The Seventh Joint IEEE International Conference on Development and Learning and on Epigenetic Robotics

Call for Papers & Workshops/Tutorials.
IEEE ICDL-EPIROB 2017.
The Seventh Joint IEEE International Conference on Development and Learning and on Epigenetic Robotics.
Lisbon, Portugal.
September 18th-21st, 2017.
http://www.icdl-epirob.org
Submission deadline: March 15th, 2017.

== Conference description
The past decade has seen the emergence of a new scientific field in which computational techniques are employed to study how intelligent biological and artificial systems develop sensorimotor, cognitive and social abilities through dynamic interactions with their physical and social environments, with a twofold objective: to gain a better understanding of human and animal intelligence, and to enable artificial systems with more adaptive and flexible behaviors.
The two most prominent conference series of this area, the International Conference on Development and Learning (ICDL) and the International Conference on Epigenetic Robotics (EpiRob), are joining forces for the seventh time and invite submissions for a joint meeting in 2017 to explore, extend, and consolidate the interdisciplinary boundaries of this exciting research field. In addition to the usual paper submission-selection process, the BabyBot Challenge will crown computational models that capture core aspects of specific psychology experiments.

== Keynote speakers
* Josep Call (https://risweb.st-andrews.ac.uk/portal/en/persons/josep-call(e16c323e-1faa-4dc8-8b9c-f6e9432766a2).html)
* Rod Grupen (http://www-robotics.cs.umass.edu/~grupen/)
* Donald Pfaff (http://www.rockefeller.edu/research/faculty/labheads/DonaldPfaff/#content)
* Others to be confirmed.

== Call for Submissions
We invite submissions for this exciting window into the future of developmental sciences. Submissions which establish novel links between brain, behavior and computation are particularly encouraged.
Submission will be through PaperPlaza (http://ras.papercept.net/conferences) and will open soon.

== Topics of interest include (but are not limited to):
* general principles of development and learning;
* development of skills in biological systems and robots;
* nature VS nurture, critical periods and developmental stages;
* architectures for cognitive development and life-long learning;
* emergence of body knowledge and affordance perception;
* models for prediction, planning and problem solving;
* models of human-human and human-robot interaction;
* emergence of verbal and non-verbal communication skills;
* epistemological foundations and philosophical issues;
* models of child development from experimental psychology.
Any of the topics above can be simultaneously studied from the neuroscience, psychology or modeling/robotic point of view.

== Submissions will be accepted in several formats:
1) Full six-page paper submissions: Accepted papers will be included in the conference proceedings and will be selected for either an oral presentation or a featured poster presentation. Featured posters will have a 1 minute “teaser” presentation as part of the main conference session and will be showcased in the poster sessions. Maximum two-extra pages can be acceptable for a publication fee of $100 per page. Where applicable (see details here) authors can request their submission to be evaluated for the BabyBot Challenge as well, by selecting a specific tick-box at the time of submission through PaperPlaza.
2) Two-page poster abstract submissions: To encourage discussion of late-breaking results or for work that is not sufficiently mature for a full paper, we will accept 2-page abstracts. These submissions will NOT be included in the conference proceedings. Accepted abstracts will be presented during poster sessions.
3) Tutorials and workshops: We invite experts in different areas to organize either a tutorial or a workshop to be held on the first day of the conference. Tutorials are meant to provide insights into specific topics through hand-on training and interactive experiences. Workshops are exciting opportunities to present a focused research topic cumulatively. Tutorials and workshops can be half- or full-day in duration including oral presentations, posters and live demonstrations. Submission format: two pages including title, list of speakers, concept and target audience.

== Important dates
* March 15th, 2017, submission deadline
* June 1st, 2017, author notification
* July 1st, 2017, final version (camera ready) due
* September 18th-21st, 2017, conference

== Program committee
* General chairs
José Santos-Victor (Instituto Superior Tecnico, Portugal)
Giulio Sandini (Italian Institute of Technology, Italy)
* Program chairs
Lorenzo Jamone (Queen Mary University of London, UK)
Emre Ugur (Bogazici University, Turkey)
*Bridge chairs
Angelo Cangelosi (Plymouth University, UK)
Minoru Asada (Osaka University, Japan)
Jeffrey Lockman (Tulane University, USA)
* Publicity chairs
Alexandre Bernardino (Instituto Superior Tecnico, Portugal)
Yukie Nagai (Osaka University, Japan)
Maya Cakmak (University of Washington, USA)
Serena Ivaldi (INRIA Nancy, France)
* Publication chair
Jorge Marques (Instituto Superior Tecnico, Portugal)
* Finance chair
José Gaspar (Instituto Superior Tecnico, Portugal)
* Local chairs
Plinio Moreno (Instituto Superior Tecnico, Portugal)
Rodrigo Ventura (Instituto Superior Tecnico, Portugal)