FOIS 2012: First call for papers

[Maureen Donnelly]

apologies for cross-posting ... 


CALL FOR PAPERS

7th International Conference on Formal Ontologies in Information Systems (FOIS 2012)    
held together with the 3rd International Conference on Biomedical Ontology (ICBO 2012), July, 24-27, 2012 in Graz, Austria
http://purl.org/icbofois2012

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DEFINITION AND SCOPE
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Ontology, originally a fundamental part of philosophical enquiry, is concerned with the analysis and categorization of what exists. In recent years, however, a complementary focus of ontological inquiry gained significant momentum fueled by the advent of complex information 
systems which rely on robust and coherent representations of their subject matter.  The systematic study of such representations, their reasoning techniques and their relations to reality, are at the center of the modern discipline of formal ontology.

Formal ontology in this modern sense is now a research focus in such diverse domains as conceptual modeling, database design, software engineering, organizational modeling, artificial intelligence, computational linguistics, the life sciences, bioinformatics, geographic information 
science, knowledge engineering, information retrieval, and the semantic web. Researchers in all these areas increasingly recognize the need for serious engagement with ontology, understood as a general theory of the types of entities and relations making up their respective 
domains of enquiry, in providing a solid foundation for their work. 

The FOIS conference is designed to provide a meeting point for researchers from all disciplines with an interest in formal ontology. The conference encourages submission of high quality articles on both theoretical issues and concrete applications. As in previous years, FOIS 2012 is 
intended as a nexus of interdisciplinary research and communication.

The FOIS conference series began with the first meeting in Trento, Italy in June 1998 followed by meetings in 2001, 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2010.  The seventh FOIS conference will be held in Graz, Austria July 24-27, 2012, in conjunction with the 3rd International Conference on 
Biomedical Ontology (ICBO 2012). 

FOIS is the flagship conference of the International Association for Ontology and its Applications (IAOA),
which is a non-profit organization the purpose of which is to promote interdisciplinary research and international collaboration at the intersection of philosophical ontology, linguistics, logic, cognitive science, and computer science, as well as in the applications of ontological 
analysis to conceptual modeling, knowledge engineering, knowledge management, information-systems development, library and information science, scientific research, and semantic technologies in general.

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TOPICS OF INTEREST
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We seek high-quality papers on a wide range of topics. While authors may focus on fairly narrow and specific issues, all papers should emphasize the relevance of the work described to formal ontology and to information systems. Papers that completely ignore one or the other of 
these aspects will be considered as lying outside the scope of the meeting. Topic areas of particular interest to the conference are:

Foundational Issues

* Kinds of entity: particulars/universals, continuants/occurrents, abstracta/concreta, dependent entities/independent entities, natural objects/artifacts
* Formal relations: parthood, identity, connection, dependence,
constitution, subsumption, instantiation
* Vagueness and granularity
* Identity and change
* Formal comparison among ontologies
* Ontology of physical reality (matter, space, time, motion, ...)
* Ontology of biological reality (genes, proteins, cells, organisms, ...)
* Ontology of artifacts, functions and roles
* Ontology of mental reality and agency (beliefs, intentions, emotions, ...)
* Ontology of social reality (institutions, organizations, norms,
social relationships, artistic expressions, ...)
* Ontology of the information society (information, communication,
meaning negotiation, ...)
* Ontology and Natural Language Semantics, Ontology and Cognition

Methodologies and Applications

* Top-level vs application ontologies
* Ontology integration and alignment; role of reference ontologies
* Ontology-driven information systems design
* Ontological foundations for conceptual modeling
* Ontology-based application systems
* Requirements engineering
* Knowledge engineering
* Knowledge management and organization
* Knowledge representation; Qualitative modeling
* Computational lexicons; Terminology
* Information retrieval; Question-answering
* Semantic web; Web services; Grid computing
* Domain-specific ontologies, especially for: Biomedical science, E-business,
Enterprise integration, Engineering, Geography, Law, Library science, Linguistics, ...

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IMPORTANT DATES
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We are calling for papers to be considered for inclusion in FOIS 2012.

Paper Submission Deadline: January 31, 2012
Notification: March 8, 2012
Camera-Ready Deadline for accepted papers: March 24, 2012
Conference Dates: July, 24-27, 2012

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CONFERENCE ORGANISATION
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Conference chair: Michael Gruninger (University of Toronto, Canada)
Program chairs: Maureen Donnelly (University at Buffalo, USA) and 
Giancarlo Guizzardi (Federal University of Espírito Santo, Brazil)
Local organization: Stephan Schulz (Gratz University, Austria)

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PROGRAM COMMITTEE (TENTATIVE)
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Achille Varzi (Columbia University, New York, USA)
Alan Rector (University of Manchester, UK) 
Albert Goldfain (University at Buffalo, USA)
Aldo Gangemi (ISTC-CNR, Rome, Italy)
Alessandro Lenci (University of Pisa, Italy)
Antony Galton (University of Exeter, UK)
Barry Smith (University at Buffalo, USA)
Bill Andersen (Highleet, Inc., USA)
Brandon Bennett (University of Leeds, UK)
Carola Eschenbach (University of Hamburg, Germany)
Chris Menzel (Texas A&M University, USA)
Chris Welty (IBM Research, Hawthorne, USA)
Christiane Fellbaum (Princeton University, USA)
Claudio Masolo (ISTC-CNR, Trento, Italy)
Colin Batchelor  (Royal Society of Chemistry, UK)
David Mark (University at Buffalo, USA)
Decio Krause (Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), Brazil)
Fabian Neuhaus (NIST, USA) 
Florian Probst (SAP, Germany)
Frank Loebe (University of Leipzig, Germany)
Fred Freitas (Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil)
Frederico Fonseca (Penn State University, USA)
Gerd Wagner (Brandenburg University of Technology, Germany)
Heinrich Herre (University of Leipzig, Germany)
Jan Dietz (Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands)
Janna Hastings (University of Geneva, Switzerland) 
Jeffrey Parsons (Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada)
Jerome Euzenat (INRIA, Grenoble, France)
Jerry Hobbs (University of Southern California, USA)
Johanna Seibt (University of Aarhus, Denmark)
John Bateman (University of Bremen, Germany)
John Mylopoulos (University of Toronto, Canada)
John Sowa (Vivomind Intelligence Inc., USA)
Joost Breuker (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
Krzysztof Janowicz, (UCLA, USA)
Laure Vieu (CNRS-IRIT, Toulouse, France)
Leo Obrst (The Mitre Corporation, USA)
Leonardo Lesmo (University of Torino, Italy)
Maria Luiza Machado Campos (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Mark Musen (Stanford University, USA)
Martin Doerr (Foundation for Research and Technology, Greece)
Mathias Brochhausen (University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, USA)
Matteo Cristani (University of Verona, Italy)
Mauricio Barcelos de Almeida (Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil)
Michael F. Uschold (Semantic Arts, Canada)
Michael Gruninger (University of Toronto, Canada)
Michael Sintek (DFKI GmbH, Kaiserslautern, Germany)
Michel Dumontier (Carleton University, Canada)
Nicola Guarino (ISTC-CNR, Trento, Italy)
Olivier Bodenreider (National Library of Medicine, USA)
Oscar Pastor (Polytechnic University of Valencia, Spain)
Paul Buitelaar (National University of Ireland, Galway)
Peter Rittgen (University College Boras, Sweden)
Pierdaniele Giaretta (University of Verona, Italy)
Pierre Grenon (Open University, UK)
Ricardo Falbo (Federal University of Espírito Santo, Brazil)
Riichiro Mizoguchi (University of Osaka, Japan)
Robert Hoehndorf (University of Cambridge, UK) 
Roberta Ferrario (ISTC-CNR, Trento, Italy)
Roberto Casati (CNRS-EHSS, Paris, France)
Stefano Borgo (ISTC-CNR, Trento, Italy)
Terry Halpin  (LogicBlox, Australia)
Terry Langendoen (University of Arizona, USA)
Thomas Bittner (University at Buffalo, USA)
Ulrike Sattler (University of Manchester, UK)
Veda Storey (Georgia State University, USA)
Werner Ceusters (University at Buffalo, USA)
Werner Kuhn (University of Munster, Germany)
William McCarthy (Michigan State University, USA)
Yair Wand (University of British Columbia, Canada)