MAS&Complexity 2005

 Multi-Agent Systems and Complexity
Complexity, Science and Society Conference
Session on Multi-Agent Systems and Complexity
Call for Participation
Liverpool will be the host for an exciting conference on
Complexity, Science and Society between
11-14 September 2005. One session planned for this conference will be devoted to Multi-Agent
Systems and Complexity.
Areas of Interest
Agent models have long been applied in economics and the social sciences as models of complex phenomena.
In recent years, the design and study of systems of software agents
has arisen in Computer Science, where it promises to change the prevailing object-oriented
paradigm in software
engineering (see:
Luck, McBurney and Preist 2003, Zambonelli and Parunak 2003). Such agent models treat the individual agents as intelligent, autonomous
entities engaged in purposeful interaction with one another, and study both the decision-making
processes of the individual agents and the mechanisms for interaction between them. This
deeply theoretical
and very applied work in Computer Science has
created the possibility of significantly more sophisticated multi-agent computer
models of real-world complex, adaptive systems.
Conversely, it is possible to conceive of complex computational systems, such as the Internet,
as systems of interacting, intelligent agents. The design, management and control of these
systems may therefore benefit from learnings in the social and physical sciences regarding
complex, adaptive systems. Several major computer hardware vendors have
recently announced initiatives in which these ideas figure prominently: HP's utility
computing, IBM's on demand computing, and Sun's N1 systems.
This conference session aims to explore these ideas from both directions: multi-agent
systems (MAS) as models of complex phenomena, and complex computational systems viewed as systems
of interacting agents. Because both threads involve several theoretical and applied
disciplines, the session hopes to generate multi-disciplinary conversations, debate and exchange.
Topics of possible interest include (but are not limited to):
Designing multi-agent societies as models of complex, adaptive systems
Calibration of multi-agent system models against real world systems
Management and control of complex, adaptive systems
The impact of agent intelligence on system design and control.
Any and all perspectives will be welcome on these questions: philosphical, methodological,
mathematical and computational. Moreover, applications in any domain are welcome: e.g., social,
physical or biological sciences, public policy, busines strategy, marketing, etc.
Participation and Publication
Intending participants are requested to submit a short (500-1000 word) statement of
research interests. Participants may present a long paper (20-30 minutes), a short statement
of research interests (5-10 minutes) or a system demonstration (15 minutes). Participants
wishing to submit a long paper will be required to complete a draft version of this 5
weeks before the Conference, so that it can be included in the informal session proceedings
at the Conference.
Participants wishing to present papers are asked to complete the Paper Presentation Form by
1 April 2005. This form is available in both
MS WORD and
PDF format.
It is currently planned that papers arising from the session will be published subsequently
in a refereed forum, such as a journal special issue or an edited volume. An open invitation will be made to participants and others to
submit a paper for post-conference
publication in this forum. The arrangements and formatting instructions
for post-conference publication will be
announced following negotiations with appropriate publishers.
Session Organization
It is planned to organize the session around 2 or 3 themes, which will be selected on
the basis of the interests of the participants. Thus, the themes will only be finalized following
receipt of the Expressions of Interest. Each theme will include a mix of long and short
presentations, and (if relevant) system demonstrations.
Important Dates (Tentative)
1 April 2005: Expressions of Interest due (500-1000 words)
1 May 2005: Acceptance decisions
1 August 2005: Initial papers for Session Proceedings due (up to 5000 words)
11-14 September 2005: Conference
1 November 2005: Revised camera-ready papers due for post-conference publication.
References
M. Luck, P. McBurney and C. Preist [2003]:
Agent Technology:
Enabling Next Generation Computing. A Roadmap for Agent Based Computing.
AgentLinkII, the European Network of Excellence for Agent-Based Computing, Southampton,
UK.
F. Zambonelli and V. D. Parunak [2003]: "Sign of a revolution in computer science and
software engineering." In: P. Petta, R. Tolksdorf and F. Zambonelli (Editors):
Engineering Societies in the Agents' World. Lecture Notes in Artificial
Intelligence, volume 2577. Berlin, Germany: Springer, 2003.
For further information, please contact:
Dr Peter McBurney
Department of Computer Science
University of Liverpool
Liverpool L69 3BX
U.K.
Email: p.j.mcburney -at- csc.liv.ac.uk
This web-page has the URL:
http://www.csc.liv.ac.uk/~peter/research/mas-complexsys-0905.html
From here, you can return to my
home page.
© 2004 Peter McBurney