2nd CALL FOR PAPERS: Artificial Life XI
The Eleventh International Conference on the Simulation and Synthesis of Living Systems
5th - 8th August 2008, Winchester, UK
www.alifexi.org
You are invited to submit papers to the upcoming Eleventh International Conference on Artificial Life. Please forward this call responsibly.

NEWS
- Keynote speakers announced!
- ALIFE XI goes online and open-access with MIT Press!
- ALIFE XI themes announced!
- ALIFE XI wiki and discussion forums launched!

See here for information.

IMPORTANT DATES
- 29 February 2008: Full paper submission deadline
- 18 April 2008: Notice of acceptance for full papers
- 25 April 2008: Abstract submission deadline
- 9 May 2008: Camera ready deadline
- 5-8 August 2008: Conference dates

OVERVIEW
Artificial life investigates the fundamental properties of living systems through simulating and synthesizing biological entities and processes in artificial media. Summer 2008 will see the international Alife conference hosted by the University of Southampton, UK, bringing the meeting to Europe for the first time in its 21-year history. Over the last two decades, some of the highly speculative ideas that were discussed at the field's inception have matured to the extent that new conferences and journals devoted to them are being established: synthesising artificial cells, simulating massive biological networks, exploiting biological substrates for computation and control, and deploying bio-inspired engineering are all now cutting-edge practice. The ALIFE XI conference provides an opportunity for those working across these topics to get together and exchange ideas and results. To this end, the conference will present a selection of the best current work in the field, highlight new directions for investigation, and present high-profile keynote speakers.

Papers are welcome in all areas of the field, including:

* Synthesis and origin of life, self-organization, self-replication, artificial chemistries
* Evolution and adaptation, evolutionary dynamics, evolutionary games, coevolution, major evolutionary transitions, levels of selection, ecosystems
* Development, differentiation, and regulation; generative representations
* Synthetic biology
* Self-organizing technology, self-* computing and computational ecosystems
* Unconventional and biologically inspired computing
* Bio-inspired robots and embodied cognition, autonomous agents, evolutionary robotics
* Collective behavior, communication, cooperation
* Artificial consciousness; the relationship between life and mind
* Philosophical, ethical, and cultural implications
* Mathematical and philosophical foundations of Alife, new and creative syntheses

All authors are encouraged to explain how their work sheds light on the fundamental properties of living systems and makes progress on the important open questions identified at previous meetings.

Several artificial life themes have been proposed as live research topics around which conference sessions may organise. See here for details.

The conference will be held in Winchester, a beautiful historic city in southern England known for its 11th-century cathedral and 12th-century castle. Winchester is set in forested countryside about an hour southwest of London and Heathrow airport, and a few miles from the host institution, the University of Southampton.

PAPER/ABSTRACT FORMAT
There are two options for submission: either full paper format or abstract format. Full papers have an 8 page maximum length, while abstracts are limited to 500 words. Every submission will be subject to full peer review. All accepted submissions will be allocated an oral presentation slot with no distinction being made between the two submission formats. All formatting guidelines (including word and latex style files) and submission instructions will soon be available on the conference submission page.

PUBLICATION
Every accepted full-paper and abstract submission will be published by MIT Press in a single online open-access proceedings volume. The best 15-20 papers will have the opportunity to be published in special issues of the MIT Press journal Artificial Life.

ORGANIZATION
Seth Bullock (chair), Jason Noble, Richard Watson, Mark Bedau

HOST INSTITUTION
School of Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton, UK

CONTACT
For further information about the conference program, travel, accommodation, and local arrangements, please see the rest of this website, www.alifexi.org. For questions about the submission and reviewing process, please email submissions@alifexi.org. For all other questions, contact questions@alifexi.org.