to describe (real-life) problems
  • Languages for problem description
  • Abstraction
  • Ontologies
  • Relations between modeling and solving
  • Automated transformations between formal models
  • Problem re-formulation
  • Formats for specification of heuristics, parameters and control knowledge for solvers
  • Validation of models and solutions
  • Visualization of models
  • Automated model acquisition
  • Tools and applications
  • Examples of particular modeling techniques

 
Submission Procedure:

Submitted papers must be formatted according to IJCAI guidelines
(http://ijcai-16.org/downloads/FormattingGuidelinesIJCAI-16.zip) and submitted electronically through the KnowProS 2016 paper submission site at EasyChair (https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=knowpros2016). Authors are required to submit their electronic papers in PDF format. Submitted technical papers should be no longer than six pages in total (if the length of your paper is longer, please contact the organizers prior submission). Include your names and affiliations (but no page numbers) in the submission. At least one author of each accepted paper is required to attend the workshop to present the work.

 
Important Dates:

Submission: April 18, 2016
Notification: May 23, 2016
Camera-ready: June 6, 2016
Workshop: July 9-11, 2016 (one day)

 
Organizers:

Roman Barták, Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic
Lee McCluskey, University of Huddersfield, UK
Enrico Pontelli, New Mexico State University, USA

 
Program Committee:

Marcello Balduccini, Drexel University
Chitta Baral, Arizona State University
Roman Barták, Charles University in Prague
Mark Boddy, Adventium Labs
Luis Castillo, University of Granada
Amedeo Cesta, CNR – National Research Council of Italy
Lukáš Chrpa, University of Huddersfield
Marc Denecker, K.U.Leuven
Patrick Doherty, Linkoping University
Agostino Dovier, Universita degli Studi di Udine
Esra Erdem, Sabanci University
Jeremy Frank, NASA Ames
Simone Fratini, European Space Agency – ESA/ESOC
Michael Gelfond, Texas Tech University
Patrik Haslum, Australian National University
Tomi Janhunen, Aalto University
Christopher Kiekintveld, University of Texas at El Paso
Sven Koenig, University of Southern California
Ugur Kuter, Smart Information Flow Technologies
Yuliya Lierler, University of Nebraska at Omaha
Daniele Magazzeni, King’s College London
Lee McCluskey, University of Huddersfield
Sheila McIlraith, University of Toronto
Enrico Pontelli, New Mexico State University
Scott Sanner, NICTA
Tran Son, New Mexico State University
Torsten Schaub, University of Potsdam
Tiago Stegun Vaquero, Caltech & MIT
Neng-Fa Zhou, CUNY Brooklyn College and Graduate Center
Hankz Hankui Zhuo, Sun Yat-sen University