CFP workshop on "Scheduling a Scheduling Competition"
Forum 'Annonces' - Sujet créé le 2007-06-19
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CALL FOR PAPERS
International Workshop on
Scheduling a Scheduling Competition
http://pst.istc.cnr.it/ssc-at-icaps-07/
To be held in conjunction with the
17th International Conference on Automated Planning & Scheduling
September 22nd-26th 2007, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
=====================================================================
Overview
--------
Scheduling is a capability central to a large and diverse range of practical
applications and has been a core subject of research for many years. Research in
automated scheduling has produced a large number of solution techniques and
support tools, many of which have had a major impact on productivity and cost-
effectiveness of operations in specific applications. One broad reason for
differences in solution approaches has been differences in the various
application contexts that have inspired scheduling research. The particular
characteristics of different classes of application problems have naturally
biased researchers towards particular solution techniques. Another reason is the
fact that scheduling research is fragmented across different research
communities. Research within the respective disciplines of AI and OR has given
rise to different classes of solution approaches, rooted in different core
technologies such as constraint reasoning, mathematical programming or heuristic
search. This workshop attempts to understand if and how it is possible to
compare such different approaches in a common competition, to be held regularly
at the ICAPS venue.
Why now?
--------
Many fields have benefited from the organization of a competition. The
international competitions in planning (IPC), SAT and QBF, knowledge engineering
for planning and scheduling (ICKEPS), as well as more distant domains such as
robotics (RoboCup) have fostered measurable advancements in their respective
fields. Whether this will be the case in scheduling remains to be seen,
although it is likely that a competitive approach to evaluation in a field as
fragmented as scheduling could greatly foster cross-fertilization and synergy
among researchers with different backgrounds. In addition to the generic
benefits a competition can bring to the scientific community, the event can also
help to further bridge the gap between theory and practice in scheduling by
introducing benchmarks that are grounded in application problems posed by
industry. The feasibility of this applications focus stems from the already
strong bias in some areas of scheduling towards industrial problems. Given the
heterogeneous nature of scheduling, the premises for a successful competition
need to be discussed and agreed upon by a critical mass of researchers in these
distinct fields. Specifically, the aim of the discussion is to:
* collectively discuss the prospect of a scheduling competition in terms of
its potential benefits to the research community on one hand, and
to industry on
the other;
* assess the feasibility of a common evaluation framework for different
scheduling approaches;
* identify common features of problems and algorithms which derive from
traditionally different scheduling contexts.
ICAPS is by nature open to different approaches for automated planning and
scheduling. Although the technical track of the conference has predominantly
focused on AI approaches, we believe that a regular scheduling competition can
contribute to broadening the scope of ICAPS to include approaches that have
received less attention in the past.
Topics of Interest
------------------
This workshop will strive to establish the feasibility as well as the key
issues concerning the establishment of a scheduling competition at the ICAPS
venue. We invite contributions and encourage discussion on topics related to
the theoretical, organizational and practical challenges entailed by a
scheduling competition. These include, but are not limited to, the following.
* Classification of scheduling problems, categorization of scheduling
algorithms, and proposals for tracks.
* Metrics and benchmarks for evaluating scheduling techniques.
* Domains/problems suited for competition evaluation.
* Knowledge representation for scheduling and the need (or not) for a common
reference problem formalism.
* Computational aspects of benchmarking for scheduling.
* Lessons learned and ideas from other competitions (e.g., IPC, SAT, QBF and
ICKEPS competitions).
Format
------
The workshop is oriented towards accepting papers that offer concrete proposals
for realizing the scheduling competition or address topics directly relevant to
this goal. The workshop will be structured to allow ample time for discussion
and interaction. The workshop will last one full day, with an agenda including
the following:
* An invited talk from a senior member of the scheduling community, intended
to give a cross-area perspective on competition criteria.
* Selected papers accepted by the program committee will be presented in short
sessions (2-3 papers) on a common theme.
* To foster interaction and comparisons, a member of the PC will be assigned
to each theme and provide a brief commentary at the end of the
workshop on the
collection of contributions pertaining to that theme.
Submission Information
----------------------
We welcome original papers that bring forth and motivate proposals for the
operational implementation of the competition, including but not limited to the
topics listed above. We particularly welcome papers which provide a cross-
disciplinary perspective. Participants are requested to submit one of the
following:
* Full Paper --- Technical papers addressing one or more of the workshop
topics indicated above. Full papers can be up to 8 pages in length.
* Position Paper --- Shorter papers which bring forth strong but not yet fully
developed ideas related to the topics above. Position papers can be up to 4
pages in length.
* Statement of Interest --- Although first preference will be given to full
and position paper submissions, we anticipate room for a restricted
number of
additional attendees and request that these individuals contribute
with a one-
page statement of interest.
The first page of all papers should include the title, a brief abstract, and
author names, affiliations, postal addresses, electronic mail addresses, and
telephone and fax numbers.
Accepted full papers will appear in the workshop proceedings. One desired
outcome of the workshop is to produce a special issue of the Journal of
Scheduling on the fundamental issues related to implementing a scheduling
competition. Authors of accepted papers will be invited to submit expanded
versions of their workshop papers for consideration in this special issue.
Authors are encouraged to submit papers electronically in postscript or PDF
format. Papers should be formatted using the AAAI style (see ICAPS '07
conference call).
Please send your submissions by email to
ssc07@istc.cnr.it
no later than June 15th, 2007 using the subject line "SSC-07 Workshop
Submission".
Confidentiality of submissions will be maintained during the review process.
All submitted materials for rejected papers will be kept confidential in
perpetuity. All submitted materials for accepted papers will be kept
confidential until the date of the workshop, September 22nd, 2007.
Submissions should not include information that will be confidential or
proprietary at the time of publication.
Important Dates
---------------
The schedule of important dates for the workshop is as follows:
* Paper submission deadline June 15th, 2007
* Notification of acceptance July 13th, 2007
* Camera-ready version deadline July 27th, 2007
* Workshop date Sept. 22nd, 2007
Organization
------------
Workshop Chairs
Federico Pecora (ISTC-CNR)
Nicola Policella (ESA, European Space Agency)
Programme Committee
Roman Bartak (Charles University)
Chris Beck (University of Toronto)
Peter Brucker (Universitat Osnabruck)
Amedeo Cesta (ISTC-CNR)
Eric Demeulemeester (KU Leuven)
Enrico Giunchiglia (Università di Genova)
Claude Le Pape (ILOG S.A.)
Sanja Petrovic (University of Nottingham)
David E. Smith (NASA Ames Research Center)
Stephen F. Smith (Carnegie Mellon University)
Pascal van Hentenryck (Brown University)
CALL FOR PAPERS
International Workshop on
Scheduling a Scheduling Competition
http://pst.istc.cnr.it/ssc-at-icaps-07/
To be held in conjunction with the
17th International Conference on Automated Planning & Scheduling
September 22nd-26th 2007, Providence, Rhode Island, USA
=====================================================================
Overview
--------
Scheduling is a capability central to a large and diverse range of practical
applications and has been a core subject of research for many years. Research in
automated scheduling has produced a large number of solution techniques and
support tools, many of which have had a major impact on productivity and cost-
effectiveness of operations in specific applications. One broad reason for
differences in solution approaches has been differences in the various
application contexts that have inspired scheduling research. The particular
characteristics of different classes of application problems have naturally
biased researchers towards particular solution techniques. Another reason is the
fact that scheduling research is fragmented across different research
communities. Research within the respective disciplines of AI and OR has given
rise to different classes of solution approaches, rooted in different core
technologies such as constraint reasoning, mathematical programming or heuristic
search. This workshop attempts to understand if and how it is possible to
compare such different approaches in a common competition, to be held regularly
at the ICAPS venue.
Why now?
--------
Many fields have benefited from the organization of a competition. The
international competitions in planning (IPC), SAT and QBF, knowledge engineering
for planning and scheduling (ICKEPS), as well as more distant domains such as
robotics (RoboCup) have fostered measurable advancements in their respective
fields. Whether this will be the case in scheduling remains to be seen,
although it is likely that a competitive approach to evaluation in a field as
fragmented as scheduling could greatly foster cross-fertilization and synergy
among researchers with different backgrounds. In addition to the generic
benefits a competition can bring to the scientific community, the event can also
help to further bridge the gap between theory and practice in scheduling by
introducing benchmarks that are grounded in application problems posed by
industry. The feasibility of this applications focus stems from the already
strong bias in some areas of scheduling towards industrial problems. Given the
heterogeneous nature of scheduling, the premises for a successful competition
need to be discussed and agreed upon by a critical mass of researchers in these
distinct fields. Specifically, the aim of the discussion is to:
* collectively discuss the prospect of a scheduling competition in terms of
its potential benefits to the research community on one hand, and
to industry on
the other;
* assess the feasibility of a common evaluation framework for different
scheduling approaches;
* identify common features of problems and algorithms which derive from
traditionally different scheduling contexts.
ICAPS is by nature open to different approaches for automated planning and
scheduling. Although the technical track of the conference has predominantly
focused on AI approaches, we believe that a regular scheduling competition can
contribute to broadening the scope of ICAPS to include approaches that have
received less attention in the past.
Topics of Interest
------------------
This workshop will strive to establish the feasibility as well as the key
issues concerning the establishment of a scheduling competition at the ICAPS
venue. We invite contributions and encourage discussion on topics related to
the theoretical, organizational and practical challenges entailed by a
scheduling competition. These include, but are not limited to, the following.
* Classification of scheduling problems, categorization of scheduling
algorithms, and proposals for tracks.
* Metrics and benchmarks for evaluating scheduling techniques.
* Domains/problems suited for competition evaluation.
* Knowledge representation for scheduling and the need (or not) for a common
reference problem formalism.
* Computational aspects of benchmarking for scheduling.
* Lessons learned and ideas from other competitions (e.g., IPC, SAT, QBF and
ICKEPS competitions).
Format
------
The workshop is oriented towards accepting papers that offer concrete proposals
for realizing the scheduling competition or address topics directly relevant to
this goal. The workshop will be structured to allow ample time for discussion
and interaction. The workshop will last one full day, with an agenda including
the following:
* An invited talk from a senior member of the scheduling community, intended
to give a cross-area perspective on competition criteria.
* Selected papers accepted by the program committee will be presented in short
sessions (2-3 papers) on a common theme.
* To foster interaction and comparisons, a member of the PC will be assigned
to each theme and provide a brief commentary at the end of the
workshop on the
collection of contributions pertaining to that theme.
Submission Information
----------------------
We welcome original papers that bring forth and motivate proposals for the
operational implementation of the competition, including but not limited to the
topics listed above. We particularly welcome papers which provide a cross-
disciplinary perspective. Participants are requested to submit one of the
following:
* Full Paper --- Technical papers addressing one or more of the workshop
topics indicated above. Full papers can be up to 8 pages in length.
* Position Paper --- Shorter papers which bring forth strong but not yet fully
developed ideas related to the topics above. Position papers can be up to 4
pages in length.
* Statement of Interest --- Although first preference will be given to full
and position paper submissions, we anticipate room for a restricted
number of
additional attendees and request that these individuals contribute
with a one-
page statement of interest.
The first page of all papers should include the title, a brief abstract, and
author names, affiliations, postal addresses, electronic mail addresses, and
telephone and fax numbers.
Accepted full papers will appear in the workshop proceedings. One desired
outcome of the workshop is to produce a special issue of the Journal of
Scheduling on the fundamental issues related to implementing a scheduling
competition. Authors of accepted papers will be invited to submit expanded
versions of their workshop papers for consideration in this special issue.
Authors are encouraged to submit papers electronically in postscript or PDF
format. Papers should be formatted using the AAAI style (see ICAPS '07
conference call).
Please send your submissions by email to
ssc07@istc.cnr.it
no later than June 15th, 2007 using the subject line "SSC-07 Workshop
Submission".
Confidentiality of submissions will be maintained during the review process.
All submitted materials for rejected papers will be kept confidential in
perpetuity. All submitted materials for accepted papers will be kept
confidential until the date of the workshop, September 22nd, 2007.
Submissions should not include information that will be confidential or
proprietary at the time of publication.
Important Dates
---------------
The schedule of important dates for the workshop is as follows:
* Paper submission deadline June 15th, 2007
* Notification of acceptance July 13th, 2007
* Camera-ready version deadline July 27th, 2007
* Workshop date Sept. 22nd, 2007
Organization
------------
Workshop Chairs
Federico Pecora (ISTC-CNR)
Nicola Policella (ESA, European Space Agency)
Programme Committee
Roman Bartak (Charles University)
Chris Beck (University of Toronto)
Peter Brucker (Universitat Osnabruck)
Amedeo Cesta (ISTC-CNR)
Eric Demeulemeester (KU Leuven)
Enrico Giunchiglia (Università di Genova)
Claude Le Pape (ILOG S.A.)
Sanja Petrovic (University of Nottingham)
David E. Smith (NASA Ames Research Center)
Stephen F. Smith (Carnegie Mellon University)
Pascal van Hentenryck (Brown University)