Due to the large number of requests received, the submission
deadline has been extended to the 16th of March.






ANTS 2014
Ninth International Conference on
Swarm Intelligence

September 10-12, 2014. Brussels, Belgium


Call for papers prepared on October 28, 2013
More details and up-to-date information at
http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/ants2014



Scope of the Conference
=======================

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 2014 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 10-12, 2014.


Relevant Research Areas
=======================

ANTS 2014 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
===================

Accepted papers will be published in conference proceedings that
will be published by Springer in the LNCS series.

The journal Swarm Intelligence will publish a special issue
dedicated to ANTS 2014 that will contain extended versions of the
best research works presented at the conference. Further details
will be published on the web site.



Best Paper Award
================

A best paper award will be presented at the conference. The prize
winner will receive a certificate signed by the conference
organizers and a bronze sculpture of an ant expressly created for
the ANTS conference by the Italian sculptor Matteo Pugliese ---
http://www.matteopugliese.com



Further Information
===================

Up-to-date information will be published on the web site
http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/ants2014/. 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 2014
IRIDIA, 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/ants2014
1050 Bruxelles, Belgium email: ants@iridia.ulb.ac.be



Important Dates
===============

Submission deadline March 16, 2014
Notification of acceptance May 7, 2014
Camera ready copy May 14, 2014
Conference September 10-12, 2014



ANTS 2014 Conference Committee
============================

General Chair:
Marco Dorigo
IRIDIA, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium

Technical Program Chairs:
Simon Garnier
New Jersey Institute of Technology, Rutgers University, NJ, USA
Marco A. Montes De Oca
Dept of Mathematical Sciences, University of Delaware, DE, USA
Christine Solnon
LIRIS, Institut National des Sciences Appliquées de Lyon, France

Publication Chair:
Heiko Hamann
Dept of Computer Science, University of Paderborn, Germany

Organization Chairs:
Mauro Birattari
IRIDIA, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium
Thomas Stützle
IRIDIA, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium

Local Arrangements:
Andreagiovanni Reina
IRIDIA, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium
Lorenzo Garattoni
IRIDIA, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium
Manuele Brambilla
IRIDIA, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium