Call for Bids to host EUMAS 2020

[George Vouros]

Call for Bids to host EUMAS 2020


We are currently soliciting bids to host the 18th European Conference on Multiagent Systems (EUMAS) in 2020. We will consider bids from all European regions.

Bids should be made by individuals or small groups, with the backing of a host institution (typically a university or research center). Please note that we seek bids from volunteers from the scientific community.

All correspondence regarding bids should be directed by to the EURAMAS board member serving as liaison for EUMAS, George Vouros ( georgev at unipi.gr <mailto:georgev at unipi.gr>). You are encouraged to get in touch well before the deadline and discuss any questions you may have.

The deadline for submitting a bid is 30 of June 2019.

Background


The 18th European Conference on Multi-Agent Systems (EUMAS 2020) will follow the tradition of previous editions (Oxford 2003, Barcelona 2004, Brussels 2005, Lisbon 2006, Hammamet 2007, Bath 2008, Agia Napa 2009, Paris 2010, Maastricht 2011, Dublin 2012, Toulouse 2013, Prague 2014, Athens 2015, Valencia 2016, Evry 2017, Bergen Norway  2018), and aims to encourage and support activity in the research and development of multi- agent systems, in academic and industrial efforts.

EUMAS is primarily intended as a European forum for anybody interested in the theory and practice of autonomous agents and multi-agent system to meet, present challenges, preliminary and mature research results. The conferences include a variety of activities, such as plenary keynote talks, parallel sessions, poster sessions, and social events. Tutorials or specialized meetings in forms of workshops may also be planned.

EUMAS is a designated event of the European Association of Multi-Agent Systems (EURAMAS) whose Board of Directors is elected by the EUMAS research community, membership in which is defined on the basis of attendance at EUMAS conferences. The EURAMAS website (http://www.euramas.org <http://www.euramas.org/>) provides links to the past conferences.   

The Board seeks neither to obtain a surplus nor a deficit but wishes to shepherd the community's funds with the best care.

The Board recognises that the costs of attending conferences has risen significantly over the years and is actively working on helping to reverse this trend. We therefore particularly encourage hosts with access to reasonably priced venues and experience in obtaining outside sponsorship to submit a bid.

The Board selects conference hosting bids, and – in cooperation with local organizers- nominates and selects program chairs. 

Collocation with other conferences is an option to be considered, but EUMAS participants should register in EUMAS and get the formal proceedings of the conference.

Constraints on Timing and Size

Regarding timing, the Board suggests that EUMAS is held at least two weeks before AAMAS. Special care needs to be taken not to conflict with other national or international conferences attended by the members of the community, while conflicts to paper submission deadlines must be avoided as well. 

Also, the submission deadline for EUMAS should be 10 days after the AAMAS notification date.

Based on past experience and trends, we expect the attendance of EUMAS-2020 to be approximately 100 people, but we need to reach the wider European community possible. Plenary sessions need to be scheduled in a hall of sufficient size.

Hosts can lower expenses by using university facilities for the conference programs. This is strongly encouraged whenever possible.

Bid Content and Purpose

Bids are geared towards determination of responsibility for local arrangements and designation of a Local Arrangements Chair. Bids will be reviewed by the EURAMAS Board.

A bid should consist of a short statement that explains why you meet the criteria listed below. A bid should include estimates of the following expenses:

charges for the conference venue
charges for food and drinks (coffee, lunches, reception, banquet)
typical hotel and student housing costs
airfares from a few cities
To ease the work of the Board, please express all prices mentioned in the bid in Euros. 

Each bid should identify the proposed team of organizers, and include full contact details. The bid should be led by a member of the scientific community (i.e., an active researcher in the field served by EUMAS), who should remain available to respond to clarification requests, which often come up during review.

The bid document submitted should not exceed 5 pages.

Criteria for Assessing EUMAS Bids

The following criteria will be used for evaluation:

Affordability:
will it be possible to contain the costs associated with the organization of the conference so as to be able to offer affordable registration fees to participants? Fees will be determined together with the EURAMAS Board, but bidders may wish to indicate possible measures for containing costs already at the proposal stage. Please include an estimate of regular and student registration fees.

Sponsorship:

            EUMAS organizers are expected to attract financial support through sponsorship and the bid should provide evidence on specific national and international sources of sponsorship.

Site Location:
attractiveness to conference attendees, as well as those accompanying the attendees (i.e., nearby attractions, tours, restaurants, and night clubs). Will people *want* to attend?

Transportation:
location with respect to major air routes and local transportation (trains, buses, automobiles). It is important that the venue be conveniently reachable for attendees. 

Dates:
relation to possibly conflicting special or local holidays; to conflicting or synergistic conventions or special events at the same time or immediately before or after the conference.

Climate and Season:
particularly as these factors affect (1) the availability of rooms and rate structure (and provide some negotiating edge with the hotels); and (2) attendance by the local community.

Facilities:
quantity, quality, availability of meeting rooms, meeting support services, and exhibition hall. This factor is linked to the choice of accommodation, as it may be desirable to co-locate meeting facilities and accommodation. Please include preliminary information regarding any space and equipment rental fees that may be incurred by the conference.

Accommodation:
accommodation options should range from business hotels to student housing. Please include ballpark figures for hotel room rates.

Experience:
ability of the local organizers in organizing the event.

Supporting Scientific Community:
the presence of regional and local research communities to support the conference and which will benefit from its occurrence. It may be worth exploiting synergies by co-locating with related events.

Backing of Host Institution:
does the organizers' institution support the conference? Host institutions sometimes can provide free or low-cost facilities for the conference. They can loan equipment such as projectors and wireless routers. They can provide access to their housing facilities. The use of institutional facilities or equipment might constrain the schedule, but that might be a worthwhile trade-off.

Supporting Local Industry:
is there local or national industry that may be willing to support the conference in some way? 

Volunteer Labor:
availability of an active local group willing to help out before, during, and after the conference.

Special Needs Arrangements:
ability to accommodate various special needs of participants, including dietary restrictions (e.g., Kosher, Halal, vegetarian, vegan) and physical disabilities (e.g., wheelchair access, facilities for individuals with hearing/visual impairments).

 
 
 

George Vouros

Professor
Dept of Digital Systems, 
ICT School,
University of Piraeus
Greece

URL: http://ai-group.ds.unipi.gr/georgev/ <http://ai-group.ds.unipi.gr/georgev/>
Email: georgev at unipi.gr <mailto:georgev at unipi.gr>
Voice: +30 210 4142552



-------------- nächster Teil --------------
Ein Dateianhang mit HTML-Daten wurde abgetrennt...
URL: <https://lists.tu-clausthal.de/cgi-bin/mailman/private/ifi-ci-event/attachments/20190423/75b8c1ee/attachment.html>