SARA 2007 - 7th International Symposium on Abstraction, Reformulation and Approximation

Whistler, Canada, July 18 - 21, 2007.

SARA is co-located with AAAI '07.

SARA'07 Schedule

Some pictures from the symposium, taken by Vadim Bulitko.

The slides from Vadim Bulitko's invited talk.

The slides from John Hooker's invited talk.

Focus and Scope

It has been recognised since the inception of Artificial Intelligence that abstractions, problem reformulations and approximations (AR&A) are central to human common-sense reasoning and problem solving and to the ability of systems to reason effectively in complex domains. AR&A techniques have been used in a variety of problem-solving settings, including (but not limited to):

Automated reasoning.
Automatic programming.
Cognitive modelling.
Constraint programming.
Design.
Diagnosis.
Machine learning.
Model-based reasoning.
Planning.
Reasoning.
Scheduling.
Search.
Theorem proving.
Tutoring.

The primary use of AR&A techniques in such settings has been to overcome computational intractability by decreasing the combinatorial costs associated with searching large spaces. In addition, AR&A techniques are also useful for knowledge acquisition and explanation generation in complex domains.

The considerable interest in AR&A techniques has led to a series of successful symposia over the last decade. Its aim is to provide a forum for intensive interaction among researchers in all areas of Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science with an interest in the different aspects of AR&A techniques. The diverse backgrounds of participants of previous symposia has led to a rich and lively exchange of ideas, allowed the comparison of goals, techniques and paradigms, and helped identify important research issues and engineering hurdles. We expect that the upcoming symposium will include an equally diverse group of participants.

Invited Speakers

Vadim Bulitko	University of Alberta, Canada.
Alan Frisch	University of York, UK.
John Hooker	Carnegie Mellon University, USA.

Venue

Sara will be held in the beautiful resort area of Whistler, British Columbia, at the Delta Whistler Village Suites.

Summertime activities in Whistler are extensive.

There is a direct shuttle bus service connecting Vancouver airport and Whistler. SARA will arrange transport from Whistler to AAAI.

Previous SARAs

AAAI workshops in 1990 and 1992 focused on selecting, constructing and using abstractions and approximations, while a series of workshops in 1988, 1990, and 1992 focused on problem reformulations. The two workshop series were then combined since there was considerable overlap in their attendees and topics. The present symposium is the seventh in this new series, following successful symposia in 1994, 1995, 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2005.

SARA 2005, at Airth Castle, Scotland. (programme).
SARA 2002, at Kananaskis Mountain Lodge, Alberta, Canada. (programme).
SARA 2000, at the Horseshoe Bay Resort and Conference Club, Texas, USA. (programme).
SARA 1998, at the Asilomar Conference Center, Pacific Grove, California, USA. (programme (.ps), papers).
SARA 1995, at Ville d'Estérel, Québec, Canada.
SARA 1994, at Grand Teton National Park, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, USA.

Important Dates

Submission (Extended):	March 26th
Notification:	April 23rd
Final Versions:	May 13th

Submission Procedure (Submissions Closed)

Following the tradition of previous SARAs, attendance will be restricted to those invited by the co-chairs to attend, based on reviews of the papers and research summaries received. Two types of submissions are solicited from all disciplines concerned with abstraction, reformulation or approximation:

Papers, which may be long or short but must not exceed a maximum of 15 LNCS pages. These submissions will be considered for oral and poster presentation at the symposium.
Research summaries of up to 2 LNCS pages. Those wishing to receive invitations to attend the symposium without submitting a technical paper are encouraged to submit a research summary to be included in the proceedings. Summaries should relate the researcher's interests and previous work to the themes of the symposium.

Submitted papers should not exactly duplicate work published or submitted elsewhere. Authors of papers submitted elsewhere are encouraged to submit a new version of their paper that puts their work in a broader context for SARA's diverse audience.

The proceedings will appear in the Springer Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence series, hence authors should prepare their papers according to Springer's LNCS style:

http://www.springer.de/comp/lncs/authors.html

Student Support

We are expecting to be able to offer students free or reduced registration.

We recommend that students apply for support from AAAI for travel to Vancouver for the main AAAI conference.

Related Special Issue

SARA participants may also be interested in the upcoming special issue of Constraints Journal on "Abstraction and Automation in Constraint Modelling".

Organisation

Conference Chairs:	Ian Miguel, University of St Andrews, UK.
	Wheeler Ruml, Palo Alto Research Center, USA.
Publicity Chair:	Karen Petrie, University of Oxford, UK.
Sponsorship Chair:	Peter Nightingale, University of St Andrews, UK.

Steering Committee:

Berthe Choueiry University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA.

Fausto Giunchiglia University of Trento, Italy.

Mike Genesereth Stanford University, USA.

Robert Holte University of Alberta, Canada.

Ian Miguel University of St Andrews, UK.

Michael Lowry NASA, USA.

Wheeler Ruml Palo Alto Research Center, USA.

Lorenza Saitta Universita del Piemonte Orientale, Italy.

Sven Koenig University of Southern California, USA.

Toby Walsh University of New South Wales, Australia.

Programme Committee:

J. Christopher Beck University of Toronto, Canada.

Berthe Choueiry University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA.

Johan de Kleer Palo Alto Research Center, USA.

Marie desJardins University of Maryland, Baltimore County, USA.

Stefan Edelkamp Universitat Dortmund, Germany.

Boi Faltings Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Switzerland.

Ariel Felner Ben-Gurion University, Israel.

Alan Frisch University of York, UK.

Hector Geffner Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Spain.

Mike Genesereth Stanford University, USA.

Fausto Giunchiglia University of Trento, Italy.

Brahim Hnich Izmir University, Turkey.

Daniel Kayser Universite Paris-Nord, France.

Sven Koenig University of Southern California, USA.

Derek Long University of Strathclyde, UK.

Michael Lowry NASA, USA.

Peter Revesz University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA.

Marie-Christine Rousset University of Grenoble, France.

Lorenza Saitta Universita del Piemonte Orientale, Italy.

Bart Selman Cornell University, USA.

Barbara Smith Cork Constraint Computation Centre, Ireland.

Miroslav Velev Carnegie Mellon University, USA.

Toby Walsh University of New South Wales, Australia.

Weixiong Zhang Washington University, USA.

Rong Zhou Palo Alto Research Center, USA.

Robert Zimmer Goldsmiths College, University of London, UK.

Jean-Daniel Zucker Universite Paris 13 / UR 079 GEODES, France.

Berthe Choueiry	University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA.
Fausto Giunchiglia	University of Trento, Italy.
Mike Genesereth	Stanford University, USA.
Robert Holte	University of Alberta, Canada.
Ian Miguel	University of St Andrews, UK.
Michael Lowry	NASA, USA.
Wheeler Ruml	Palo Alto Research Center, USA.
Lorenza Saitta	Universita del Piemonte Orientale, Italy.
Sven Koenig	University of Southern California, USA.
Toby Walsh	University of New South Wales, Australia.

J. Christopher Beck	University of Toronto, Canada.
Berthe Choueiry	University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA.
Johan de Kleer	Palo Alto Research Center, USA.
Marie desJardins	University of Maryland, Baltimore County, USA.
Stefan Edelkamp	Universitat Dortmund, Germany.
Boi Faltings	Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, Switzerland.
Ariel Felner	Ben-Gurion University, Israel.
Alan Frisch	University of York, UK.
Hector Geffner	Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Spain.
Mike Genesereth	Stanford University, USA.
Fausto Giunchiglia	University of Trento, Italy.
Brahim Hnich	Izmir University, Turkey.
Daniel Kayser	Universite Paris-Nord, France.
Sven Koenig	University of Southern California, USA.
Derek Long	University of Strathclyde, UK.
Michael Lowry	NASA, USA.
Peter Revesz	University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA.
Marie-Christine Rousset	University of Grenoble, France.
Lorenza Saitta	Universita del Piemonte Orientale, Italy.
Bart Selman	Cornell University, USA.
Barbara Smith	Cork Constraint Computation Centre, Ireland.
Miroslav Velev	Carnegie Mellon University, USA.
Toby Walsh	University of New South Wales, Australia.
Weixiong Zhang	Washington University, USA.
Rong Zhou	Palo Alto Research Center, USA.
Robert Zimmer	Goldsmiths College, University of London, UK.
Jean-Daniel Zucker	Universite Paris 13 / UR 079 GEODES, France.