CNL 2009 - Call for Submissions

[Norbert E. Fuchs]

***************************************************************************************
                                                 Call for Submissions

                                                         CNL 2009
                                Workshop on Controlled Natural Languages
                                     http://attempto.ifi.uzh.ch/site/cnl2009/

                                           Marettimo Island, Sicily  
(Italy)
                                                   8-10 June 2009
***************************************************************************************


Controlled natural languages (CNLs) are subsets of natural languages,  
obtained
by restricting the grammar and vocabulary in order to reduce or  
eliminate
ambiguity and complexity. Traditionally, controlled languages fall  
into two
major types: those that improve readability for human readers, and  
those that
enable reliable automatic semantic analysis of the language. [...] The  
second
type of languages has a formal logical basis, i.e. they have a formal  
syntax
and semantics, and can be mapped to an existing formal language, such as
first-order logic. Thus, those languages can be used as knowledge  
representation
languages, and writing of those languages is supported by fully  
automatic
consistency and redundancy checks, query answering, etc.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controlled_natural_language)

Various controlled natural languages of the second type have been  
developed by a
number of organisations, and have been used in many different  
application
domains, most recently within the semantic web.

This workshop is dedicated to discussing the similarities and  
differences of
existing controlled natural languages of the second type, possible  
improvements
to these languages, relations to other knowledge representation  
languages, tool
support, existing and future applications, and further topics of  
interest.


Topics
---------
CNL 2009 will address the following aspects of controlled natural  
languages
(CNLs):

- design of CNLs
- parsing of CNLs
- CNLs for knowledge representation
- CNLs for specifications
- CNLs and the semantic web
- CNLs as user interface
- CNLs for interaction and communication
- tool support for CNLs
- reasoning in CNLs
- comparisons of CNLs
- applications of CNLs
- business rules
- user studies
- theoretical results
- etc.

The workshop will be informal with lots of time for presentations and
discussions in the fashion of the seminars organised at Dagstuhl in  
Germany
(http://www.dagstuhl.de/programm/dagstuhl-seminare). To ensure the  
informal
atmosphere the number of participants will be limited.


Submission Details
---------------------------
We invite researchers to submit extended abstracts of exactly 4 pages  
(inclusive
references). These extended abstracts will be intensively reviewed by  
several
members of the programme committee. Authors of accepted extended  
abstracts will
be invited to present their research at the workshop. Revised versions  
of the
accepted abstracts will be published before the workshop as a  
technical report
of the Department of Informatics of the University of Zurich. During the
workshop authors will have one full hour to present their work and to  
have it
discussed by the participants. All authors are then invited to submit  
a full
paper of up to 20 pages (inclusive references) that takes the  
discussions during
the workshop into account.  Full papers will again be reviewed by the  
programme
committee. Revised versions of the full papers will be published by  
Springer in
their LNCS/LNAI series.

Extended abstracts and full papers should use the Springer LNCS  
format. Extended
abstracts must be submitted electronically in PDF format. For  
submissions we use
EasyChair (http://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=cnl2009).


Venue
---------
The workshop will take place on the Italian island Marettimo at the  
Marettimo
Residence (http://www.marettimoresidence.com/inglese/home.php) that  
consists of a set
of two-storey houses within a beautiful garden. On top of the garden  
of the
residence there is a large lecture hall with wireless internet.

Marettimo is the outermost of the Egadian Islands to the west of  
Sicily, and is
easily reached from the airports of Palermo and Trapani. Marettimo  
offers the
simple and relaxed life of southern Italy, unspoilt landscape,  
stupendous
views, hiking, swimming, diving, boat trips, and excursions on  
donkeys.  There
are several restaurants and bars, and some shops. What the island does  
not
offer: traffic - there are practically no roads - fancy shops and  
restaurants,
night life, and sandy beaches.


Accommodation
----------------------
The Marettimo Residence (http://www.marettimoresidence.com/inglese/home.php 
) offers
one- and two-bedroom apartments with fully equipped kitchens. A number  
of
apartments for the participants of CNL 2009 will be reserved until  
early 2009 at
a price 10% below the regular price. Participants should get into  
direct contact
with the Marettimo Residence to organise their accommodation.  
Alternative
accommodations on Marettimo can be found via the internet.


Conference Dinner
--------------------------
A conference dinner will be arranged during the workshop, and will be  
paid
individually by the participants.


Important Dates
---------------------
Deadline for submissions of extended abstracts: 14 November 2008
Notification of acceptance of extended abstracts: 9 January 2009
Participants contact Marettimo Residence concerning accommodation: end  
of January 2009
Revised versions of extended abstracts: 13 March 2009
Workshop: 8-10 June 2009
Deadline of submission of full papers: 4 August 2009
Feedback on full papers: 2 October 2009
Revised versions of full papers: 6 November 2009


Program Committee
---------------------------
Piero Bonatti (University of Naples, Italy)
Johan Bos (University of Rome "La Sapienza", Italy)
Peter E. Clark (Boeing, Seattle, USA)
Hamish Cunningham (University of Sheffield, UK)
Enrico Franconi (University of Bolzano, Italy)
Norbert E. Fuchs (University of Zurich, Switzerland) (chair)
Glen Hart (Ordnance Survey, Southampton, UK)
Jerry R. Hobbs (USC/ISI, USA)
Kaarel Kaljurand (University of Zurich, Switzerland)
Peter Koepke (University of Bonn, Germany)
Tobias Kuhn (University of Zurich, Switzerland)
Ian Pratt-Hartmann (University of Manchester, UK)
Stephen Pulman (University of Oxford, UK)
Mike Rosner (University of Malta, Malta)
Rolf Schwitter (Macquarie University, Australia)
John Sowa (VivoMind, USA)
Silvie Spreeuwenberg (LibRT, Amsterdam, Netherlands)
Uta Schwertel (imc, Germany)
Yorick Wilks (University of Sheffield, UK)


Further Information
--------------------------
http://attempto.ifi.uzh.ch/site/cnl2009/


Organisation
------------------
Norbert E. Fuchs (University of Zurich, Switzerland)
fuchs at ifi.uzh.ch