- RoboCup-worldwide - lists.robocup.org

Call for Nominations: ACM/SIGAI Autonomous Agents Research Award
by Nicholas Mattei 20 Nov '23

20 Nov '23

[Apologies for Multiple Postings] Nominations are solicited for the 2024 ACM SIGAI Autonomous Agents Research Award. This award is made for excellence in research in the area of autonomous agents. It is intended to recognize researchers in autonomous agents whose current work is an important influence on the field. The award is an official ACM award, funded by an endowment created by ACM SIGAI from the proceeds of previous Autonomous Agents conferences. The recipient of the award will receive a monetary prize and a certificate, and will be invited to present a plenary talk at the AAMAS 2024 conference. How to Nominate Anyone can make a nomination. Nominations should be made by filling out the below google form, and should consist of a short (< 1 page) statement that emphasizes not only the research contributions that the individual has made that merit the award but also how the individual’s current work is an important influence on the field. NOTE: a candidate can only be considered for the award if they are explicitly nominated. If you believe that someone deserves the award, then NOMINATE THEM — don’t assume that somebody else will! For any questions please contact Manuela Veloso (Award Chair, mmv(a)cs.cmu.edu) or Nicholas Mattei (SIGAI Vice Chair, nsmattei(a)gmail.com). Nomination Link: https://forms.gle/Fg4StTpk85sNKmdt5 Important Dates - 15 December 2023 — Deadline for nominations - 30 January 2024 — Announcement of winner - 6 – 10 May 2024 — AAMAS-2024 conference in Auckland, New Zealand --Nick -- *Nicholas Mattei* Assistant Professor, Tulane University nsmattei(a)tulane.edu | www.nickmattei.net Stanley Thomas Hall | 305B +1 504 865 5782 Department of Computer Science Tulane University 6823 St Charles Ave New Orleans, LA 70118

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[meetings][CFP][ICSR 2023] Call For Robot Design Competitions
by Alessandra Rossi 18 Nov '23

18 Nov '23

Dear colleagues, We are very pleased to invite you to participate in the Robot Design Competition at the 15th International Conference of Social Robotics (ICSR 2023 <https://icsr23.qa/>) that will be held in Doha, Qatar on December 4-7, 2023. Please find below the full call. -> https://icsr23.qa/competitions/ More information can also be found on the website and social media: website: https://icsr23.qa/ IG: @icsr23_qa Twitter: @icsr23_qa Facebook: @icsr2023 ICSR 2023 conference Kind regards, Alessandra Rossi Publicity Chair ******************* Apologies for cross-posting ******************** [image: image.png] *International Conference on Social Robotics* December 4-7, 2023, Doha, Qatar https://icsr23.qa IG: @icsr23_qa Twitter: @icsr23_qa Facebook: @icsr2023 ============================================================================== *IMPORTANT DATES* *Entry Submission: November 25, 2023* *Finalists Notification: November 30, 2023 * *Winner Announcement: December 7, 2023* The design and development of various kinds of robots, and their intelligence and behavior have been evolving continuously. The new era of robotics is witnessing the increasing release of new innovative robots with a diverse set of applications. Especially, the past few years have provided more recognition to robots and their importance in various domains of life. - How can robots be part of our life, enrich our life experience, assist, serve and entertain us? - Where is the new generation of these social robots heading? What are the innovative societal applications? What impact are they capable of making? - What are the key enabling technologies that are being improved? - How do we see greater involvement of useful robots in education, wellbeing, space, tourism, and various other sectors? *SUBMISSION* If you have a solid idea/working prototype, send your entries to the flagship Robot Design Competition, organized by ICSR 2023, which is now under the Global Robotics, Art, and Science Synergies (GRASS). We also encourage cross-disciplinary experts/teams to bring impactful solutions for the betterment of society. Each submission should have a (maximum) 2-page summary. The template is flexible; however, it should include a concise abstract/synopsis of a maximum of 50 words, and enough details to judge the technical novelty of the proposed solution and/or innovative applications of robots. A single link of related video can be included. Video link is optional, and the maximum duration of the video should be 3 minutes. Keep in mind it is not a scientific publication, but the description of a robotics innovation with potential to be developed as a project. Competition chairs, with the help from experts and reviewers, will select the finalists. Each finalist is supposed to register and present their entry at a dedicated session in the conference, which will be further evaluated by the Jury of peers. Email your submission at icsr23(a)qu.edu.qa with the subject line starting with: [ICSR 2023 Competition] *REWARDS AND AWARDS* Winners and runners-up in the following categories will be selected : *Innovative Idea*: The entries, which are innovative but are in the early stages of conceptualization will be considered for this category. *Innovative Solution*: The entries, which have demonstrated maturity of the proposed solution through prototypes will be considered for this category. *Innovative Application: *The entries, which have targeted specific applications through robotics solutions will be considered for this category. *Benefits to the finalists:* - Dedicated slot to present during the final round in the conference. - A unique opportunity to exhibit the entry during the conference in the exhibition areas, through looped video display. - Opportunity to have post-event mentorship through industry and academics experts. *Certificate and Prize:* For each category, the winners and runners-up will be awarded with certificates and prize money of USD 300 and USD 200 respectively. *COMPETITION CHAIR* Amit Kumar Pandey, Rovial Space, France

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Initial Call for Participation: The 2024 IEEE-RAS Response Robotics Seasonal School and Workshop
by Raymond Sheh 08 Nov '23

08 Nov '23

Hi All! We are delighted to announce our next Response Robotics Seasonal School and Workshop, to be held in March 2024! Please see below for the current Call for Participation and visit https://responserobotics.org for the latest updates. Please do forward this on to any interested students and researchers and don't hesitate to contact us, either via the mailing list or Discord server on the website, or via email to info(a)responserobotics.org if you have any questions. Cheers! - Raymond Sheh ======== Initial Call for Participation ======== The 2024 IEEE-RAS Response Robotics Seasonal School and Workshop March 4-7, 2024 Reveille Proving Grounds, Burnet, TX, USA and Online Co-located with the 2024 Texas Public Safety Robotics Summit https://responserobotics.org | info(a)responserobotics.org === Introduction: === The 2024 IEEE-RAS Response Robotics Seasonal School and Workshop (RRSS+W) is a 4-day-long immersive academic research event for undergraduate and graduate research students, mentors of high school research robotics teams, and early career researchers, on the challenges and best-in-class solutions for applied response robotics. It is financially sponsored by the IEEE-RAS and student travel support scholarships are available for IEEE-RAS students. It is co-located with the 2024 Texas Public Safety Robotics Summit (TXPS, https://www.txpsrobots.com/ ), a high profile industry event for responders, manufacturers, and government agencies. Attendees of the RRSS+W will have a unique opportunity to engage with and learn from the end users about how their technologies might be used, manufacturers on the challenges of transitioning technologies from the lab into the real world, and various regulatory bodies on the risk management and legal landscape within which these technologies must operate. === Format: === In-person and online participants in the RRSS+W will have the opportunity to participate in lectures and panel discussions on topics ranging from theoretical techniques to real world applications. In addition, in-person participants will have the opportunity to participate in: - Hands-on practical sessions that give attendees an in-depth opportunity learn about a specific topic. - Demonstration and test sessions that allow attendees to deploy their own robots within the test methods and scenarios, and observe other robots being tested. - A workshop poster session that allows attendees to present their work to other attendees as well as the attendees of the TXPS, including those who may have an interest in adopting these technologies. - Social events that promote networking between RRSS+W attendees as well as the rest of the response robotics ecosystem. === Topics: === This year will highlight three topics that have been identified as being of particular up-and-coming interest in the response robotics space. We are particularly soliciting the involvement of students who are interested in these topics. - Novel communication technologies for challenging response environments. - Integration of Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (aka UAS, RPAS, or aerial drones) into response robotics applications. - Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Risk Management Challenges for the Response Robotics ecosystem. We are also encouraging students who are interested in broader response robotics topics to attend, including, but not limited to: - 3D mapping and indoor/outdoor navigation in unstructured environments. - Mobility in challenging terrain and among 3D obstacles. - Dexterous manipulation and inspection. - Transition of technologies into real world unstructured environments. - Novel sensors for response robotics. The RRSS+W will also host a roadmap discussion for the RoboCupRescue Robot League, with a focus on engaging with the end user community. We invite past, present, and prospective competitors to join us! === Venue: === The venue hosts both real world scenarios, complete with the uncertainty, weather, and communications challenges that it brings, as well as standard test methods that provide repeatable, reproducible, evaluations of robot capabilities that attendees can replicate in their own labs. Attendees will have a unique opportunity to observe robots of their interest performing in both the scenarios and the test methods, as well as bring their own robots to test and refine over the course of the event. Please check the website and join the mailing list for updates regarding accommodation and transportation arrangements. === Registration and Timelines: === The registration fee for in-person attendance is $300 and includes registration for the broader TXPS. As space is limited, registration is capped and competitive, based on a 1 page cover letter describing their research and how they see their developments assisting responders. Registration will be decided on a rolling basis and closes February 1st, 2024, or when the event reaches capacity so we advise prospective attendees to register early. IEEE-RAS students may use the same letter to apply for a limited number of competitive travel support scholarships that include the fee and a stipend. This is based on a sliding scale, with the goal of partially compensating for the higher travel cost incurred by students from more distant institutions. Travel support applications will be decided on a rolling basis and closes December 31st, 2023, or when all funds have been allocated. Registration details are still being finalized. We encourage interested attendees to email info(a)responserobotics.org with their expression of interest and cover letter. We will follow up when the registration details are finalized. Remote attendance of the lectures will be free of charge, dependent on connectivity. Join the mailing list or keep an eye on the website for details. === Contact: === See https://responserobotics.org for further details, and to join our mailing list and Discord server. Email info(a)responserobotics.org for any questions. -- Dr. Raymond Sheh Uncrewed Aircraft Systems Research Lead and Guest Researcher UAS Portfolio, Public Safety Communications Research Division Communications Technology Laboratory National Institute of Standards and Technology U.S. Department of Commerce 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 8230, Gaithersburg MD 20899-8230, USA Adjunct Associate Research Scientist Whiting School of Engineering Johns Hopkins University Columbia MD, USA Trustee, RoboCup Federation

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[news][training] Robot Fleet Management with Open-RMF Training 2024
by Yuhong Lin 06 Nov '23

06 Nov '23

Call for Participation: Mastering Robot Fleet Management with Open-RMF Training (01/22-01/24, 2024) Dear Roboticists, We are thrilled to announce the 4th "Mastering Robot Fleet Management with Open-RMF Training," scheduled to take place online from January 22 to 24, 2024. Join us from anywhere in the world to learn and gain hands-on experience with Open-RMF. *Training Details:* - *Dates*: 22 – 24 January 2024 - *Location*: Live Online Classes + Remote Real Robot Practice - *Time*: 9:00 – 18:00 Central European Time (CET) - *Seats*: Limited to 15 participants - *Website*: https://www.theconstructsim.com/robot-fleet-management-ros2-open-rmf-traini… <https://www.theconstructsim.com/robot-fleet-management-ros2-open-rmf-traini…> *About the Training:* Join industry mentors for a 3-Day Live Training: Gain practical skills in configuring, deploying, and managing robot fleets with open-source software (Open-RMF), while learning how to apply it to your real multi-robot scenarios. *What You Will Learn:* - RMF basic structure - How to create a compliant RMF simulation - How to set up Free Fleet for autonomous mobile robots - How to set up basic tasks like Deliver, Clean, Patrol, and Charge - How to create your own custom fleet adapter to integrate API and ROS2 systems of your robot into RMF. - How to dock in RMF - How to clean with RMF - How to create a GUI for humans to interact with RMF *Training Highlights:* - Expert instruction from industry professionals - Hands-on experience with real robots - Interactive exercises with simulated robots - Practical application in a real multi-robot environment – Starbots Coffee Lab *Practical Sessions @ Starbots Coffee Lab:* Throughout the training, you will have the opportunity to apply your newfound knowledge in real-world scenarios at the Starbots Coffee Lab, a multi-robot system application. Learn more at https://www.theconstructsim.com/robot-fleet-management-ros2-open-rmf-traini… <https://www.theconstructsim.com/robot-fleet-management-ros2-open-rmf-traini…> . For any inquiries regarding this training, please feel free to contact us at info(a)theconstructsim.com. Best regards, The Construct team

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Last call: 1 week left to apply for RCF-MathWorks Grants
by Luca Iocchi 02 Nov '23

02 Nov '23

Last call: RCF and MathWorks Support for Research Projects 2024 The RoboCup Federation (RCF) and MathWorks, a Global Sponsor of RoboCup, are pleased to announce this call for proposals to support research projects in RoboCup. RCF-MathWorks Support for Research Projects 2024 aims at funding robotics research projects that use MATLAB and Simulink software. The goal is to enable collaboration between RoboCup researchers and MathWorks engineers to foster progress of RoboCup and its leagues. For more info or clarification on the details of this call, please contact info(a)robocup.org <mailto:info@robocup.org> or roboticsarena(a)mathworks.com <mailto:roboticsarena@mathworks.com> Proposal Requirements Proposals in this category must meet *ALL* of the following requirements: 1. Work must be associated with one or more of the research topics listed below. 2. Work must primarily utilize MathWorks software such as MATLAB, Simulink, Stateflow, and other add-on products. Preference may be given if using one or more of the development methods listed below. 3. Project team will be assigned MathWorks contacts, and must arrange and participate in at least 3 progress check-in meetings with them during the course of the project. The team is encouraged to reach out to their MathWorks contacts whenever they have questions. 4. Final deliverables shall be posted publicly after review by MathWorks contacts. Research Topics 1. Navigation and Planning   a. Motion planning and collidion avoidance for manipulators and mobile Robots   b. Motion planning and collision avoidance for humanoid robots 2. Perception and Sensor Fusion   a. Object detection and tracking   b. Lidar and vision-based SLAM   c. Point cloud processing   d. Sensor fusion for pose estimation and localization 3. Control Systems   a. Control of humanoid robots   b. Hybrid systems and behavior   c. Multi-agent systems   d. Robot manipulation and grasping 4. Human-Robot Interaction (HRI)   a. Natural language processing   b. Signal and audio processing 5. Applied Learning-Based Techniques For any of the above topics (Navigation, Perception, Controls, HRI) Development Methods 1. Development tools   a. User interfaces and Web applications   b. Hardware initialization and calibration tools 2. Modeling and simulation   a. Model-based design of software components   b. Physical system simulation and design   c. Behavior modeling: finite-state machines, behavior trees, etc.   d. Multi-agent simulation 3. Embedded systems   a. Implementation to reduce memory, power consumption, etc.   b. Targeting microcontrollers, FPGAs, and GPUs   c. Real-time and hardware-in-the-loop simulation 4. Interfaces to standard platforms   a. Robots, e.g., Toyota, SoftBank, FESTO   b. Software frameworks, e.g., ROS   Support Support will be given as a gift between 5,000 and 10,000 USD depending on quantity and quality of accepted proposals in this category. Teams will be notified of the exact amount awarded upon their proposal being accepted. Funding will be provided directly by RCF after the RoboCup Symposium 2024 if the research and deliverables are completed in a satisfactory manner. Submission A single PDF file should be submitted through the easychair system https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=rcfsupport2024 <https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=rcfsupport2024>. under the Category: RCF and MathWorks Support for Research Projects 2024 The proposal (MAX 6 pages) must include: 1. description of the project, 2. motivations and goals, 3. intended use of MATLAB and/or Simulink software, 4. benefits for RoboCup and for the RoboCup League (not for a single or a few teams), 5. implementation plan and budget. Evaluation Application materials will be evaluated by a committee of RoboCup Trustees and MathWorks engineers. The evaluation of the proposals will be based on (i) the quality of the proposed research; (ii) the research contributions of the applicants, particularly in relation to RoboCup; (iii) the usage of MATLAB and/or Simulink software; and (iv) the impact of the proposed plan on the advancement and visibility of RoboCup. A limited number of awards is expected to be assigned. Deadlines Submission Deadline:   November 10th, 2023 Notification:   November 17th, 2023 Completion of the action: Preliminary work expected to be presented during the RoboCup 2024 Research Symposium, and official content publication by October 2024 Exceptions to this rule must be submitted for approval to the evaluation committee. ** For more information about the call for projects, please contact: info [at] robocup.org **

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Final Version of New Textbook Released: "Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning: Foundations and Modern Approaches" (MIT Press)
by Stefano V. Albrecht 01 Nov '23

01 Nov '23

Dear Colleagues, We're excited to announce that the final version of our new textbook has now been released! Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning: Foundations and Modern Approaches by Stefano V. Albrecht, Filippos Christianos, Lukas Schäfer published by MIT Press, print version scheduled for late 2024 Book website and free download: https://www.marl-book.com Twitter/X announcement: https://twitter.com/UoE_Agents/status/1719656257982804273 New lecture slides for the book will be released in Q1 2024. We hope the book will serve as a useful reference and introduction to the community. -- Dr. Stefano V. Albrecht Associate Professor, School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh Head of Autonomous Agents Research Group (https://agents.inf.ed.ac.uk) Royal Society Industry Fellow, Five AI/Bosch (www.five.ai<http://www.five.ai>) Royal Academy of Engineering Industrial Fellow, Dematic/KION (www.dematic.com<http://www.dematic.com>) The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336. Is e buidheann carthannais a th’ ann an Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann, clàraichte an Alba, àireamh clàraidh SC005336.

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Call for Participation - RoboCup 2024 Soccer Simulation 2D League
by MROA 29 Oct '23

29 Oct '23

Call for Participation RoboCup 2024 Soccer Simulation 2D League July 15 – July 21, 2024 Eindhoven, Netherlands https://2024.robocup.org/ <https://2023.robocup.org/> ===================================== Greetings RoboCuppers, We invite you to participate in the RoboCup 2024 Soccer Simulation League 2D competition, which will take place *July 15 – July 21, 2024*, in *Eindhoven, Netherlands*. The RoboCup Soccer Simulation 2D League is one of the oldest RoboCup Soccer competitions. It is based on the RoboCup Soccer Simulator that enables two teams of 11 simulated autonomous robots plus an autonomous coach agent to play a soccer game with very realistic rules and gameplay. The RoboCup Soccer Simulator is an outstanding research and educational tool for multiagent systems, artificial intelligence, and machine learning due to its stability. ===================================== To view the full Call for Participation document, please visit: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1O02gc-9HZ3x95NnirHg45S3Z0uiZVIKwIKfXi1G… ===================================== If you are interested in participating, please pre-register your team and submit the required qualification materials. Pre-registration and Qualification Deadline: *February 1st – 23:59 UTC* - Submit information via *the online form* - It is recommended that you pre-register as soon as possible to ensure that you receive the latest update. - Submit* Information, TDP and Log Files *via the online form - https://forms.gle/hGe1gtnqpXrBtD8G8 Qualification Notification: *Feb 15th – 23:59 UTC* ===================================== If you have any questions or concerns, please email us at the address provided in the documentation. Best Regards, Omid Amini, Nader Zare RoboCup2024 Soccer Simulation 2D League Organizing Committee

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[News] Announcing the UT Campus Object Dataset (CODa)
by Joydeep Biswas 25 Oct '23

25 Oct '23

Dear Fellow Roboticists, We are thrilled to announce the release of the UT Campus Object Dataset (CODa) for egocentric perception on urban-scale autonomous mobile robots. CODa is the largest multiclass, multimodal urban mobile robotics dataset to date, with 1.3 million 3D bounding box annotations for 53 object classes, 204 million annotated points for 24 terrain classes, and globally consistent pseudo-ground truth poses. CODa contains 8.5 hours of multimodal sensor data: hardware synchronized high resolution 3D point clouds and stereo RGB cameras, RGB-D videos, and 9-DOF IMU data. We provide 58 minutes of ground-truth annotations containing 3D bounding box annotations with instance IDs, 3D semantic annotations for urban terrain, and globally consistent pseudo-ground truth localization. We repeatedly traverse geographic locations across weather conditions and times of the day. The CODa data collection routes include various types of environments including large indoor atriums, busy food courts, outdoor sidewalks, and mixed-traffic roads. The CODa release includes the labeled multimodal dataset, pretrained 3D object detection models, and dataset development kit. Project website: https://amrl.cs.utexas.edu/coda Paper preprint: https://arxiv.org/abs/2309.13549 Regards, Joydeep ---------------- Joydeep Biswas Associate Professor Department of Computer Science The University of Texas at Austin

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[jobs] Multiple Postdoc / Research Intern positions in social and assistive robotics open at PRISCA Lab - University of Naples Federico II (Italy)
by Alessandra Rossi 19 Oct '23

19 Oct '23

------------------------------------------ Apologies for cross-posting ------------------------------------------ Dear colleagues, At the University of Naples Federico II (Italy), we are looking for multiple Research Intern positions / Postdoc in human-robot interaction. Start date: January 2024, from 1 to 2 years Application deadline: November 17th, 2023 We are looking for exceptional and highly motivated candidates for multiple full-time fixed-term research positions to join the PRISCA lab at the University of Naples Federico II in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technologies. The researcher will focus on one or more of the following fields/topics: - AI for social robotics and assistive robotics - Personalisation in HRI - Legible, predictable and transparent robotics - Trust and Explainability in HRI - Theory of Mind in HRI Requirements: Applicants must have a PhD degree or equivalent research experience in Artificial Intelligence, Computer Science or Engineering with a focus on Intelligent Systems, Intelligent Robotics, Machine Learning and Human-Robot Interaction. Applicants with a Master’s degree will be considered in case they have 1 or more years of experience in the field. The candidates must be capable of designing and conducting human-robot studies; experience with both qualitative and quantitative methods; attitude to problem-solving; be strongly motivated for team working; very good scientific writing and presentation skills; strong background in programming with different languages (including C/C++, Python). Preferred Qualifications: strong background in programming and developing applications for robots, collecting and analysing data, conducting literature reviews and scientific track record, writing up academic publications; experience with the robotic frameworks ROS; strong experience with different robots (humanoid and non-humanoid); background in computer vision, machine learning, neural networks, personalisation applied to robotics. Application: Send your complete application documents to silvia.rossi(a)unina.it : - A 2-page motivation letter including a description of previous research experience (1page) and current research interest, outlining the fit for the position, - A full curriculum vitae with details about where you resided or carried out your main activity [work, studies, etc.], - Copies of degree certificate[s], including transcripts of grades obtained for B.Sc., M.Sc. and PhD degrees. In case, PhD is to be completed before the deadline of this application, please provide expected final grade and completion date, - Names and email contacts for two referees who would be willing to write a letter of support for your application, - List of publications (if any), - Any English language and other relevant certificates. Shortlisted candidate will be invited for an interview in November/December 2023. The successful candidate will be working in Naples, Italy. Naples (Italian: Napoli) is the third-largest city in Italy and is the capital of the Campania region. World-known for its rich history, art, culture, architecture, music, and gastronomy, Naples is a lively, exciting and bustling city situated on the southwest coast in a gorgeous gulf, and is surrounded by attractive tourist and archaeological sites such as Capri, Ischia, Amalfi Coast, Pompei, Ercolano, Mount Vesuvius. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naples for further information. For more details on the project, please email Prof. Silvia Rossi at silvia.rossi(a)unina.it. Info about the PRISCA lab can be found on the lab website https://prisca.unina.it best regards Alessandra

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[meetings][CFP][ICSR 2023] 2ND CALL FOR WORKSHOPS AND TUTORIALS PROPOSALS: DEADLINE EXTENSION
by Patrick Holthaus 14 Oct '23

14 Oct '23

******************** Apologies for cross-posting ******************** [cid:13549180221170620198@KDE] International Conference on Social Robotics December 4-7, 2023, Doha, Qatar https://icsr23.qa<https://icsr23.qa> IG: @icsr23_qa Twitter/X: @icsr23_qa Facebook: @icsr2023 ============================================================ *** 2ND ALL FOR WORKSHOPS AND TUTORIALS: DEADLINE EXTENSION *** https://icsr23.qa/workshop-proposals/ The ICSR 2023 Organising Committee invites proposals for Workshops and Tutorials to be held during the 15th International Conference of Social Robotics in Doha, Qatar, from 4 to 7 December 2023. The ICSR conference is a leading forum where state-of-the-art innovative results, the latest developments and future perspectives relating to robot and human interactions are presented and discussed. The conference welcomes original contributions describing technically rigorous scientific and research advances in the area of social robotics and AI: innovative ideas and concepts, new discoveries and improvements, novel applications of the latest fundamental advances in the core technologies that form the backbone of social robotics and distinguished studies and projects pertaining social robotics and its interaction and impact in our society. The theme of this year’s conference is “Human-Robot Collaboration: Sea, Air, Land, Space and Cyberspace”. The theme emphasizes on all physical and cyber-physical domains where humans and robots collaborate. PROPOSAL SUBMISSION DEADLINES Deadline: October 13, 2023 extended to October 31, 2023 WORKSHOPS/TUTORIALS PROPOSALS Participants are invited to hold workshops on topics relevant to social robotics. We particularly welcome creative, innovative and interactive workshop formats that focus on areas of active research to generate significant discussion and exchange of ideas between participants, as well as interactions between established experts and early-career researchers. We encourage state-of-the-art programs with high levels of interest, impact, creativity and innovation that will attract a broad and active audience. Workshops focusing on academia-industry partnership and technology transfer of robotics research are also welcome, with the aim of making connections to fields outside of robotics and/or connecting academia to industry. Organisers of approved workshops and tutorials will be asked to create and maintain a dedicated webpage, which will be used to promote the workshop/tutorial and disseminate relevant and updated information. Proposals should include the following information: ● Title ● Workshop duration: indicate full or half-day ● Workshop format: online, hybrid, or on-site, and tutorial or workshop ● Organisers: name, affiliation and email of the members of your committee ● Workshop description and objectives: concise description of the content and objectives of the workshop/tutorial ● Intended audience and Plan to solicit participation: describe the intended workshop/tutorial audience, how you plan to solicit participation: (i) ahead of the workshop/tutorial to generate submission and (ii) within the workshop/tutorial in encouraging discussions and exchanges between participants ● List of topics: a bullet list of the topics of interest that will be covered by the workshop/tutorial ● List of invited speakers: list of any invited speakers (if applicable) ● Additional information: any relevant information that could not be captured by the previous sections (e.g. previous workshop organisation) The primary criteria in the evaluation of workshop and tutorial proposals will be the timeliness of the topics, the quality, track record, anticipated level of interest, impact, novelty or creativity, and technical background of the presenters. Submissions should be PDF documents of no more than 3 pages, and they should be sent by email to icsr23(a)qu.edu.qa<mailto:icsr23@qu.edu.qa> FUNDING PROGRAMS FOR COLLABORATION The ICSR Workshops and Tutorials are ideal venues for attendees to discuss and exchange ideas that can result into proposals that can be submitted to the programs of Qatar Research, Development, and Innovation (QRDI) Council for potential funding. Here are some of QRDI’s programs. QATAR OPEN INNOVATION The Qatar Open Innovation (QOI) program connects strategic entities within Qatar (Opportunity Owners), such as government agencies and large local enterprises with a global pool of innovators and technical experts. Innovators stand to obtain funding of up to USD 100,000 to develop, pilot and test their prototypes in collaboration with a strategic entity in Qatar. Through the program, innovators also gain access to new markets, and can obtain support in establishing their business in Qatar or forming official partnerships to help launch or expand their ventures. More details here: https://connect.qrdi.org.qa/innovation/p<https://connect.qrdi.org.qa/innovation/p> ACADEMIC RESEARCH GRANTS ARG is designed to support investigator-led R&D aimed at generating new knowledge and furthering scientific understanding in topics broadly aligned with any of the national RDI priority areas available at (link<https://qrdi.org.qa/en-us/QRDI2030#National-Priorities>). Furthermore, it aims to enhance Qatar’s reputation and contributions to the global stock of knowledge and contribute to the enhancement of capabilities of the research talent pool. Awarded funding budgets are QAR 900,000 (USD 246,561) per year, for up to 3 years. At least 80% of the total annual budget and 65% of the effort should be expended inside Qatar. Best Regards Patrick -- Dr Patrick Holthaus https://patrick.holthaus.info Senior Research Fellow Robotics Research Group School of Physics, Engineering and Computer Science University of Hertfordshire UH Robot House Manager https://robothouse.herts.ac.uk I choose to work flexibly and my work day may look different than your work day. Please do not feel obligated to respond outside of your normal working hours.

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