ANTS 2010 - 2010 Seventh International Conference on Swarm Intelligence (ANTS 2010)

Swarm intelligence is a relatively new discipline that deals with the study of self-organizing processes both in nature and in artificial systems. Researchers in ethology and animal behavior have proposed many models to explain interesting aspects of social insect behavior such as self-organization and shape-formation. Recently, algorithms and methods inspired by these models have been proposed to solve difficult problems in many domains.

An example of a particularly successful research direction in swarm intelligence is ant colony optimization, the main focus of which is on discrete optimization problems. Ant colony optimization has been applied successfully to a large number of difficult discrete optimization problems including the traveling salesman problem, the quadratic assignment problem, scheduling, vehicle routing, etc., as well as to routing in telecommunication networks. Another interesting approach is that of particle swarm optimization, that focuses on continuous optimization problems. Here too, a number of successful applications can be found in the recent literature. Swarm robotics is another relevant field. Here, the focus is on applying swarm intelligence techniques to the control of large groups of cooperating autonomous robots.

ANTS 2010 will give researchers in swarm intelligence the opportunity to meet, to present their latest research, and to discuss current developments and applications.

The three-day conference will be held in Brussels, Belgium, on September 8-10, 2010.

Relevant Research Areas
ANTS 2010 solicits contributions dealing with any aspect of swarm intelligence. Typical, but not exclusive, topics of interest are:
Behavioral models of social insects or other animal societies that can stimulate new algorithmic approaches.
Empirical and theoretical research in swarm intelligence.
Application of swarm intelligence methods, such as ant colony optimization or particle swarm optimization, to real-world problems.
Theoretical and experimental research in swarm robotics systems.
Publication Details
Conference proceedings will be published by a major publisher and distributed to the participants at the conference site. Very likely, the proceedings will be published by Springer in the LNCS series, as those of the last four editions of the ANTS Conference. The journal Swarm Intelligence will publish a special issue dedicated to ANTS 2010 that will contain extended versions of the best research works presented at the conference.

Best Paper Award
A best paper award will be presented at the conference. Continuing the tradition of the ANTS Conference Series, the prize winner will receive a sculpture of an ant expressly created for the ANTS Conference by the Italian sculptor Matteo Pugliese.

Further Information
Up-to-date information will be published on the web site http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/ants2010/. For information about local arrangements, registration forms, etc., please refer to the above-mentioned web site or contact the local organizers at the address below.

Conference Address
ANTS 2010
IRIDIA-CoDE, CP 194/6 Tel +32-2-6502729
Université Libre de Bruxelles Fax +32-2-6502715
Av. F. D. Roosevelt 50 http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/ants2010/
1050 Bruxelles, Belgium email: ants-AT-iridia.ulb.ac.be

Conference Location
Salle Dupreel, Building S, Campus du Solbosch, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Av. Jeanne 44, 1050 Brussels, Belgium.

Important Dates
Submission deadline February 28, 2010
Notification of acceptance April 30, 2010
Camera ready copy May 14, 2010
Conference September 8-10, 2010

ANTS 2010 Conference Committee
General Chair Marco DORIGO, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium

Technical Program Chairs Gianni DI CARO IDSIA, USI-SUPSI, Switzerland
Andries ENGELBRECHT University of Pretoria, South Africa
Luca M. GAMBARDELLA IDSIA, USI-SUPSI, Switzerland
Erol SAHIN Middle East Technical University, Turkey

Publication Chair Roderich GROß École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland

Organization Chairs Mauro BIRATTARI IRIDIA, ULB, Brussels, Belgium
Thomas STÜTZLE IRIDIA, ULB, Brussels, Belgium

Special Sessions Chairs René DOURSAT Institut des Systémes Complexs Paris Ile-de-France, France
Dario FLOREANO École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland
Hiroki SAYAMA Binghamton University, USA
Jon TIMMIS University of York, UK

Publicity Chair: Xiadong LI RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia