***  Apologies if you have received this CFP more than once  ***

                  ANTS 2014
           Ninth International Conference on
              Swarm Intelligence

           September 10-12, 2014. Brussels, Belgium


         Call for papers prepared on January 21, 2014
          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 Springer's 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.


Submission Instructions
=======================

Submitted papers must be between 8 and 12 pages long, written in 
English, typeset in LaTeX, and formatted in the LNCS Springer style.
Detailed submission instructions are available on the conference 
web site. Papers should be submitted using ConfTool: 
https://www.conftool.net/ants2014/


Invited speakers
================

Prof. Simon Garnier, New Jersey Institute of Technology & Rutgers 
University will deliver the invited speech titled “All roads 
lead to the mound”.
More invited speakers will be listed on the conference web pages.


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


Social program
==============

Attendees will be invited to join the organising committee at a 
dinner offered by the host lab.


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: [log in to unmask]



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

Submission deadline                March  2, 2014
Notification of acceptance         April 30, 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