Calls for Papers/Proposals		Neural Information Processing Systems: Natural and Synthetic
						These were the calls for papers, workshop proposals, and demonstration proposals.
				Main Papers and Past
				Program Tutorials Invited Talks Workshops
NEW				Online Preproceedings
NEW				Awards
				Registration and Financial/Travel Support
				Invitation Letters Volunteering
				Hotels and Local Transportation
				For Authors and Presenters
NOTE				The deadlines for papers and all proposals have past.
						Submission-related Dates Opening of Electronic Paper Submission System June 9, 2002 [PAST] Submission Deadline for Papers July 1, 2002 (23:59 PST/PDT, Monday night) [PAST] Submission Deadline for Workshops and Demonstrations August 9, 2002 [PAST] Acceptance/rejection notification September 16, 2002 [PAST]
		Call for Papers (.ps)
Categories		The NIPS*2002 categories for paper submission are listed below. The subcategories are by no means exhaustive. Algorithms and Architectures: statistical learning algorithms, neural network architectures, kernel methods, graphical models, Gaussian processes, independent component analysis, model selection, active learning, combinatorial optimization. Applications: innovative applications or fielded systems that use machine learning, including time series, biological applications, text/web analysis, multimedia, robotics, or other intelligent systems. Cognitive Science/Artificial Intelligence: theoretical, computational, or experimental studies of perception, psychophysics, human or animal learning, memory, reasoning, problem solving, language, and neuropsychology. Emerging Technologies: analog and digital VLSI, neuromorphic engineering, computational sensors and actuators, microrobotics, bioMEMS, neural prostheses, photonics, molecular and quantum computing. Neuroscience: theoretical and experimental studies of encoding, decoding, processing, and transmission of information in biological neurons, including spike train generation, synaptic modulation, plasticity and adaptation, and network properties. Reinforcement Learning and Control: Markov decision processes, exploration, planning, navigation, game-playing, multi-agent coordination, computational models of classical and operant conditioning. Speech and Signal Processing: recognition, coding, synthesis, de-noising, source separation, auditory perception, psychoacoustics, temporal algorithms for signal processing such as Markov models, dynamical systems, recurrent networks. Theory: learning theory, information theory, statistical physics of learning, Bayesian methods, approximation bounds, online learning and dynamics, generalization and regularization. Visual Processing: image processing and coding, segmentation, object detection and recognition, motion detection and tracking, visual psychophysics, visual scene analysis and interpretation. Demonstrations: Authors wishing to submit to the newly created demonstration track should consult the Web site below for more detailed instructions.
Review Criteria		All submitted papers will be thoroughly refereed on the basis of technical quality, significance, and clarity. Authors new to NIPS are particularly encouraged to submit their work. There will be an opportunity after the meeting to revise accepted manuscripts before submitting a final camera-ready copy for the proceedings.
Submission Instructions		The submission deadline was July 1, 23:59 PST/PDT (Monday night), 2002. Authors will be notified of their acceptance/rejection decision by Sept 19. Click to download the NIPS*2002 formatting instructions [.ps] [.pdf]. LaTeX: [.tex], (LaTeX 2.09 [.sty]), (LaTeX 2e [.sty]). MS Word: [.rtf].
		Call for Workshop Proposals
Format		Following the regular program of the Neural Information Processing Systems 2002 conference in Vancouver, BC, Canada, workshops on various current topics in neural information processing will be held on December 13 and 14, 2002, in Whistler, BC, Canada. We invite researchers interested in chairing one of these workshops to submit workshop proposals. The goal of the workshops is to provide an informal forum for researchers to discuss important research questions and challenges. Controversial issues, open problems, and comparisons of competing approaches are encouraged and preferred as workshop topics. Representation of alternative viewpoints and panel-style discussions are particularly encouraged. There will be six hours of workshop meetings per day, split into morning and afternoon sessions, with free time in between for ongoing individual exchange or outdoor activities. Workshop organizers have several responsibilities including: Coordinating workshop participation and content, which includes arranging short informal presentations by experts, arranging for expert commentators to sit on a discussion panel, formulating a set of discussion topics, etc. Moderating the discussion, and reporting its findings and conclusions to the group during evening plenary sessions Writing a brief summary and/or coordinating submitted material for post-conference electronic dissemination. Selected workshops may be invited to submit proceedings for publication in the post-NIPS workshops monographs series published by the MIT Press.
Topics		Workshop topics include, but are not limited to, the following: Active Learning, Attention, Audition, Bayesian Analysis, Bayesian Networks, Benchmarking, Brain Imaging, Computational Complexity, Computational Molecular Biology, Control, Genetic Algorithms, Graphical Models, Hippocampus and Memory, Hybrid Supervised/Unsupervised Learning, Hybrid HMM/ANN Systems, Implementations, Independent Component Analysis, Mean-Field Methods, Markov Chain Monte-Carlo Methods, Music, Network Dynamics, Neural Coding, Neural Plasticity, On-Line Learning, Optimization, Recurrent Nets, Robot Learning, Rule Extraction, Self-Organization, Sensory Biophysics, Signal Processing, Spike Timing, Support Vectors, Speech, Time Series, Topological Maps, and Vision. Detailed descriptions of previous workshops may be found here.
Submission Instructions		Interested parties should submit a short proposal for a workshop of interest via email by August 9, 2002. Proposals should include title, description of what the workshop is to address and accomplish, proposed workshop length (1 or 2 days), planned format (e.g., lectures, group discussions, panel discussion, combinations of the above, etc.), and proposed speakers. Names of potential invitees should be given where possible. Preference will be given to workshops that reserve a significant portion of time for open discussion or panel discussion, as opposed to pure "mini-conference" format. An example format is: Tutorial lecture providing background and introducing terminology relevant to the topic. Two short lectures introducing different approaches, alternating with discussions after each lecture. Discussion or panel presentation. Short talks or panels alternating with discussion and question/answer sessions. General discussion and wrap-up. We suggest that organizers allocate at least 50% of the workshop schedule to questions, discussion, and breaks. Past experience suggests that workshops otherwise degrade into mini-conferences as talks begin to run over. For the same reason, we strongly recommend that each workshop include no more than 12 talks per day. The proposal should motivate why the topic is of interest or controversial, why it should be discussed, and who the targeted group of participants is. It also should include a brief resume of the prospective workshop chair with a list of publications to establish scholarship in the field. We encourage workshops that build, continue, or arise from one or more workshops from previous years. Please mention any such connections. NIPS does not provide travel funding for workshop speakers. In the past, some workshops have sought and received funding from external sources to bring in outside speakers. In addition, the organizers of each accepted workshop can name up to four people (six people for 2-day workshops) to receive discounted registration for the workshop program. Submissions should include the name, address, email address, phone and fax numbers for all organizers. If there is more than one organizer, please designate one organizer as the primary contact. Proposals should be emailed as plain text to nips-workshop-proposal@cs.unm.edu. Please do not use attachments, Microsoft Word, postscript, html, or pdf files. Questions may be addressed to nips-workshop-admin@cs.unm.edu. PROPOSALS MUST BE RECEIVED BY AUGUST 9, 2002.
		Call for Demonstration Proposals
Format and Topics		For the first time, the Neural Information Processing Systems conference will include a separate track for demonstrations. The demonstrations will take place in parallel with the poster sessions at the NIPS*2002 conference. Example areas of interest for the demonstrations track include but are by no means limited to the following: Analog and digital VLSI Neuromorphic Engineering Computational sensors and actuators Robotics bioMEMS (microelectromechanical systems) Biomedical instrumentation Neural prostheses Photonics Real-time multimedia systems Large-scale neural emulators Software demonstrations of novel algorithms NIPS is an interdisciplinary conference, which attracts cognitive scientists, computer scientists, engineers, neuroscientists, physicists, statisticians, and mathematicians interested in all aspects of neural and statistical processing and computation. The demonstration track enables researchers to highlight scientific advances, systems, and technologies in ways that go beyond conventional poster presentations. It will provide a unique forum for demonstrating advanced technologies (hardware and software), and fostering the direct exchange of knowledge. We hope that this track will stimulate interactions between researchers from different fields (for example, roboticists and neuromorphic engineers) and encourage new colloboration between researchers in theoretical fields and those in more applied fields. Submissions accepted in the demonstrations track will be published on the NIPS web site, but will not appear in printed proceedings. However, submitting your work to the demonstration track by no means precludes the submission of a companion paper to the regular NIPS conference. In fact, joint submissions are very much encouraged. We also encourage authors submitting demonstrations to consider organizing a workshop at NIPS*2002. Note that the deadline for paper submissions is July 1, 2002, and for demonstration and workshop proposals the submission deadline is August 9, 2002. There will be a separate room for these demonstrations and participants will have access to power strips, tables and poster boards. VCRs and monitors will also be provided on request. Participants are responsible for ensuring that their demonstration is sufficiently portable; additional hardware beyond that specified above will not be provided by NIPS.
Submission Instructions		All proposals for demonstrations will be reviewed by the Demonstrations Co-Chairs. Interested parties should submit a brief description of their proposed demonstration via email by August 9, 2002. Proposals should include a title, description of the device or system to be demonstrated, main results, novelty and significance of the work, any related publications, and estimated space requirements for the demonstration. Please include the name, address, email address, phone and fax numbers for all co-authors on the submmitted work, and indicate whether a related paper has also been submitted to NIPS*2002. Proposals or questions should be emailed to shih@ini.phys.ethz.ch, and should be in plain ascii text, postscript or pdf.
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