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Call for Papers, Tutorials and Thematic Workshops

New Conference Feature:  BABYBOT CHALLENGE

IEEE ICDL-EPIROB 2015

The Fifth Joint IEEE International Conference on Development and Learning and on Epigenetic Robotics

Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA 

August 13-16, 2015 

http://www.icdl-epirob.org/

== Conference description

The past decade has seen the emergence of a new scientific field that studies how intelligent biological and artificial systems develop sensorimotor, cognitive, emotional and social abilities, over extended periods of time, through dynamic interactions with their physical and social environments. This field lies at the intersection of a number of scientific and engineering disciplines including Neuroscience, Developmental Psychology, Developmental Linguistics, Cognitive Science, Computational Neuroscience, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Robotics. Various terms have been associated with this new field such as Autonomous Mental Development, Epigenetic Robotics, Developmental Robotics, etc., and several scientific meetings have been established. The two most prominent conference series of this field, the International Conference on Development and Learning (ICDL) and the International Conference on Epigenetic Robotics (EpiRob), are now joining forces for the fifth time and invite submissions for a joint conference in 2015, to explore and extend the interdisciplinary boundaries of this field.

== BABYBOT CHALLENGE -- CASH PRIZES FOR THE TOP SUBMISSIONS

We are excited to announce a new ICDL-EpiRob conference feature: the BABYBOT CHALLENGE. The goal of the challenge is to use the tools of developmental robotics to replicate and extend the key findings from one of three selected human-infant studies. Please visit www.icdl-epirob.org for the full announcement, including the three target studies, details on the submission process, and a description of how the winning submissions will be judged and selected. 

== Keynote speakers (confirmed)

Prof. Dare Baldwin, Dept. of Psychology, University of Oregon, USA

Prof. Kerstin Dautenhahn, School of Computer Science, University of Hertfordshire, UK

Prof. Asif Ghazanfar, Department of Psychology, Princeton University, USA

== Call for Submissions

We invite submissions for this exciting window into the future of developmental sciences. Submissions which establish novel links between brain, behavior and computation are particularly encouraged.

== Topics of interest include (but are not limited to):

* the development of perceptual, motor, cognitive, emotional, social, and communication skills in biological systems and robots; 

* embodiment; 

* general principles of development and learning; 

* interaction of nature and nurture; 

* sensitive/critical periods; 

* developmental stages; 

* grounding of knowledge and development of representations; 

* architectures for cognitive development and open-ended learning; 

* neural plasticity; 

* statistical learning; 

* reward and value systems; 

* intrinsic motivations, exploration and play; 

* interaction of development and evolution; 

* use of robots in applied settings such as autism therapy; 

* epistemological foundations and philosophical issues. 

Any of the topics above can be simultaneously studied from the neuroscience, psychology or modeling/robotic point of view.

== Submissions will be accepted in several formats:

1. Full six-page paper submissions: Accepted papers will be included in the conference proceedings and will be selected for either an oral presentation or a featured poster presentation. Featured posters will have a 1 minute "teaser" presentation as part of the main conference session and will be showcased in the poster sessions. Maximum two-extra pages can be acceptable for a publication fee of $100 per page.

2. Two-page poster abstract submissions: To encourage discussion of late-breaking results or for work that is not sufficiently mature for a full paper, we will accept 2-page abstracts. These submissions will NOT be included in the conference proceedings. Accepted abstracts will be presented during poster sessions.

3. Tutorials and workshops: We invite experts in different areas to organize either a tutorial or a workshop to be held on the first day of the conference. Tutorials are meant to provide insights into specific topics as well as overviews that will inform the interdisciplinary audience about the state-of-the-art in child development, neuroscience, robotics, or any of the other disciplines represented at the conference. A workshop is an opportunity to present a topic cumulatively. Workshops can be half- or full-day in duration including oral presentations as well as posters. Submission format: two pages including title, list of speakers, concept and target audience.

4.  Babybot challenge (Deadline June 15, 2015): Special submissions are invited for the Babybot challenge, which is for the first time introduced to this conference. For detailed information please visit www.icdl-epirob.org and navigate to “Babybot Challenge.” 

All submissions will be peer reviewed. 

Submission website through paperplaza at: http://ras.papercept.net

== Important dates

March 9, 2015, paper submission deadline

May 15, 2015, author notification

July 1, 2015, final version (camera ready) due

August 13th-16th, 2015, conference

== Program committee

General Chairs:

Matthew Schlesinger (Southern Illinois Univ.)

Dima Amso (Brown University)

Bridge Chairs:

Jeffrey Krichmar (UC Irvine)

Bertram Malle (Brown University)

Program Chairs:

Anne Warlaumont (UC Merced)

Clemént Moulin-Frier (INRIA)

Publications Chairs:

Lisa Meeden (Swarthmore College)

Publicity Chairs:

Lola Cañamero (Univ. of Hertfordshire)

Matthias Rolf (Osaka University)

Benjamin Rosman (CSIR)

Local chairs:

David Sobel (Brown University)

Thomas Serre (Brown University)

Finance chairs:

Clayton Morrison (University of Arizona)

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