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Call for Papers, Tutorials and Thematic Workshops

IEEE ICDL-EPIROB 2014
The Fourth Joint IEEE International Conference on Development and Learning and on Epigenetic Robotics

Palazzo Ducale, Genoa, Italy
October 13-16, 2014
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 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 fourth time and invite submissions for a joint conference in 2014, to explore and extend the interdisciplinary boundaries of this field.

== Keynote speakers
Prof. Dana Ballard, Dept. of Computer Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, USA
Prof. Cristina Becchio, Dept. of Psychology, University of Turin, ITALY
Prof. Tetsur Matsuzawa, Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, JAPAN
Prof. Harold Bekkering, Donders Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Holland

== 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 euros 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. Workshop 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.

All submissions will be peer reviewed.
Submission website through paperplaza at: http://ras.papercept.net

== Important dates
May 15th, 2014, paper submission deadline (EXTENDED)
July 15th, 2014, author notification
August 31st, 2014, final version (camera ready) due
October 13th-16th, 2014, conference

== Program committee

General Chairs:
Giorgio Metta (IIT, Genoa)
Mark Lee (Univ. of Aberystwyth)
Ian Fasel (Univ. of Arizona)

Bridge Chairs:
Giulio Sandini (IIT, Genoa)
Masako Myowa-Yamakoshi (Univ. Kyoto)

Program Chairs:
Lorenzo Natale (IIT, Genoa)
Erol Sahin (METU, Ankara)

Publications Chairs:
Francesco Nori (IIT, Genoa)

Publicity Chairs:
Katrin Lohan (Heriot-Watt, Edinburgh)
Gordon Cheng (TUM, Munich)

Local chairs:
Alessandra Sciutti (IIT, Genoa)
Vadim Tikhanoff (IIT, Genoa)

Finance chairs:
Andrea Derito (IIT, Genoa)