Alife XIII

The Thirteenth International Conference on the Synthesis and Simulation of Living Systems

"Evolution in Action"

July 19–22, 2012, Michigan State University
East Lansing, Michigan, USA
http://www.alife13.org

You are invited to submit papers to the upcoming Thirteenth International Artificial Life Conference. Please forward this call responsibly.

I. OVERVIEW

It is a great pleasure for the BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action at Michigan State University to host the 13th International Artificial Life Conference. Artificial life (ALife) refers to the synthesis and simulation of living systems as these occur in nature and also to possible alternative life forms and concepts that may not have occurred in natural evolution—that is, not only in “life-as-we-know-it”, but also “life-as-it-might-be”. ALife research may use not only biochemical models, but also computer models and robotics. The Artificial Life conference is held every other year under the auspices of the International Society for Artificial Life (ISAL), alternating with the European Conference on Artificial Life.

This year’s major conference theme is "Evolution in Action." Life is shaped by evolutionary processes, and ALife models are a powerful way to investigate and utilize this key characteristic of living systems. We encourage submissions by biologists as well as by computer scientists and engineers, especially interdisciplinary papers that explore the many ways that evolution and artificial life research intersect. Other tracks this year include Behavior & Intelligence, Collective Dynamics, Synthetic Biology, and The Humanities and ALife. See the list of tracks below for examples of topics that may fall under these headings.

II. KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Steven Benner, Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution, Synthetic Biology

Oron Catts, University of Western Australia, Biotechnology & Art

Benjamin Kerr, University of Washington, Experimental Evolution

Radhika Nagpal, Harvard University, Self-Organizing Systems

Jack Szostak, 2009 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Evolution in Action

III. IMPORTANT DATES

• Full paper/abstract submission deadline: 26 February 2012
• Notice of acceptance for full papers: 22 April 2012
• Early Registration deadline (required for presenting authors): 14 May 2012
• Camera ready deadline: 14 May 2012
• Conference: 19-22 July 2012

IV. SUBMISSIONS

A submission can either be in the form of a full paper or an extended abstract. Full papers have an 8 page maximum length, while abstracts are limited to two pages. Graphics and figures are encouraged. All submissions must be made using a pre-formatted MS Word or LaTeX template, which is available from the conference site.

All submissions will be subject to peer review. Submissions may be accepted as either a talk or as a poster, with no distinction being made between the two submission formats.

Every accepted full paper will be published by the MIT Press in an online open-access proceedings volume. The top 10 accepted papers will have the opportunity to publish a revised and expanded version in the Artificial Life journal.

NOTE: In addition to the main conference, ALIFE 13 will host related workshops and tutorials. Details on proposing such events can be found on the conference web site.

V. TRACKS

• Evolution in Action – Including evolutionary dynamics, simulations of evolution, developmental systems, experimental evolution, viral and bacterial evolution, evolution of drug resistance.
• Behavior & Intelligence – Including animal behavior; evolution of cognition and intelligence; evolutionary robotics; embedded systems.
• Collective Dynamics – Including group selection; evolution and stability of ecosystems; network dynamics; social dynamics; evolution of cooperation and conflict; collective motion and swarming in animals and animats.
• Synthetic Biology – Including synthetic cells, synthetic organisms, biological engineering, artificial genetic systems, artificial chemistry, origin of life, paleogenetics
• The Humanities and ALife – Including art, music, history and philosophy of artificial life.

See the conference web site www.alife13.com for more detailed descriptions of each of the tracks.

VI. LOCATION & LOGISTICS

The conference will be held in East Lansing, Michigan, home of Michigan State University (MSU). Sessions will take place at MSU’s Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center, located on the Red Cedar River on the edge of campus and within walking distance of downtown East Lansing.

Flights are available directly into Lansing, Michigan’s Capital City Airport. Alternatively, one may fly to Detroit and then take a bus (the Michigan Flyer – www.michiganflyer.com) from Detroit Metro Airport to East Lansing.

Accommodations: A block of rooms in the Kellogg Center hotel will be available, as well as some university dormitory rooms. See the conference web page for further information.

VII. ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

• Charles Ofria – Organizing Chair
• Chris Adami – Program Chair
• Adam Brown – Art Advisory Committee Chair
• David Bryson – Technology Chair
• Erik Goodman – Engineering Advisory Committee Chair
• Connie James – Local Logistics Chair
• Taylor Kelsaw – Sponsorship Chair
• Richard Lenski – Scientific Advisory Committee Chair
• Phil McKinley – Workshops & Tutorials Chair
• Robert T. Pennock – Publicity & Proceedings Chair
• Danielle Whittaker – BEACON Coordination Chair

VIII. HOST INSTITUTION

BEACON Center for the Study of Evolution in Action

Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, U.S.A.

BEACON is a National Science Foundation (NSF) Science and Technology Center founded with the mission of illuminating and harnessing the power of evolution in action to advance science and technology and benefit society. Research at BEACON focuses on biological evolution, digital evolution, and evolutionary applications in engineering, uniting biologists who study natural evolutionary processes with computer scientists and engineers who are harnessing these processes to solve real-world problems.

For more information see the BEACON web site at: http://beacon-center.org/

IX. CONTACT INFORMATION

For further information about the conference program, travel, accommodation, and local arrangements, please see http://www.alife13.org/. For questions not addressed on the web site, please email info@alife13.org.

The Thirteenth International Conference on the Synthesis and Simulation of Living Systems will be held July 19-22, 2012 at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan, USA.