[robocup-worldwide] Reminder: 4th PhD School on AI and Robotics - deadline is May 10 sharp

Tue May 9 09:43:03 EDT 2017

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September 4: The Triumph of Light!
The Fourth Lucia PhD School on "Artificial Intelligence and Robotics”
ISR/IST-Lisbon, Portugal
September 4-8, 2017
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SYNOPSIS
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The fields of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Robotics were strongly
connected in the early days of AI, but have since diverged. Today,
and with few exceptions, they are regarded as separate fields, with
separate communities and scientific traditions. Typical graduate
student curricula concentrate on AI or on robotics, but rarely on
both. Students in one area are seldom aware of the concepts, methods,
and achievements in the other one. This separation is often
exacerbated by the barriers among traditional academic disciplines.

Despite this separation, many now feel that the two fields ought to be
brought together towards the development of fully integrated intelligent
robots. The 4th Lucia School on AI and Robotics provides a concrete
step to fill this educational gap, and to create the next generation of
researchers who will realize integrated intelligent robots. These
researchers should be familiar with the methods in the two fields, and
should be able to work across their traditional boundaries. They should
combine theoretical insights from both areas with practical
understanding of physical robotic systems.

This School will provide graduate students in AI and in Robotics a
unique training and human experience. Students will be exposed to
technologies at the forefront of research in AI and in Robotics. They will
have the opportunity to discuss their research work with top level
scholars as well as other students, and to extend their networks.

This School continues the tradition of successful "Lucia" Winter Schools
on AI and Robotics started in 2013 (see http://aass.oru.se/Agora/Lucia).  
This fourth edition of the School is special in two respects: it is the
first one taking place in Summer; and it is the first one outside
Sweden.  In addition, this edition is scheduled between two exciting
robotics conference, both taking place in Lisbon:

* IEEE RO-MAN 2017, August 28-31, 2017 (http://www.ro-man2017.org/site/)
* IEEE ICDL-EPIROB 2017, September 18-21, 2017 (http://www.icdl-epirob.org)

You may want to make the most of your time in Lisbon, and stay for those
conferences as well!

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FORMAT
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The School will run for one week, Monday to Friday, September 4-8,
and will offer a mixture of traditional advanced lectures and
innovative features. The latter include: 

o Two full-day sessions on specific topics.

o One day devoted to applications of integrated AI and Robotics,
including industrial perspectives and major EU projects.

o An introduction session where students will have an opportunity to
present their experience and research topics to everyone.

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TOPICS 
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o Integration of AI and Robotics
o Decision theoretic planning under uncertainty
o Semantic mapping
o Cooperatve perception
o Learning by Self-Exploration
o AI-Robotics competitions
o Service robot applications

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CONFIRMED SPEAKERS 
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o Aamir Ahmad, Max-Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Germany
o Paulo Alvito, IDMind, Portugal
o Alexandre Bernardino, IST - U. Lisbon, Portugal
o Nick Hawes, U. Birmingham, UK
o Robert Krug, KTH, Sweden
o Amit P. Kumar, SoftBank Robtics Europe, France
o Bruno Lacerda, U. Birmingham, UK
o Daniele Nardi, U. Rome “La Sapienza”
o Alessandro Saffiotti, U. Örebro, Sweden

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ATTENDANCE AND APPLICATIONS
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PhD students from any institution in any part of the world can apply
to the School. Applications by motivated early-stage postdocs are
also welcome. Applicants are not expected to have any specific
previous experience in the above topics, but they are expected to have
a strong background in robotics or in artificial intelligence, along
with the curiosity and drive in exploring the integration between the
two. Applications by women and minorities are strongly encouraged.

The total number of participants is limited to a maximum of 30. To apply for
admission, send the following material to the Chair (pedro.lima at tecnico.ulisboa.pt)
of the school:

1) a full CV, specifying the start date of the PhD
2) a 1/2 page description of the PhD thesis topic
3) a recommendation letter by the PhD advisor
4) a transcript of records of the BSc and MSc courses
5) a motivation letter: what do you expect to gain from the school,
what experience you will bring to the school, not to exceed 1 page 

Documents should be in PDF format and packed as a single ZIP or TAR
archive. Applications must be received by May 10, 2017, strict and sharp deadline.
Late applications will not be processed. Admission decisions will be
mailed on May 22, 2017. Quality and motivation of the applicant will be
the main selection criteria; balance across fields, genders, and
geographical areas may be used to break ties.

There is no registration fee. Admitted students will be offered accommodation, 
free admission to courses, course material, coffee breaks, lunches, receptions
and a social dinner.

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SPONSORSHIP
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This School is supported by Ithe 
Institute for Systems and Robotics/LARSyS, through its
Strategic Funding FCT UID/EEA/50009/2013.

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ORGANIZATION
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o Chair:
- Pedro U. Lima, Institute for Systems and Robotics, IST, Portugal

o Advisory Committee:
- Alessandro Saffiotti, University of Örebro, Sweden
- Federico Pecora, University of Örebro, Sweden

o Steering Committee
- Joachim Hertzberg, University of Osnabruck, Germany
- Daniele Nardi, Sapienza University, Italy
- Kanna Rajan, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway, and University of Porto, Portugal

o Local organization:
- Rodrigo Ventura, Institute for Systems and Robotics, IST, Portugal
- Meysam Basiri, Institute for Systems and Robotics, IST, Portugal
- Pedro Miraldo, Institute for Systems and Robotics, IST, Portugal

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IMPORTANT DATES
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- May 10, 2017: (sharp) Deadline for applying to the school 
- May 22, 2017: Admission decisions
- Sep 3: Students arrive and check in at the hotel
- Sep 4-8, 2017: Lecture days
- Sep 9, 2017: Students check out at the hotel and leave

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SCHOOL HOMEPAGE
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http://lucia.isr.tecnico.ulisboa.pt

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