The Second UK Workshop on Foundations of Multi-Agent Systems FOMAS'97 University of Warwick 15-16 December 1997 Call for Papers URL: http://www.dcs.warwick.ac.uk/~fomas/fomas97/ Introduction The last ten years have seen a marked increase of interest in agent-oriented technology, in several areas of computer science, including both software engineering and artificial intelligence. Agents are being used, and touted, for applications as diverse as personalised information management, electronic commerce, interface design, computer games, and management of complex commercial and industrial processes. Several deployed systems already use agent technology, and many more commercial and industrial applications are in development. Multi-agent systems are computational systems in which several agents cooperate to achieve some task which might not, or not as easily, otherwise be achieved. It is a relatively new field of investigation, and one aim of the workshop is to contribute to the development of a solid foundation on which to base practical systems. Multi-agent systems are widely expected to become a significant technology in the 21st century, and it is crucial that both academics and industrialists within the UK have access to a forum at which current research and application issues are presented and discussed. The aim of this workshop is to encourage and support activity in the research and development of multi-agent systems, in both academia and industry. Topics of Interest This workshop will build upon the success of the 1996 FoMAS workshop. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to the following topics. evolution of cooperation agent theories software tools coordination specification development methodologies social relationships logical models agent programming cooperation protocols models of cooperation relevance to practice Submissions and Attendance Those interested in participating in the workshop should submit either (a) an extended abstract (of no more than 5000 words) describing relevant preliminary or completed work to be presented at the workshop, or, (b) a statement of interest consisting of a single page description of research interests and current work, to be used to encourage discussion and to ensure maximum contribution and participation. All submissions should include: author's name(s), affiliation, (complete) mailing address, phone and fax number, and e-mail address. Preferably, the submission should be sent in Postscript format (uuencoded, gzipped/compressed) by email to fomas@dcs.warwick.ac.uk (Alternatively, five (5) paper copies of all submitted materials may be sent to either of the programme chairs.) The deadline for receipt of submissions is September 1st, 1997. Format The workshop will comprise invited talks, paper presentations and panel sessions over the course of two days. Based upon submissions, paper presentations will be invited and panels will be constructed. Invitations to participate in the workshop will be extended based upon both papers submitted and statements of interest received. Publication Summaries of the panel sessions from the FoMAS'96 workshop are due to appear in the Knowledge Engineering Review in 1997. We are currently negotiating publication of papers and panel discussions from the 1997 workshop. Funding This workshop is supported by funds from EPSRC. Organisers The workshop is organised by the UK Special Interest Group on Foundations of Multi-Agent Systems (FoMAS), whose advisory board comprises: Mark d'Inverno School of Computer Science University of Westminster 115 New Cavendish Street London W1M 8JS United Kingdom Email: dinverm@westminster.ac.uk Michael Fisher (Co-Chair) Department of Computing Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester M1 5GD United Kingdom Email: M.Fisher@doc.mmu.ac.uk Tel: (+44) 161 247 1488 Fax: (+44) 161 247 1483 Nick Jennings Dept. of Electronic Engineering Queen Mary and Westfield College Mile End Road London E1 4NS United Kingdom Email: N.R.Jennings@qmw.ac.uk Michael Luck (Co-Chair) Department of Computer Science University of Warwick Coventry CV4 7AL United Kingdom Email: mikeluck@dcs.warwick.ac.uk Tel (+44) 1203 523364 Fax (+44) 1203 525714 Michael Wooldridge Zuno Ltd. 4th Floor, International House Ealing Broadway Centre London W5 5DB United Kingdom Email: mjw@zuno.dlib.com Important Dates Deadline for submission: 1st September 1997 Notification of acceptance: 1st October 1997 Workshop: 15--16 December 1997